Two weeks ago, my tweet criticising Tourism Malaysia's "strategic partnership" with Starbucks went viral and somewhat broke the news. Focus Malaysia and The Rakyat Post covered the story and shared the tweet along with its accompanying responses. "BOYCOTT of brands perceived to be pro-Israel has complicated many matters. Latest to draw public ire was the naming of  Starbucks Malaysia as strategic partner for the much-touted Visit Malaysia 2026 (VMY2026) campaign. Nevertheless, detractors of the global premium coffee chain find the involvement of Starbucks Malaysia in VMY2026 ‘atrocious’ in light of the anti-Zionist sentiment which is gaining momentum especially following recent detention of the Global Sumud Flotilla volunteers by Israel Defense Forces (IDF). “Whose idea was this?” fumed Shahnon Salleh (@shahnonsalleh) whose post on X has amassed 1.6M views at time of writing “So tone-deaf. Unbelievable.” Full article Related news -  Tourism Malaysia’s “Strategic Co...

 Ari Lesmana, writing for the West Sumatra-based news portal has written quite a thorough review of an academic paper I presented two years ago in Padang. I must say, the first paragraph is quite a hook, perhaps even better than the paper itself. Ha ha. " Bayangkan jika setiap tweet yang Anda baca di Twitter bisa menceritakan kisah lebih besar tentang perubahan politik sebuah bangsa. Inilah yang terjadi di Malaysia pasca-Pemilihan Umum ke-14 (GE14) pada tahun 2018. Sebuah penelitian komprehensif yang menganalisis lebih dari 4.000 tweet mengungkap fenomena menarik: platform media sosial telah menjadi arena baru bagi kebangkitan nasionalisme Melayu yang berbeda dari masa lalu. Penelitian yang dilakukan oleh Shahnon Mohamed Salleh dan Ismail Sualman dari Universiti Teknologi MARA ini bukan sekadar analisis data digital biasa. Mereka berhasil menangkap momen bersejarah ketika frustrasi politik masyarakat Melayu bertransformasi menjadi gerakan digital yang terorganisir dan berpengaruh...

 My tweet on Netflix's removal of Palestinian films was quoted by the Iranian media, Press TV (28 October 2024). "X user Shahnon Salleh also said the removal of films that depict the everyday experiences of Palestinians living under apartheid and occupation is preventing viewers from gaining a more nuanced understanding of the Palestinian perspective. He slammed Netflix for the decision, warning that the remaining Palestine-related films available on the platform portray Palestinians in a negative light and perpetuate harmful stereotypes of Palestinians as “terrorists.” “Films that show the day-to-day realities of the Apartheid and the occupation, like ‘The Present’ are now gone,” he wrote. “What’s worse is the fact that the only Palestinian-related films still available on Netflix are those that portray them as terrorists. Netflix is complicit,” he added. Full story: ‘Erasure’: Netflix succumbs to Zionist lobby pressure, removes Palestinian films

 Ulasan di  Malaysiakini : "Bagi penganalisis politik dari Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Shahnon Mohamed Salleh, pengumuman kenaikan gaji penjawat awam setinggi 13 peratus telah menarik hati mereka untuk bersama kerajaan. Shahnon berkata, Menteri Dalam Negeri, Saifuddin Nasution Ismail turut komited dalam menjaga kebajikan polis seperti menaik taraf kuarters kediaman, balai polis & prasarana lain." Laporan penuh:  'Dasar kerajaan mesra penjawat awam tambat hati polis, tentera di KKB'

 Coverage from the New Straits Times . KUALA LUMPUR: Any decision on the membership of the six Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) members of parliament will not affect the majority enjoyed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's administration, said experts. They said even if by-elections were called and Anwar's administration lost the six seats held by Bersatu, he would still maintain a comfortable majority. Universiti Teknologi Mara political analyst Shahnon Mohamed Salleh said the six constituencies were also considered "trivial" from Pakatan Harapan's point of view if it didn't win them. "So it's a small bump in the road for the prime minister and there'd be little impact." Full report: Bersatu membership dispute will have little impact on Anwar's majority, say experts

 Media coverage from The Star "Political parties will know today how much, or how little time they have to resolve the most critical issue before nomination day – selecting their candidates. Universiti Teknologi Mara’s Shahnon Mohamed Salleh said that after the dates are announced, candidates and seat negotiations will continue right up to the night before nomination day. “Completing their election manifesto will be another priority as they will need the document ready for the campaign,” said the School of Communication and Media College of Computing, Informatics and Media lecturer. Full report:  Temperatures set to rise (The Star)

 Media coverage from The Star: "Malaysians, say political observers, are looking forward to seeing what is in store for them and what the coalition government under Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob has got to offer in Budget 2023. “This is perhaps the first time that there are people who are more interested in waiting for the Prime Minister’s Parliament dissolution announcement than the Budget itself. “The fact that the Budget was brought forward earlier to Oct 7 is a strong indicator as well as the Umno supreme council meeting concluding that GE15 must be held this year,” said Universiti Teknologi MARA’s (UiTM) Faculty of Communication and Media Studies senior lecturer Shahnon Mohamed Salleh. " There were several key observations for Budget 2023, including that the economic forecast and global outlook for 2023 would generally be gloomy, said Shahnon . “So I expect the government to address these challenges and at the same time, balance fiscal constraints and pe...