The following abstract comes from the beginning of a book published by the Government of Prince of Wales Island in 1824. It bore the long title An exposition of the Politician and Commercial Relations of the Government of Prince of Wales Island with the States on the East Coast of Sumatra from Diamond Point to Siack.The volume is a good reminder of what the cultural, commercial and political diversity in the Straits of Malacca looked like before late colonial empire-building and...
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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.