Penang and Its Region: The Story of an Asian Entrepôt discusses the personal networks that have linked prominent individuals in Penang with neighbouring areas, and then considers the position of the island as a whole within the Southeast Asian region. Specifically, the authors write about local entrepreneurs, mutual help associations, and cross border trading and political networks, and aspects of how the cosmopolitan population of the island negotiated the transition from British colony to Malaysian state.
From its beginnings in the late eighteenth century, the vibrant colonial port of Penang attracted a diverse range of peoples, enabled pioneering commercial enterprises, and fomented inter-ethnic collaboration and inter-cultural borrowings. The island came to be known as the “Pearl of the Orient”, and for many travellers it was their first port of call in Southeast Asia. In the early nineteenth century, Singapore displaced Penang in international trade, but the island remained a major focus of regional trade. For this reason, the story of Penang’s relations with the Malay Peninsula and other parts of Southeast Asia reveal a great deal about conditions within the region.
Acknowledgements
Contributors
Foreword
Introduction
Penang: Region and Networks
– Loh Wei Leng
1. Conjunctures, Confluences, Contestations: A Perspective on Penang History
– Tan Liok Ee
2. Penang’s Changing Role in the Straits Settlements, 1826-1946
– C.M. Turnbull
3. Tanjong, Hilir Perak, Larut and Kinta: The Penang-Perak Nexus in History
– Khoo Kay Kim
4. Penang’s Trade and Shipping in the Imperial Age
– Loh Wei Leng
5. From Regional Entrepôt to Malayan Port: Penang’s Trade and Trading Communities, 1890-1940
– Chuleeporn Virunha
6. Penang to Songkhla, Penang to Patani: Two Roads, Past and Present
– Philip King
7. Perceptions of Penang: Views from across the Straits
– Abdur-Razzaq Lubis
8. Migration and Entreprise: The Eu Yan Sang Firm and the Eu Kong-pui Family in Foshan, Penang and Hong Kong
– Stephanie Chung Po-Yin
9. A Prominent Chinese Jowkay from the Periphery: The Choong Family
– Wu Xiao An
10. Koh Seang Tat and the Asian Opium Farming Business
– Carl A. Trocki
11. Secret Societies and Politics in Colonial Malaya with Special Reference to the Ang Bin Hoey in Penang (1945-1952)
– Leong Yee Fong
12. Riding the Storms: Radicalisation of the Labour Party of Malaya, Penang Division, 1963-1969
– Tan Kim Hong
Index
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