30 April 2015: Redoubtable Reformer May 18, 2015 – Posted in: Newsletters

The life of Cheah Cheang Lim as a spokesman for change is an inseparable part of Anglo-Chinese Malayan history. In Francis Cooray’s story and Khoo Salma Nasution’s account of socioeconomic transitions in Perak and Penang, we are reminded of some of the transnational factors that laid the foundations of modern Malaysia. Both the outline of one man’s life and the well-researched study of what made him a tireless reformer deserve to be read by all…

9 April 2015: Gayatri Rajapatni – The Woman Behind the Glory of Majapahit April 30, 2015 – Posted in: Newsletters

This book brings to life some of the most colourful women in history. The author depicts the court which ruled the largest empire ever to appear in Southeast Asia in a believable and accurate way. I hope that this novel will attract more people to learn about the fascinating history of this region. – Dr John N. Miksic (Department of Southeast Asian Studies, National University of Singapore) The kingdom of Majapahit, once centred in present-day…

05 Mar 2015: The Penang House – Posted in: Newsletters

The Penang House and the Straits Architect is the first serious attempt to define the architectural identity of Penang, and one that will certainly give rise to more detailed studies by others in the future. – Miles Lewis, architectural historian The mercantile communities of the Straits of Malacca were patrons of a distinctive architecture which flourished in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Western advances in technology combined with Eastern tastes, craftsmanship and local…

In memoriam: Malcolm Wade (1933–2015) April 4, 2015 – Posted in: In The News

Malcolm Wade passed away in England on 3 March 2015, a day before his 82nd birthday. He was a former chairman of The Malaya Study Group (1975–1978). The Malaya Study Group promotes the understanding and appreciation of Malayan philately and its members comprise collectors of the stamps, postal stationery and postal history of the states of Peninsular West Malaysia. In an obituary posted on the group’s website, the editor wrote that Malcolm, who had been a member since…

Cherishing her father’s legacy March 26, 2015 – Posted in: In The News

By S. ISTA KYRA | nst_ipoh@yahoo.com ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE: Ruth Iversen Rollit is working on a book about her father, Berthel Michael Iversen, who designed many of Ipoh’s landmarks IPOH: RUTH Iversen Rollit, daughter of Danish architect Berthel Michael Iversen, said her architect father used to take her on evening car rides around town to makan angin while he assessed the condition of the buildings that he had designed. “It was part of his routine to…

In memoriam: Tenas Effendy (1936–2015) March 20, 2015 – Posted in: In The News

Tenas Effendy (b. 1936) passed away in Pekanbaru, Riau province, Indonesia on 28 February 2015 at the age of 79. Tenas Effendy is the non-de-plume of Tengku Nasaruddin Said Effendy; teacher, writer, poet, culturalist, linguist, and highly-revered advocate and connoisseur of Riau Malay arts, language and culture. He is credited to have recorded oral tradition in 1,500 tape recordings, collected over 20,000 idioms, 10,000 pantun, and written 66 titles on varied aspects of Malay culture. He…

13 Feb 2015: Mimi Fan March 16, 2015 – Posted in: Newsletters

The amateur theatre anywhere in the world is the place where the future professional theatre begins. And there can be no proper theatre unless there are playwrights. – Lim Chor Pee This week’s feature book Mimi Fan is a novelization of the three-act play by the late Penang-born lawyer-playwright Lim Chor Pee, written and first staged in 1962. Fans of local plays would probably know the plot by heart, but for the uninitiated, the play is described…

Snapshots of Globalization’s First Wave February 9, 2015 – Posted in: Reviews

By SUNIL S. AMRITHJAN. 10, 2014 Every weekend in 1979, Ooi Cheng Ghee took his Leica camera out to the docks of Penang, an island off the west coast of peninsular Malaysia. Mr. Ooi, a local physician of Chinese descent, roamed the working-class district of Georgetown to document life in the harbor. By year’s end, he had taken 4,000 portraits, mostly of first-and second-generation migrants from India. The photographs chronicle a vanishing world. You can…

05 Feb 2015: Tragic Orphans February 5, 2015 – Posted in: Newsletters

Extensively researched and engagingly written, a welcome addition to the much neglected topic of the history of Indian communities in Malaya/Malaysia … an insight into the lives and challenges faced by them. – Gauri Krishnan, National Heritage Board, Singapore In view of recent trends and directions structuring the current political scenario in the country, a book which openly discusses the plight of the Indian community in Malaysia, imperfections and all, is presumed to be nothing…

29 Jan 2015: Unsung Patriot – Posted in: Newsletters

Leaders must be capable of bringing a clear-sighted and intelligent approach to life’s problems, of making just decisions based on available data, of approaching people sympathetically and in a friendly fashion, and of integrity, honesty and uprightness in their own personal lives. – Tan Sri Wong Pow Nee The truism that history is written from the standpoint of the victors often results in heroes being pushed to the sidelines. Their personalities and contributions become increasingly…

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