A Brief History of Singapore and Malaysia

A Brief History of Singapore and Malaysia
Author: Christopher Hale
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Total Pages: 347
Release: 2023-03-21
Genre: History
ISBN: 1462923933

The fascinating account of two former British colonies with a shared past but vastly different identities today! Singapore and Malaysia sit astride the sea lanes linking East with West--vital choke points in the world's commerce. Since ancient times, ports along the Silk Road of the Sea were populated by peoples from around the globe who came here to trade and live, carried by the steady flow of goods and the ever-present monsoon winds. Author Christopher Hale recounts many fascinating histories of this region, including: The ancient international trade in spices and the seven voyages to the southern seas of the Chinese eunuch Admiral Zheng He in the 15th century The rise of Islamic kingdoms along rivers bordering the Straits of Malacca and the conquest of Malacca, one of the world's largest cities, by a few hundred Portuguese marauders in 1511 The saga of Sir Stamford Raffles, credited with founding Singapore, and the development of tin mines and vast rubber and oil palm plantations on the Malay Peninsula The disastrous fall of "Fortress Singapore" to the Japanese in World War II after only three weeks of fighting, the worst British military defeat in history The wildly successful film Crazy Rich Asians, set in Singapore, the highest grossing romantic comedy of the decade A Brief History of Singapore and Malaysia tells these and many other compelling stories about the people and events which have shaped these nations as they developed into modern powerhouses of international trade and tourism.

Crossroads (2nd Edn)

Crossroads (2nd Edn)
Author: Jim Baker
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd
Total Pages: 458
Release: 2008-07-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 9814435481

In this fully updated, second edition of Crossroads, Jim Baker adds two new chapters that bring Malaysia and Singapore into the middle of the first decade of the 21st century. The original text (which traces the complex currents of history and politics of Malaysia and Singapore—neighbours with a common past) is also revised to re-evaluate events in the context of an expanded history. “Jim Baker’s Crossroads is bound to raise more than a few eyebrows in more than a few quarters. His book presents a side of history not many may be aware of or even want to know … it is as thought-provoking as it is enlightening.” — The Sun (on the first edition). “Baker’s thrilling book profits from his refusal to separate Singapore’s history from Malaysia’s. What we get is a broad story filled with surprising details drawn from his own experiences and from other scholarly works, and told in an easy and captivating style.” — Dr Ooi Kee Beng, Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore

Singapore

Singapore
Author: Michael D. Barr
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 295
Release: 2018-12-13
Genre: History
ISBN: 178673527X

Singapore gained independence in 1965, a city-state in a world of nation-states. Yet its long and complex history reaches much farther back. Blending modernity and tradition, ideologies and ethnicities, a peculiar set of factors make Singapore what it is today. In this thematic study of the island nation, Michael D. Barr proposes a new approach to understand this development. From the pre-colonial period through to the modern day, he traces the idea, the politics and the geography of Singapore over five centuries of rich history. In doing so he rejects the official narrative of the so-called 'Singapore Story'. Drawing on in-depth archival work and oral histories, Singapore: A Modern History is a work both for students of the country's history and politics, but also for any reader seeking to engage with this enigmatic and vastly successful nation.

Culture and Customs of Singapore and Malaysia

Culture and Customs of Singapore and Malaysia
Author: Jaime Koh
Publisher: Greenwood
Total Pages: 198
Release: 2009-06-22
Genre: Social Science
ISBN:

Explore the contemporary culture and traditional customs of Singapore and Malaysia in a volume that belongs on shelves in every high school and public library. Culture and Customs of Singapore and Malaysia examines all aspects of contemporary life in these two geographically close and historically and culturally connected nations, starting with the people fighting to maintain a balance between the new and the traditional. The book shows how religion has evolved through time in the two nations and examines how literature and traditional crafts thrive today. It highlights the performing arts and entertainment, noting how Western culture has influenced and shaped new customs. Housing and architecture, both modern and traditional, are discussed, along with cuisine and fashion. Students can use the book to analyze gender roles and family life. They can also read about the ways in which festivals are celebrated and can compare and contrast leisure activities of Singapore and Malaysia with their own. The volume concludes with a look to the future of these two evolving countries, both moving toward modernity, but still holding on to the traditions of the past.

Crossroads

Crossroads
Author: Jim Baker
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Pte Limited
Total Pages: 480
Release: 2020-02-15
Genre: Malaya
ISBN: 9789814841900

In this fully updated 4th edition of his ever-popular Crossroads, Jim Baker adds new analysis following the watershed 2018 general elections in Malaysia and reviews the policies and impact of the next generation of Singapore's leaders. The original text, which traces the complex currents of history and politics of Malaysia and Singapore--neighbours with a common past--has also been revised to re-evaluate events in the context of new historical findings and perspectives. From Srivijaya to British colony to modern states, this is "history without tears" (The New Straits Times). "A must-read" -- Ken Whiting, former Associated Press Singapore Bureau Chief "Baker's thrilling book profits from his refusal to separate Singapore's history from Malaysia's. What we get is a broad story filled with surprising details drawn from his own experiences and from other scholarly works and told in an easy and captivating style." -- Dr Ooi Kee Beng, Senior Fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore "Jim Baker's Crossroads is bound to raise more than a few eyebrows in more than a few quarters. His book presents a side of history not many may be aware of or even want to know ... it is as thought-provoking as it is enlightening." -- The Sun

Across the Causeway

Across the Causeway
Author: Takashi Shiraishi
Publisher: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2009
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9812307834

This book considers Malaysia-Singapore relations from a range of perspectives. Geographical proximity, material flows and movements and historical links have long connected the peoples and territories in various ways. The 13 essays on history, law, politics, regional security and economy aim to define the links 'across the Causeway.'

Floating on a Malayan Breeze

Floating on a Malayan Breeze
Author: Sudhir Thomas Vadaketh
Publisher: Hong Kong University Press
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2012-09-01
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 9888139312

What happens after a country splits apart? Forty-seven years ago Singapore separated from Malaysia. Since then, the two countries have developed along their own paths. Malaysia has given preference to the majority Malay Muslims—the bumiputera, or sons of the soil. Singapore, meanwhile, has tried to build a meritocracy—ostensibly colour-blind, yet more encouraging perhaps to some Singaporeans than to others. How have these policies affected ordinary people? How do these two divergent nations now see each other and the world around them? Seeking answers to these questions, two Singaporeans set off to cycle around Peninsular Malaysia, armed with a tent, two pairs of clothes and a daily budget of three US dollars each. They spent 30 days on the road, cycling through every Malaysian state, and chatting with hundreds of Malaysians. Not satisfied, they then went on to interview many more people in Malaysia and Singapore. What they found are two countries that have developed economically but are still struggling to find their souls.

War Memory and the Making of Modern Malaysia and Singapore

War Memory and the Making of Modern Malaysia and Singapore
Author: Karl Hack
Publisher: NUS Press
Total Pages: 478
Release: 2012-01-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9971695995

Singapore fell to Japan on 15 February 1942. Within days, the Japanese had massacred thousands of Chinese civilians, and taken prisoner more than 100,000 British, Australian and Indian soldiers. A resistance movement formed in Malaya's jungle-covered mountains, but the vast majority could do little other than resign themselves to life under Japanese rule. The Occupation would last three and a half years, until the return of the British in September 1945. How is this period remembered? And how have individuals, communities, and states shaped and reshaped memories in the postwar era? The book response to these questions, presenting answers that use the words of Chinese, Malays, Indians, Eurasians, British and Australians who personally experienced the war years. The authors guide readers through many forms of memory: from the soaring pillars of Singapore's Civilian War Memorial, to traditional Chinese cemeteries in Malaysia; and from families left bereft by Japanese massacres, to the young women who flocked to the Japanese-sponsored Indian National Army, dreaming of a march on Delhi. This volume provides a forum for previously marginalized and self-censored voices, using the stories they relate to reflect on the nature of conflict and memory. They also offer a deeper understanding of the searing transit from wartime occupation to post-war decolonization and the moulding of postcolonial states and identities.

Conflict And Violence In Singapore And Malaysia, 1945-1983

Conflict And Violence In Singapore And Malaysia, 1945-1983
Author: Richard Clutterbuck
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 333
Release: 2019-04-02
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 042971789X

Is there a risk that Malaysia's racial mixture and its weighted political and economic structures could again explode into the kind of violence which, in 1969, was only just prevented from setting the whole country on fire? And has Singapore's success been bought at a price in civil liberties too high for its health in the future? Four years of th

Decolonizing the History Curriculum in Malaysia and Singapore

Decolonizing the History Curriculum in Malaysia and Singapore
Author: Kevin Blackburn
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2019-05-09
Genre: Education
ISBN: 0429749406

Decolonizing the History Curriculum in Malaysia and Singapore is a unique study in the history of education because it examines decolonization in terms of how it changed the subject of history in the school curriculum of two colonized countries – Malaysia and Singapore. Blackburn and Wu’s book analyzes the transition of the subject of history from colonial education to postcolonial education, from the history syllabus upholding the colonial order to the period after independence when the history syllabus became a tool for nation-building. Malaysia and Singapore are excellent case studies of this process because they once shared a common imperial curriculum in the English language schools that was gradually ‘decolonized’ to form the basis of the early history syllabuses of the new nation-states (they were briefly one nation-state in the early to mid-1960s). The colonial English language history syllabus was ‘decolonized’ into a national curriculum that was translated for the Chinese, Malay, and Tamil schools of Malaysia and Singapore. By analyzing the causes and consequences of the dramatic changes made to the teaching of history in the schools of Malaya and Singapore as Britain ended her empire in Southeast Asia, Blackburn and Wu offer fascinating insights into educational reform, the effects of decolonization on curricula, and the history of Malaysian and Singaporean education.