The Reading Group first started as a reading circle in August 2000. It was loosely formed by several friends who shared the same interest in reading and discoursing on critical issues. Throughout, the group engages in the intellectual and social dimensions of various issues and members are expected to present their ideas and subject their ideas to scrutiny.

The main aim of the discussions is to assess the understanding and grasp of certain ideas, in as much as it aims to train the articulation of ideas by our members. Currently, the group consists of members from various backgrounds who share the common interest in studying and discoursing on society and thought.

The thrust of our reading and discoursing takes in the form of a critical multi-disciplinary approach. Amongst the aims of our discoursing are:

• To have a critical appreciation of our Muslim intellectual traditions

• To be able to engage on contemporary discourses on Islam

• To inculcate a diagnostic and re-constructionist thinking

• To be able to address Malay intellectual and cultural identity,
vis-à-vis Malay thoughts on development