A MURDER, immortalised by Somerset Maugham in his story "The Letter" provides an excellent excuse for Eric Lawlor to describe the lifestyle of the colonials of British Malaya - "a second rate people in a first rate country." Extracts from the local English press allows us glimpses of the Englishman exuberant in his colony or should it be Englishmen? - one visitor, quoted by Lawlor, saw "Two Englishmen,  one here and one at home, might easily be men of different race, language and religion so different is their outlook and behaviour"

    Living in tropical splendour, the Tuan's "chief endeavour" was to forget that the East existed. The chef from Geneva at the E & O made sure that he had the feeling that he was having a meal in London. There was no consorting with the Other.

They lived sumptuously. Even Richard Sydney,  a mere school teacher had a head "boy," without whom he found it difficult to dress himself;  a cook, a second "boy," a modest lifestyle compared with the better paid who had usually eight servants; all the man had to do was to shave himself and eat. . Those who were pupils of Richard Sydney at the Penang Free School will be intrigued by the frequent references to him in the book. They will discover (if they were unconscious of it then) that Richard Sydney's goal was to turn them all into English gentlemen

They drank far more than was good for them. The Mail noted that it was customary and sociable to go on  drinking until 8.30 or 9, when the aperitif before dinner was consumed. If they went to the opera (a rare event), they behaved badly, waiting for the stampede to the bar, as Bilainkin, editor of the Straits Echo was quick to notice. . 

On the estates, the planters were savage task masters. Workers were often beaten savagely. Cases of severe beatings, when discovered, only earned the accused planters fines. Servants were thieves and the enemy within. Rickshaw  pullers, the essential means of transport, were unpleasant scoundrels

How this motley crew which ruled this part of the British Empire aroused feelings of White worship among the natives has yet to be fully explained. A curious abjectness, continuing after Merdeka,  elevated such nonentities as Mubin ff. Sheperd, once the arrogant British Resident of Negri Sembilan, into an expert on Malay culture and history; paid expatriate "experts" sky-high salaries, and enormous fees to "gurus" of the MBA lecture circuit. And how explain the phenomenon of the "King's Chinese," who shipped their pregnant wives to London to ensure a  "true British" delivery; and  the loyalty of citizens like CC Tan,  A P Rajah, and Harry Lee who worked hard to ensure the victory of the pro-British Progressive Party; or that of Heah Joo Seang and his likes who, despite the snub to the Straits Chinese British Association when not one of their number was knighted, waited at the door of a disdainful colonial secretary to beg that Penang remained a British colony. Today we even hear of a proposal to commemorate the "founding of Penang" by the adventurer Francis Light! #

Published by The Friends of the Botanic Gardens

This little booklet is useful for a first-time visitor to the Gardens.  Surprisingly, its historical section does not mention the contribution of the outstanding botanist, Professor R E Holttum, who in his years as administrator from 1927-1941 laid the foundations of Malayan botany, and retired to work at the famous Kew Gardens. We only find mention of him in a little note on Platycerium hulttummi.  Nor is the work of  Cheang Kok Choy, its first Asian head who retired in 1976, honoured. 

The booklet is non-controversial and makes no mention of the changes that have destroyed the vast expanse of green which made the Garden a thing of beauty and the destructive activities of those who have improved the place with bricks and flower pots under the guise of "greening the Gardens", nor the tidak apa attitude which has seen the deterioration of many of its features; nor does it tell us that the Waterfall was Penang's first water supply (see The Penang File Issue No 6, August 2000, Heritage). 

Administration seems lax but it may be caused by a lack of funds. The lily pond, a one time favourite, is in a bad state not only because of a lack of upkeep but also because a superstitious public releases fish and tortoises into the pond with devastating consequences. 

The good news is that there are plans to expand the Gardens 6 times its present size; the bad news is that it will be corporatised and a picnic area will be provided as well as a commercial/hawker complex. Penangites do have a habit of destroying fine ideas with their obsession with food which must follow them regardless of where they are. 

Two guides were produced in 1934 and in 1946. This makes the third and it is  very well edited and illustrated. Its planners must be congratulated on their work. #