About This Site

I am John Lee Ming Keong, a 20-year-old student and writer from a suburb of the Klang Valley in Selangor, Malaysia. I am a candidate for a bachelor's degree in economics at Dartmouth College in the United States. I started Infernal Ramblings in 2005 to present a Malaysian perspective on politics, society and economics — to help people understand my country, and just as importantly, the world in which my country exists.

With my good friend Nathaniel Tan, I have written and edited three books to date: Religion Under Siege, concerning the rise of Islamism in Malaysia; Political Tsunami, on the impact of the 2008 general elections, with a foreword by former Deputy Prime Minister Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim; and Where is Justice, about deaths and brutality linked to the Malaysian authorities, especially custodial deaths. The Malaysian government has confiscated several dozens of copies of Where is Justice from bookstores across the country, and we believe an eventual ban is quite possible, if not probable. For more information, including how to order, click on the respective book's cover above.

I write a weekly column for The Malaysian Insider, published on Fridays. I also blog with Tony Pua, the MP for Petaling Jaya Utara, and Ong Kian Ming, a political scientist, on Education in Malaysia. I have worked in the past with Nathaniel Tan on a variety of projects, not least our three books together. With Nat, I have helped Parti Keadilan Rakyat with some technical web issues and also some policy ones; I have also worked at the Centre for Public Policy Studies as a research assistant. I am politically unaffiliated, and at the moment have no intention of joining any particular political party.

If you are new here, I recommend looking at the list of ten most popular articles for an idea of some past favourites. As of the beginning of 2009, the most popular piece by far is My Boss, Nathaniel Tan, Martyred by the Special Branch. If you'd like to learn a little bit more about me, I related my experiences with the Malaysian education system in Nine Years, Five Schools, One Broken Education System. You can also surf to a random article — you never know what you might find.

If you have any questions or just would like to chat, you are more than welcome to contact me.