sultanmuzaffar

Book Launch
Date
14th Feb 2004
Time
2:00pm
Venue
Cititel, Mid Valley City, KL
Speakers
Mr. Uwe Johannen, Regional Director, FNF
Mr. Tong Yee Siong, Journalist
Mr. Steven Gan, Editor-In-Chief, Malaysiakini
Reviewer
Mr. Oon Yeoh, Journalist and author
Email
gerakbudaya@pd.jaring.my

BOOK LAUNCH
url link from malaysiakini.com

In a striking departure from other publications about the Internet, this book focuses more on the human actors than on the technology.

Asian Cyberactivism: Freedom of Expression and Media Censorship records political activism on the Internet and takes stock of some of the successes and failures of cyberactivists as they try to beat the various censorship regimes in Asia.

The sections of this 664-page book comprise 'Political Frameworks & New Technology', 'Regulations and Control', 'One Party States', 'Alternative Media', 'Civil Society', 'Diaspora Communities', and 'Political Parties'.

The book's 18 chapters provide an overview of current trends in democracy related new media research to country-specific case studies.

The common thread running through the book is the organizing of civil society groups at the grassroots level, and how they are influencing certain segments of their respective countries, and even challenging state control and the monopoly of mainstream media.

Asian Cyberactivism is an insightful look into political organising online in Asia even as the technology and the rules change. Activists provide their perspectives on how new media relates to democracy, and showcase examples that could be emulated to further the cause of democracy.

Expressions of free speech have blossomed with the advent of new communications technologies like the Internet, but with the Internet itself becoming a target for censorship, regulation and control, it remains to be seen if cyberactivists in Asia will be able to overcome or bypass them.

This book is an insight into the political, societal and legal challenges that cyberactivists have to face, and what this means for democratic development in the region.


EDITORS' BIODATA

Steven Gan spent four years as a freelance journalist based in Hong Kong and traveled extensively during that time. He returned to Malaysia in 1994 and was appointed special issues editor for the newly launched Sun newspaper. In 1996, Steven was arrested during the Asia Pacific Conference on East Timor (Apcet II). His last column was on the Apcet II fracas, which was spiked by the editor. He resigned from the paper in protest and worked as editorial writer for the Nation in Bangkok for two years. Steven is a co-founder of the on-line newspaper, Malaysiakini. Since its establishment in November 1999, Malaysiakini has become one of the top news websites in the country and Malaysia's only independent media outlet. Email: steven@malaysiakini.com

James Gomez is a writer and an activist. He founded the Think Centre (Singapore) on 16 July 1999 and published Self-Censorship: Singapore's Shame in September that year, James also co-founded Think Centre (Asia) in Bangkok in August 2001. For his use of the Internet for political communication and mobilizing people, he was identified separately at various times in 2001 as one of "Asia's 50 most powerful communicators" by Asiaweek , "An Asian Trailblazer" by Newsweek and an "Asian Making a Difference" by FEER . His book, Internet Politics: Surveillance & Intimidation in Singapore was released in 2002. He is presently Research and Project Manager, Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Regional Office, Thailand. Email: jamesgomez@hotmail.com

Uwe Johannen is the East and Southeast Asia Regional Director of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation in Bangkok and has been with the foundation for 30 years. He had been the Director of the Institute of Politics and International Co-operation in the Foundation's head office in Germany, co-ordinating and controlling all FNF activities worldwide. He also served as Member of the German Federal Commission for Foreign, European and Development Policy of the Free Democratic Party (FDP). He studied Law, Economics and Political Science and graduated with an MA in Economics.

Discount for Malaysiakini Readers
25 books are available from Malaysiakini at an exclusive 20% discount, which amounts to RM56 (original price is RM70). Send a cheque for the amount payable to:

Mkini Dotcom Sdn Bhd
2-4, Jalan Bangsar Utama 9,
59000 Kuala Lumpur.

Please include your name, email and telephone number at the back of the cheque, and we will contact you. The book will be delivered within 7 days (Anywhere in Malaysia). For more information please email prem@malaysiakini.com or call 03-2283 5567