Thursday, January 30, 2014

PART 2; THE PRIME MINISTER OF MALAYSIA DATUK SERI NAJIB TUN RAZAK LAUNCHED 'MAPS OF MALAYA AND BORNEO; DISCOVERY, STATEHOOD AND PROGRESS' IN THE PRESENCE OF THE SULTAN OF SELANGOR HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS SULTAN SHARAFUDDIN IDRIS SHAH SULTAN SALAHUDDIN ABDUL AZIZ SHAH AT CONCORDE HOTEL KUALA LUMPUR

KEE@FSWMAG.COM
THE ULTIMATE BOOK ON MAPS OF MALAYA AND BORNEO AND EVEN OF THIS REGION SOUTHEAST ASIA CALLED NANYANG IN CHINESE OR NUSANTARA IS 'MAPS OF MALAYA AND BORNEO; DISCOVERY, STATEHOOD AND PROGRESS'.

Make sure you get a copy now as prices are bound to escalate due to popular demand since the cost is very de reasonable---RM 120 while the deluxe version is RM 450. At all good bookstores. If a bookstore does not stock it, then you know it is a lousy one as this book is the cornerstone and touchstone of a good bookshop!

The launch was 27 January 2014 at Concorde hotel Kuala Lumpur grand ballroom hosted by His Royal Highness Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah of Selangor while guest of honour was Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak who officially launched the book by placing his hands on a globe which then glowed and glowered like a brilliant moon. The other guest of honour was the Crown Prince of Perak His Highness Raja Dr Nazrin Shah Sultan Azlan Shah.

The Selangor Sultan then led the Prime Minister and the Crown Prince of Perak to view the exhibition of precious, rare old maps from his superb collection of antique maps His Royal Highness collected over the decades. The Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafudidn Idris Shah then hosted dinner with included the Menteri Besar of Selangor Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, the 14th Menteri Besar of Selangor though rumours are rife Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will soon be the 15th! I thought of asking him how it is like to attend his last grand event but the gods stopped my big mouth from opening.

 His Royal Highness the Sultan of Selangor Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah and Datuk Richard Curtis showing the Prime Minister of Malaysia the rare, valuable antique maps from the collection of the Sultan of Selangor. There was also a small collection from Datuk Richard Curtis's personal collection as he is an ardent map collector and read my story on collecting antique maps which appeared in The Star over a decade ago! In fact this labour of love took Datuk Richard Curtis a decade to plan and over 30 years to collect.
 The Sultan iof Selangor has one of the world's biggest collections of artworks and artefacts from the Malay world which includes a vast treasury of old maps spanning 1,800 years.
 Datuk Richard Curtis pointing to where an ancient cartographer had drawn us
 Some 16th century maps were remarkably accurate while a few later ones were more outlandish
 The Prime Minister of Malaysia pointing to a detail as he was very fascinated by the accuracy or lack of it from ancient cartographers!












 The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak smiling for my limited edition Leica given to me by Her Royal Highness Sultanah Kalsom of Pahang
 Dinner at the Royal Table with Tan Sri Yusuf Tun Syed Nasir and Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim the Menteri Besar of Selangor as well as the Crown Prince of Perak His Highness Raja Dr Nazrin Shah Sultan Azlan Shah and guest of honour the Prime Minister of Malaysia Datuk Sri Najib Tun Razak




 Royalty from Kelantan Tengku Noor Zakiah and Selangor royalty the sister of the Sultan of Selangor YAM Tengku Puteri Noor Zehan Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah
Tengku Noor Zakiah and Tengku Noor Zehan
 This was the globe which lit up when the Prime Minister placed his hands on it
 This globe opened like oyster to reveal the book given to the Prime Minister
 The GM and staff of Concorde KL with the books
 VIPs with Tan Sri Jason Goh at right
 Kee Hua Chee with the Concorde movers and shakers including Julini Yusuf at right

VIPs buying the autographed books


 Kee Hua Chee and Tan Sri Lee Shin Cheng the billionaire boss of IOI
 Kee Hua Chee and Tan Sri Lee Shin Chneg
 Cliff Fournier, Dato Robin Tan of Berjaya Group and YAM Tengku Datin Paduka Zatashah Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah
 Hans Isaac and Commander Ismail looking so dishy
 Osman Morad CEO and MD of Standard Chartered Bank and Datuk Seri Razman Hshim
 Hafiz Datuk Seri Razman and Kee Hua Chee
 Hafiz Datuk Razman and Kee Hua Chee
 Father and son; Datuk Seri Razman Hashim and Hafiz Datuk Razman
 Looking good this father and son duo
 Datin Teh Lip Pin, wife of Datuk Richard Curtis. She fortunately gave birth to a boy named Richard as all first born sons are named Richard in Datuk Curtis's family though this one has yellow chinky blood coursing through his veins so I hope Datuk Richard Curtis's ancestors are not turning in their graves
 Datin Teh Lip Pin looking lovely as the orchids
 Datin Teh Lip Pin and Martin Cross who was not cross at all but sleepy
 Datin Teh Lip Pin and Martin Cross from EDM Editions Didier Millet which publishes the book Maps of Malaya and Borneo in conjunction with Jugra Publishing, the media arm of the Selangor Sultan
 Martin Cross kept blinking as my flash went off
 OK now no flash! See any diffrence?
 Again Martin Cross catches 40 winks with his boss Didier Millet
 Martin Cross must have chinky blood as his eyes are so squinty whereas my eyes are double lidded and big like mat salleh so my grannny probably had an illicit affair with her colonial master as my peepers are so big like pools of shimmery moonlight
 No flash so we can see Martin Cross's eyes though his boss Didier Millet has no such problem
 Datin Paduka Chen Mun Kuen of Royal Selangor Pewter and Martin Cross
 Martin Cross criss-crosses his eyes again
 Tan Sri Syed Yusuf and guest wit h Prime Minister of Malaysia

Dato Robin Tan shaking hands with Prime Minister of Malaysia and Tan Sri Syed Yusuf Tun Syed Nsir leading the way out
 VIPs
 Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim the Selangor Menteri Besar with VIPs including Dato Robin Tan of Berjaya Group at right
 Is he soliciting for something like I always do
 VIP and Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim
 Map of SE Asia from 1676! I cannot believe the map is relatively accurate and this aint no Google Map!
 Done by John Speed
 That is the Malay peninsula hundreds of years ago!

 This one very distorted but it was made in 1646 so we shall forgive the cartographer

 Rather accurate rendering of SE Asia and this was drawn in 1636. Amazing and inccredible!

 This map was made in 1754


 Sara and Kee Hua Chee


 Puan Normah and Sara
 Puan Normah and Sara
 Map of Malaya 1911

 The atlas on the screen


World atlas on the screen

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