Stamford Raffles

In the Footsteps of Stamford Raffles by Nigel Barley (RM 39.90)

Stamford Raffles is that rarest of things — a colonial figure who is forgotten at home but still remembered with affection abroad.

Born into genteel poverty in 1781, he joined the East India Company at the age of fourteen and worked his way up to become Lieutenant Governor of Java when the British seized that island for some five years in 1811. There he fell in love with all things Javanese and vaunted it as a place of civilization as he discovered himself as a man of science as well as commerce. A humane and ever-curious figure, his administration was a period of energetic reform and boisterous research that culminated in his History of Java in 1817 and it remains the starting-point of all subsequent studies of Indonesian culture.

Personal tragedy and ill-health stalked his final years in the East. Yet, though dying at the early age of 44 and dogged by the hostility of lesser men, he would still find time to found the city-state of Singapore and guide it through its first dangerous years. Here, mythologised by the British and demonised by the Dutch, he is more than a remote founding father and remains a charter for its independence and its enduring values.

In this intriguing book, part history, part travelogue, Nigel Barley re-visits the places that were important in the life of Stamford Raffles and evaluates his heritage in an account that is both humorous and insightful.


Other new Malaysian titles (we  received over 30 new titles this week, but we are listing only ten.):

1. Three Thousang Miles to Freedom by Brig MM Pillai, MC (RM 45.00)
2. Metafizik & Kosmopolitanisme (RM 25.00)
3. Apa itu Pencerahan? (RM 15.00)
4. Tiada Paksaan dalam Agama (RM 25.00)
5. Gelombang Kebangkitan Asia (RM 20.00)
6. Nathan Yang Bijak (RM 35.00)
7. Polemik Islam & Dasar Pemerintahan (RM 25.00)
8. Islam & Dasar Pemerintahan (RM 20.00)
9. Menuju Reformasi Rerundingan Islam (RM 35.00)
10.Pengalaman Bertuhan (RM 10.00)

IB: A Life ( The Autobiography of Ibrahim Hussein ) -- Pusaka (RM50.00)

"Art makes you realise the beauty of life itself. It is never about the destination but the journey, and you must enjoy the journey for once you reach the end, that is all there is."

IB: A Life -- The Autobiography of Ibrahim Hussein is a fascinating story of an artist who touched the hearts of everyone he met.

Born in a small village in Kedah in 1936, his remarkable journey would lead him all around the world, but ultimately back home to Malaysia where he died in 2009.

His desire for adventure and his unique storytelling abilities allow us to follow this critically acclaimed artist through the Swinging Sixties in London, the creative pulse of New York, an incident-filled return to Malaysia and the founding of the Ibrahim Hussein Museum and Cultural Foundation up till his final year.

Part told and part collated from a gathering of his own disparate writings - diary entries, meditative sketches, letters, interviews - it presents an intimate and moving narrative of a man and artist in a constant state of brilliant creative restlessness.

Other new Malaysian books:

1. Belas Kasihku Meliputi Segala -- Reza Shah-Kazemi (RM10.00)
2. Testamen Politik -- Republik Anak Muda Malaysia (RM 8.00)
3.Stabil: Puisi dan catatan -- Fared Ayam (RM10.00)
4. Shore to Shore (Tamil) HB -- Muthammal Palisamy (RM40.00)
5. Shore to Shore (Tamil) PB -- Muthammal Palisamy (RM25.00)
6. The Patriot Game -- Kua Kia Soong (RM22.00)
7. 445 Days under ISA -- Kua Sia Soong (RM 25.00)
8. Missing Malaysia -- Dean Johns ((RM22.00)
9. Ethnic Relations in Nation Building -- Various (RM 28.00)

God of the Earth

God of the Earth by Ho Thean Fook -- The Perak Academay (RM30.00)

Ho Thean Fook portrays Malaya at the beginning of the 20th century through the eyes of his grandfather as a child. This book is about the experiences of Pak Foo, a boy growing up in Papan, a small mining town in Perak. For Pak Foo there are fighting spiders and crickets to catch, Chinese classes to attend, 'wild rat' mines and wooden dredges to explore, weddings and festivals to celebrate, and ghosts and a monster serpent to encounter. Under the author's magical touch, the people of Papan spring to life, drawn in all their ordinariness and in vivid colours. These are tales about squatters, rich towkays, beggers, school teachers and matchmakers.

Other new Malaysian titles:

1.Great-Grandma's Hair Loss Remedy by Rebecca Lok (RM22.0)
2.The Ecokids and the Wasteful Water Worry by Fay Khoo & Asha Gill (RM10.00)
3. The Ecokids and the Gas Guzzler Gaffes by Fay Khoo & Asha Gill (RM10.00)
4. The Ecokids and the Plastic Bag Pickle by Fay Khoo & Asha Gill (RM10.00)

Traditional medicine

Traditional Malay Medicinal Plants by Muhamad Zakaria & Mustafa Ali Mohad

Malaysia, like many other countries, is a nation that treasures its natural environment of forests, jungles and thickets. Moreover, these woodland domains also happen to be the greatest source of natural products that can be used for medicinal purposes. Since the beginning of their history, the Malay people have been using entire plants or their leaves, roots, stems, flowers or fruits as ingredients for the preparation of traditional herbal medicine. This book is an invaluable guide for people familiar with traditional medicine, as well as those who have an interest in medicinal plants. The book may also be of use to professionals such as botanists, phytochemists, doctors ans pharmacologists.

Other new books:
1. Melaka from the Top by Dennis De Witt

Book Launch

Strategic Information and Research Development Centre (SIRD) cordially invites you to the launch of the book No Cowardly Past in Petaling Jaya. On our distinguished panel of speakers are well-known personalities, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, Jomo K.S. and Dominic Puthucheary.

No Cowardly Past: James Puthucheary - Writings, Poems, Commentaries (Second Edition). Edited by Jomo K.S. and Dominic Puthucheary

Informed by a profound understanding of history and convinced by the need to construct a sustainable future for his country, Puthucheary spent a lifetime engaged with the most pressing problems of the day. The new edition of No Cowardly Past brings together some of his most important essays on political economy, the struggle for a progressive politics and the character of university education, as well as his lyrical and pungent poetry.

'Time past and time future are both contained in time present', wrote James Puthucheary in an honest and provocative letter from prison more than y years ago. Informed by a profound understanding of history and convinced by the need to construct a sustainable future for his country, Puthucheary spent a lifetime engaged with the most pressing problems of the day. e new edition of No Cowardly Past brings together some of his most important essays on political economy, the struggle for a progressive politics and the character of university education, as well as his lyrical and pungent poetry. The essays are written in a forthright style that makes his work so accessible and with an unusual candour about the di culties of transforming a rapidly changing society. Together with half a dozen commentaries that throw light on his personal life, political career, intellectual impact and literary output, No Cowardly Past o ers the most comprehensive introduction to one of Malaysia’s greatest public intellectuals.

Date: Monday, 22 March 2010
Time: 8.00pm -- 10.00pm
Venue: Auditorium, MBPJ Civic Centre, Jalan Yong Shook Lin, Petaling Jaya
Programme:
Welcome by Ismail Gareth Richards
Speakers
Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah - The Malaysia We Want
Jomo K.S. - Half a century later: The relevance of the Merdeka generation for us today
Dominic Puthucheary

Discussion
Official Book Launch and Presentation
Light refreshments will be served
Book sale and signing