Taking Penang Studies seriously
By Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng
January 2011 EDITORIAL
Like most new countries founded after colonialism’s fall, Malaysia lacks good historical studies about itself that are based on solid empirical data. No doubt, some do exist, but they tend to emerge at certain fixed levels. Either they are officially sanctioned hagiographies, academic works clothed in cautious terms, or memoirs by retirees who are unable to support their words with documents. Now, this is a common phenomenon throughout most of Asia because the generation of leaders, bureaucrats and even scholars...
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.
