Rahmah Pauzi, b. 1990, came of age at the tail end of Malaysia’s ‘tiger economy’ – a pinnacle of growth and development in the 90s, a culmination of Malaysia’s post-colonial model of nationalism and capitalism.
Rahmah’s hometown
In many ways she was an ideal citizen – an ethnic Malay, a Muslim from a working class suburb of Kuala Lumpur, and a high achiever in the Malaysian education system. While still in highschool, she started participating in the PopIN – the Pop Information Network, an experimental publication highlighting internet culture for Malaysian youth. Her reward was a full scholarship for undergraduate and graduate education from the Malaysian government. She went off to the University of Massachusetts and studied Journalism.
PopIN Network
While studying in undergrad, she participated in several extra curricular activities – the Muslim and Journalism clubs. During her time back home in Malaysia, she started working on digital content with BFM 89.9, specifically the Sekilas lifestyle program for Malaysian youth and various radio programs.
Receiving another full scholarship from the Malaysian government, Rahmah went straight from undergrad into New York University’s News & Documentary graduate program to attain a Masters of Arts. There, she participated in internships with WNYC, Democracy Now, CNN and The Flaherty. After graduating she worked with Al Jazeera’s UpFront and the Foreign Policy Association’s Great Decisions.
Her graduate thesis was her first documentary, Welcome to Malaysia – a character piece on migrant laborers in Malaysia. She also worked as a researcher and cinematographer for The Kleptocrats – an investigative documentary highlighting corruption inMalaysia’s long-ruling party and the notorious 1MDB scandal.
In 2017, Rahmah returned to Malaysia after a decade in the United States.
This is when Rahmah’s career took a turn toward strategy. She came on as BFM (Business, Finance, Malaysia) 89.9’s Video Content Strategist & Producer – leading the radio station’s video team and managing the platform’s growing digital presence. Rahmah had opportunities to interview prominent Malaysian business people, politicians, and celebrities – creating content for Kuala Lumpur’s urban professionals.
After three years with BFM, Rahmah left to take on a similar role with IMAN Publications, an Islamic publisher. She grew the platform’s nascent video content, leading a more forward facing approach to social media – with regular live streams. After a year, she was promoted to Editor-in-Chief, leading the entire platform. In this role, Rahmah is guiding IMAN through the tricky life of a print publisher in the 21st century – growing new revenue streams, like events and the IMAN+ subscription service, and seeking to make IMAN into more of an institution in people’s lives.