Goh Chok Tong was Singapore’s 2nd Prime Minister, from 1990 to 2004. Impressions of the Goh Chok Tong Years in Singapore (2009) is the definitive…
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Month: December 2025
The Babas—Part 4
The Baba community is loosely referred to as Peranakan Chinese in Malaysia. The Babas in Malaysia started with immigrant Chinese from China (who, during the…
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The Babas—Part 3
In October 2025, the Malaysian government officially recognized the Baba Nyonya community as a distinct ethnic group, allowing members to have “Baba Nyonya” listed as…
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Sun Yat-sen in Penang
No. 120 Armenian Street is the site of the Sun Yat-sen Museum. This is because the shop here was the Nanyang Headquarters of Sun Yat-sen.…
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Penang, Muntri Street and Sun Yat Sen—Part 2
It is a joy to walk the lanes of Penang’s UNESCO area on a Sunday morning. The traffic is less. The crowd has yet to…
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Penang and Mews—Part 1
Penang has charming mews hotels like Muntri Mews and Noordin Mews inside its UNESCO heritage area. Last 31 May 2025, we had a nice brewed…
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Christmas Crackers—Part 1
Mention the words “Christmas crackers,” and the name that comes to mind is John Julius Norwich. This is because for over 50 years, he has…
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The Land of the Firebird
Pre-revolutionary Russia had produced some of the most inspiring art, literature, dance, and music the world has ever known. Why has that disappeared? Why is…
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Embassies to the Qing court—Part 3
Most people wrongly assume the Macartney Embassy of 1792-94 gave the Western world its first glimpse of the secretive Middle Kingdom. In fact, there were…
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Embassies to the Qing court—Part 2
Most people wrongly assume the Macartney Embassy of 1792-94 gave the Western world its first glimpse of the secretive Middle Kingdom. Why? Such an erroneous…
View More Embassies to the Qing court—Part 2