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a little history
Many of you will have visited Malaysia at one time or
another. Either a quick border hop for a visa, a bit
longer trip to the Thai consul on Penang, or simply for
a change of scenery.
The country is particularly user friendly to British,
Australian, American and Canadian passport holders,
allowing these, along with some other foreign nationals,
90 days visa free on entry.
An even better bargain was had by the British East
India Company back in 1786, when the King of Kedah,
whose small kingdom included Penang, agreed to let
the British occupy the island at a cost of 6,000 Spanish
dollars a year, for the purpose of establishing a naval
base there and expanding trade.
By the late 1700’s the East India Company had already
come a long way since its formation in 1600, when it
began life as a kind of co-operative venture with a few
share holders. The growing trade in spices and other
goods from Asia was extremely valuable, and by the late
18th century the company had control of much of India,
its’ only remaining major adversary there being the
Mahratta Empire. Which is where two British brothers,
Richard and Arthur Wellesley, stepped in.
Born into British nobility, Richard - Lord Mornington
- became Governor General of India in 1798, and was
determined to increase the control of the East India
Company over the country. His younger, and less well
known brother Arthur, hadn’t done as well as Richard
at school, and was perhaps a bit of a weakling (and
what we would now call a ‘Hooray Henry.) But he got
his act together and as a Major General was to lead his
troops to victory over the remaining opposition. Only
later, following his return to England, would Arthur
become the Duke of Wellington, no doubt much to the
annoyance of Richard.
But it was Richard Wellesley who left his mark on an area
of Malaysia which is now part of Seberang Perai. In 1800,
in addition to Penang, the King of Kedah also ceded part
of the mainland, which included Butterworth, to the East
India Company (for an additional 4,000 Spanish dollars
a year) and the area was named Province Wellesley
after Richard. Unfortunately an agreement that the
British would also protect what remained of Kedah
from invasion by its’ Northern neighbour, Siam, failed
miserably. In 1821, upon its’ occupation by the Siamese,
which was to last for 21 years, many of Kedahs’ people
fled into Province Wellesley for British protection.
Malaysia of course has a very chequered and complex
political history, but looking back to Wellesleys’ time,
and the influence of the East India Company, it is a little
Dream
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Restaurant & Bar
Swedish, European & Thai Food
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0915094729 Th/Eng 0805626735 Swe/Eng
Soi 94 (1st left after 7-11)
easier to see why the country is still so easy for us to
get into.
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Words of the week
This weeks’ first word is an ‘ology’, and is relevant to
a very large chunk of Asia. ‘Sinology’ is the study of
Chinese culture, language and history.
..........................................................
‘Panjandrum’ sounds to me like the kind of mess people
can find themselves in when they accidentally get both
legs into one leg of their pyjamas. In fact it is a pompous
self important person in a position of authority.
You can now pass a few hours worth of Chiangs making
a list of all those you know.....
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