When Penang became a Spice Island
By Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng
September 2014 WINDOW INTO HISTORY
The lucrative spice trade that led to huge investments of men and money by merchants based in cities along the Atlantic coast of Europe in the 16th and 17th century laid the foundation for the political partitioning in our times of territories in South, South-East and East Asia. Once Portuguese sailors, followed closely by the Spanish, had broken free of the Ottoman and Muslim containment of Europe in the late 15th century, a new world of opportunities and resources opened...
Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng
is the Executive Director of Penang Institute. His latest book is Signals in the Noise: Notes on Penang, Malaysia and the World (Singapore: Faction Press) Homepage: wikibeng.com.
