Captain Francis Light, a British explorer and naval officer credited because the founding father of Penang, is a well-known identify to most Malaysians.
In George Town, the place he was buried after dying from malaria in 1794, you’ll be able to go to his grave on the Old Protestant Cemetery alongside Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah Road.
Perhaps much more fashionable is a bronze statue that was erected in 1936 to commemorate the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the founding of George Town. It stands at Fort Cornwallis, the place Light first set foot on the island on July 17, 1786.
But Light stays a little bit of an enigma. We don’t even know what he seemed like. No portrait exists of the person and so the statue, which was sculpted by F.J. Wilcoxson, was merely modelled after Light’s son, William.
No doubt, Light was an 18th-century trailblazer in the Malay Archipelago, as so vividly described by British-born, Malaysian-based writer Rose Gan in her Penang Chronicles trilogy, of which the second quantity, titled Pearl, has been launched by Monsoon Books.
Gan first arrived in Kuala Lumpur in 1978 and has been dwelling and working between each Britain and South-East Asia ever since. Married to a Malaysian, and previously a trainer of History, Latin and Classics, she has additionally been actively concerned with museum publications in Malaysia and Indonesia, each as a author and editor.
After delving into Light’s early years in the primary quantity Dragon, Gan’s new e-book continues the story of his adventures, life and loves, providing an evocative historic narrative of what might have been.
History buffs will recognise the historic figures and areas the writer has included in the e-book, weaving collectively truth with conceivable situations and creativeness.
In this continuation of her historic fiction story, we additionally observe the trials and tribulations of Light’s long-term accomplice, the mysterious and fascinating Martinha Rozells, who was launched in the primary e-book.
From her start in Phuket to her childhood on the courtroom of Kedah, readers can now enter the fascinating world of a well-born girl of the Indies.
In boy meets lady circumstances, Light and Rozells get married and construct a life collectively, however right here can be a narrative informed towards the backdrop of the British explorer’s dogged willpower to make a distinction in this new land of surprises and prospects.
From the courts of Siam and Kedah, we observe his meteoric rise from service provider captain to island governor, as he leaves behind an indelible mark on historical past.
Emporium, the third and remaining quantity of the Penang Chronicles, is scheduled for a 2023 launch.
