New in the Short History of Asia series, edited by Milton Osborne, this is a readable, well-informed and comprehensive history of Malaysia from ancient past to hyper-modern present day.

Malaysia's multicultural society supports one of the most dynamic economies in Asia. This completely revised new edition of the standard text, first published twenty years ago, traces the history of the country from early times to the present day. The authors give particular attention to the evolution of Malay polities and their close links with indigenous groups who lived on the oceans and in the deep jungles of the region, from Sumatra to Borneo. This provides the background to the establishment of the Malay port of Melaka, which was conquered by the Portuguese in 1511, foreshadowing the establishment of a British colonial regime in the late nineteenth century. Although the large numbers of Chinese and Indian migrants who arrived to work in the tin and rubber industries contributed to economic expansion, colonial policies did not encourage communal interaction. The authors trace the process by which post-independence leaders in Malaya attempted to counter the legacy of ethnic hostility while answering Malay demands for an affirmation of their rights and a stronger commitment to Islam. The incorporation of the Borneo states of Sarawak and Sabah into the Federation of Malaysia in 1963 rendered the goal of welding a nation from areas that were geographically separated and culturally disparate even more problematic. The intense emotions attached to issues of race were made tragically evident in the racial riots of May 1969, which this book sees as a watershed in modern Malaysian history. As Malaysia enters the twenty-first century, the government is determined to oversee the transition to an economy focused on manufacturing and advanced technology, and to eliminate poverty and the association between occupation and race. While several recent studies deal with the impact of colonial rule and Malaysia's spectacular economic transition, this book is unique because it tracks developments from early times and identifies continuities as well as change. Combining the authors' specialist knowledge of precolonial sources with the most recent contemporary research, this new edition reinforces the position of A History of Malaysia position as a standard reference for all those interested in the historical processes which led to the emergence of this culturally varied and economically energetic country.

Malaysia came into existence on 9/16/63 as a federation of Malaya, Singapore, Sabah (North Borneo), and Sarawak; in 1965 Singapore withdrew from the federation. Offers an in-depth and detailed analysis of the political processes that led to formation of the Federation of Malaysia in 1963. It argues that the Malaysia that came into being following the amalgamation of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak and North Borneo was a political creation whose only rationale was that it served a convergence of political and economic expediency for the departing colonial power, the Malayan leadership and the ruling party of self-governing Singapore. 'Greater Malaysia' was thus an artificial political entity, the outcome of a concatenation of interests and motives of a number of political actors in London and Southeast Asia from the 1950s to the early 1960s. This led to a number of unresolved compromises between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and did not obviate the possibility of future difficulties, and the seeds of dissension sown by the disagreements between the two governments were to sprout into major crises during Singapore's brief history in the Federation of Malaysia.

In this fully updated, second edition of Crossroads, Jim Baker adds two new chapters that bring Malaysia and Singapore into the middle of the first decade of the 21st century. The original text (which traces the complex currents of history and politics of Malaysia and Singapore—neighbours with a common past) is also revised to re-evaluate events in the context of an expanded history. “Jim Baker’s Crossroads is bound to raise more than a few eyebrows in more than a few quarters. His book presents a side of history not many may be aware of or even want to know … it is as thought-provoking as it is enlightening.” — The Sun (on the first edition). “Baker’s thrilling book profits from his refusal to separate Singapore’s history from Malaysia’s. What we get is a broad story filled with surprising details drawn from his own experiences and from other scholarly works, and told in an easy and captivating style.” — Dr Ooi Kee Beng, Fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore

An Economic History of Malaysia, c.1800-1990 , provides the first general history of the Malaysian economy over the past two centuries, including a survey of the pre-colonial era. A unique feature is that it integrates the historical experiences of Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak as a case study in the onset of modern economic growth. Particular attention is paid to explaining Malaysia's signal success in achieving a relatively smooth shift away from the primary commodity export economy of the colonial period to near-NIC status by 1990.

In the wake of Malaysia’s 13th General Election some commentators speak of a sharpening of ethnic politics — with Prime Minister Najib blaming a “Chinese tsunami” for his government’s polling setbacks; others are optimistic about the arrival of a new “non-racialized form of politics” and the emergence of “transethnic solidarity”. This book, which engages with both the race paradigm and its opponents, warns that change is likely to come slowly — but is not impossible. Malaysia’s race paradigm is a man-made ideological construct — one that has been contested in the past, and could realistically be contested in the future. In confronting the continuing challenge of globalization, Malaysians should not neglect the history of ideas — and ideology — as they search for new options.

Focuses on Malaysia's four Prime Ministers as nation-builders, observing that each one of them when he became Prime Minister was transformed from being the head of the Malay party, UMNO, to that of the leader of a multi-ethnic nation. Each began his political career as an exclusivist Malay nationalist but became an inclusivist.

This book uses the concepts of rent and rent-seeking to study Malaysian political economy.

Decolonizing the History Curriculum in Malaysia and Singapore is a unique study in the history of education because it examines decolonization in terms of how it changed the subject of history in the school curriculum of two colonized countries – Malaysia and Singapore. Blackburn and Wu’s book analyzes the transition of the subject of history from colonial education to postcolonial education, from the history syllabus upholding the colonial order to the period after independence when the history syllabus became a tool for nation-building. Malaysia and Singapore are excellent case studies of this process because they once shared a common imperial curriculum in the English language schools that was gradually ‘decolonized’ to form the basis of the early history syllabuses of the new nation-states (they were briefly one nation-state in the early to mid-1960s). The colonial English language history syllabus was ‘decolonized’ into a national curriculum that was translated for the Chinese, Malay, and Tamil schools of Malaysia and Singapore. By analyzing the causes and consequences of the dramatic changes made to the teaching of history in the schools of Malaya and Singapore as Britain ended her empire in Southeast Asia, Blackburn and Wu offer fascinating insights into educational reform, the effects of decolonization on curricula, and the history of Malaysian and Singaporean education.

Care Relations in Southeast Asia: The Family and Beyond, edited by Patcharawalai Wongboonsin and Jo-Pei Tan, examines the care relations and transactions within and beyond the family network across three middle-income Southeast Asian countries, namely the Federation of Malaysia, the Kingdom of Thailand and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam at the national and sub-national level. On the national level, changes and continuity in care relations along the changing demographic, socio-economic and political contexts of each country are addressed. On the sub-national level, the complex dimensions of care relations are analyzed by looking at the attitude towards and practice of elderly and child care within, between and beyond the family system. These regional analyses are based on merged data of three most recent family surveys in Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok Metropolis, and Hanoi. Alternative and innovative policy recommendations for current and future challenges are also offered. Contains contributions by: Asmidawati Ashari, Ki Soo Eun, Tengku Aizan Hamid, Rahimah Ibrahim, Thuttai Keeratipongpaiboon, Nguyen Huu Minh, Pataporn Sukontamarn, Jo-Pei Tan, Tran Thi Minh Thi, Kua Wongboonsin and Patcharawalai Wongboonsin