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Prof Nick White – The decolonisation of Malaysia and Singapore: a maritime perspective (Lecture in honour of Prof Tony Stockwell)

March 13 @ 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm GMT

In the late-1960s, Malaysia and Singapore established their own national, ocean-going shipping lines. This outcome was unexpected by the leading British shipowners serving Southeast Asia. P&O, Blue Funnel and Ben Line had hoped to form a locally registered consortium to protect their own interests and satisfy national aspirations. Honouring the work of Tony Stockwell on the decolonisation of Malaya/Malaysia, this lecture discusses how the best laid imperial plans – in this case, commercial rather than official – were scuppered by the twists and turns of local politics at the end of empire. Not least, that involved the creation of Malaysia in 1963 and the separation of Singapore two years later, but also reflected a growing economic nationalism in Kuala Lumpur. Following the Stockwell method, moreover, the story of Malaysia’s and Singapore’s bid for maritime independence demonstrates how the close reading of British archives, combined with the memoirs of key local actors, can substitute for the absence of the local record.

 

Nick White is Professor of Imperial & Commonwealth History at Liverpool John Moores University and Co-Director of Liverpool’s Centre for Port & Maritime History. Between 1986 and 1989, Nick read for an undergraduate degree in History at Royal Holloway, University of London where he was taught imperial history by Tony Stockwell. With Charles Harvey, Tony subsequently served as supervisor for Nick’s PhD on business-government relations during the end-of-empire epoch in Malaya. In honouring Tony’s work, this lecture combines Nick’s research interests in the decolonisation of Southeast Asia and ocean-going shipping.

Details

Date:
March 13
Time:
6:30 pm - 8:30 pm GMT

Venue

Royal Asiatic Society Lecture Theatre
14 Stephenson Way
London,NW1 2HDUnited Kingdom
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Phone
02073884539
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