Lily Zubaidah Rahim is a Senior Lecturer in Government and International Relations. She lectures on Southeast Asian Politics and Reformist Islam. The Singapore Dilemma: The Political and Educational Marginality of the Malay Community, (KL: Oxford University Press, 2001) established her as a leading researcher on political and social developments in Singapore. The book precipitated a public debate on Singapore’s nation-building paradigm particularly after it received prominent coverage in the Malaysian and Singaporean newspapers. The policy significance of The Singapore Dilemma led to its translation in 2004 by the Malaysian National Institute for Translation to the Malay language.

Building on the themes in The Singapore Dilemma, Lily Zubaidah’s second sole-authored book Singapore in the Malay World: Building and Breaching Regional Bridges (London: Routledge, 2009) focuses on Singapore’s mercurial relations with neighbouring Malaysia and Indonesia.

She is currently engaged in a global project on gender justice and shariah reforms in Islam. Another project funded by an ARC Discovery Grant (2003-2006), led to the publication of an edited book entitled ‘Paths Not Taken’, published by the National University of Singapore Press in 2008.

A Singaporean national, Lily Zubaidah’s international exposure includes extended periods of teaching and research in Malaysia, Singapore and The Netherlands. In 2001, she presented a paper on indigenous minorities in Southeast Asia at the historic UN Conference on Racism and Public Policy in Durban, South Africa. In 2003, she was commissioned by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, to prepare a report on ethnic minorities in Singapore and Malaysia. In 2008 and 2009, she was engaged by the Asia-Europe Foundation as a consultant on ethnic tensions and inter-faith dialogue in Asia.

Her multidisciplinary research interests have been published in numerous international journals and book chapters. They include an eclectic range spanning from governance in authoritarian states, democratisation, development, ethnicity, regionalism and political Islam. She was Co-convenor of the 2008 Malaysia-Singapore Society Colloquium at the Australian National University.

• Southeast Asia politics
• Reformist Islam
• Ethnicity
• Regionalism
• Democratisation and Development

2009

Book

Rahim, LZ 2009, Singapore in the Malay World; Building and Breaching Regional Bridges, Routledge, London.

Book Chapter

Rahim LZ 2009, 'The Goh Years: A New Dawn in PAP-Malay Relations?' in Impressions: The Goh Years, ed. Bridget Welsh and James Chin, National University of Singapore Press, Singapore.

Conference Proceeding/s

Rahim LZ 2009, ‘Governance of Islam in Singapore’s Authoritarian Secular State’, New Modes of Governance and Security Challenges in the Asia-Pacific, 12-13 February, 2009, Asia Research Centre, Murdoch University.

2008

Journal Article/s

Rahim LZ 2008, 'Fragmented Community and Unconstructive Engagements: ASEAN and Burma’s SPDC Regime', Critical Asian Studies, 40 (1), pp 67-88.

Book Chapter

Rahim Lz 2008, Winning and Losing Malay Support: PAP-Malay Community Relations, 1950s and 1960s’, in Michael D. Barr and Carl A. Trocki (eds), Paths Not Taken, (Singapore: National University of Singapore Press, 2008). p.95-115.

Conference Proceedings

Rahim LZ 2008 'The Singa and Garuda: Undercurrents in Singapore-Indonesia Relations’ 15th Malaysia Society Colloquium: Globalization, Regionalization and Islam, Australian National University, Canberra, 5-7 December 2008.

2007

Book Section/s

Rahim LZ 2007 '(Foreword) Said Zahari – Demystifying Lee Kuan Yew´s Singapore Story' in The Long Nightmare: My 17 Years as a Political Prisoner, Utusan Publications, Kuala Lumpur pp. xvi-xx.

Journal Article/s

Rahim LZ 2007 'Daring to Challenge the Status Quo: The Lateral Vision of Progressive Malay Nationalists from Singapura 1940s-1960s', CRNLE (Centre for Research in New Literatures in English) Journal.

Conference Proceeding/s

Rahim LZ 2007 'Forgetting, Remembering and Dismembering: Nusantara Malays in the Singaporean national Imagination', EuroSEAS 2007 Conference, Naples, Italy,12-15 September.

2006

Journal Article/s

King P and Rahim LZ 2006 'Editors´ Introduction', Policy and Society (Special Issue:Asia Early this Century: Contested Polities and Mentalities), vol.25:4.

Rahim LZ 2006 'Discursive Struggles Between Liberal and Literal Islam in Southeast Asia', In Special Issue, 'Asia Early this Century: Contested Polities and Mentalities' Policy and Society, vol.25:4, pp. 77-98.

2004

Book Chapter

Rahim LZ 2004 'Ambivalent Regionalism in Southeast Asia' in Globalization, Regionalization and the Domestic Trajectories in the Pacific Rim: The Economic Impact, ed. Melba Falck and Arturo Santa-Cruz, Universidad De Guadalajar, Guadalajara.

Conference Proceeding/s

Rahim LZ 2004 'Daring to Challenge the Status quo: The lateral Vision and Meandering Political Journey of Progressive Malay Nationalists from Singapura', Representation of Malays and Malay Culture, University Putra, Serdang, Malaysia,15-17 June 2004.

Rahim LZ 2004 'Kiasu Versus Catch-Up: The Politics of Economic Competition and Cooperation Between Singapore and Malaysia', 13th Malaysia Society Colloquium: Globalization, Regionalization and Islam, Australian National University, Canberra,26-27 December 2004.

Rahim LZ 2004 'Malaysia and Singapore: Competing and Complementary Models of Nation-Building', Conference Theme: Beyond Vision 2020, Prime Ministers Department, Putra Jaya, Malaysia,14-14 December 2004.

2003

Journal Article/s

Rahim LZ 2003 'The Road Less Travelled: Islamic Militancy in Southeast Asia', Critical Asian Studies, vol.35:2, pp. 209-232.

2002

Journal Article/s

Rahim LZ 2002 'Book Review - Lee Kuan Yew: The beliefs behind the man by Barr M', Australian Journal of International Affairs, vol.56:2, pp. 297-300.

2001

Book/s

Rahim LZ 2001 The Singapore Dilemma: The Political and Educational Marginality of the Malay Community, Oxford University Press, Kuala Lumpur.

Book Chapter

Rahim LZ 2001 'The Political Agenda Underpinning Economic Policy Formulation in Singapore's Authoritarian Developmental State' in Democratic Transitions in Asia, ed. Uwe Johannen and James Gomez, Select Books, Singapore pp. 207-232.

Monograph

Rahim LZ, Palat RA, Fuad M and Yang M 2001 'Civil Society in Asian Contexts', Occassional Paper, Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, Report Number 2001-1.

2000

Journal Article/s

Rahim LZ 2000 'Economic crisis and the prospects for democratization in Southeast Asia', Journal of Contemporary Asia, vol.30:1, pp. 17-45.

1999

Journal Article/s

Rahim LZ 1999 'Singapore-Malaysia Relations: Deep-Seated Tensions and Self-Fulfilling Prophecies', Journal of Contemporary Asia, vol.29:1, pp. 38-55.

1998

Book/s

Rahim LZ 1998 The Singapore Dilemma: The Political and Educational Marginality of the Malay Community, Oxford University Press, United States.

Journal Article/s

Rahim LZ 1998 'In search of the 'Asian Way': Cultural Nationalism in Singapore and Malaysia', Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, vol.36:3, pp. 54-74.

1994

Book Section/s

Rahim LZ 1994 'The Paradox of the Ethnic Based Self-Help Groups' in Debating Singapore, ed. Derek Da Cunha, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore pp. 46-50.

Journal Article/s

Rahim LZ 1994 'Consent, Coercion and Constitutional Engineering in Singapore', Current Affairs Bulletin, vol.70:7, pp. 20-26.

• GOVT2774 Islam: Democracy, Development and Gender

• GOVT6148 Honours Dissertation Part 1

• GOVT6149 Honours Dissertation Part 2

• GOVT6340 Honours Dissertation Part 1

• GOVT6341 Honours Dissertation Part 2