Nanyang The Lure of the Southern Ocean to Lands of Opportunity & Danger by Khoo Kheng Hor

Synopsis at www.goodreads.com

In this absorbing historical saga, Khoo weaves and engaging tale linking the multi-racial peoples who inhabit [Malaysia and Singapore] : the orang asli (ie. The aborigines), the people from various parts of Southeast Asia collectively known as the Malays, the Chinese (migrants and Straits-born Peranakan), the Indians, and of course, the Eurasians, descendants of intermarriages of the natives and the Europeans, such as the early Portuguese who came to colonize the wealthy Malacca Sultanate, before being chased out by the Dutch, who, in turn were outmaneuvered by the British, who thereafter systematically colonized the land to be known as British Malaya and the Crown Colony of Singapore until they too were driven out by the invading Japanese

My Comments

For me, I fell in love with his book since I read "Mamasan". All his books are well researched and storyline blend into the history of Malaya/Malaysia. I can't help loving them 


This book is of no exception. It's the story of three generation of the Yap family from the time where Yap Kee came to "Tanah Melayu"(Malay Land) till the time of his grandchildren during the inception of Malaysia.


The plot is good and fast paced. 


The only down side of this book is that there are too many characters involved. I tend to get confused on who is who. However, the three family chart at the beginning of the book helps a lot to countering the problem.


Some parts of the political scenerio is an eye opening "experience" for me. Yes, I have read Malaysian History during school time and I can say that history is not one of my strong subject. I read and memorize the dates just to pass History examination and have no thorough understanding of what I memorize. 


When reading the part about the Communist and the political situation in this bout there were several times when my brain just went "TING!!". Like I finally got what the history books have been trying to say about the war and stuffs like that.


To me this book is fantastic and a must read