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Neptune Blue opens outside the galaxy and quickly zooms into a computer-generated Paris, dancing past the planets as it goes. With poems that fizz with wit and invention, Simon Barraclough's new collection bursts with crazy hearts and boisterous planets. From the Sun to Pluto; from baby sharks in Miami to the forlorn dogs of Sri Lanka and the unlucky settlers of the imaginary Island of Schalansky; Neptune Blue sees Barraclough at his most playful and musical, dishing up a feast for the eyes, the ears, the heart and the mind.
The sun is our local star; the most important object in our lives. But what really powers it? And who are the sun's favourite painters? Simon Barraclough is your guide in this tour-de-force book of poetry. Sunspots condenses fact, fiction, myth, humour and emotion into a luminous meditation on the star that gives us life.
The health care system in Malaysia has undergone a fundamental transformation over the last two decades. This book examines this transformation and explores the pressing issues it faces today. It includes coverage of: the evolution of the system since independence, from the colonial legacy of national provision bequeathed from the British to the impact of the global ideological shift against statism in the 1980s considers the responses of the Malaysian state and government policy issues such as equity of provision, women's access to health care, HIV-AIDS health care, care for the elderly. The book offers a detailed examination of the changing face of health care in Malaysia, and its impact on Malaysian citizens, users and society.
From retro computer games and Hollywood blockbusters to the West Indian cricketer Brian Lara - no field of contemporary culture is safe from Simon Barraclough's sophisticated and inclusive vision.Bonjour Tetris presents seventeen new poems originally commissioned for radio programmes, anthologies and the opening of a concert hall. Both serious and playful, quirky and formal, these poems prove there's nothing ordinary about writing to order.
A woodcarving book devoted solely to magical little gnomes and other charming creatures! The perfect source of inspiration for beginning and experienced whittlers and carvers alike, Learn to Carve Gnomes, Trolls, and Mythical Creatures boasts a menagerie of 15 woodcarving projects that range in difficulty from easy to more challenging. With complete plans and step-by-step instructions and photography, carve charismatic characters and objects, from a mushroom house, unicorn, and gnome to a wizard, dragon, hedgehog, and much more. Sara Barraclough is a master carver and a regular contributor to Woodcarving Illustrated Magazine, as well as the author of the incredibly charming Weekend Whittling Projects.
In November 1915 Albert Einstein published his now world famous General Theory of Relativity. It introduced to physics new concepts such as the curvature of space-time and black holes, and it made extraordinary predictions about the bending of light around massive objects. I Am Because You Are is a timely collection of new fiction and non-fiction from novelists and science writers, all inspired by the theme of Relativity. Each contributor treats the subject in their own unique way. The results are charming, witty, sometimes challenging but always accessible, presenting complex science themes in imaginative, easy-to-understand and highly entertaining ways. Contributors include novelists Andrew Crumey, Dilys Rose and Neil Williamson, alongside popular science communicators Pedro Ferreira and Jo Dunkley. Edited by acclaimed, award-winning writers Pippa Goldschmidt and Tania Hershman, I Am Because You Are will be the perfect vehicle for both press and public to engage with this landmark centenary.
Why do some countries in the developing world achieve growth with equity, while others do not? If democracy is the supposed panacea for the developing world, why have Southeast Asian democracies had such uneven results? In exploring these questions, political scientist Erik Martinez Kuhonta argues that the realization of equitable development hinges heavily on strong institutions, particularly institutionalized political parties and cohesive interventionist states, and on moderate policy and ideology. The Institutional Imperative is framed as a structured and focused comparative-historical analysis of the politics of inequality in Malaysia and Thailand, but also includes comparisons with the Philippines and Vietnam. It shows how Malaysia and Vietnam have had the requisite institutional capacity and power to advance equitable development, while Thailand and the Philippines, because of weaker institutions, have not achieved the same levels of success. At its core, the book makes a forceful claim for the need for institutional power and institutional capacity to alleviate structural inequalities.
Islamization is commonly seen as the work of Islamist movements who have forced their ideology on ruling regimes and other hapless social actors. There is little doubt that ruling regimes and disparate social and political actors alike are pushed in the direction of Islamic politics by Islamist forces. However, Islamist activism and its revolutionary and utopian rhetoric only partly explain this trend. Here, Nasr argues that the state itself plays a key role in embedding Islam in the politics of Muslim countries. Focusing on Malaysia and Pakistan, Nasr argues that the turn to Islam is a facet of the state's drive to establish hegemony over society and expand its powers and control.