#history of malaysia

[newhistorybooks]

"Losing Hearts and Minds is an innovative blend of social and military history that examines how race, gender, and ethnic identities shaped the British army in a colonial setting. This deeply researched, beautifully written book brings to life the tensions within a multi-cultural military, when lines blurred between soldiers and civilians, and nationalist loyalties clashed with imperial subjecthood."

[thozhar]

In the estate, Thangamaal, despite not knowing how to read or write, raised her son, Neelavanan, with stories from the Mahabaratham, Ramayanam, as well as Tamil Bhakti songs. In spite of her devotion towards Hinduism, she was a woman who liked eating beef, a meat often seen as ‘impure’ by caste-Hindus.

“Once, my mother bought beef from the town, and when the neighbours asked her what she was cooking, she said mutton. When I asked my akka (sister) why amma (mother) said that, she told me that people [Hindus] who pray can’t eat beef,” recalled Neelavanan.

As Neelavanan grew up, he understood that Hindu religiosity surrounding beef was a weapon against Dalits who consume it. “People around me eat mutton, chicken, water monitors, pork—they eat everything,” he said. “But when it comes to beef, they say that it is god. They brand [Hindus] who eat beef as coming from a certain caste. We are buying [beef] with our own money; we did not steal or beg for it. Yes, I eat beef, so what?”

Ove time, however, the culture of eating beef has deliberately declined among Dalits in Malaysia as a way to escape casteism and adapt to caste-Hindu practices. This shift can be seen in Neelavanan’s own family, where his siblings and relatives refuse to eat beef and even scrutinise him for his beef-eating habits.

[keystonepublishing]

Psychological Warfare of the Malayan Emergency by Herbert A. Friedman (Ret.)

Have you ever been taught a version of history at school that seems weirdly simplistic? And then years later, you find more evidence that shows the whole affair was a giant, complicated mess?

Guess what I learned over the past few months about the Malayan Emergency.

For context, the Malayan Emergency was a conflict that raged in the British colony of Malaya from 1948 until the 1960s between communist forces and the British government, later continued by the independent Malayan government. The government forces won, but any school teachings of the conflict was presented in a manner that simplified the complex (and often, grey) nature of the Emergency.

I knew since then that a lot of truths were hidden away, but I didn't realize that there was a psychological aspect to the Emergency until I stumbled upon this webpage by a retired military officer about it. Given the length of the information provided and that it's the only one of it's kind — and therefore at risk of information loss if deleted, I sought to bookbind it. Pictures and all.

Given the amount of information contained and the sheer number of images, this project took about a month!

I had to divide the continuous stream of information in the webpage into readable chapters.

Then, I had to layout the images with the text, which was actually harder than expected — the size of the image could shift relevant text into the following pages, so it was a process of balancing image size to textual placement.

In-between that was the regular work of typesetting, but also of formatting quotes and examples, of which there were a lot.

And then there were pages that required special attention. For example, these pages:

The pages on the right was relatively simple — a double-sided leaflet that could be showcased in a double-page spread, with contextual information in the following pages.

On the left however, to create the list of dead / living people, I had to finagle a table in Microsoft Word and constantly adjust the cell size to make the long names and positions fit. The whole endeavor was an exercise in patience.

Leafing through the pages, there are some parts I am annoyed with, such as pictures on the right page with their annotated message in the following left page. But as it is, I'm just glad this is done.

Special thanks to SGM Herbert A. Friedman (Ret.) for compiling this information that astonished me to create this bookbind.

[vintagecamping]

Setting up camp in a safe open field. Malaysia

1967

[diioonysus]

beauty around the world: pt 8

[sonyaheaneyauthor]

russian fighters celebrate in the wreckage of civilian passenger flight Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. The rubble was looted of the victims' possessions.

MH17 was shot down over occupied Donbas, Ukraine on the 17th of July 2014, using a russian-made Buk ground-to-air missile. 298 people were killed.

The victims were from:

Australia (27)

Belgium (4)

Canada (1)

Germany (4)

Indonesia (12)

Malaysia (43)

Netherlands (193 including one dual Dutch/US citizen)

New Zealand (1)

Philippines (3)

United Kingdom (10)

[grafikita]

Nirnama oleh AsyrafAzulia

[gwydpolls]

Time Travel Question 18: Ancient History VIII and Earlier

These Questions are the result of suggestions from the previous iteration.

This category may include suggestions made too late to fall into the correct grouping.

Please add new suggestions below if you have them for future consideration.

[jesncin]

Fanart of "The Weight of Our Sky" by Hanna Alkaf. An incredibly important fictional retelling about a girl with OCD navigating the 1969 race riots in Malaysia.

As a Chinese Indonesian who went through really similar history within my lifetime, this book is difficult but so compelling.

[the-pardon-my-french]

Ink Library Cafe.

[losthistoryblog]

Bujang Valley Archaelogical Site (Kedah, Malaysia)

This right here is the oldest South East Asian civilisation.

It was referred to as Qalah (now Kedah) and was a proper civilization with a history of trade with Mesopotamia, India, and China.

The archaeological discoveries are rumored to stretch from the border with Thailand all the way to Penang.

There was a history of iron smelting as well and a presence of Hindu temples and Buddhist temples.

Malaysia aims to make this a tourist site on par with Angkor Wat and Borobudur. It's still shrouded in mystery. According the Malaysian archaeologists there seems to be more left to discover

[southeastasianists]

In the mid-15th century, Ming Chinese princess Hang Li Poh was sent off to be diplomatically married to the Sultan Mansur Shah of Malacca in Malaysia. According to the local tradition, the Sultan gifted her the hill of Bukit Cina for her to build a residence, and in 1459, this well was constructed for her use there.

Now known as Perigi Raja, the King’s Well, or Hang Li Poh’s Well, this well became a significant source of water for the city-state and it is said that it has never dried up even during the worst droughts. Legend has it that whoever throws coins into the well is destined to return to Malacca.

After conquering the city in 1511, the Portuguese took control of the well. In silent resistance, warriors of the Sultan of Malacca poisoned the well and succeeded in covertly killing some 200 Portuguese colonizers. The Dutch and later the Acehnese, an Indigenous people from Indonesia, also poisoned the well in 1606 and between 1628 and 1629 respectively.

During Dutch control of the region, a wall was built around the well to protect it, forming a small fort complete with cannons and a guardhouse. In 1795, a high-ranking Chinese colonial official, Kapitan Cina Chua Su Cheong (Tsai Shih-chang), founded the Taoist temple of Poh San Teng dedicating it to the Peranakan deity Tua Pek Kong. Its entrance is adjacent to the fort. Following the British occupation and colonization of Malacca, the well soon fell into disuse and disrepair.

Today, the legendary well can still be found in a walled enclosure next to the Poh San Teng temple, hidden in plain sight. While its water is no longer clean enough to drink, the well has earned a reputation for being a wishing well over the years, and many coins lie scattered at its base.

[unlikelylotusagent]

HANG TUAH IS TAKING OVER MY BRAIN

HELP IAM CURRENTLY HAVING BRAINROT ABOUT HANG TUAH RABHHHHGH HEKPPP THE 3 FICS ON AO3 ARE NOT HELPING

Frick you dude

Why can't I have a brain rot of a more popular historical/ folk figuree like Hamilton or Napoleon, Odysseus or even Tripitaka 😔

[thozhar]

Gogu: Even after independence, the Tamils continued to be managed similarly to the colonial times. European estate managers remained involved in Malaysian plantations, and the political direction and policies of Malaysia did not undergo significant shifts from the colonial period to benefit the Indians.  As indentured labourers, the Tamils were seen as mere tools for profit and deliberately dehumanised. The oppression they faced was evident in every aspect of plantation life. From the regimental morning roll-call to the hierarchical divisions based on caste, from the promotion of toddy consumption to destroy their consciousness to the extremely small and substandard housing, and from being kept separate from the development of the new nation to limited access to education, everything was cunningly designed to strip away their self-respect and dignity, keeping them as ignorant slaves. Sadly, many Tamils were unaware of the extent of their oppression, as they were kept comfortable enough not to revolt.  It is indeed heartbreaking to see the lasting impact of the oppressive system on Tamil communities even today. Despite advancements in wealth, the chains of oppression have not been fully broken. The slave mentality still persists, hindering our ability to realise our true potential and independence. In the realm of arts, we continue to be enslaved to the influences of South Indian cinema and Hollywood, preventing us from exploring the true meaning of our existence in this land. I think when the Malaysian Tamils watch themselves represented truthfully in cinema, one step towards finding our identity would be taken. We must reclaim our narrative; that is our liberation!

— ‘Plantation Life: As It Was’ Documents And Reclaims The History Of Tamil Indentureship

[arkipelagic]

Bujang Valley is believed to have occupied an area as big as 1,000 sq km on Malaysia’s west coast, stretching from northern Penang to Kedah and possibly eastwards to as far as the current border with Thailand.

Since more than a century ago, researchers who worked on the valley have dug up evidence of Hindu-Buddhist temples, iron smelting sites and ancient relics.

They say this is proof the area was a bustling, cosmopolitan trading port on the sea route from China to India and further on to Arabia.

“It really shows that this area is important, not just to Southeast Asia but the world, because this area connects the East and West,” Mokhtar said, pointing out that the area’s geographical features made it an “ideal” port.

The valley had a bay and estuary for ships to dock, and the nearby Mount Jerai acted as a visible waypoint for vessels making the long voyage.

“Ships stopped here for three months to wait for the winds. During these months religion spread, leading to the existence of the temples. Sungai Batu is a picture of the trading system 2,800 years ago,” Mokhtar added.

Despite the site’s outsized historical significance, Mokhtar - who retired two years ago - said archeological works here have stalled and that no one has replaced him to continue his work and uncover more of this ancient civilisation.

[chimaeraonwards]

Batang Kali Massacre in Colonial Malaya

Today Al Jazeera published an article about the Batang Kali massacre in colonial Malaya (now known as Malaysia) where 24 innocent people were killed by British forces.

I won't go into the details of the atrocities committed by the British in Batang Kali here (i suggest you go read the actual article on Al Jazeera). But I do want to share the following excerpt:

The British forces falsely accused these innocent people of being communists to justify murdering them. To this day, the families of the deceased have not received any justice.

The article goes on to describe how halfway around the world in Ireland, the same injustices occurred:

It talks about the similar incident, the Ballymurphy massacre in Belfast, and how in 2021 they were able to get legal justice.

In my opinion, I think these incidents is an eerie parallel to what the Israeli forces is currently doing to the people of Palestine - killing them and then justifying it by saying they were Hamas or hiding Hamas. Or committing crimes and then labeling the victims as Hamas to justify it.

None of this happens in a vacuum. It is all interconnected.

I don't think people understand the long lasting multi-generational impact this kind of horrific acts have on victims and their families. This is an excerpt from the Batang Kali article that describes that:

Colonization impacts people for generations. On a personal level, my grandparents and others in their generation were all impacted by the British colonization and Japanese occupation of Malaya.

Our grandparents were once young people living in occupation. They were young girls hiding from the military to avoid becoming comfort women. They were young boys who were made to do forced labour by the occupiers. Young people who fought and rallied for our freedoms today. They survived for our freedom.

History is already repeating itself in Palestine. Justice for Palestinians does not stop at a ceasefire - just as it did not stop at the end of World War II or after Malaysian and Irish independence. But we have to start somewhere.

And to any Palestinian reading this, in some weird way, I hope that this may bring you hope. These atrocities happened over and over again throughout history and yet, here we are - our people survived. I am here and you are here. Isn't that beautiful? I hope you know that you are not alone in this fight. Its not pretty and its not immediate, but justice will prevail and Palestine will be free in our lifetime.

Ceasefire now.

You can read about the Al Jazeera article about the Batang Kali massacre here: