This, the fifth book in the Scorpio Series covers the period of the second Malaysian “Emergency” from 1970 to 1990 and Special Branch operations that not many people are aware of. By 1970,  the Communist Party of Malaya had re-grouped in southern Thailand and trained about 2,400 reserve troops. They were ready to make a return to […]

Believe it or not, this is what Ipoh’s first railway station looked like in the late 1800s (before the present Taj Mahal-like structure). Amazing isn’t it? It is interesting to note that: “…the first section [railway construction in Perak] was an eight-mile line running between Taiping and Port Weld….[which] opened for traffic in June 1885. […]

“Tin Mining in Malaysia: the Osborne & Chappel Story” was launched today by YB Dato’ Sri Dr. Ng Yen Yen, Minister of Tourism Malaysia, in conjunction with the opening of Gopeng Museum’s second premises, the Heritage House, Gopeng.  The book, written by David Palmer, who was part of O & C in Malaysia from 1960 until […]

   Once the premier state of the Federated Malay States, Perak pioneered tin mining, rubber, roads and railways in Malaya. In the early twentieth century, Europeans and Asians venturing into this frontier country bought picture postcards to send home to family, friends and pen pals all over the world. Perak Postcards 1890s-1940s represents the largest […]

Ladies and Gentlemen, Above is the first draft cover of a new book that will be published as soon as we can fill the blank pages with your reminiscences of growing up in Ipoh. Text will be in the English language. ipohWorld will take on the task of collating, editing and dealing with the publishing and […]

Landmarks of Perak records the richness and diversity of Perak’s architectural fabric. Structures depicted in the book include palaces, mosques, schools, temples, churches, memorials, government offices, banks, shophouses, bridges, and even private residences. More than 160 landmarks are featured, from each of the State’s nine districts, with particular attention given to the State’s historic urban […]

This book by Leon Comber is an analyses of the pivotal role of the Malayan Police’s Special Branch, during the Malayan Emergency. Dr Comber, an Honarary Research Fellow at Monash Asia Institute (Monash University, Melbourne), shows how the Special Branch was organised and how it worked in terms of security during the Emergency. It is […]

Although not a new publication (it was first published in 1982 and reprinted in 1984) it is out of print but sometimes still available on the Internet.  It forms a very handy introduction to the Malayan Emergency of 1948 to 1960. Ideal for the student or as a first-time introduction to the events of those difficult times. Osprey […]

When the Japanese invaded Malaya in the Second World War, John Davis’s service in that country could have ended. Determined to help the land he had come to love, however, he transferred from the Federated Malay States – M16 – and then, in 1942, to the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Escaping to India by fishing […]

  Following on from my two previous posts about the Foochows of Sitiawan, here is the promised image of the book referred to. Written by Shih Toong Siong, a descendant of those first immigrants the book tells the story of the Foochows since 1903. They were a ‘population transplant’, for a rice growing experiment, fully paid […]

Published by Media Masters, Singapore and Authored by Sybil Kathigasu, Chin Peng and Ian Ward and Norma Miraflor, Faces of Courage stands as the first in-depth study of Malaya’s legendary war-time heroine, Sybil Kathigasu, and the impact her dauntless decisions and actions had on the members of her immediate family. An essential aspect of this […]

This newly published book tells stories about Ipoh around 1957 and Merdeka when Malaya was in a time of change with the British on their way out and Malayans ruling their own country for the first time. Consequently the Colonisers and the Colonised had to come to terms with their new relationship. Similarly the citizens […]