Dina Zaman follows up the reissue of King Of The Sea with a new memoir, Malayland. Are we ready for this?

Critics beware—Dina Zaman has a new book out, and it is titled Malayland.

By now, it’s already par for the course that with every literary work she produces, condemnation will soon follow. “I have had crazies from the time I wrote for New Straits Times in the ’90s,” she tells us. “I have one now DM-ing me on Instagram. A real looney.”

It’s not that the Kuala Lumpur-based writer and researcher goes out of her way to ruffle feathers or court controversy. If anything, her aim is always to encourage discourse. (“I’m naturally curious.”) But when one’s subject matter revolves around faith, Islam and being a Malay Muslim in a modern world with a perspective that doesn’t align with the status quo, feathers will ruffle. Furiously.

“When I Am Muslim (Silverfish Publishing, RM45) came out, I had a lot of…intense reactions,” Dina Zaman says of her 2007 collection of essays, one that explores the meaning of Islam through the eyes of Muslim Malaysians. “So I ran to my dad—I’m a daddy’s girl— ‘Abah, Abah…’ and he told me this: ‘Well, you’re a writer. You write on touchy subjects. Don’t expect any love. In fact, thrive on it’.” His words weren’t exactly the solace she was hoping for. 

“I remember thinking, ‘Huh? What kind of advice was that?’ Then, I thought, okay that kinda makes sense.”

True enough, thrive she has as she makes a return to the literary world with not one, but two books this year: July’s re-release of King Of The Sea (Clarity Publishing, RM49), a collection of short stories on her home state of Terengganu; and Malayland (Ethos Books/Faction Press, RM45), a new memoir out this month.

Malayland, written during the pandemic, is “an effort to understand the anger and frustrations of her fellow ethnic Malays who were fighting against enemies, real and imagined, and a new world order imposed by a virus that killed over seven million people globally.” Here, Dina Zaman talks to BAZAAR about the conception of the book, facing criticism, and the allure of pilates and hot mocha.

Cover of Malayland, by Dina Zaman.

Of Anger & Discontent

What moved you to write Malayland?

Well, it was during the first year of Covid. I wrote loads of stuff, including film scripts. Then I had this chat with a friend, who remarked that my writing revolved around Malayness. I went, hmm. So I started Malayland. I had also just finished reading Negroland: A Memoir (Granta Books, RM51.62) written by Margo Jefferson who observed the class divide among Black Americans, and the book resonated with me. At that time too, I had just come back from London, and witnessed the anti-ICERD rally in 2018 on Facebook, and thought, “Oh, here’s a story.” 

So I started reading, interviewing people on Zoom, Whatsapp calls, and ran out when I could to meet people, in masks, disposable raincoats. I won’t recommend this to anyone! 

Based on the description, Malayland seems to touch a lot on Malay/Malaysian anger, and that irony and humour is now an alien concept to us. We seem to be angrier now than ever before. Why is that?

You know, writing I Am Muslim in 2005-2007 was fun. Of course there was a lot of danger and conflict then, but there was a lot of light and love too. Along the way, and I think any reader familiar with Malaysian identity politics and my work would cotton on that post-2010, especially 2018, things changed. The Malays, just like the non-Malays, are finding the country rudderless, and things are becoming tougher. Access to good education in government schools, jobs, etc. And that we had so many PMs and governments…so Malaysians have a right to be very angry. This anger is very complex, but I certainly feel that we have never acknowledged the class gaps and divisions. Even among the Malays, there are intra-race clashes.

Writer, Dina Zaman.

Facing Criticism

Are you expecting backlash as experienced with your previous books? Is that something you expect with each book now?

This is funny. Even my columns get a lot of debate. To me, I write to assuage my curiosity. Why do people behave and think the way they do? In Malayland, you will see that I’m a third culture kid. My dad was with Wisma Putra. My formative years were spent in Indonesian international schools and Anglo-American schools. My friends and I were always outsiders, overseas, even here. Merely existing ruffled people’s feathers! I hope that with Malayland, the debate continues but the public can see that there is a demarcation between the writer and person. 

How do you handle criticism?

I don’t bother with the good and bad. It’ll drive you potty. I am very firm about this, though I have lapsed from time to time…I’m human lah. See, before I became Dina Zaman, I was in public relations and the media, and saw up close what being in the public eye could do to you. And KL society is all about positioning. I had this thought as a young executive that if I ever became known, that public life is separate from my private one. Many of my closest friends don’t even read my work. I think the only ones who do are my immediate family—parents, sisters, brothers-in-law, niece and nephews. Oh, a few family friends too. The rest who read are outside of my inner circle—academics, hangers-on (haha). After work, I only meet close friends, and we do not talk about politics. We talk about our husbands/boyfriends/children/pets, and supplements. And the latest It bag. Holidays. 

I noticed one thing: here, in KL, mesti ada entourage ya. Ew. Anyone who aims to be in the public eye must know that there will be criticism, hate, but not dwell on it. 

I also think this. Mummy studied Tasawuf years back and taught me this: dunya is dunya, and the afterworld matters more. And you know, focusing too much on this life is really not good for the mind and soul. Real life is about family, friends, love. Status can come and go. After Malayland, I’m going to just focus on passion projects and do other things. I’m going on more holidays—writing Malayland since 2020 is one thing. Being with IMAN Research for the past 10 years…It is time for me to be the woman who does pilates and drinks hot mocha. Hang on, I’m doing that already, haha. 

After the book launches, I’m not going to be on social media much until February. Maybe I’ll deactivate Instagram and Linkedin for a bit. I’m going to Thailand—I have Thai cousins—and I’m off overseas too as my family is abroad. I also want to be based in Terengganu more and more. I like hiding. I don’t like mingling.

Snapshots from the research process for Dina Zaman’s Malayland.

Decent Human Beings

Faith, religion, being a Muslim in a modern world—why do these subjects fascinate you?

Gosh, look at global geopolitics. The past one year itself, genocide, etc. To me, faith, religion, and identity are political. As many cling on to the old as there is nothing else left to hold on to, the world marches into more and more conflict. It’s about being human. In Malayland, a respondent said that we all have different identities in life: we are children. Siblings. Workers, etc. All these multiple dimensions of ourselves are grappling with the New World Order. We are realising that being good and bad have many layers. 

What are the takeaways that you hope the reader will get from Malayland?

That the Malays, like the rest of the world, are human too and diverse and complex.  Yes, some of the Malays have very strong, hateful opinions, but all of us do, as well. I hope that the book inspires debate and also, getting to know each other as decent human beings.

Malayland (Ethos Books/Faction Press, RM45) launches on 2 Nov at Mountbatten Café as part of Kalam KL, and goes on sale at the following bookshops after that: Lit Books, Gerakbudaya, Kinokuniya, Eslite, Tsutaya, Popular and MPH. Pre-orders can be made via Lit Books here.