New Arrivals at The Penang Bookshelf in December 2019

New Arrivals at The Penang Bookshelf

in

December 2019

(Last Updated 21-12-19)

• Each book advertised below includes a brief description of its contents and condition as well as the price in Malaysian Ringgit. If you want a fuller description of a used book's condition, to look at the scanned contents page, if any, and/or to find out the price in USD, please click on the link in blue for the relevant book. 
• If you click on a link after the current month and find nothing, the book's been sold.  
• Of course, if you want to buy anything you see here, you can either do so from the site or contact me at penangbookshelf@gmail.com. 
• This page will be updated constantly until the end of the month.
• The prices shown here hold good for at least this month, but for out of print books, the prices may change in subsequent months.
• All prices include free postage to anywhere in Malaysia. 
• Orders for Brunei and Singapore also shipped free, where the order weighs more than 3 kg. Other orders from established customers in both countries will also be shipped free, whatever the weight, when ordered through The Penang Bookshelf website.

Malaysia & Singapore - Biography & Memoirs

In the Best of Company: Postcards from the Hajj - Mike Gibby   RM60

This book is basically a journal of the first Hajj pilgrimage undertaken by a British convert to Islam. For company he not only has his fellow pilgrims, or Hajjis, but also fifteen other Hajjis, both converts like him and Muslims by birth, ranging from the 11th to the 20th centuries, who have made the same pilgrimage in the past and kept journals as well. As Gibby goes through the rituals he compares notes with his literary companions to give a rounded picture of the whole experience. New Hardback. First Edition. 142 pages with several colour and black and white photographs. 




Lim Lian Geok: Soul of the Malaysian Chinese - Kua Kia Soong (editor)  RM50

This is a tribute to a significant advocate for the right of different language groups in Malaysia to be taught in their mother tongue. He was a key spokesman for the Chinese community in pre-independence constitutional talks. However he ran up against the new country's rulers, being stripped of his citizenship and teacher's licence, when he opposed Government plans to restrict their funding of education to schools in the Malay and English languages. Nevertheless he was accorded the title "Soul of the Malaysian Chinese" by his community in recognition of his unstinting efforts in education, civil rights and nation building. The book includes a biography, a selection of speeches and a collection of black and white photographs. New Paperback First Edition 192 pages. 

Redoubtable Reformer: The Life and Times of Cheah Cheang Lim - Cooray & Nasution   RM50

This is a two book in two parts. The first 67 pages are a biography of Cheah Cheang Lim written in the 1930s with the cooperation of the subject. This is followed by an essay of similar length by Khoo Salma Nasution setting the subject within his historical and social context. Cheah was a noted Straits Chinese tin mine owner, rubber planter and philanthropist and politician in the first half of the 20th century. 225 pages with appendices, a bibliography and an index as well as a Foreword by Khoo Kay Kim. Fine Hardback. First Edition





Six Years in the Malay Jungle - Carveth Wells  RM50

A no nonsense account of a young man's experiences as a surveyor for roads and railways in Kedah and Kelantan between 1913 and 1918. Wells was an entertaining and observant writer mixing stories of recipes for gin slings with lots of information on the flora and fauna, much of which he presumably had to clear out of his way to get his job done. Good Paperback Reprint Originally published in 1925 255 pages with a bibliography.





Tidemarks: Some Records of a Journey to the Beaches of the Moluccas and the Forest of Malaya in 1923 - HM Tomlinson  RM60

A journalist's account of his travels around Malaya in the 1920s. 311 pages. Good Hardback. Reprint. Originally published in 1924 










The Life of Sir James Brooke: Rajah of Sarawak From His Personal Papers and Correspondence - Spencer St. John   RM280

St. John based this biography of his former employer both on their experiences of working together and Brooke's personal papers entrusted to St. John before Brooke's death. Brooke intended St. John to be his official biographer and this remains the only complete contemporaneous account of Brooke's time in Sarawak. Very Good Hardback in a Very Good Dust Jacket. Reprint. Originally published in 1879. With an introduction by RHW Reece. 406 pages 

William Shellabear: A Biography - Robert Hunt  RM150

Shellabear began his long association with Malays and their culture after making friends with Malays while stationed as a soldier in Singapore at the end of the 19th century. The experience transformed him into a passionate Methodist missionary, a pacifist and a renowned Malay and Islamic scholar. Although his mission was to convert Malays from Islam to Christianity, he did so not by criticising Islam, but by treating it with the most profound respect. He gave freely of his scholarship by promoting classical Malay literature to be a foundation of a Malay culture that could continue to flower despite the growing encroachments of Westernising influences in the country. This biography brings to light the triumphs and tribulations of a man, now forgotten by many, to whom the country owes a great debt. 373 pages including a bibliography and an index.Near Fine Paperback First Edition 

Borneo

Labuan Story - The Story of a Small Island Near The Coast of Borneo - Maxwell Hall   RM150

Hall, was a British colonial officer who saw fifty years' service with the North Borneo Chartered Company and wrote several books on Borneo's past. Here he turns his attention to the history of a strategic island off the island of Borneo which was wrested from the Brunei Sultanate by the the British in the mid 19th century. After passing between the British Government and various colonial proxies, it is now a Federal Territory of Malaysia. Near Fine Paperback. Reprint. Originally published in 1958 . 216 pages. For further details, please see the scanned contents page. 




Sarawak Long Ago - WJ Chater   RM120

A scattered collection of accounts of Sarawak history, mainly during the Brooke period. Very Good Paperback. First Edition. 120 pages. For further details, please see the scanned contents page. 










Tabin Wildlife Reserve - Ghazally Ismail (editor)   RM70

A collection of contributions on the geology, rivers and streams, flora and other plants, birds, mammals, including endangered species, and insects in a reserve in Sabah, Borneo, created principally to preserve its diverse wild life. Near Fine Paperback. First Edition. 122 pages with a few colour photographs and tables.







The Gardens of the Sun A Naturalist's Journal of Borneo and the Sulu Archipelago - F. W. Burbidge  RM60

Although Burbidge was mainly interested in collecting new plants during his late 19th century travels in Borneo and Sulu, he also enjoyed his encounters with people he met and took trouble to record his experiences. Very Good Paperback. Reprint. Originally published in 1880. 364 pages with 26 engraved plates.







The Prehistory of Bukit Tengkorak as a Major Pottery Making Site - Stephen Chia  RM120

An account of the author's archaeological research carried out to determine the extent and nature of pottery making that was carried out in and around Bukit Tengkorak in modern Sabah between about 4500 and 50 BC. Inter alia, Chia contends that the products from the site were traded throughout the Malay Archipelago. 157 pages with tables maps and colour photographs. As New Paperback First Edition  

Una Missione in Terra D'Islam Borneo Labuan e Brunei, 1856-1860 - Viginio Cognoli  RM120

This is a review in Italian of documents at the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions relating to the efforts of Don Carlos Cuarteron  and  the Fathers Antonio Riva of Lecco  and Ignazio Borgazzi of Milan to establish a Roman Catholic Mission in Borneo. Very Good First Edition Paperback. 124 pages with an index. 

Malaysia & Singapore - Chinese Community & Culture

Chinese Names - Russell Jones   RM100

The author carried out research for this work in Penang between 1957 and 1959. For its 84 pages the work is quite extensive covering such aspects as the components of names,variations in these, characters used, Western spellings and the changing of names. The work mainly concentrates on names used in Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien and Teochew Good Paperback. First Edition. 






Malaysian Chinese: An Inclusive Society - Centre for Malaysian Chinese Studies  RM60

A collection of papers by several distinguished Malaysian Chinese academics stressing the diversity of the community today. New Paperback First Edition 158 pages. For further details, please see the scanned contents page.









One Hundred Years' History of the Chinese in Singapore - Song Ong Siang   RM900

Originally published in 1923 to celebrate the first centenary of the founding of Singapore, painstakingly enumerated nearly a century ago, need updating. Song was a 'King's Chinese' from an anglicised Straits Chinese family loyal to the British Crown as is evident in the book. Each chapter of the book is dedicated to a decade of the city's history from 1819 onwards. The book's 602 pages contain several black and white photographs. Good Hardback in a Good Dust Jacket. Reprint  






Pickering: Protector of Chinese - RN Jackson  RM80

Chinese immigrant labourers and traders was essential ingredients for the development of Malaya and Singapore under the British. It is therefore surprising that William Alexander Pickering was reportedly the first European official who could speak both Mandarin and Hokkien fluently, although he arrived in the colony almost a century after the establishment of Penang, which began the British expansion in the area. This biography mainly covers his important role as the first Protector of Chinese, from 1876 to his retirement in 1889, when he was responsible for a considerable improvement in relations between the colonial Government and their Chinese subjects. Very Good Hardback. First Edition 127 pages with a bibliography and a few black and white plates. 

The Cultural Ecology of a Chinese Village, Cameron Highlands, Malaysia - James D Clarkson   RM80

This is a study of the social and economic system the author found amongst Chinese vegetable growers in the Bertram Valley in the Cameron Highlands. He also looks at the support for and conflicts encountered by the community within Malaysian society as a whole. Very Good Hardback. First Edition. 174 pages.







The Politics of Chinese Education in Malaya, 1945-1961 - Tan Liok Ee  RM300

At the time of the publication of this book, Malaysia held a unique position in Southeast Asia in that it was the only country where it was possible to be educated entirely in Mandarin Chinese. Even Singapore's schools at the time were not so completely given over to a Mandarin education as complete as Malaysia's. This book traces how such a situation arose and was established up to the early years of Malaya's independence. Despite perceptions that the system is under threat, it still flourishes in the 21st century and is increasingly attracting children from the other two main communities, the Malays and Indians, whose own school systems are often viewed to be inferior. Near Fine Hardback. First Edition. 352 pages with tables 30 black and white plates, a bibliography and an index

Malaysia & Singapore - Cinema, Dance, Music & Theatre

Music and Memory - Gisa Jänichen & Julia Chieng (eds)   RM80

This is a collection of fifteen studies into the relationship between music and memory. The contributors, with both musicological and psychological backgrounds, present the results of their research into various forms of music - Eastern, Western, classical and popular -  demonstrating the variety of the links between music and memory. New Paperback. Reprint. Originally published in 2012. CD Included. 231 pages with an index.

Malaysia & Singapore - Cooking & Food

Traditional Malaysian Cuisine - Faizah Omar & Others   RM60

A collection of Malaysian recipes from the Malay, Chinese, Indian, Nyonya and Eurasian traditions. Good Paperback Reprint. Originally published in 1983.

Malaysia & Singapore - Environment, Nature & Wildlife

Coral Reefs of Malaysia - Ho Soon Lin   RM60

The author, a biochemist, marine scientist and experienced photographer, spent most of his leisure hours on Malaysia's varied coral reefs. This book is the culmination of years of study where he introduces the reader, through informative text and a wealth of colour photographs, to just about everything one needs to know about a little recorded aspect of Malaysia's natural beauty. Near Fine Hardback in a Very Good Dust Jacket. First Edition. 196 pages with a bibliography and an index.




Malayan Nature Journal Vol XI. 1-4 (1956-7) & Vol XII. 1-4 (1957-8)  RM400

A collection of eight issues of the journal, Malayan Nature Journal Vol XI. 1-4  (1956-7) & Vol XII. 1-4 (1957-8), rebound as a hard back. Laid into the book is also an index for Volume XII. Very Good Hardback. 354 pages with several black and white plates and line drawings. For further details, please see the scanned contents pages of the first four issues in this volume. Similar scans of the contents pages of the remaining four issues are available on request. 





Malayan Nature Journal Vol XIII. 1-4 (1958-9) & Vol XIV. 1-4 (1959-60)    RM400

A collection of eight issues of the journal, Malayan Nature Journal Vol. XIII. 1-4  (1958-9) & Vol. XIV. 1-4 (1959-60), rebound as a hard back. Laid into the book is also an index for both volumes. Very Good Hardback. 477 pages with several black and white plates and line drawings. For further details, please see the scanned contents pages of the first four issues in this volume. Similar scans of the contents pages of the remaining four issues are available on request. The indices for both volumes are laid in.




Malayan Nature Journal Vol XVII. 1-4 (1963) & Vol XVIII. 1-4 (1964)   RM400

A collection of eight issues of the journal, Malayan Nature Journal Vol. XVII. 1-4  (1963) & Vol. XVIII. 1-4 (1964), rebound as a hard back. Laid into the book is an signed article by KL Wells, 'A Note of Birds at Grik, Upper Perak" from a 1957 issue of the journal. Very Good Hardback. 508 pages with several black and white plates and line drawings. For further details, please see the scanned contents pages of three issues in this volume. Similar scans of the contents pages of the remaining five issues are available on request. 


Mountains of Malaysia: A Practical Guide and Manual - John Briggs   RM120

Although Malaysia has no mountains with snow, it has hundreds of high mountains. Kinabalu rises to the height of the Tibetan plateau and Low's Peak is higher than Lhasa. The author sets out a very detailed guide for both amateurs, botanists and seasoned rock climbers with details of tracks to follow and suitable equipment to use. 228 pages. Please see the scan of the contents page for further details. Good First Edition Paperback 






Selected Nature Trails of Penang Island – Malaysian Nature Society  RM120

Although the visitor to Penang may find this difficult to believe, there are still significant parts of the island which are either forested or given over to agriculture. This book of 18 trails was put together by dedicated walkers in the 1990s to introduce others to the greener parts of Penang. Very Good Paperback Second Edition. A slightly larger first edition was published in 1991 103 pages with two appendices, including one on how to deal with dangerous creatures and plants






The Birds of the Malay Peninsula, Singapore, and Penang - A G Glenister  RM90

This guide contains details of all the known species in the Malaysian/Thailand peninsula when the book was originally issued in 1951. Not only does it contain simple identification help in the text but also coloured plates of most of the species and line drawings of the remainder. Please see the scan of the contents page for further details.282 pages. Good Hardback in a Good Dust Jacket First Edition







The Natural and Other Histories of Batu Caves - Shaharin Yussof   RM100

The author, an inveterate caver, takes the reader on a tour of the caves in Bukit Batu, known collectively as the Batu Caves, near Kuala Lumpur. He concentrates particularly on the caves which are not regularly frequented by tourists, the Dark Caves, also describing the invertebrate fauna of the caves. Very Good Paperback. First Edition 55 pages with an additional 45 colour plates at the end of the book. For further details, please see the scanned contents page.





Waterfalls of Malaysia  RM100

A pictorial guide to 114 waterfalls to be found in Malaysia together with maps and many colour photographs. Very Good Hardback in a Very Good Dust Jacket. First Edition. 181 pages. 

Malaysia & Singapore - Fiction

Bloodwood – Gillian Bradshaw   RM50

This story follows the attempts of a whistle blower, working for a furniture company, to expose the dirty world of illegal logging. She's terminally ill so she's prepared to risk all, despite the influential forces she upsets, to uncover the truth. 184 pages. Good Hardback in a Good Dust Jacket 







Cyberpunk Malaysia - Zen Cho (ed)   RM70

A collection of Malaysian short stories with Malaysian sci-fi themes. 330 pages. For a list of contributing authors, please see the scanned back cover New paperback. First Edition









Di-Bawah Lembayong Senja - Abu Talib Mahmud   RM150

A novel in Malay aimed primarily at a female readership. Very Good Paperback. First Edition. 202 pages. 










In a Corner of Asia: Being Tales and Impressions of Men and Things in the Malay Peninsula - Hugh Clifford    RM220

A collection of short stories written by the author, a British colonial officer, illustrating a way of Malayan life that he saw fast disappearing. Written between 1896 and 1899. Very Good Hardback in a Good Dust Jacket. Reprint  Please see the scan of the contents page for further details. 252 pages. 







Stories - Hugh Clifford   RM150

A selection of Hugh Clifford's stories of life in Malaya selected by and with an introduction from William Roff. Very Good Hardback in a Very Good Dust Jacket. Reprint. 225 pages For further details, please see the scanned contents page.









The Devil's Garden - Nigel Barley  RM50

Barley's latest novel stays in his familiar territory of Singapore, this time during World War II. The story is based on actual, but  little known, happenings at Singapore's botanical gardens, where British scientists, together with their Japanese counterparts, continued to work in an uneasy relationship. Barley highlights the tensions between the tranquility of the gardens and the misery in the world beyond the garden gates with flashes of wit and a senitive style. Very Good Paperback First Edition 249 pages.

Malaysia & Singapore - Health & Medicine

Therapeutic Exercises for Stiff Joints and Muscles Ache - Mah Chai Soon   RM60

Another in the ambitious contribution to the University of Malaya project on the culture of healing in Malaysia. The author, an experienced practitioner in Wu Chu Chuan Wu Chi Chuan and therapeutic exercises, concentrates here in nine chapters on  a range of remedies for problems with the main joints of the body from the jaw to the feet.  The tenth chapter has recommended exercises for the healthy. The author is also a professional artist, so the exercises are well illustrated with line drawings. 175 pages. New Paperback. First Edition. 



Wu Chu Chuan Wu Chi Chuan and Therapeutic Exercises - Mah Chai Soon   RM70

 In 1991 Professor Roland Werner together with the University of Malaya Press started their ambitious project to record  practices of healing prevalent in Malaysia in the Malay, Chinese, Indian and Indigenous  Cultures. This work on the role of Chinese martial arts in personal healing is the first of a planned eleven volumes for the Chinese section of the series.The exercises are explained by detailed written and graphic illustrations. The benefits of each exercise are also detailed. 336 pages. New Paperback First Edition

Malaysia & Singapore - History

Christian Cemeteries of Penang and Perak - Alan Harfield  RM250

In this record, Harfield has transcribed details from all the legible grave stones and, in many cases, added brief biographical details of those buried in these graveyards. Very Good Paperback. First Edition. Signed by the Author. 195 pages. For further details, please see the scanned contents page.








Malaya - The Straits Settlements and The Federated and Unfederated Malay States - RO Winstedt (ed)   RM400

This book sets out to be a scholarly survey of Malaya and its peoples between the two world wars. There are chapters on the flora and fauna, geography, the different races, languages and literature, the arts, the economy, history, government structure and the country's celebrities at the the time. Very Good Hardback. First Edition. 280 pages with a fold out map, 91 black and white plates, a bibliography and an index.







What Your Teacher Didn't Tell You - Farish A Noor  RM180

Noor, who has been dubbed as 'Malaysia's hippiest intellectual' demonstrates his wide ranging intellect as well capacity to inform and entertain in this collection of lectures. The chapter titles alone are enough to make one want to read further. Contents 1 - Pity the Poor Keris  (The Transcultural Origins of the Keris and How it was turned into an Ethno-Nationalist Marker), 2 - The Lost Tribes of Malaysia ( The Construction of Race Politics From Colonial Era to the Present), 3 - Of Rajas, Maharajas, Dewarajas and the Kerajaan ( Four Thousand Years of Feudal Politics from Majapahit to Malaysia Today), 4 - From Pigafetta to Panji (Revisiting the History of Sexuality in Southeast Asia in the Hikayat Panji Semirang), 5 - The Red Green Alliance ( The 'Left-Leaning Years'of the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), 6 - Hang Tuah The Pacifisct (Deconstructing Our National Hero) and an extensive biography. Near Fine Paperback Reprint 287 pages. 

Malaysia & Singapore History (Pre-18th Century)

The Study of Ancient Times in The Malay Peninsula and Straits of Malacca - Ronald Braddell  RM400

This a reprint of articles by Braddell on the early history of the peninsula previously published, between 1935 and 1951, in the Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. The book also includes notes by FW Douglas on The Historical Geography of Malaya and Sidelights on the Malay Annals. 515 pages. For further details, please see the scanned contents page. Very Good Hardback. Reprint 

Malaysia & Singapore - History (19th Century)

Footprints in Malaya - Frank Athelstane Swettenham   RM500

The book is mainly a justification of the British Government's 'reluctant decision to take a hand' in the Malay sultanates from the late 19th century onwards. In doing so, the author, the first Resident General of the Federated Malay States, provides a first hand account of the reasoning behind the decision, backed up by an extensive historical and ground knowledge. Good Hardback. First Edition 176 pages with 33 black and white plates Please see the scan of the contents page for further details.

Malaysia & Singapore - Language & Linguistics

Interactional Orderliness and Disorderliness in the Malaysian Parliament - David Yoong  RM90

A fascinating study by a sociolinguist of the communication practices of Malaysian Members of Parliament during Question Time during the parliamentary sessions. His detailed analysis shows how communication is governed not only by everyday experiences of dialogue, but also by parliamentary rules and procedure. What is acceptable and what is not in these interactions? Yoong has developed a framework to help determine this, a framework which he suggests could be used in social interactions in other settings. New Paperback First Edition. 375 pages. For further details, please see the scanned contents page.

Malaysia & Singapore - Malay Community & Culture

Bahasa Ber'adat - Sa'ad Shukry  RM180

An interesting collection of Malay expressions from all over the Archipelago relating to religion, forms of address and every day speech. The book is in Malay. Very Good First Edition. Paperback. 73 pages









Malay Secret Societies in the Northern Malay States, 1821-1940 - Mahani Musa  RM150

This is the first publication of a translation from Malay of Ms Mahani's study of a neglected area of society in Malaya during the 19th and 20th centuries, i.e. Malay secret societies mainly focussed on social and religious life of the time. Much of the work concentrates on Penang and the links between these societies and similar Chinese societies and the then Shi'ah influence which is not so prevalent today. The Contents of the 185 pages include 1 - Introduction, 2 - The Kedah-Siam War and the Creation of a Migrant Community in Penang and Province Wellesley, 3 - Social Change in Penang and the Emergence of the White Flag and Red Flag Secret Societies, 1830s to 1860s, 4 - The 1867 Penang Riots, 5 - The White Flag and the Red Flag up to the 1940s, 6 - Secret Societies in Perak, Kedah and Perlis, 7 - Conclusion, a Bibliography and three Appendices.     New Hardback. First Edition     


The Legacy of the Malay Letter/ Warisan Warkah Melayu - Annabel Teh Gallop   RM700

This really is a beautiful book evoking the courtly style of Malay letter writing that changed little during the period between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries from which the examples in this book are taken. There are 210 colour and 32 black and white illustrations and scholarly transliterations of 100 of the letters. The book is bilingual in English and Malay, contains an essay by E. Ulrich Katz and is far from being just a picture book. 240 pages.Near Fine Hardback in a Very Good Dust Jacket. First Edition  

Malaysia & Singapore - Miscellaneous

Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society XVIII Part II, August 1940  RM200

155 pages with several black and white plates, line drawings and maps. Please see the scan of the contents page for further details. Very Good Paperback First Edition 

Malaysia & Singapore - Numismatics

Tin 'Hat' and Animal Money - William Shaw & Mohd Kassim Haji Ali   RM70

When Europeans first started taking an interest in the Malay Peninsula from the 16th century onwards they discovered that the principal currencies used in the sultanates were either blocks or coins of tin where the value of the currency was considered generally to be equal to the value of the ore used. In this book the authors explain the history of the currency and give examples of various types used. 17 pages with a further 9 pages of plates and a bibliography. Very Good Paperback First Edition

Penang

Contested Space Revisited: George Town, Penang, Before and After UNESCO World Heritage Listing - Gwynn Jenkins  RM100

This book is arguably the most comprehensive account of the process that lead to Penang's UNESCO World Heritage listing followed by a a thorough examination of the listing's effect on the area a decade later. This edition of the book has updated until 2018 the previous published ten years earlier. New Paperback. Second Edition. 446 pages with 129 black and white and colour photographs and figures. For further details, please see the scanned contents page. 






Past Particles in Penang - Kate Sanderson  RM50

This is a bluff and amusing account of life inside the Penang Resident Commissioner's office from 1954 until Malaysia's independence three years later. As the Commissioner's Private Secretary her cheery outlook on life enabled her to take colonial bureaucracy, the tension of the Emergency and organising social events for VIPs in her stride. 212 pages. Near Fine Paperback 







Penang Hill: The Need to Save Our Natural Heritage - Friends of Penang Hill  RM100

Like many other places in the world, Penang struggles to find the appropriate balance between 'development' and preserving its green spaces. One of the most significant areas of natural beauty is Penang Hill, the highest point on the island. This book was prepared by opponents of a major development there that was proposed in 1990. The authors not only set out the natural features of the area, its legal status and its benefit to the community, but also critique the proposal and suggest alternatives. Very Good Paperback. First Edition. 151 pages with both black and white and colour photographs.





The Battle of Penang - JR Robertson   RM200

Although the exploits of the German cruiser Emden during World War I in the Far East are beginning to be forgotten by many, this is not the first book written about the havoc amongst Allied shipping wreaked by the Emden at the time. However this book is able to throw new light on the debacle amongst the allied fleet at Penang because, for the first time, information from French and Russian archives has been included. 318 pages including black and white plates, notes, a bibliography and an index.  Near Fine Paperback. Second Edition. Originally published in 2012. There have been some minor corrections included in this edition

Malaysia & Singapore - Poetry

Contouring - Heng Siok Thian  RM80

This is the third collection of poems by Heng Siok Thian, who has been part of the Singapore literary scene as a poet, playwright and short story writer for a couple of decades. The noted Singaporean poet, Edwin Thumboo, describes her poetry as having  “a desire to see beneath the skin, but with decorum”, and that her poetry has a “suppleness and precision [that] regularly take[s] it below the surface and beyond the confines of event and experience” Near Fine Paperback. First Edition. 44 pages

Malaysia & Singapore - Religion

Islam and the Malay-Indonesian World: Transmission and Responses - Peter Riddell   RM70

Riddell argues in his introduction that although much has been written about the arrival of Islam in Indonesia and Malaysia and its development through to the revivalist period of the 1970s and 80s, much of such scholarship in English does not pay very much attention to the religious aspects of Islam .He therefore traces the theological ebbs and flows throughout its history in the region to redress this gap in Islamic scholarship. 349 pages. The contents include the following chapters Islamic Scholarship and Textual Materials, Doctrines and Debates: The Place of Revelation, Exegesis of the Qur'an, Law and Stories, Mystical Belief and Practice, 20th Century Islamic Reformism and Revolution, The 16th and 17th Centuries: Sufis in Conflict, Early Malay Qur'anic Exegetical Activity, The 18th and 19th Centuries: From Sufism to Reform, Malay Islamic Thought (1900-1998), Exegisis in Modern Southeast Asia, Perspectives on Popular Preaching (1983-98).There is also a bibliography and an index.  Fine Paperback Reprint 

Terengganu

Socio-Historical Development of the Kampung Cina Settlement in Kuala Terengganu - Tan Yao Sua & Kamarudin Ngah   RM50

Although Terengganu is a predominantly Malay state, its position on the East coast of Malaysia has meant that the area has had long connections with Chinese traders. Although the authors knew that the first record of a strong Chinese settlement there came from the 18th century, they wanted to dig further into the historical roots of this isolated bastion of Chinese culture. This book presents the results of their researches. New Paperback. First Edition 103 pages with 60 black and white photos, a list of references and an index.

Malaysia & Singapore - World War II

Revisiting the Death Railway: The Survivors' Accounts - Sasidaran Sellappah  RM50

This book is unusual among accounts of the Japanese occupation of Malaya as it is made up entirely of accounts of Asians caught up in the building of the Burma-Siam Railway. It is often forgotten that five times as many Asian labourers died on the railway compared to Allied POW deaths there, but the Asians were generally illiterate so that their voices were seldom heard. The author manages to fill that gap through interviews with elderly survivors. New Paperback. First Edition. 148 pages with a bibliography, index and several black and white plates. 

Asia

The Spice Route A History - John Keay   RM50

John Keay, in his usual all encompassing style, relates the history of the oldest continuous trade connection overland between the East and West.  Good Paperback.  286 pages with a bibliography and an index









Wonders of Nature in South-East Asia - Earl of Cranbrook  RM50

An anthology of writings about the wealth and beauty of nature in Southeast Asia from ancient times to the present. Cranbrook, a biologist with almost half a century's experience in the region, has added a commentary to each of his selections. Very Good Paperback. 279 pages with a few black and white illustrations. 

Brunei

Wanderer in Brunei Darussalam - Pengembara (CH Gallop)   RM100

A collection of articles written by the author for the Borneo Bulletin in the early 1990s. The articles provide a sketch of various aspects of Brunei life in the late 20th century and earlier Gallop was involved in education in Brunei for nearly 30 years.  112 pages. Very Good Paperback. First Edition

China

Chinese Among Others : Emigration in Modern Times - Philip A. Kuhn  RM130

In this broad ranging review of Chinese emigration, Kuhn not only covers migration out of China from the 16th century onwards, but also internal migration and its causes and consequences. While this 'modern' phase of migration was initially spurred on by profitable European collaboration, the author also deals the negative aspects of this movement of people when host communities abandoned their welcome for persecution. The 'post-Mao' new spurt of immigration is treated as just the latest phase in this centuries long process. New Paperback. First Edition. 431 pages with an index. For further details, please see the scanned contents page.

The Philippines

Recollections of Manila and the Philippines - Robert MacMicking   RM400

These memoirs of a Scottish merchant in the Philippines are based on his stay in Manila for about three years in the mid 1800s. As one might expect, being a businessman, he moved little outside the Hispanicised middle classes, but this record is unusual in that it gives a non Spanish view of privileged life in the country in the last century of Spanish rule. Edited and Annotated by Morton J Netzorg. With an appendix on Trade in Pinay, 1857-67 and Four Letters by Nicholas Loney. 295 pages with an index and five black and white plates. Good Hardback. Reprint. Originally published in 1851 

Xtras

Aquariums: Windows to Nature - Leighton Taylor   RM70

A guide to the world's leading public aquariums. Very Good Hardback in a Near Fine Dust Jacket.  127 pages with a directory of aquariums, a bibliography and an index and many colour photographs.








Cichlids of the Americas - Wayne S. Leibel  RM80

A leading aquarist guides the reader through all the steps necessary for setting up and maintaining a group of these popular aquarium fish. Very Good Paperback. First Edition. 96 pages with an index