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A historical book on Phuket November 29, 2018 – Posted in: Reviews

Colin Mackay’s A History of Phuket and the Surrounding Region (White Lotus, Bangkok, 2012, 418pp) is a magnificent achievement: a towering work of erudition leavened with sly humor and fascinating side-bars. While destined to be the standard reference text for the island’s history, the book is so vividly written that it deserves to be a raging best-seller. Mackay covers the early waves of migration down the Malay peninsula – Negrito, Malay, Mon, Burmese, Thai –…

Exciting Indie Publishers of Penang November 1, 2018 – Posted in: In The News

Areca Books Founded by Khoo Salma Nasution and her husband Abdur-Razzaq Lubis, Areca Books, an independent publisher cum bookstore, set up shop in 2005. The publishing house has over 40 titles focusing on social history, biographies, cultural heritage, architecture, the environment and visual arts to its name. “We are very interested in the subject of Malaysiana. Our cultural diversity has been sadly reduced to a trichotomy of Malay, Indian and Chinese, but our social history…

She who wants to see Penang at its classic best October 15, 2018 – Posted in: In The News

George Town native Khoo Salma Nasution @ Khoo Su Nin, 55, wears many hats in championing the Penang capital’s colonial era heritage. She was the president of Penang Heritage Trust, and prior to that was involved in the group’s successful lobbying to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) to list George Town as a World Cultural Heritage Site in 2008. Khoo Salma has written multiple books about Penang’s history, some of which were…

Sutan Puasa, a review by the Malaysian Historical Society October 4, 2018 – Posted in: Reviews

Buku berjudul Sutan Puasa: Founder of Kuala Lumpur setebal 615 halaman ditulis oleh Abdur-Razzaq Lubis dan diterbitkan oleh Areca Books. Buku ini dipercayai akan menimbulkan debat tentang siapa sebenarnya membuka Kuala Lumpur. Abdur-Razzaq menyatakan buku ini diterbitkan adalah berdasarkan maklumat baru berkaitan dengan sejarah tanah air. Buku ini memberi fokus kepada peranan Sutan Puasa, saudagar Maidaling yang terlibat dalam kegiatan awal lombong bijih timah di Kuala Lumpur di pertengahan abad ke-19. Abdur-Razzaq mempunyai data dan fakta…

Areca Books has a new outlet ! August 2, 2018 – Posted in: Newsletters

The staff and management of Areca Books are pleased to announce that our new bookstore at 72 Lebuh Acheh, George Town, Penang is now open. It is located in the heart of the George Town World Heritage Site and next to the Armenian Street pocket park. Thank you for your support and we look forwardto your continued patronage! Visit our new bookshop at 72 Lebuh Acheh. We open daily, 10am – 6pm. Tel: +604-2618186 |…

12 June 2018: IFLA invitation July 26, 2018 – Posted in: Newsletters

An invitation to the satellite meeting of The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) World Library & Information Congress 2018. Hosted by Areca Books. On behalf of the organisers we would like to invite you to the IFLA Satellite Meeting for Local Histories & Genealogies in Multicultural Asia. People searching for their own genealogies and local histories are constantly dealing with a diversity of languages, complex naming and genealogical traditions, hybrid cultural identities and…

The memoirs of the last British headmaster of PFS July 23, 2018 – Posted in: Reviews

2016 will surely be remembered for some momentous events. However I am not talking about Brexit or the results of US Presidential Election. I am referring instead to the bi-centenary celebrations of Penang Free School, my alma mater, which took place on 21 October 2016. Founded by Rev. Robert Sparke Hutchings in 1816 not long after the British East India Company took over the island from the Sultan of Kedah, Free School was the first…

This is KL’s real founder July 5, 2018 – Posted in: In The News

So says Abdur-Razzaq Lubis in his new book on the entrepreneur Sutan Puasa. SOME authors have a long list of things they would like their readers to take away from their book. Not this man. Independent scholar and author Abdur-Razzaq Lubis is quick with his answer when asked what he wants to get across in his book: that Sutan Puasa is the founder of Kuala Lumpur. Period. “With this project, I wanted to set the…

Zooming in on living heritage July 2, 2018 – Posted in: In The News

TRADITIONAL trades that are often overlooked in Penang have been beautifully captured and documented in a 248-page book. Author Chin Yoon Khen, a project programme management advisor, said his Traditional Trades of Penang book comprised photographs of 54 different trades that he found in the state. “Besides the photographs, I have also included the descriptions of the skilled trade workers. “All the artisans who worked with me for the book were very helpful and did…

Uncertain fate for Penang’s magnificent colonial mansions – Posted in: In The News

Say “Penang heritage” and most of us will think of George Town’s shophouses and Chinese mansions (such as the well known Blue Mansion). But there is more: up to the 1950’s, a number of imposing colonial houses, “castle-mansions” and bungalows have sprouted around the old town. Some of these buildings housed the top ranks of the colonial staff or offices, others were built for banks or local tycoons who had accumulated wealth as a result…

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