The Penang House, Rise of the Malaysian Architect 1887-2017 May 19, 2022 – Posted in: In The News

By Opalyn Mok Architecture, as a profession that wedded artistic and technical skills, was initially reserved only for the British during the colonial era. Despite this, several locally trained draughtsmen managed to rise up to become architects of note who went on to influence the direction of architecture in the then-Malaya. Looking back at history, author Jon Lim Sun Hock said Penang saw the beginnings of these first few homegrown architects. Back then, local Malayans…

Gary Lit shares late father’s story in ‘If the Sky were to Fall’ April 29, 2022 – Posted in: In The News, Reviews

Intan Maizura Ahmad Kamal RETIRED academic and visiting professor, Gary Lit Ying Loong, better known as Gary Lit, presents the memoirs of his late father in his latest book, If The Sky Were To Fall, which offers a stark account of key historical events through the eyes of an ordinary citizen living in the Kinta Valley, Perak, during the wars of the 1940s and 1950s. Set against the backdrop of the most turbulent period of Malayan…

Sukar meluruskan sejarah March 10, 2022 – Posted in: In The News

Anding KaharFebruari 22, 2022 KUALA LUMPUR : Jika sebelum ini nama Kapitan Cina ketiga, Yap Ah Loy dan Raja Abdullah Raja Jaafar didakwa sebagai pendiri Kuala Lumpur, lima tahun lalu naratif itu berkembang apabila nama Sutan Puasa, turut dikaitkan. Hal ini bermula apabila sejarawan mendiang Prof Emeritus Tan Sri Dr Khoo Kay Kim pada 2017 menyebut pendiri Kuala Lumpur adalah Sutan Puasa, yang mana ia mencetuskan banyak kontroversi. Tahun yang sama, sejarawan dan penyelidik bebas…

Contested space revisited: a review in International Journal of Heritage Studies by Creighton Connolly February 9, 2022 – Posted in: Reviews

The rapid pace of urbanisation and development and its impacts on the material fabric of Asia’s largest cities has brought about a growing recognition of the need to conserve the tangible and intangible heritages of their historic neighbourhoods before it is lost completely. Contested Space Revisited explores this dynamic in the UNESCO World Heritage listed city of George Town, Malaysia, and the challenges faced in both achieving and maintaining its World Heritage status. The book’s…

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Forest plants in watercolours: Malaysian artist documents Orang Asli knowledge and culinary practices January 12, 2022 – Posted in: In The News, Reviews

Vincent Tan28 March 2021, CNA KUALA LUMPUR: Seated at her home studio, Syarifah Nadhirah Syed Abdul Rahman carefully applied different shades of green watercolour for a daun semomok painting. Harvested from the forests, the plant’s leaves are used by the local Orang Asli tribes to season food. When cooked, its insect-like smell disappears and is replaced by a pungent, appetising aroma. “The communities I talked to also said that daun semomok only grows in certain parts of the…

Cheah Cheang Lim, 谢昌林 (1875-1948) October 20, 2021 – Posted in: In The News

from a Facebook posting Jalan Kelab Golf is a famous or popular road for many horse racing punters. A road called Lorong Cheah Cheang Lim is just across of the Travelodge (former Heritage Hotel) at Jalan Kelab Golf. Who is Cheah Cheang Lim ? His uncle is Foo Choo Choon aka Tin King. His mother is the sister of Foo Choo Choon. Like his uncle, he was another famous tin miner, rubber planter, philanthropist and…

Contested Space Revisited: a review from’Fabrications’ October 7, 2021 – Posted in: Reviews

Soon-Tzu Speechley, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia When Contested Space was first published by Lit Verlag in 2008, the book captured what felt like a triumphal moment in Penang’s history, coinciding with the city’s inscription (alongside Melaka) to the UNESCO World Heritage List. Jenkins’ book was the first substantial study of the process leading to George Town’s World Heritage Listing, and a valuable documentation of Penang’s rich heritage – both tangible and intangible. The book…

912 Batu Road, the Malaysian story that took 15 years to be born! September 30, 2021 – Posted in: In The News, Reviews

Intan Maizura Ahmad KamalSeptember 26, 2021 “WAS the book any good, Intan?” The question, fired ever so nervously by the elegant, bobbed-hair lady grimacing at me from my laptop screen, takes me by surprise. What kind of question is that? I mused silently before lobbing an excited smile in her direction. I mean, this is Viji Krishnamoorthy. She of The Lockdown Chronicles fame (an anthology of 19 Malaysian short stories that percolated from the Covid-19 lockdown published…

A meaningful journey with ‘912 Batu Road’ September 27, 2021 – Posted in: In The News

By Marina Emmanuel IT is often said that reading a good book is akin to making a journey. And what better time than now — during this Covid-19 pandemic — to be presented with an opportunity of travelling through time and space, via books. 912 Batu Road is a great Merdeka read, thanks to both fictional and true accounts of the country’s fight for freedom, the unity of her people, and the emergence of everyday heroes…

French missionary’s WWII diary offers a glimpse of life during wartime in Penang August 16, 2021 – Posted in: In The News, Reviews

Rouwen Lim One can only imagine the significance of the moment when French historian Bernard Patary stumbled upon handwritten accounts dating back to the 1930s, in the archives of the College General in Penang, about 15 years ago. This was a black hardcover notebook and numerous exercise books with brown covers. There were times when the author even wrote on loose sheets of paper that were then inserted into the book proper when it was…

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