Malaysia Books

Similar in layout to the other New Holland guides. Thereby making it obvious that it is not intended for the scientist. Small and handy, perfect for a pocket. However, do not think it only covers a small number of the best known mammals. Several newly discovered mammals are included (e.g. a strange ungulate called the Saola, and a beautifully striped rabbit only discovered in the late 1990's). Most of these are interesting but would never be encountered by the "normal backpacker". Several rarities are also included for example the Lesser One-horned Rhino, of which it is believed that only approx. 60 individuals survives. Almost all of the larger mammals known to occur in this region are described individually with at least one (usually very good) colour photo. The small number of large species not described are almost always mentioned in the description of a relative. The smaller mammals (bats, insectivores etc.) are described in groups (also with at least one photo) usually comprising a genus. The text is strait forward and easy to read for everybody with average English skills. However do not forget your glasses, the text is very small! The text itself is good and actually quite long with the books size in mind. It usually comprises of id, range (no maps!), behaviour, habitat etc. Each species description (incl. photo) comprises 2-1/2 page. A great thing for the novice is the use of easily recognisable thumbnails (an example being deer). Thereby it shouldn't be a problem finding the species your looking for. In the intro of the book a chapter speaks about finding and observing mammals, and 31 national parks or reserves are also mentioned briefly. The thing I find most annoying is the very small number of dark or unclear photos. Another thing to remember is that the book doesn't included whales or dolphins other than the one species which regularly enters fresh water. With the prise and size in mind everybody travelling to this area should bring a copy.

I found this book very useful in understanding much about the prehistory of the Indo-Malaysian Archipelago. It was in depth and easily read. I was especially interested in the animistic beliefs the Negritos held, and found it amazing that even christianity had to be adjusted to fit around their strong belief in animism later on in modern history.

The eight chapters in this volume challenge us to rethink Malaysia as well as received wisdom about Malaysia. In different ways, all eight involve rethinking Malaysia with a view to changing Malaysia for the better, i.e. reinventing Malaysia. This is not an instance of the collective will urging a reinvention of the nation, but rather of various individual voices speaking out against the inadequacies of past notions and previous conceptions in favour of a more forward-looking view of the world and, yes, of the nation. This book offers much unexpected complementarities as well as coherence. More importantly, all offer analyses which seem to be useful, if not necessary for forging a new Malaysia capable of facing and overcoming the challenges it faces as it enters a new decade and century bound to be unlike the last one. Rapid economic growth and structural change, new political contradictions and options, as well as social and cultural metamorphoses, seemingly accelerated by the compression of space and time made possible by new technologies will undoubtedly pose new challenges for Malaysia as well as for students of the nation. Will Malaysia be sufficiently reinvented for these challenges? And will such analyses contribute enough to reinventing Malaysia?

JOMO K.S., Ph.D is Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Administration, Universiti Malaya.

This book will be of interest to readers in cultural and political studies, especially those who are keen to understand some of the developmental dynamics that affect ordinary Malaysians and issues which constitute the basis as well as the nascent elements for contemporary dissent against entrenched ideologies, rubrics and systems.

The book explores the vexing question of Malaysian nation-building, governance and development by focussing on issues produced by the intersections of identity politics, ethnicity, civil society and modernization

Definately recommended.

Tiger is most ferocious when it is defending its cubs.

In this story Sandokan, the Tiger of Malaysia is searching the daughter of his friend Tremal-Naik; and like a mother tiger he is ready to do anything to save the child.

They are travelling through India, inflame with Sepoy-rebellion, in attempt to stop evil Suyodhana forcing young Darma to take her mothers place as the Guardian of the Temple of the East.

Semai: A Nonviolent People of Malaya is an Ethnography of the Semai (an indigenous people of South East Asia). The Semai are oart of the Orang Asli still living in Malaysia. Dentan bases the book on his own experiences with the Semai; describing their culture, technology and effect of the Western world on their way of life. The book is a little dated (as it was written in the 1970's). But documents a little known piece of humanity well. If native peoples, humanitarian causes and South East Asian culture are of interest to you, I recommend this book highly. There are other books on this topic on this site (just do a keyword search for Semai).

This book is a collection of essays written by a well-known social anthropologist, the late M. G. Swift. Collected, edited and introduced by Professor Shamsul A. B. one of Swift's former student.

The essays in this volume deals with economic anthropology, the relation of economy to society in the rural communities and the relationship between economic theory and the theory of social relations. Student, researchers, planners, administrator and the lay public will find the issues of economic and social changes discussed in these essays not only interesting but significant in helping them understand the nature of Malay society and its response to the modern world.

Strongly recommended.

No other region in the world has captured so much international limelight since the eruption of the 1997-98 financial and economic crisis as Southeast Asia. The severity of the economic, social and political crisis the countries in the region have experienced has undoubtedly been unprecedented since the Second World War. Its complexity has not only perplexed the minds of leaders and scholars, but has also pushed the perimeters of existing economic, social and political theories. It has exposed the serious shortcomings especially of conventional economic wisdom that often circumscribes its analytical framework within nation-states and neglects international political economy and globalisation, thus making a critical re-examination of these theories and approaches an urgent agenda. Written by experts in their own respective fields, Southeast Asia into the Twenty First Century attempts to give an insight into the various facets of the problems and experiences of the ASEAN countries that constitute one of world's most dynamic regions. It provides a close look at the causes of the economic crisis and the policy responses, including corporate and financial restructuring. At the same time it discusses the political dimensions of the crisis and offers tentative prognoses which try to look beyond the crisis into the future of the region. The book which aims to serve as a record of `the thinking of the time' concerning the crisis which hit the region most badly in 1997-98, is both thought-provoking and well-grounded.

RECOMMENDED.

I have been a fan of Peter Carey since reading Oscar and Lucinda ten years ago, and have enjoyed every story since (Jack Maggs was a gripper!), but this one was work to get through. The only reason I trudged through the book was because I had faith that Mr. Carey would deliver. At some points, I thought he was close...I was interested, and ready to be excited. But then, once again, something irritating happened (chubb was caught; he meets someone whose past MUST be explained in detail; the editor's own family drama;etc.) which made it such a chore. The ending was anti-climactic.

I, too, felt like I was reading a galley. Oh well, you can't win 'em all! I'm sure he'll do better next time.

I can't decide between a two or three star rating. For me, My Life as a Fake started off slow, showed promise, but didn't quite deliver. The book offered enough intrigue and quality bits of writing for me to finish it. However, I felt as if I were reading a draft rather than a finished product. That said, there is something in Peter Carey's writing that is alluring enough that I'd like to try another of his novels (preferably something award-winning).

Time for "literature" with the capital L, folks. I think we all know that people will be reading his works hundreds of years after we're all dead. My original reading background is in the literary tradition. I don't often mention it in my newsletter because I'm trying to sell my books here, and most people have a bad case of knee jerk "Literary? Yuk!" There were no Australian authors in my school curriculum, though, so I'm discovering them now.

Peter Carey. He's written some books that I thoroughly enjoyed. He's written a few others that, for whatever reason, didn't quite resonate with me. Well, MY LIFE AS A FAKE is definitely one I enjoyed. His best? I don't know. It's been too long since I read his others. But a contender, most definitely. I mean, wow. Quite intelligent, clever, quick, deceptively simple and sparse, substantial both as an "intellectual exercise" and as just a damn fine ripping tale, literary background amply rewarded but wholly optional.

In case you're familiar with the historical background, which I'm not, it's based somewhat on how poet "Ern Malley" was able to trick the literary establishment into thinking he was a real author instead of an elaborate hoax.

Within a matter of three hours, I had read a review of the book, bought it, and devoured it.... There really is no other way about it. Right from the start, the book is full of intrigue and suspense. Nor does it disappoint. Each character has its own complex psychological make-up; all of them interacting with one another, trying to guess the other's game. Enter the ghoulish character who is the biggest mysetery of them all. His writings, others' confessions, and the bizarre ending leave one in a whirlwind of color, action, and intrigue that makes one want to go back through parts of it to make more sense of what is already known but slippery to the touch.
Go ahead... try it.

In the beginning Peter writes beautifully, weaving a magical wonderland with his delightfully erudite sentences. He draws you in, setting a scene of interest and intrigue, but about halfway through just when you expect things to begin happening, it all slows down into a big pile of boring sludge where his stylistic concerns seem to be of greater interest than the story itself.

After my initial excitement I was most disappointed by this, and one fine Wednesday morning I hurled the book across my room vowing that I would never be tempted to read another word of it. A few days later I took it back to the shop and asked for a refund, but was refused even though I assured them that I hadn't read or even glanced at the second half. I then threatened the shop manager with violence but calmed down when he pulled a gun from under the counter. Unable to tell whether or not the gun was real I decided to say I was sorry, but he refused to accept my apology and called the police.

At first I denied any wrong doing and blamed it all upon the shopkeeper, but after being confronted with video evidence of my social transgression I was taken to the police station and charged with disturbing the peace, and now have to front up at court in 3 weeks time to face a judge.

I am afraid I cannot recommend this book unless there has been a nuclear war, or an attack by aliens, and there are no other books left on earth. In either of those scenarios I would give it more than 2 stars, maybe 3.

All this because Peter lost control of the plot and the pace.

Such is life.

I read this right after reading The Group, another novel set in the same historical period, and presented in several voices. There the similarity ends. I loved this book, and was only mildly interested in the events and perspectives of The Group. The difference is partly attributable to the allure of the exotic setting, and partly to the keen insight and sure hand of the author, in this, his first novel.The actions and motivations of the main character are presented from three different perspectives; his son, his wife, and his English friend. They knew different men inhabiting the same body, of course, and we're not sure which viewpoint is closer to the truth. But oh, we care, and we continue to care throughout the book. For armchair travel to an exotic land and a mysterious time, for insights into Asian history during the Second World War, for understanding how life decisions are made in a very different cultural context, and for pure enjoyment, read The Harmony Silk Factory.

well written maiden novel from Tash Aw. You simply cant put down the book once you start. The novel interweave a mix of local history, relationship and patriotism. In this book, as in real life, no one is truly good or bad. A wonderful read, that will leave you re-visiting your own relationships.

This book was not as engrossing as the reviews suggested. It had a strange twist at the end that was kind of clever.

At the end of the introduction, The Harmony Silk Factory's first narrator Jasper declares emphatically that he is "ready to give [us] this, `The True Story of the Infamous Chinaman Called Johnny." In the story Johnny was the merchant owner of the title's business, as well as the most important man in the Malayan Kinta valley. According to Jasper, Johnny was a bootlegger, a cheat, a murderer, a Communist, and a traitor, among other things. Johnny Lim was also Jasper's father. It is this connection that hints to the reader that this `true story' is not the `whole story.'

Tash Aw's first novel, actually his first work of published fiction in any format, examines the infamous Chinaman from three points of view: first the son Jasper attempts to cover most of his father's life, then Johnny's wife Snow records the events and thoughts on a holiday in a personal diary, and finally a geriatric English monk named Peter Wormwood reminisces on his past with Johnny. Yet although the three voices reveal what they can about Johnny part of him remains an unknowable mystery. While the character's relationships with Johnny become more intimate as the novel progresses Johnny becomes more mythical in the reader's mind.

Jasper, for instance, tells how his father was shot on the day Malaysian independence was finally declared in 1957. Because Johnny survives the assassination attempt people begin to say that he is invincible, otherworldly.

Aw has cultivated an elegant and tragic story over three distinct narrative voices, a story that is bigger than even the legends surrounding the Harmony Silk Factory's operator. The characters are all first exotic, like the jungles of the Malayan setting, but they become almost wonderfully known. Wonderfully because, while most of the novel is set at the end of the British colonizing of the Malayan peninsula just before World War II, this tropical story rarely feels foreign or intimidating. Aw's prose is magical in its familiarity. We feel the warm water of the Malaccan straits in the evening just as we feel the impending sense of crisis as the Japanese prepare to take control of the colony from the British. Aw provides us with a sense of common history with this pacific country on the other side of the globe.

Why did I put such a strange title for my review? Because that was my final conclusion of this book. The first effort by Tash Aw, of Malaysian parents, born in Taiwan and spending his adult years in England.

Why mentioned three distinct parts? Once you read this book, you will feel that it is actually separated into three different sections. The first part being story about Johnny Lim. His childhood till his crooked adult years were described very nicely. Another main attraction of Tash Aw's novel is it was told with a Malaysian background. I love Malaysia. It is very close to Indonesia, have similar cultures and very much alike weather. I am also very familiar with Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, and its surroundings. Therefore, when sometime like this rare gem was available, I grabbed it without second thoughts. A four-star section.

The second part consisted of a "memoir" of Johnny Lim's wife, Jasper's mother. Her love interest of the Japanese character Kunichika, seemed extremely inappropriate behavior, for an Asian, especially a Chinese. Since it is a fiction book, it does not really matter. I felt like this second part of the book was written not by Mr. Aw, because the way it was written is very dissimilar to the first section, which was very lovely. A two-three star section.

Last part, the third, started quite OK. And when Tash Aw's interest in gardening took control of the few pages of this novel, I started to resent this part. Gardening is not my favorite subject, bu t to dwell to much on vegetation subjects, I found that this was becoming a Botany 101 class. Having dwelled on that issue, Tash Aw restarted by telling almost the same things already discussed by Jasper's mother from his British protagonist's point of view. My question: why repeat the SAME story twice? A two-star read.

Well, at the end of the day, it became somewhat not a very good read, though I will surely expect Aw will write better for his second novel upcoming soon.