Justices of the Peace: An Institution at Risk of Being Forgotten
By Koay Su Lyn, Dato' Dr. Ooi Kee Beng
May 2018 FEATURE
As a colony of the British, Malaya inherited the tradition of appointing Justices of the Peace (JPs) from among its prominent individuals and community leaders. Despite the title’s honorary nature, JPs were bestowed with significant public roles, from mediators in charge of the maintenance of peace to sitting as lay magistrates in minor cases. In Penang, JPs consisted not only of wealthy and well-respected public figures but also personalities who have contributed immensely to the state. Nevertheless, with no new...
Koay Su Lyn
reads and writes of the past to make sense of the present. She is a research analyst in the History and Heritage Programme of Penang Institute.
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.
