Serving culture in digestible sizes.

What is Cari Makna?

Cari Makna is a curated newsletter comprising curious, researched and refreshing observations of culture in Southeast Asia – without all the obscure academic jargon.

This newsletter explores diverse aspects of Southeast Asia in digestible ways – the quirky, the modern, the mythical, the interesting, the confusing. We comb through complex research and terminologies, so that you don’t have to.

Subscribers receive monthly round-up issues about culture in Southeast Asia, intersecting various aspects that include (but are not limited to): art, music, film, language, history, activism, and martial arts. Our newsletter does not pretend to know all the answers, but we hope it will help you probe on to uncover them yourself.

Why “Cari Makna”?

Malaysians and Indonesians use the phrase “cari makan” (lit. looking for food) to express one’s desire to quell hunger pangs, or to find something to feed on.

There is another meaning to this phrase. It can refer to the need for monetary gains, to earn a living, or to get by with a new job or in a new environment. When we cari makan, we travel across new territories and landscapes, whether physical and experiential, or via meandering conversations and mythical tales.

“Cari Makna”, on the other hand, means to search for meaning (yes it’s not a typo).

The deliberate pun and use of “makna” (meaning) instead of “makan” (food) indicates this newsletter’s aspirations: that is, to unearth deeper meanings in our region as we get by.

I’m hungry. How can I subscribe?

Every last Monday of the month, subscribers receive a free round-up issue called Sarapan Pagi. It will contain doses of Southeast Asia, with topics ranging music, films, languages, history, activism, martial arts.

This issue has launched on 27 July 2020. Read the first issue.

Ready to subscribe? Leave your email in the box below:

Who is behind Cari Makna?

I’m an eager writer who is curious about language, film and culture. I’ve lived and worked in different parts of Southeast Asia – namely Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, and Singapore. I love this region so much, I spent four years studying all about it! Still, I have questions to ask and continue to wonder whether Southeast Asia is truly a rose or a unicorn.

Want to geek out about Southeast Asia together? Let’s talk!

To find out more about the company that provides the tech for this newsletter, visit Substack.com.