Peninsula: A Story of Malaysia

Peninsula is a personal memoir by Rehman Rashid that amounts to a report on the generational changes Malaysia has undergone since independence, examining their roots in the past and implications for the future, by one who lived through them.

The narrative unravels the many strands of Malaysian history and how they braided themselves into this nation as it is in the 21st century, each contributing to the whole while striving to remain true to itself.

From the Foreword, “Two Breaths”, the opening lines:
There are two ways to belong to a place: to be born there, and to die there.
To be born there is to have that turtle thing happen; the molecules of first-breath air soak though the alveoli of pristine lungs to infuse the blood and marrow, just as the first breathed word in each post-foetal ear activates the brain, imprinting permanently. To die there is to have the last breath returned to that air, and mortal remains reabsorbed into that soil or scattered upon those winds and waters.
“It is remarkable that these two breaths should matter more than all those in between.

Publisher: Fergana Art

Paperback

2016