Publishers and Impressarios Have Their Say

For the sake of comparison with the intellectuals, leading impressarios, publishers, and directors of newspapers were also interviewed. Chapter 10 features several of these influential gatekeepers of cultural and intellectual life: Encik Jain, an impressario and devout Hindu for whom India remained a reference point, who helped determine which international trends would reach Malaysian audiences; Datuk Muhammad, a publisher of Islamica and PAS politician who also was a prolific writer on religious topics; Datuk Abdul Rahman, urbane board chair who stood squarely in the cultural and political mainstream; and Haji Suleiman, newspaper publisher and businessman, who was an ardent anti-Communist with close ties to the prime minister. The chapter discusses the conservatism of this group and the correspondence in outlook and viewpoint between them and senior political leaders. It concludes by noting that the degree of correspondence varied, however; publishers and impressarios leaned conservative, but were not all like-minded.