Madasari, Okky Puspa

I would like to be a public intellectual or/and lecturer. I have published 10 best-selling books to date and a number of essays for various media. But to further enhance my knowledge and gain credibility in what I convey I have to pursue a PhD.

In general NUS is the number one university in ASIA, AND one of the world’s best universities, according any ranking organization, be it Times Higher Education or QS. In Social Sciences, especially in Southeast Asian studies or studies of particular country in Southeast Asia, I believe NUS is the world’s best.

The thesis examines how and why massive censorship, especially against cultural expression, is still happening in Indonesia even as the world’s biggest Muslim majority nation has successfully transformed itself into a democratic country, and even after it has managed to get rid of Suharto and his New Order Regime since 20 years ago. This thesis questions if the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in Indonesia directly or indirectly causes the rise of censorship, and if such rise of censorship further strengthens fundamentalism’s grip on the nation.

The fun part is that I have a number of invitation to speak in several seminar and festival in Singapore since I arrive last year.

After getting my Master’s degree in 2014, I just know what I want to do. As an already recognized novelist and essayist in my home country, I would like to complete myself to become a fiction writer and high-quality academic. But to further my study will be very expensive. Fortunately, with my credentials as a writer and my networking, I was offered a scholarship with NUS to pursue the PhD program with the Department of the Malay Studies in 2019.

The only challenge is the housing (flat or apartment), it’s just expensive.