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LOCALCREATIVEKSATRIYADISCUSSESHISVISIONFORPENANGASANARTISTICHUB

EXCLUSIVEINTERVIEWWITHINDIEPHOTOGRAPHERANDMIXEDMEDIAARTISTNOQIZO

VOL1|THEINDIEISSUE

WEGOONANADVENTURE:THECOOLERLUMPURFESTIVAL

01

THERE

HELLO

I S S U E

First and foremost, I must welcome every new reader to our


fresh, fun, and fairly feminist magazine.
OurMISSION for this magazine is to inform, educate and
encourage the local masses regarding the humanities and artistic
ventures of local creatives.
OurVISION is for Bubblegum to become your go-to for the
best food for thought, giving you opinions and think pieces that
will last you for days to chew on.
In this issue, we talk about all things indie. From photographer
and mixed media artist Noah Kwek aka noqizo, to covering one
of the most exciting events Cooler Lumpur (whose theme this
year was independence), as well as a quick chat with one of my all
time favourite people Danny, who has been working hard on the
Penang Dream.
This is Bubblegum. I hope you enjoy.

erly
b
m
Ki
(editor-in-chief)

E D I T O R ' S

N O T E

BUBBLEGUM FEATURE

IN PURSUIT OF THE MEANING


OF INDEPENDENCE
The Cooler Lumpur Festival 2016 makes us dig
deeper and ask ourselves : what is independence ?
Bubblegum team
members Ayham and
Kimberly attended
the Cooler Lumpur
Festival

ooler Lumpur is all about


broadening horizons and making
people think. Sounds boring and
serious, but since its inception in
2013, Cooler Lumpur has time and
time again brought fresh, bright
minds to enlighten us and provide
the perspective and discourse our
country so often lacks.
Returning to Publika for its fourth
year, Cooler Lumpur sets to delve
into the concept of independence
and re-examine what it really means
for a person, a people, and a nation
to be truly independent.
This years theme RE:
Independence is aimed at driving

healthy discourse amongst communities,


on everything from independence in
nation-building, right down to
independence in our everyday lives, said
The Cooler Lumpur Festival co-founder
and Executive Director, Hardesh
Singh.
He continued, Amongst the concepts we
find intriguing is the paradox of
technology it automates so many of our
daily tasks so we can free up our
minds for other things, but most of us
urban dwellers are also slaves to our
mobile devices. In a simple example, we
have social media deciding what
we should see on our feeds, navigation
apps to tell us which route to take,
and soon enough we wont even need to

drive ourselves anymore. This


leads us to wonder :

If we cannot
function without
technology, does
this
mean we can
never truly be
independent? Or
will these
technologies
allow
us to in fact be
independent in
mind and spirit?"
"

BUBBLEGUM FEATURE

have never been another


person since my birth. I am
sitting in front of you, as God
made me. It's why I'm here."
Leyla Jagiella confidently states. Long, dark
hair and a posture that exudes confidence
and authority, Leyla has been a strong voice
in the search of feminist and trans-inclusive
Islam, hoping to find representation for every
one of her Muslim brothers and sisters
regardless of their sexual orientation and
gender identity. She is accompanied by
Joseph N. Goh, a lecturer in Gender Studies at
the School of Arts and Social
Sciences, Monash University Malaysia.
Together, they create a discourse on the
politicisation of Islam and finding
empowerment in intellectual freedom.
_____________________

eyla states that the division between


being trans and a member of religion as
a relatively modern and new phenomenon,
citing largely political reasons for the divide.
This comes as no surprise - religion has long
been used as a political tool to monopolise
countries and citizens, as well as a scapegoat
to incite war.

The same could be said for LGBTQI men and


women all over the world - they are used as
political and religious scapegoats to distract
from real issues, causing a rise in hate crime,
transphobia and violence.
Leyla tells us that she is unable to separate
her trans identity, her spirituality and her
Islam, whilst people are still struggling to
bring those aspects together.
Leyla reminds us that the Qur'an said we
were created from a single soul, so we have a
reality beyond binaries, that discrimination is
incompatible. She also points out that even
classical Muslim scholars did not always read
the story of Nabi Lut as simply as
homophobes do today.
The influence of a reductive understanding
of Islam is beginning to be a mainstream one,
effectively labeling inclusive interpretations of
Islam as a "liberal invention", while ignoring
and wiping out the traditional and inclusive
interpretations from the minds of the
masses.

TO BE A TRULY
SPIRITUAL
HUMAN BEING,
YOU HAVE TO
BE AUTHENTIC.

ecnednepednI :ER lavitseF rupmuL relooC | !sevisulcxe muelbbuB | eussi 6102 rebmetpeS

LEYLA JAGIELLA:

53 .p

An activist in the fields of progressive and inclusive Islam for the past few
years, Leyla is one of many speakers at this year's Cooler Lumpur Festival.
This year, they dig deep with the theme RE: Independence.

BUBBLEGUM FEATURE

SPIRITUALAWAKENINGS LeylaJagiella(right)speakstoJosephKohaboutherownpersonal
experiencesasanoncismaleMuslimandjourneytowardsspirituality,aswellasfromherresearchon
themoreinclusiveinterpretationsofIslamasareligion.

____________________
Authenticity

reation can be seen as a


process, instead of a fixed
initial event, a process driven
by the pursuit of
authenticity", Joseph Goh
suggests. And that bodes
well with the rhetoric that
the pursuit of authenticity
will lead to true spirituality.
Leyla talks about a certainty
in your own knowledge and
ownership of self as a way
spirituality can be a tool
against prejudicial practices.
She discusses her struggles
with donning the hijab,
ultimately deciding that faith

is an inherently individual thing,


and emphasises on the importance
of individual reflection. Losing the
individual focus makes one more
vulnerable to fear, which leads to
feeding the cycle of hate within the
community.

I think that God


does ask us to
struggle with
ourselves; it's
about seeking
authenticity, not
about torturing
ourselves."
"

Leyla Jagiella
____________________

Solidarity

s a closing, Leyla and


Joseph agree that solidarity
amongst the public and
creating the desire to
understand members of the
trans/ queer community is
the only way to prevent the
trans/ queer community
from becoming political or
religious scapegoats.
The pursuit of independence
is certainly not the journey of
a single person.

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