Plague in Penang in 1899
In a post below I talked about how the simplicity of telegrams could hide the complexity of the issues that they were referring to. Today I found a telegram that…
The Sultan of Johor’s Place in the Victorian Ecumene
In an article that she wrote in 1989 on India in world’s fairs, Carol A. Breckenridge coined the phrase “Victorian ecumene” to refer to a transnational cultural world that “encompassed…
Patriotism and History in Malaysia and Hong Kong
There have been a couple of related news events recently that are quite interesting. A few days ago media in Malaysia reported that a new history curriculum is being developed…
On the Road in Early 1970s Malaysia
Oh it must have been great to live in Malaysia in the early 1970s and to find out that “The Imp is here!!!” Was everybody a really talking about the…
Noraini and Choo are Smarter than You
I came across these advertisements for The Chartered Bank in a magazine called Malaysia from the early 1970s. I find the logic that these advertisements use to communicate with the…
Malaysian Panorama
In the second half of the twentieth century, many nations around the globe promoted themselves through pictorial magazines. I don't know of any academic study of these works, but I…
Looking Good in Tents and Paper in 1960s Malaysia
I just came across these articles in the Malay Mail about certain hip fashions in 1963. The first was for "the tent" which apparently girls were "falling for." Girls were…