There must be a closure to the history of Pulau Pinang (and Kedah). There was no 1786 treaty - no agreement, no document, no signatories. The narrative continues independent of each other, representing an uncomfortable conscience glancing at each as two separate polities of Penang and Kedah, socially and intellectually structured by the year 1786. This book makes a strange revisit to pretension of a fact/event. And it counters the terra nullius doctrine. It also establishes that the lex loci was the Adat Temenggong (customary law) modified by the Qanun (laws) of Kedah. Malay collective memory maintains that Pulau Pinang is integral to the Kedah Sultanate. The island has law, order and society before the presence of the Europeans; not a "band of natives and fishermen" as stereotyped by the colonial narrative, even in the colonial courts. The Malays in Pulau Pinang in recent decades have become 'beggars' to their own history. This book contests that history through moral and legal arguments, as well as raising the themes and issues of representation and redemption.

If you eat while lying down, you will turn into a snake. If you don't polish off all the rice on your plate you will marry a man full of pimples and pockmarks. Looking After the Ashes is a semi-biographical fiction of Kopi Soh's childhood stories. Growing up in a large extended Taoist influenced Peranakan family filled with strong women, Soh hears these words of 'wisdom' daily. She used to live in a world where clipping finger nails at night was strictly forbidden, pointing at the moon would result in one's ears getting chopped off, and children were forced to stay indoors during sundown for fear of collision with evil forces. A world where mental disorders and illnesses were believed to be caused by malevolent spirits. Talisman, mediums and fortune tellers were a part of everyday life.

In this book fourteen leading scholars and intellectual-activists provide a collective treatment of the theme of colonialism in the Malay Archipelago from the as yet little explored perspective of civilisational encounters. The centuries-long Western colonial presence in the Archipelago had generated both peaceful and violent encounters that were to prove consequential on the civilisational history of the region. The book's chapters attempt to present new insights into the nature and multidimensional character of these civilisational encounters and their significance for the life and thought of contemporary Malay Archipelago that now comprises the modern nation-states of Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore, and Timor-Leste.

This study traces the emergence and dissemination of Aryanism within the British Empire. The idea of an Aryan race became an important feature of imperial culture in the nineteenth century, feeding into debates in Britain, Ireland, India, and the Pacific. The global reach of the Aryan idea reflected the complex networks that enabled the global reach of British Imperialism. Tony Ballantyne charts the shifting meanings of Aryanism within these 'webs' of Empire.

Compared to how it looked 150 years ago at the eve of the colonial conquest, today’s India is almost completely unrecognizable. A sovereign nation, with a teeming, industrious population, it is an economic powerhouse and the world’s largest democracy. It can boast of robust legal institutions and a dizzying plurality of cultures, in addition to a lively and unrestricted print and electronic media. The question is how did it get to where it is now? Covering the period from 1800 to 1950, this study of about a dozen makers of modern India is a valuable addition to India’s cultural and intellectual history. More specifically, it shows how through the very act of writing, often in English, these thought leaders reconfigured Indian society. The very act of writing itself became endowed with almost a charismatic authority, which continued to influence generations that came after the exit of the authors from the national stage. By examining the lives and works of key players in the making of contemporary India, this study assesses their relationships with British colonialism and Indian traditions. Moreover, it analyzes how their use of the English language helped shape Indian modernity, thus giving rise to a uniquely Indian version of liberalism. The period was the fiery crucible from which an almost impossibly diverse and pluralistic new nation emerged through debate, dialogue, conflict, confrontation, and reconciliation. The author shows how the struggle for India was not only with British colonialism and imperialism, but also with itself and its past. He traces the religious and social reforms that laid the groundwork for the modern sub-continental state, proposed and advocated in English by the native voices that influenced the formation India’s society. Merging culture, politics, language, and literature, this is a path breaking volume that adds much to our understanding of a nation that looks set to achieve much in the coming century.

I guess I knew now how awful Chicken Little must have felt. All sorts of things were just not right... very close to me... on the other side of the island. Yet Cassell would have to do his punishment first... So the politicians would feel better. Yeah... midnight had come and gone, we were on our own now, but nobody seemed to be wearing a watch.