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Martin Vengadesan

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a shot of Martin Vengadesan
Martin Vengadesan

Martin Vengadesan (born 3 May 1973) is a Malaysian writer, musician and former editor.

He was news editor at The Star and associate editor at news portal Malaysiakini before taking up a role at the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission .[1][2]

He has written three books and recorded five albums. He was also a trade union leader and founding member of Malaysia’s ruling party Parti Keadilan Rakyat.

Early life and education

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Vengadesan was born in Helsinki, Finland in 1973, the son of former diplomat Ambassador Dato’ Ramanathan Vengadesan.[3] He grew up in nine countries across four continents including the USSR, Japan, Laos, Belgium, Thailand, Mali, Senegal and the USA.[1]

He returned to Malaysia to become an activist, journalist, musician and author.[4]

Career

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Long haired man
Vengadesan as a young Star journalist in 1996

Upon returning to Malaysia, he joined The Star in 1996 as a music journalist.[1]

He worked at The Star from 1996 to 2018 and specialised in historical and research-based articles on music and politics. [1] He also spent many years in the digital section as editor of The Star’s iPad app and news website, The Star Online.[5] He wrote two columns for The Star, ‘Music Myths & Legends’ (2002–2012) and ‘Watching The World’ (2013–2018), which touched on music history and world politics respectively. [1]

For two years, from 2005 to 2007, he was also a contributing editor and admin of popular music website Progarchives.com. [6]

As a journalist and editor he was involved in highlighting police brutality and custodial deaths, press freedom suppression, workers' rights, Orang Asli issues, decriminalising medical marijuana[7] and opposing the death penalty.[8]

Throughout his career, he also wrote against the race-based political parties that dominated Malaysia, and called for needs-based affirmative action and an end to the first-past-the-post political system.[9]

He was editor of Star i-Pad as it won a gold medal in tablet publishing at the Asian Digital Media Awards 2011, which was awarded by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).[10]

Vengadesan also helmed the Star Online as news editor when it won bronze for best newspaper website at the Asian Digital Media awards in 2013.[11]

In 2018, he represented Malaysia at the World Editors Roundtable held in Brussels, Belgium and cautioned against the possible misuse of fake news legislation.[12] He argued that the government of Najib Abdul Razak in Malaysia has passed the law to help clamp down on exposure of the 1MDB corruption scandal.[12]

Ten days after the fall of the Najib Razak-led government, Vengadesan spoke to investigative journalist Clare Rewcastle Brown, in an exclusive interview where she spoke about her struggles to expose the 1MDB scandal (for which the former prime minister was later jailed).[13]

He left the Star for Malaysiakini at the end of 2018. He served as associate editor for Malaysiakini from 2019 to 2024. In 2022, his multimedia story about the role of police brutality in custodial deaths called Death Behind Bars bagged a silver medal in the Excellence in Multimedia Journalism category at the Malaysian Press Institute and awards.[14][15] In 2023, he won the Best Columnist/Feature Writing Editor's category at the Malaysian Press Institute awards.[16]

Activism

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Vengadesan was a trade union official from 1998 to 2008, eventually becoming general treasurer of the National Union of Journalists, Malaysia.[17]

A socialist, he joined Parti Rakyat Malaysia in 1995, and was general secretary of its youth wing at the time of its merger with Parti Keadilan Nasional, during which he helped to write the new party's constitution. He specifically penned a clause calling for the replacement of race-based affirmative action with needs-based benefits.[18]

He was briefly a vice-president of the youth wing of the new entity Parti Keadilan Rakyat from 2003 to 2004.[19]

A student of left-wing history, he met and interviewed figures of the Communist Party of Malaya such as secretary-general Chin Peng,[20] chairperson Abdullah CD[21] and women's leader Shamsiah Fakeh.[22]

He also interviewed veteran leaders of the Parti Sosialis Rakyat Malaysia like Kassim Ahmad,[23] Syed Husin Ali[24] and Abdul Razak Ahmad, as well as Socialist Party of Malaysia leaders Mohd Nasir Hashim,[25] Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj[26] and S. Arutchelvan.[27]

Author

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Vengadesan shortly after publishing his third book in 2023

He co-authored the best-selling true crime book Malaysian Murders & Mysteries with fellow journalist Andrew Sagayam which was published in November, 2019.[28] Featuring stories on 42 of Malaysia’s most famous crimes, the book topped non-fiction sales charts and is now in its sixth print.[29][30][31]

Vengadesan’s second book was the absurdist dystopian science fiction novel Malaya 2057: A Thousand Moons Have Passed which was published in December, 2021.[32][33] A departure from his non-fiction literary works, it was an allegorical tale articulating his socialist, secular humanist view of the world.[34][35]

He published his third book 101 Albums You Need To Hear Before I Die in May, 2023.[36] It draws on his career as a music journalist including interviews/anecdotes with B. B. King, Carlos Santana, Phil Collins, Ginger Baker and Ravi Shankar.[37]

Music

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Vengadesan on keyboard

As a musician, Vengadesan recorded five albums in the folk-rock, psychedelic rock and progressive rock genres. Lyrically, the subject matter ranges from history to philosophy, religion to left wing politics.[38]

The first, entitled Spinning In Infinity, was with the group Samarkand with whom he performed at the large-scale rock festival Rock The World in March 2000. Its attendant single Thirty Pieces Of Silver was a top 10 hit on the Hitz FM charts in 2002.

The other four albums were with his recording project The Stalemate Factor.[39]

Based on a chess theme, the albums are entitled The Queen’s Gambit (2018), The Bishop’s Sacrifice (2019), The Knight’s Flight (2020) and The Rook’s Siege (2023).[40][41]

Personal life

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He has three children Elesh Sebastien (b.1997), Ekath Fidel (b.2003) and I-Shan Esther Christie (2005-2023). His daughter I-Shan was a budding musician who died aged 18, in June 2023.[42] Her band Faye Faire released a posthumous album, In My Mind on February 15, 2024, which contained five of her songs.[43]

Bibliography

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  • Malaysian Murders and Mysteries (with Andrew Sagayam) (2019) ISBN 9789814868556
  • Malaya 2057: A Thousand Moons Have Passed (2021) ISBN 9789672438144
  • 101 Albums You Need To Hear Before I Die (2023) ISBN 9789670042640

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Sathiabalan, Indra (3 May 2023). "Vengadesan reflects on soundtrack of his life with third book". Malaysiakini.
  2. ^ "Announcement on Malaysiakini's restructuring plan". Malaysiakini. 11 October 2024. Retrieved 10 December 2024.
  3. ^ Nadia, Alena (25 June 2022). "Memoirs of a Malaysian diplomat". Malaysiakini.
  4. ^ Vengadesan, Martin (9 May 2023). "Telum Talks To… Martin Vengadesan, Associate Editor at Malaysiakini". Telum Media (Interview).
  5. ^ "Martin Vengadesan". MarshallCavendish.com.
  6. ^ https://www.progarchives.com/Collaborators.asp?id=882
  7. ^ Vengadesan, Martin. "All up in smoke". The Star.
  8. ^ Martin Vengadesan; T. AvineSshwaranrep. "Lock-up deaths: Surendran speaks out". The Star.
  9. ^ Vengadesan, Martin (16 June 2023). "COMMENT | Going in circles - who can save us from ourselves?". Malaysiakini.
  10. ^ Edwards, Audrey; Yoke Teng, Yip. "Star Publications bags two golds and a bronze at Asian awards". The Star.
  11. ^ Brown, Victoria. "The Star Online bags bronze medal at Asian Digital Media Awards". The Star.
  12. ^ a b Participant biographies asef.org October 2020
  13. ^ "Exclusive: Clare Rewcastle Brown on 1MDB and new Malaysia". Dailymotion. 21 May 2018. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  14. ^ "Malaysiakini bags three silver prizes at MPI media awards". Malaysiakini. 24 June 2022.
  15. ^ Keng, Kuek Ser Kuang (16 March 2022). "Death Behind Bars – The forgotten faces who succumbed to brutality". The Sigma Awards. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  16. ^ Mohd, Hariz (9 June 2023). "Malaysiakini, Kini News Lab bag journalism awards again". Malaysiakini.
  17. ^ "Contesting the NUJ". 19 September 2008. Archived from the original on 10 May 2023.
  18. ^ Lee, Kow Gah Chie & Annabelle (26 July 2019). "Anwar wants to speed up needs-based affirmative action". Malaysiakini.
  19. ^ Vengadesan, Martin (24 June 2019). "Saudara Zul died yesterday – he never gave up his struggle". Malaysiakini.
  20. ^ VENGADESAN, MARTIN. "Chin Peng and I". The Star. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  21. ^ Vengadesan, Martin (1 October 2023). "COMMENT | Happy birthday to forgotten Malay Marxist centenarian". Malaysiakini. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  22. ^ "To exile and back again". The Malaysian Bar. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  23. ^ VENGADESAN, MARTIN. "For the love of the common people". The Star. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  24. ^ Vengadesan, Martin (23 September 2021). "Syed Husin remembers #1: Merdeka-era leaders lost to the nation". Malaysiakini. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  25. ^ VENGADESAN, MARTIN. "Prominent activists due in town for December's Socialism 2018 forum". The Star. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  26. ^ Vengadesan, Martin (16 July 2019). "Red doctor at the helm of PSM - 'It's time to reach out'". Malaysiakini. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  27. ^ Vengadesan, Martin (1 September 2023). "Despite election drubbing, PSM to pursue Muda team-up". Malaysiakini. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  28. ^ Vengadesan, Martin; Sagayam, Andrew (15 November 2019). Malaysian Murders and Mysteries:A century of shocking cases that gripped the nation. Marshall Cavendish. ISBN 978-981-4868-82-2.
  29. ^ Sathiabalan, S. Indra. "Behind the headlines". The Sun Daily.
  30. ^ "Murder they wrote — An exciting new book on Malaysian murders and mysteries!". New Straits Times.
  31. ^ Tong, Geraldine (12 November 2019). "Crimes that shook the nation: A gruesome trip down memory lane". Malaysiakini.
  32. ^ "Local author shares bleak future in 'Malaya 2057'". Free Malaysia Today.
  33. ^ "Malaya 2057: Author Martin Vengadesan dreams up a dystopian future for Malaysia". New Straits Times.
  34. ^ Tong, Geraldine (23 December 2021). "'Malaya 2057' - Visions of a futuristic, dystopian Malaysia". Malaysiakini.
  35. ^ "Malaya 2057 – a dystopian vision of the future | Books". The Vibes.
  36. ^ "A Malaysian's guide to the best albums ever". Free Malaysia Today.
  37. ^ "From creepy music that drives people to suicide to a bitter band break-up, the stories behind great music are intriguing!". New Straits Times.
  38. ^ Cheema, Sukhbir (5 March 2024). "Malaysian Journalist Creates Music For 30 Years Inspired By Politics, Philosophy & Family".
  39. ^ Cheang, Michael. "Martin Vengadesan's band of newsmen record a 'Queen's Gambit' album". The Star.
  40. ^ "Leftist music by Martin Vengadesan and the Stalemate Factor". 21 December 2020.
  41. ^ "Malaysiakini's Martin Vengadesan releases psychedelic rock CD". Malaysiakini. 3 December 2020.
  42. ^ Lifestyle, Terence Toh @ FMT (23 February 2024). "Faye Faire's new music honours a friend gone too soon". Free Malaysia Today. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  43. ^ Chua, Dennis (2 March 2024). "#Showbiz: Legacy of love | New Straits Times". NST Online. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
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