16 Jan Straits History

For well over two centuries Penang’s history was made at the confluence of where the monsoons meet – shaped by the protean diversity of peoples from wider worlds. Two important histories chart this vibrant story. Penang and Its Region: The Story of an Asian Enetreot (NUS Press), edited by Yeoh Seng Guan, Loh Wei Leng, Khoo Salma and Neil Khor, situates the island within Southeast Asia and focuses in particular on the dense cosmopolitan networks. Nordin Hussin’s Trade and Society in the Straits of Melaka (NIAS Press) offers a comparison of the social and economic fabric of two port cities, Penang and Melaka. Essential reading.