Where I will be next week
Today I managed to organize all the interviews I had planned for this trip to KL. So for you who are interested in the NGOs I will be visiting here are the basic details. On Tuesday I take a bus to KL, hop on the commuter train to Central Station (one stop) and take a short walk to the Malaysian AIDS Council (MAC)
MAC has been very supportive of my research. In fact, today's project was sending out the surveys by mail to the members of the council. The earlier attempt to elicit e-mail responses was a total failure. I plan to pick the research director's brain for ways to increase the response rate (if this effort fails) and to identify other collaborations worth tracking down. I will also ask him and the executive director for their observations about the collaboration and collaborations in general.
Tuesday night there is a reception at the American Embassy in honor of the Fulbright program. I mentioned to a friend that the Chinese gave me dinner and the Americans were only giving us a reception. Her comment? "Remember Lehman Brothers."
Wednesday morning I am going to the Centre for Public Policy Studies . I had planned just to pick their brain about other collaborations. Today I revisited their site; they should add to the Human Rights part of my study. Later I will meet with their previous executive director. I read a 1995 article he wrote on NGOs mentioning the potential for collaboration. The result? He bemoaned the very low response rate to his survey (I think that it was a survey) and not a word about collaboration after the introductory paragraphs. So I want to hear his current thoughts about NGOs and collaborations. In the afternoon I go to the Malaysian Nature Society, which dates back to colonial times. By all accounts they do a lot of collaborating.
Thursday I meet with Suaram a group formed by detainees and their families after the government rounded up 106 detainees in 1987. The website currently offline because of "a security breach" so you will have to rely on wikipedia instead I met with Suaram Penang on Monday. Suaram is one of the groups in the forefront of advocating against ISA (Internal Security Act) Currently one blogger is being detained under ISA and in a similar vein an activist Hindu party has been banned. Malaysiakini.com is a good source but one can't read much without an account.
Thursday night I meet with the All Women Action Society (AWAM)an activist group. It started in the mid 1980's. AWAM is one of 5 groups that makes up JAG (Joint Action Group for Gender Equality) which seems to be the most fully developed collaboration in Malaysia.
Friday the day starts with a meeting with Empower . I was not even aware of this group until one of the AWAM members gave me its contact information. It is in JAG, COMANGO Coalition of Malaysian NGOs in the UPR (universal periodic review) Process (COMANGO),and Coalition for Good Governance (with is allied with Coalition to Save Kuala Lumpur). On the surface at least is seems like a diverse set of collaborations. Late that afternoon I meet with Sisters in Islam (SIS) BTW SIS is looked on with suspcion by the Malaysian Islamic Community.
So all in all a lot to learn in 4 days - I hope that I can keep everything straight. There is ample time between most meetings so I will be able to pull together my notes.
MAC has been very supportive of my research. In fact, today's project was sending out the surveys by mail to the members of the council. The earlier attempt to elicit e-mail responses was a total failure. I plan to pick the research director's brain for ways to increase the response rate (if this effort fails) and to identify other collaborations worth tracking down. I will also ask him and the executive director for their observations about the collaboration and collaborations in general.
Tuesday night there is a reception at the American Embassy in honor of the Fulbright program. I mentioned to a friend that the Chinese gave me dinner and the Americans were only giving us a reception. Her comment? "Remember Lehman Brothers."
Wednesday morning I am going to the Centre for Public Policy Studies . I had planned just to pick their brain about other collaborations. Today I revisited their site; they should add to the Human Rights part of my study. Later I will meet with their previous executive director. I read a 1995 article he wrote on NGOs mentioning the potential for collaboration. The result? He bemoaned the very low response rate to his survey (I think that it was a survey) and not a word about collaboration after the introductory paragraphs. So I want to hear his current thoughts about NGOs and collaborations. In the afternoon I go to the Malaysian Nature Society, which dates back to colonial times. By all accounts they do a lot of collaborating.
Thursday I meet with Suaram a group formed by detainees and their families after the government rounded up 106 detainees in 1987. The website currently offline because of "a security breach" so you will have to rely on wikipedia instead I met with Suaram Penang on Monday. Suaram is one of the groups in the forefront of advocating against ISA (Internal Security Act) Currently one blogger is being detained under ISA and in a similar vein an activist Hindu party has been banned. Malaysiakini.com is a good source but one can't read much without an account.
Thursday night I meet with the All Women Action Society (AWAM)an activist group. It started in the mid 1980's. AWAM is one of 5 groups that makes up JAG (Joint Action Group for Gender Equality) which seems to be the most fully developed collaboration in Malaysia.
Friday the day starts with a meeting with Empower . I was not even aware of this group until one of the AWAM members gave me its contact information. It is in JAG, COMANGO Coalition of Malaysian NGOs in the UPR (universal periodic review) Process (COMANGO),and Coalition for Good Governance (with is allied with Coalition to Save Kuala Lumpur). On the surface at least is seems like a diverse set of collaborations. Late that afternoon I meet with Sisters in Islam (SIS) BTW SIS is looked on with suspcion by the Malaysian Islamic Community.
So all in all a lot to learn in 4 days - I hope that I can keep everything straight. There is ample time between most meetings so I will be able to pull together my notes.
posted by Liz at
4:16 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home