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6 November 2005

It is Sunday 11.35 am .

It is the 4th day of Hari Raya Aidilfitri (4 Syawal 1426 Hijrah). Digimon is playing on NTV7 as I write this article.

TV3 ran a documentary on 16 July 2005 concerning Malaysia's history.

It mentioned Badan Warisan Malaysia (warisan means legacy).

It also mentioned of an old newspaper in Penang, the "Penang Gazette" which operated in the 1820s.

The British took over Malaya from the Dutch in 1795. Santiago Bastion is the A' Famosa (the famous) we see today in Malacca. The British bombed A' Famosa in 1870; only the ruins of that bombing remain today for tourists to see. A' Famosa consisted of 12 layers of laterite rocks (from archaeology) and existed between 400 - 700 years ago.

Boh Tea Plantation in Cameron Highlands existed since 75 years ago. The workers came from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Boh produces the equivalent of close to 5 million cups of tea per day. Mr. Tristan Russel is the Manager, Boh Tea Plantation. He is the 3rd generation owner of Boh. Tristan Russel's mother is Kathleen and his father is John "Archie". His daughter is Caroline Tristan. His house in Cameron Highlands was built by A.B. Milne and followed Ceylonese architecture.

It seems that alot of our historical records will be kept by many archives. The Portuguese may have our records between 1305-1605. Records before 1795 will possibly be kept by the Dutch, and those after 1795 will possibly be kept by the British. The Penang Gazette will have alot archived between 1820s until it ceased operation (when?). The British will also have archived records between 1870 until 1957 when Malaya gained independence. So, it is still impossible to provide a good account of our health history from just our records. A lot more search will need to be done in collaboration with archives overseas.

It is 12.06 pm.

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Acknowledgement

TV3

Documentary on 16 July 2005

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Telehealth Research Group
http://www.medic.usm.my/rnd/telehealth
School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia