ABSTRACT

This chapter examines the transnational commercial context in which the debates over human rights and democracy discussed in the Introduction occur. It elaborates the transnational composition of Malaysia's Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) and examines demands for democratic and human rights reform within this context. The Corridor plan is elaborated in detail. Attention is paid to how the plan fits into Malaysia's general industrial trajectory since independence. The chapter focuses on the transnational constitution of the plan. The role of foreign actors in the domestic legislative process is explored. Also, the extent to which the Corridor necessitates extra-corridor legislative action for its success is analyzed. The chapter demonstrates how the success of the MSC depends upon mobilizing domestic and transnational resources, financial, legal and otherwise. The largest investors in Malaysia were in order Japan, Taiwan, the US, Singapore and Hong Kong. The legal order of the MSC is transnationally conceived and subject-matter-based.