Communicating Amok in Malaysia

This article analyzes the different messages communicated in Malaysia by violent acts labeled amok. In the colonial period, English-language uses of the term represented the presence of an anti-modern remnant among the peninsula's Malay population, one that led to a medico-legal understanding of individualized violence. Malay-language uses of amok represented, in contrast, the presence of modern changes amid the collective peninsular society. These two vectors of interest combined in the post-colonial period, where amok became a primary ingredient for analyzing Malaysian politics and national security, from the pivotal urban rebellion of May 13, 1969, to the Reformasi protests of 1998. Critically reexamining these representations of amok helps us to rethink the efficacy and power of violent acts in Malaysia and elsewhere.