Glimpses of the Past - Wong Meng Voon (Review)

Random Review 13

Glimpses of the Past:

Stories from Malaysia and Singapore 

-----

Wong Meng Voon

(Heinemann Asia, 1981, ISBN: 9971640279)

After reading about three stories of this collection, I sat up with a bit of a jolt. Something seemed to be missing. Ah yes: none of these stories had any conclusion. I then looked back at the tile, Glimpses of the Past, and appreciated the message. Although the stories are fiction, the author was trying to produce an authentic representation of life. In real life, episodes seldom have the neat conclusions that some fiction writers manufacture. The story instead is just another stepping stone on the journey.

Bearing this point in mind, it was much easier to appreciate the author’s gentle and perceptive style. His writing enables the reader to eavesdrop on the lives of the characters who populate his stories. They were written at a time when labourers belonged to the country; none of the stories has any interaction with people who are not Malaysian or Singaporeans. Although a couple of the stories give glimpses of a more comfortable middle class life, on the whole, Wong’s characters are strugglers, making the best of the hard lot that has been dealt to them.

Once getting used to the nature of the stories, they are readable and engrossing. However soon I felt that there were also a couple of other aspects of life in the 60s and 70s that were missing, i.e. there was not much to laugh about and enjoy. Reflections on childhood were generally happy, but adult life comes across as being fairly miserable. Wong is definitely engaged with his characters in this ‘compassionate’ period of his career. (His later writings have been more satirical.) However it is a pity that he did not feel able to represent life as being more rounded with a few more flashes of joy.

With the exception of one story, Eight Hours in the Sewer, the stories’ characters are all from the Chinese community. Other communities barely intrude. All of the stories are the author’s translations of stories that were originally written in Chinese. So Wong presents a fairly one dimensional view of Malaysia and Singapore of the time. There is no problem with that: it may well be the way that many members of both countries’ main communities lived then and now. However, it was strange that there were probably only one or two references in this collection to religion, whether formal or popular. It is seldom that home life in any community in Malaysia or Singapore does not brush up against belief in the supernatural in some form or other.

Despite these two missing elements, of joy and religion, there is plenty to recommend in these poignant stories, particularly for readers who are not from the Chinese community. The author’s spare and imperceptibly crafted style beautifully show the common thread of humanity that binds all of us. Wong’s characters and the stories they inhabit are ordinary people faced with ordinary events, the true bedrock of any society, despite common misconceptions to the contrary.

 

Fixing Malaysia: In Fact and Fiction

Random Reviews 11 & 12

Fixing Malaysia:

In Fact and Fiction

Can We Save Malaysia, Please! - Kee Thuan Chye 

(Marshall Cavendish, 2014 ISBN: 9789814561235)

and

Green is the Colour - Lloyd Fernando 

(Epigram, 2012 ISBN: 9789810726850)

Although I had originally planned to write two separate reviews, I started to read Green is the Colour immediately after Kee Thuan Chye's book and couldn't help notice how struck I was by the interconnection that I saw between the two. Both books are written by polemicists, one a playwright and journalist and the other an academic and novelist. Both lament the state of life in Malaysia, one in the aftermath of the 1969 riots and the other today. Both authors would like to see a different Malaysia, one a politically different Malaysia, the other a culturally different country.

However, there are of course differences too. Primarily Kee's book is a collection of journalism while Fernando's novel has found its way into a growing body of English language Malaysian literature. Can We Save Malaysia, Please! may well be forgotten in ten years' time, while Green is the Colour is more likely to endure. 

Kee is a witty and trenchant journalist and his contributions could well be a useful record of early 21st century Malaysian history. However when the reader is given nearly three hundred pages covering just nine months' output, there is certain to be repetition. Like any good journalist, Kee writes each article to catch his audience's attention on a first reading. Similarly when he writes another article on the same subject, he fills in a bit of background for the reader. While the style works well on a blog or in a newspaper, it is almost sure to bore the reader when the same article appears in a collection. I checked a sample article in the book against the original on the internet and was unable to find that the original had been edited for the book. So after the first fifty pages, I skim read most of the rest of the book.

Green is the Colour is a racier read. The introduction to the characters at a dewan in the aftermath of the 1969 riots is a little choppy. However the book soon settles down into a pace that makes it difficult to put down. The sketchy introductions to the main characters soon take on more form as we follow Panglima, the 'Malay' purist, his idealistic anti racist counterpart, Dahlan, and Omar and Yun Ming who represent softer versions of the respective extremes. The women, Sara and Gita, are not so strongly drawn and usually play the roles of linking the men rather than driving the plot.

As one would expect, Fernando, the novelist, is more nuanced than the campaigning journalist, Kee. However they do share a common characteristic in that neither is able to paint a picture of  their 'demon' that is convincing. Panglima, the villain of the novel, has few, if any redeeming characteristics, while the Government, Kee's constant target, receives little, if any, praise. There is a danger in adopting a black and white approach in that the writer ends up preaching to the converted. Fernando was, at least, aware of the danger when he wrote of the idealist Dahlan '...Are not Dahlan's opponents committed, too? Is not Dahlan wrong just to bring an idea without asking how it should be brought in for people of different cultures?'

Fernando does not fall into the trap of presenting the characters with whom he has most sympathy as being flawless. Sara is naive in her dealings with Dahlan, while Yun Ming, a capable Government servant, is reckless in pursuing his love of Sara and Omar is a brute in the bedroom. By contrast I did not find any of Kee's articles taking the Opposition to task in the same way as he does the Government.

 

On the other hand Kee Thuan Chye's books clearly do sell otherwise his publishers would not continue to bring out new collections of his journalism. He must have a strong following: a Reader's Digest poll found him to be the 34th most trusted individual in Malaysia. You can see why. When he sticks to the unvarnished facts, as he does in his article 'Mayday for MH370 and Malaysia', he is spot on and hits his target hard. I hope one day a wider readership will better appreciate his journalism in an edited compendium of his quality pieces.

Lloyd Fernando's message is more timeless. His narrative is interwoven with quotes and reflections that can be more easily absorbed by the general reader. Green is the Colour also has a transnational message for any country struggling with national, racial and religious identities. The book does not provide a solution. Each of the characters has her or his own take on that. However Fernando does provide plenty for debate.

Its should be remembered that, despite the time lapse between publication of the two books, both authors were conscious of living in a society where speaking one's mind on 'national' issues was and is difficult. As Fernando puts it ",If a third person was present, ...you speak for that person's benefit. If he was Malay, you speak one way, Chinese another way, Indian another. ...In the end the spun tissue, like an unsightly scab, became your vision of what happened: the wound beneath continued to run pus."

Neither author falls into this trap: both are forthright with a purpose. The purpose is to encourage readers to dare to reveal their own truths more often so as to be an authentic spur to change. Fernando's novel illustrates the pains of change, while Kee's articles emphasise the obstacles. Nevertheless, the prospects for change, however blurry and frightening, are brighter because Fernando and Kee, at least, did not keep silent.

 

 

New Arrivals in August

New Arrivals in August

As of 13th August 2014
(Regularly Updated)

Listed below are books which have arrived at The Penang Bookshelf recently.  (All prices are post free within Malaysia. If you live outside Malaysia, please ask for a quote for postage.)

Prices are shown in Malaysian Ringgit in blue.  If you're looking for prices in other major currencies, you should be able to find them in The Penang Bookshelf Full Catalogue which is updated regularly. Books sold will be so marked. So if you want to order any of them or want further details of any of the books before you make up your mind, do contact me at penangbookshelf@gmail.com.

By the time you read this, some of the titles may already be on the Penang Bookshelf website and eBay store. Do check. Prices are in Malaysian Ringgit in the eBay store and in US Dollars on the main website. Each site has a new arrivals page for the current and previous months. Where the title is in grey bold in this blog, it is linked to a fuller description of the book on www.penangbookshelf.com or in The Penang Bookshelf's eBay store.

The books are all used unless indicated otherwise. Abbreviations used are A = Acceptable, CD = CD Included, DJ = Dust Jacket, EL = Ex-library, F = Fine/AsNew, G = Good,  HB = Hardback, LB = Leatherbound, N = New, NF = Near Fine, PB = Paperback, SG = Author Signed Copy, SC = Slip Case and VG = Very Good

 -

• 3D Glamorous Beaded Embroidery/Sulaman Glamor Manik 3D - Rosita Jaffar (FTIM Designing Centre, 2010) PB N RM60
• A History of Malaya - RO Winstedt (Marican & Sons, 1962) HB VG  RM160
• Among the White Moon Faces - Shirley Geok-lin Lim
• Borneo People - Malcolm MacdonaldSOLD
• Beaded Accessories/Aksesori Manik - Rosita Jaffar (FTIM Designing Centre, 2010) PB N RM60
• Beaded Flowers/Bunga-Bunga Manik - Rosita Jaffar (FTIM Designing Centre, 2010) PB N RM60
• Beads Crystal and Thread Emroidery/Sulaman Manik Kristal dan Benang - Rosita Jaffar (FTIM Designing Centre, 2010) PB N RM60
• British Malaya - LA Mills
• Can We Save Malaysia, Please! - Kee Thuan Chye - Exasperated, but ever hopeful, Kee launches into his fourth polemic on what he sees that needs fixing in Malaysia today. His previous three broadsides became best sellers and it's unlikely that his fourth tirade will fare any worse. Despite his penchant for scathing and witty attack, the author does also pose some imaginative solutions for the crisis that confronts him. - (Marshall Cavendish, 2014 ISBN: 9789814561235) PB N  RM50
• Common Malayan Birds - MWF Tweedie (Longmans, 1960)  HB G  RM40
• Common Malaysian Moths - Avril Fox (Longmans, 1986)  HB VG  RM150

• Fortitude: The Life and Times of Heah Joo Seang - Pamela Ong - The first biography of one of Penang's more prominent businessmen in the first half of the twentieth century. As was often the case, it was a rags to riches story, but rather than concentrate on that aspect, the author highlights the reforms that he brought to the rubber industry, his philanthropy and his politics during the independence period. As a Straits Born Chinese he was opposed to an independent Malaya with special rights for the Malays, a cause he ultimately lost. 182 pages with an index. Signed  by the author - (Straits Times Press, 2014 ISBN: 9789814342704) HB N DJ RM60
• Frank Swettenham & George Giles: Watercolours & Sketches of Malaya 1880-1894 - Lim Chong Keat & Henry Barlow
•  Glimpses of Old Penang - Neil Khor Jin Keong - This book was produced for the 30th anniversary of the Star, once a Penang newspaper, but now a national one as well. Instead of devoting itself to the newspaper's history, the book reviews the history of Penang itself from when it was established as a trading port by the British in the late eighteenth century until the early 20th century. With a wide range of old photos accompanied by informative text from some heritage heavyweights. 149 pages. - Star Publications, 2002 ISBN: 978983951212) HB VG RM500 SOLD
• Intrigue A Penang - Georges Vidal (Collection La Fouine, 1948)  PB G  RM160
• Islam in South-East Asia - MB Hooker (ed) (EJ Brill, 1983) HB VG RM200
• Made Wianta: Art and Peace - Marc Bollansee & Apinan Poshyananda (Times Editions, Singapore, 2000) HB VG DJ RM100

• Malay Courtesy - Mubin Sheppard
• Malay Traditional Attire/Pakaian Tradisi Melayu - Rosita Jaffar (FTIM Designing Centre, 2009) PB N RM60
• Memories of a Nonya - Queenie Chang (Eastern Universities Press, 1982)  PB VG RM140
• My Life in Sarawak - Margaret Brooke (Oxford University Press, 1994) PB G RM40
• Nyonya and Kerawang Embroidery Techniques/Teknik Sulaman Nyonya dan Kerawang - 
  Rosita Jaffar (FTIM Designing Centre, 2010) PB N RM60
• Penang Views, 1770-1860 - Lim Chong Keat - The purpose of this work was to catalogue the extant painting and prints of Penang from the 1770s untill the nearly a hundred years later when photography arrived. After research in Museums in Malaysia and Singapore, India Office Library in London and amongst private collections, Lim was able to assemble more than 160 paintings, prints and sketches which are now reproduced, mostly in colour, for this book. Each of the items are  annotated by the author, a noted architect and conservationist of his time. 236 pages. including a bibliography - (Summer Times, 1986 ISBN: 9789971976040) HB  VG  DJ RM330 
• Plaited Arts From the Borneo Rainforest - Bernard Sellato (ed)
• Singapore Women: Three Decades of Change - Aline Wong & Leong Wai Kim (Times Academic Press, 1994) PB VG RM120

• The Communist Insurrection in Malaya - Anthony Short
• The Cree Journals - Michael Levien (ed) (Webb & Bower, 1981) HB  NF DJ RM60
• The Hikayat Abdullah: An Annotated Translation -  Abdullah bin Abdul Khadir
  
• The Peoples of Sarawak -  Tom Harrisson (ed) (Sarawak Museum, 1959) PB  VG RM90
• The Moon at My Feet - Katherine Sim (Hodder & Stoughton, 1959) HB  VG  DJ RM150
• Ulu Tiram: A Cameo of Life at the Time of "The Emergency" - Peter & Kathleen Thomas Anne Loader, 2005) PB  F RM130
• Upper Nankin Street, Singapore: A sociological study of Chinese households living in a densely populated area - Kaye Barrington (University of Malaya Press, 1960) HB  G  EL RM130

New Arrivals in July

New Arrivals in July

As of 26th July 2014
(Regularly Updated)

Listed below are books which have arrived at The Penang Bookshelf recently.  (All prices are post free within Malaysia. If you live outside Malaysia, please ask for a quote for postage.)

Prices are shown in Malaysian Ringgit in blue.  If you're looking for prices in other major currencies, you should be able to find them in The Penang Bookshelf Full Catalogue which is updated regularly. Books sold will be so marked. So if you want to order any of them or want further details of any of the books before you make up your mind, do contact me at penangbookshelf@gmail.com.

By the time you read this, some of the titles may already be on the Penang Bookshelf website and eBay store. Do check. Prices are in Malaysian Ringgit in the eBay store and in US Dollars on the main website. Each site has a new arrivals page for the current and previous months. Where the title is in bold in this blog, it is linked to a fuller description of the book on www.penangbookshelf.com or in The Penang Bookshelf's eBay store.

The books are all used unless indicated otherwise. Abbreviations used are A = Acceptable, CD = CD Included, DJ = Dust Jacket, EL = Ex-library, F = Fine/AsNew, G = Good,  HB = Hardback, LB = Leatherbound, N = New, NF = Near Fine, PB = Paperback, SG = Author Signed Copy, SC = Slip Case and VG = Very Good

• A Comprehensive History of Malaysian Art - Ooi Kok Chuen - A short, but comprehensive, review of art mainly from the period after Malaysian independence. The subject matter is limited to painting, mainly in the Western style, although some mention is made of Chinese style painting. 48 pages including 12 pages of mainly colour plates. - (The Art Gallery Penang, 2002 ISBN: 9789839018158) PB F  RM160
• A Malay-English Vocabulary, Containing 6500 Malay Words or Phrases with their English equivalents, together with An Appendix of Household, Nautical and Medical Terms etc -  WG Shellabear - The recording of non-European languages owes a great debt to the work of missionaries who needed to acquire new languages to translate the Bible. Shellabear, one of the leading European scholars of Malay of his time, published a 'Practical Malay Grammar'. This work was published to accompany that book.141 pages. -  (American Mission Press, 1902) HB A  RM200
• A Review of Diseases in Malaysia - Lim Kean Ghee - This book was written to give a more localised perspective, than is usually available in medical text books, on disease in Malaysia. The author, a practicing general surgeon, starts by giving a general overview of medicine in the country and other medical issues such as pregnancy and chemical abuse. The remaining two sections cover infections and systemic diseases respectively. 423 pages with numerous figures and tables and an index - (Pelanduk, 1993 ISBN: 9789679784688)  PB NF  RM60
• A Short History of of the Nanyang Chinese - Wang Gungwu -'Nanyang' amongst the Chinese means the coastal areas which now form part of the larger area known as Southeast Asia. Here Professor Wang, probably the foremost 20th century academic on the subject of the Chinese diaspora in Nanyang, gives the reader a brief introduction to those who transformed the commercial life of the region- (Donald Moore. 1959) PB G EL  RM110

• A Woman's Place: The Story of Singapore Women -   Aline Wong & Leong Wai Kim (eds) - A review of the status of women in Singapore and history experienced by women in achieving that status published by Singapore's governing political party. 120 pages with numerous colour photographs.-(PAP Women's Wing, 1993 ISBN: 9789812044532) HB VG DG  RM90
• An Illustrated Cycle of Chinese Festivities in Malaysia and Singapore -  CS Wong - The book claims to be a first of its kind in being not only a comprehensive review of festivals of the Chinese diaspora, but also as a record of the origins of each of the festivals with notes on modifications, if any, following their export to Southeast Asia .236 pages. - (MPH, 1987 ISBN: 9789971732240) HB VG DJ  RM60
•  Archaeology in Sarawak - Cheng Te-K'Un -Cheng, an established academic in Chinese archaeology, visited Sarawak in 1966 and with Tom Harrisson, then Curator of Sarawak Museum, visited archaeological sites recording Chinese history in Borneo. This book is principally concerned with the the rise and fall of the Chinese port of Santubong. 33 pages.  - (W. Heffer/University Of Toronto Press, 1969 ISBN: 9780852700112) HB G EL  RM70

• Basic Shiatsu: A Step-by-Step Guide to the Ancient Art of Finger-Pressure Massage - Michio  Kushi & Edward Esko - This simple guide has a wealth of line drawings illustrating the text. 94 pages - (Pelanduk, 1997 ISBN: 9789679786187)  PB NF  RM40
• Buddhism and Ethnicity: Social Organization of a Buddhist Temple in Kelantan - Mohamed Yusoff Ismail - The author sets out examine how an essentially Thai Buddhist community functions in the majority Malay Muslim state of Kelantan. He not only argues that Buddhism is an essential ingredient in enabling Thais in the state to define their identity vis a vis their Muslim neighbours, but also examines the dichotomy of how this Thai strain of Buddhism functions mainly because of Chinese Buddhist patronage. This financial support continues despite divergences between Chinese and Thai Buddhist practices and beliefs. 164 pages including an appendix and references- (ISEAS, 1993. ISBN: 9813016264) PB NF  RM200

• Chinese Healing Foods and Herbs: Natural Remedies from the Chinese Cupboard - Fang Jing Pei 
• Cultivators and Administrators: British Educational Policy Towards the Malays, 1875-1906 - Rex Stevenson - Stevenson argues that, amongst other factors, the educational system established by the British from the late 19th century onwards, helped determine the communal nature of Malayan society. Education of Malays had two distinct strands - a vernacular education for the broad mass of the Malay peasantry and successive attempts to provide an English education for a smaller select group, mainly sons of sultans and other nobility. 240 pages including a bibliography, appendices and an index - (Oxford University Press, 1975) HB G EL RM120
• Dare to be a Champion - Lee Chong Wei
• Developmental Challenge in Malaysia - Siew Nim Chee - Siew, a former chief economist of Bank Negara, Malaysia's central bank, and then Financial Adviser to the Esso Corporation in Malaysia, reviews the state of the Malaysian economy with particular reference to how it was going to achieve development taking into account the plural nature of its society. 17 pages -  (Ohio University Press, 1968) PB VG  RM90
• Ethnic Chinese in Singapore and Malaysia: A Dialogue Between Tradition and Modernity - Leo Suryadinata - A collection of articles based on papers presented at the 2001 international conference on 'Ethnic Chinese in Singapore and Malaysia A Dialogue Between Tradition and Modernity'. A wide range of academics from Asia, Australia and Canada sought to examine the process of change in Chinese society and look at how tradition and modernity both complement and clash with each other. 408 pages with an index. -(Times Academic Press, 2002 ISBN: 9789812101860) PB VG  RM300

• Frank Swettenham & George Giles: Watercolours & Sketches of Malaya 1880-1894 - Lim Chong Keat & Henry Barlow
• Galle: As Quiet As Sleep - Nora Roberts
• Giving Our Best - Khoo Salma Nasution, Alison Hayes and Sehra Yeap Zimbulis 
• Hail Penang! - George Bilainkin
• In Pursuit of Mountain Rats: The Communist Insurrection in Malaya - Anthony Short - (Previously published as 'The Communist Insurrection in Malaya, 1948-1960' in 1975). This book remains a classic on the 1948-60 communist insurrection in Malaya. The author's unrestricted access to Malayan Government confidential and secret papers, without similar access to Communist sources, obviously influences his viewpoint to a great extent. Nevertheless the book is a thorough a record of the events and has influenced the conduct of counter insurgency warfare since. 547 pages including a glossary, appendix, bibliography and index -(Cultured Lotus, 2000 ISBN: 9789810430771)  PB F RM500

• Indians in Malaysia and Singapore - Sinnappah Arasaratnam
• Indigenous Political Systems of Western Malaya - John Gullick
• Karpal Singh: Tiger of Jelutong -  Tim Donoghue (Marshall Cavendish, 2014 ISBN: 9789814561457) PB N  RM60
• Language and Oral Traditions in Borneo - JT Collins (ed) (Borneo Research Council, 1993) PB VG  RM110
• Lee Cheng Yong Retrospective -  Tan Chee Khuan (ed)
• Lee Joo For Retrospective - Tan Chee Khuan (ed) - Published in conjunction with an exhibition representing the artist's work over six decades. With approximately 200 colour photos of his work. 325 pages.- (Penang State Museum and Gallery, 2008 ISBN: 9789834237622) HB N DJ RM250
• Malay Land - RJH Sidney

• Malay Society in the Late Nineteenth Century -  JM Gullick - Basing his work on official records and personal reminiscences of the time, Gullick sets out to show how Malay society coped with the rapidly changing environment of the late 19th century. His findings relate to both the ruling and peasant classes, adapting both to the imposition of colonial rule and to other external factors which would prepare the ground for the Malaysia of today. 417 pages. - (Oxford University Press, 1987 ISBN: 0195889525) PB VG  RM200
• Moving Pictures: More Borneo Travel - Victor T King (compiler) (Oxford University Press, 1999) PB VG  RM90
• Notes of a Journey 40@60 - Sharifah Fatimah Syed Zubir - A catalogue of a comprehensive exhibition of the artist's work held in Kuala Lumpur in December 2008. The catalogue has a wide selection of colour plates of her work in both acrylic and acrylic and modelling paste as well as some of her other work. The works are arranged around her previous exhibitions and the reviews of the time for each exhibition are reprinted here. 135 pages including the history of her education and career and a bibliography. - ( Kuala Lumpur, 2008) PB N  RM170
• Old Penang - Donald Davies - A short history of the colonial development of Penang with 19 black and white plates. 56 pages.- (Donald Moore, 1956) PB G  RM250

• Penang Sketchbook - Chin Kon Yit & Chen Voon Fee
  
• Planter's Wife - SC George- The Malayan 'Emergency' produced its fair crop of fiction by those who had lived through it. This thoughtful novel centres around the life of Barbara Leonard, whose planter husband, plants by day and attempts to defend her and his employes by night. Thrown into the mix are,amongst others, a  'Sorcerer', an 'immoral' estate girl and a 'bandit' leader. -(Jarrolds, 1951)  HB VG DJ RM360
• Reunion and Other Stories - Ly Singko - Another collection of thirteen Malaysian Chinese short stories translated into English by Ly Singko. They cover a broad range of experiences of the Chinese diaspora. This is the follow up to his earlier Modern Malaysian Chinese Stories. 183 pages - (Heinemann. 1980) PB VG RM100
• Rhapsodies Beyond the Silk Road -  Calvin Chua - An exhibition catalogue  accompanying an exhibition of Chua's work inspired by a visit to Central Asia and China. The exhibition consisted of ten large paintings and a collection of sketches. The work represents a more dynamic abstract style compared to his previous work. 42 pages with colour plates of the works exhibited, an interview with the artist and some colour photos of his journey. -(Art Valley Sdn Bhd, 2013) PB N RM150
• Slaves of the Son of Heaven: A Personal Account of an Australian POW, 1942-1945 - Roy Whitecross (Kangaroo Press, 2000 ISBN: 9780731807703)  PB VG RM40

• Singapore's Little India: Past Present and Future - Sharon Siddique & Nirmala Puru Shotam (ISEAS, 1984 ISBN: 9789971902315) PB VG RM60
• Templer Park: "Pages from the Past -  N Gangadharan - The two thousand acre Templer Park was established by the late General Templer as a forested refuge for the residents of nearby Kuala Lumpur. The author, after three decades of caring for the park as a volunteer, describes its history and features. 93 pages (Pelanduk, 2005 ISBN: 9789679789157)  HB N DJ RM100
• Taikor - Khoo Kheng-Hor
• The Encyclopedia of the Sri Lankan Diaspora -   Peter Reeves(ed) -For a small island Sri Lanka, like Ireland, has, through its diaspora, a worldwide influence of greater significance than one would expect. As with Ireland, the impetus for emigration has sadly often been civil conflict and meagre economic conditions. This extensive work is a worthy tribute to the way its business people, educators, manual workers and writers have influenced and been influenced by the wider world. 200 pages.  - (Editions Didier Miller, 2014 ISBN: 9789814260831) HB N DJ RM160
• The Fountain of Youth - Erasmus Dawson -This could be described as an early work of science fiction, a tale of adventures in Borneo, where Dawson and his companions set out supposedly to find the revitalising spring that is the fountain of youth of the title. However the main purpose is to find a special metal, unknown elsewhere, invented by Hindu giants. A good example of a 19th century  'lost world' tale, somewhat in the style of Rider Haggard, and described by a reviewer of the time as ' thoroughly bright and amusing.' 306 pages together with an additional 32 pages of advertisements. - (Chatto & Windus, 1891) HB G RM600

 

• The Gift Addressed to the Spirit of the Prophet - AH Johns - The original al-Tuhfa al-mursala ila ruh al-nabi was an Arabic Sufi work that originated in Gujerat. Its purpose was to re-iterate the principles of orthodox Sufi Islam in an attempt to restrain  the more mystic elements prevailing in 17th century India. The work eventually found its way to Java. Professor Johns compares the Javanese version with the original in order to discover historic elements of the Javanese language as well as the development of Islamic theosophy in Java. 224 pages - (Australian National University, 1965) PB VG RM120
• The Head-Hunters of Borneo - Carl Bock - Bock was employed by the Dutch authorities in the 1880s to make an exploratory trip into West Borneo, of which the colonial government had very little knowledge at the time. He travelled along the Mahakkam and Barito rivers. He made meticulous notes of the ways of life of the indigenous people and their titular Malay overlords. This book also includes his accounts of a later visit to Sumatra where he devoted himself to noting the nature and wildlife of the time. 344 pages with appendices and an index and a selection of about thirty coloured plates. A facsimile reprint .  - (Oxford University Press, 1986 ISBN: 9780195826296)  PB G EL RM50
• The Malays: A Cultural History - Richard Winstedt
• The Maritime Economy of Malaysia - Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman & Others (Pelanduk, 1997 ISBN: 9789679785722) HB F DJ RM320
• The Manners and Customs of the Chinese of the Straits Settlements - JD Vaughan

• The Muslim Community in Britain - Muhammad Mumtaz Ali (Pelanduk, 1995 ISBN: 9789679785616) HB VG DJ RM80
• The Tiger of Malaya: The Inside Story of the Japanese Atrocities - Aubrey Saint Kenworthy (Exposition Press, 1953) HB VG DJ RM160
• Vermillion Eye - Tunku Halim - Better known as a horror short story writer, Halim rings the changes in this novel. Murder, lust, revenge, love and fear spur the story along. The publisher's blurb also promises 'curse upon curse,' to confirm that the author has not deserted his traditional audience. 323 pages- (Pelanduk, 2000 ISBN: 9789679787832)  PB NF DJ RM40