The Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (MBRAS) in conjunction with Badan Warisan Malaysia (BWM) will host this talk.

Datin Patricia Lim Pui Huen is a distinguished scholar of S.E. Asian history, having spent most of her professional career with the Institute of South East Asian Studies in Singapore. She joined the Council of the Malaysian Branch, Royal Asiatic Society in 1981 and served as a Vice-President from 1995 until last year. During this time, she took much interest in its publication activities. Her most active involvement was in coordinating the publication of the major reprint on "Southeast Asia-China Interactions" and serving as Review Editor of JMBRAS for 25 years.

Among her numerous publications, the most recent are Johor, 1855-1957 Local History, Local Landscapes, a story told largely through old photographs and historical maps. Her second recent publication is entitled Through the Eyes of the King: The Travels of King Chulalongkorn to Malaya.

Both books demonstrate how particular landmarks provide the connection to the past and how history is localised through man-made structures such as buildings, bridges and monuments or through natural features in the landscape.

Datin Lim's writings reflect her abiding interest in the theme of continuity and connectedness - between past and present, tradition and modernity, and between peoples and communities.

CONTACT: Please advise BWM, tel. 03-21449273 or MBRAS tel. 03-22835345 if you wish to attend.

Our Latest Publications

We have a variety of post and packaging options, therefore please email us using our Monograph and Reprint sections for a quotation.

This page has been optimised for fast downloading. For contents for each book, please click on the image.

Monographs

	Monograph 33 A History of Negri Sembilan By J.M. Gullick 220pp. Size: 150x225mm Hardcover		Monograph 34 The Malay Muslims, Islam and the Rising Sun By Abu Talib Ahmad 288pp. Size: 150x225mm Hardcover
	Monograph 35 Raja Bilah and The Mandailings in Perak: 1875-1911 By Abdur-Razzaq Lubis & Khoo Salma Nasution 278pp Size: 212x300mm Hardcover		Monograph 38 Murder Most Foul: A Panorama of Social Life in Melaka from the 1780s to the 1820s By Radin Fernando 132pp. Size: 146x222mm Hardcover
	Monograph 39 Malay Secret Societies in the Northern Malay States, 1821-1940s By Mahani Musa 185pp. Size: 146x222mm Hardcover		Monograph 40 Historians & their Disciplines: The Call of Southeast Asian History By Nicholas Tarling 202pp. Size: 146x222mm Hardcover
	Monograph 41 New Perspectives and Research on Malaysian History By Cheah Boon Kheng 270pp. Size: 146x222mm Hardcover		Monograph 43 Letters of Sincertiy: The Raffles Collection of Malay Letters (1780-1824) A Descriptive Account with Notes and Translation By Ahmat Adam 440pp. Size: 146x222mm Hardcover

Reprints

	Reprint 23 The Trade of Singapore 1819-1869 By Wong Lin Ken 317pp. Size: 165x255mm Hardcover		Reprint 24 Malay Magic: Being an Introduction to the Folklore and Popular Religion of the Malay Peninsula By Walter William Skeat 800pp. Size: 146x222mm Hardcover
	Reprint 25 Southeast Asia - China Interactions Selected and introduced by Geoff Wade With a foreword by Wang Gungwu 620pp. Size: 184x260mm Hardcover		Reprint 26 Selections from the Selangor Journal Edited and Introduced by John Gullick 660pp. Size: 140x216mm Softcover
	Reprint 27 Boats, Boatbuilding and Fishing in Malaysia Edited by H.S.Barlow 411pp. Size: 184x260mm Hardcover		Reprint 28 Malay Annals (Translated by C.C. Brown from MS Raffles No. 18) 276pp. Size: 140x215mm Softcover (Only available as one of three volumes in Boxset)
	Box Set of Reprints No. 17, 20 and 28 Malay Annals / Sejarah Melayu Softcovers in a box

Sale of MBRAS Microfilms

MBRAS now has on microfilm all back numbers of the Journal of the Straits/Malayan/Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society from 1878 up to December 2000 (Vol. 73, Part 2).

The set includes full subject and author indices up to 1980, together with volume by volume of the listing of contents for the whole run. Films may be ordered in positive or negative. Work is currently in hand indexing by author and subject of the period 1981-2000.

The price is at RM14,000/S$7,000/US$3,700 per complete set, or RM400/S$200/US$105 per reel. For more than 10 reels ordered at one time, the charge will be RM300/S$150/US$80 per reel. All prices are exclusive of postage and packing. Due to short shelf life of unexposed microfilm, special supplies will have to be ordered, and there may be up to 3 months’ delay.

All prices are subject to change without notice. Please email your order stating volume numbers and dates, positives/negatives, etc. to mbras@tm.net.my

About Us

The Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (henceforth called the Society) is a learned society devoted to the task of collecting, recording and diffusing information about Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. Its primary objective is to promote a greater interest in the study of the region, and to this end, it publishes a journal and carries out other scholarly activities.

A brainchild of a group of colonial administrators, the Society has since 4 November 1877 enjoyed the patronage of top-ranking officials like the Governors of the Straits Settlements, Prime Ministers of Malaysia and Singapore and the Sultan of Brunei. Among its council members are distinguished officials and academicians, ranging from Sir Frank A. Swettenham, Sir Richard Winstedt and H.N. Ridley of the colonial government to Tan Sri Nik Ahmed Kamil and Tun Mohamed Suffian bin Hashim of the Malaysian government and to academicians like Dr. Alastair Lamb, Professor Wang Gungwu and Professor S. Arasaratnam of the University of Malaya.

Apart from enjoying elite patronage, the Society during the colonial period received government grants, donations from the Sultans of the Malay States, franking privileges, government provision of premises and facilities for printing and map-making, free airing time from Radio Malaya and newspaper coverage. Even now, it receives grants from the governments of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei and other organizations. Undoubtedly such elite patronage and assistance is a major factor contributing to the society’s success. But more importantly, it indicates recognition of the Society’s role in contributing to knowledge and scholarship of the region.

In spite of government subventions and of modifications of the Society’s name to take account of political changes, “politics have never been allowed to impinge on the Society’s work”. It has always been an independent society, managing its own affairs and responsible for its own finances and editorial policy. Even affiliation with the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (henceforth called the R.A.S.) does not impose restrictions on its autonomy. In fact, the only practical evidence of its link with the R.A.S. is the R.A.S.’s permission to the Society’s members to use its library and attend its monthly meetings when in London.

The Society has an active existence. Indeed, few learned societies in this region can claim to have been equally successful. On record, up to date, it has published 166 Journals, 30 Monographs, 19 Reprints, 3 Indexes, a statistical gazetteer, a map of the Malay Peninsula and a textbook on Eastern Geography. Among its other scholarly activities are annual public lectures and sponsorship of academic conferences. But more significant than a qualitative achievement is the Society’s publication of numerous pioneer articles on a wide variety of subjects — Culture, History, Literature, Anthropology, Archaeology, Botany, Zoology and a score of other headings. Amongst its list of contributors are notable scholars like W.E. Maxwell, R.O. Winstedt, R.J. Wilkinson, R. Braddell and H.N. Ridley of the colonial period and eminent academicians like Professor John Bastin, Dr. Alastair Lamb, Dr. Ismail Hussein, Professor Khoo Kay Kim, John Gullick of the post-colonial period.

The Society and its Journal, being scholarly and specialized, have little appeal to the general public and consequently its membership size has always been small. Nevertheless, it has grown from 150 founder members in 1877 to over 1,000 members in 2001. Its members are drawn from all the States in Malaysia, the Republic of Singapore, Brunei and overseas.

Far from being complacent, the Society in its second century of existence hopes to widen its horizon. In 1977, at the Centenary Banquet, the President of the Society, the late Tan Sri Nik Ahmed Kamil, called for the expansion of the Society’s academic frontier to include neighbouring countries. Thus, on account of its objective of promoting interest and scholarship of the region and its composition of members from various countries, the Society takes on the additional role of fostering the development of regionalism and ASEAN solidarity. By so doing, it hopes to prove that it is “not only worthy to carry on the great traditions of the Society but is also moving steadily with the new times in South East Asia”. — John Gullick

I would like to see the journal’s contents!