TAN Teng Phee

Born at Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia, I have lived in several different Chinese New Villages, these life experiences have inspired me to look into the history of Chinese New Villages and thus become my research theme.
I majored in Political Science and minored in Philosophy at the National Taiwan University in Taipei. Then I completed my MA at the Graduate School of Southeast Asian Studies at National Chi Nan University, Taiwan. My MA thesis was 'Leader Character and Political Succession – The Cases of Mahathir and Lee Kuan Yew'.
After working for five years as a research assistant and part-time lecturer, I commenced my PhD programme in April 2006. By using a social historical approach, I would like to reconstruct the other side of the story based on the perspectives of the New Villagers, and examine how they responded to government policies and interacted with one another behind barbed wire. My research project topic is 'A Social History of New Villages in Post-war Malaya/Malaysia'.

Publications, conference papers presented and media contributions:

• 'Imagination or Reality? A Re-reflection on Nation-State Building in Malaysia', in Hou Kok Chung (ed.) 100 Years of Malaysian Chinese Society and Politics: Review and Prognosis, Kuala Lumpur: Centre for Malaysian Chinese Studies, 2005, pp. 251-273. (in Chinese)
• 'Leader Characters and Political Power Transfer: Comparative Studies of Lee Kuan Yew and Mahathir',Journal of Overseas Chinese and Southeast Asian Studies, 2 (2),2002: 58-107. (with Lee, Mei-Hsien)(in Chinese)
• 'National Discourse on ‘Islamic State’ and the Responses of Chinese Society in Malaysia', 2004 Taiwan’s Southeast Asian Region Studies Annual Conference, Tamkang University, Taiwan, 22-23 April 2004, (with Dr. Ku Hung Ting) (in Chinese)

Postgraduate Researcher, Asia Research Centre, Murdoch University, South Street, Murdoch, WA 6150. Fax: 9360 6381, Email: Teng.Tan@murdoch.edu.au