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A List of the Odonata From Thailand Part I – XXI

System — Wed, 31 Oct 2001 00:00:00 +0000

Early Mapping of the Pacific

System — Wed, 31 Oct 2001 00:00:00 +0000

The Pacific Ocean remained largely mysterious until the latter part of the eighteenth century, when a series of monumental voyages brought most of its heretofore unknown archipelagos to the mapmaker’s pen. Until then the evolving image of the ocean had been moulded as much by the cartographer’s whimsy as by the explorer’s survey. Using a cornucopia of rare and beautiful maps, this book traces the exploration and charting of the Earth’s largest ocean, weaving an odyssey stretching from Japan and the Philippines on the west, Australia and New Zealand in the south, and east through the varied islands of Oceania, including Tahiti, Hawaii, and even the ‘island’ of California. The story of the maps was often the story of the explorers and islanders themselves.

Sandakan; Sabah Colour Guide

System — Wed, 31 Oct 2001 00:00:00 +0000

Sandakan is one of those places whose names have a magical ring, promising all kinds of exotic surprises. The commercial centre of the large northeast district bearing the same name, Sandakan not only has an intriguing past but is the gateway to the rich wildlife of Sabah. Within less than a couple of hours of the town lies an incredible variety, both on land and in the ocean, including a forest reserve where orangutan are helped to re-adjust to life in the wild; islands where endangered marine turtles come ashore to lay their eggs; limestone caves where a rare delicacy – birds nests – have been gathered for centuries; an island paradise in the Sulu Sea offering exciting scuba diving and Malaysia’s largest freshwater swamp forest or wetlands, along the Kinabatangan river which is teeming with wildlife. This guide focusses on Sandakan town and the nearby Sepilok area, famed for its Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre as well as Labuk Bay, where it is possible to view Borneo’s unique Proboscis monkey in a swamp setting. It also includes the resort island of Lankayan, north of Sandakan and part of the Sugud Islands Marine Conservation Area. (Separate guides in this series cover the Turtle Islands and the Kinabatangan, including Gomantong Caves.)[BBooks comment: the Turtle Islands guide is not out yet]

Sculpture; Beginner’s guide to

System — Wed, 31 Oct 2001 00:00:00 +0000

Beginner’s guide to sculpture is an excellent introduction to the basic sculpting techniques. It first looks at the history and development of sculpture, then moves on to providing information and advice on the defferent tools and materials you will need to use. The next section looks at the four basic sculpting techniques that are used within the book. These are carving, casting, modelling and construction. The main part of the book is made up of 13 projects, ranging from clay ball modelling to assemblage, from slab work to arm casting. Each project includes a detailed introduction, with clear and concise step-by-step instructions, each accompanied by a photograph. The projects vary in difficualty, a;;owing you to learn and develop the skills required for the different techniques and create beautiful, amusing and decorative items for your home or as gifts for friends. Perfect for beginners, and providing inspiration for more experienced sculptors, beginner’s guide to sculpture is an excellent guide to this fascinating art.

Straits Steamship Fleets; The

System — Wed, 31 Oct 2001 00:00:00 +0000

For over 100 years the major regional shipping company domiciled in Singapore was the Straits Stemship Company Ltd. It was a truly regional shipping company with subsidiaries based in Penang and Malacca, in Peninsula Malaysia, in Sabah and Sarawak. Its white painted fleet was the essential connecting link, not only between the major ports of the Malayan and Borneo archipelagos, but also venturing into every minor creek and waterway to provide for trade to and from the outside world. For the greater part of its existence the Straits fleets were closely linked both financially and commercially with the Liverpool based firm of Alfred Holt & Company, better known as the Blue Funnel Line, which passed on to Straits the blue color which formed the base of its ships’ funnels. The corporate history of Straits Steamship and its subsidiaries, the Eastern Shipping Company of Penang, Kheng Seng Steamship of Malacca, The Sarawak Steamship Company of Kuching, the Sabah Stenship Company of Sandakan and the Ho Hong Steamship Company of Singapore, were admirably recorded in K.G. Tregonning’s seminal work’ Home Port Singapore’, published in 1967. Because that history did not deal in detail with the ships themselves, an endeavor to fill that gap was made with the publication in 1976 of “The Straits Steamship Fleets” by W.A. Laxon and the late R.K. Tyers. Much more information has since come to light, and this new and completely re-written account of the Straits Steamship Fleets not only incorporates those details, and covers the subsequent 30 years, but also marks the departure from ship owning of Straits parent, the Keppel Group, and the pending 130th anniversary of the now independent the Sarawak Steamship Company in 2005.

Transformation of an Immigrant Society: A Study of the Chinese of Sabah; The

System — Wed, 31 Oct 2001 00:00:00 +0000

This is a story about the Chinese living in the East Malaysian state of Sabah on the island of Borneo, a people representing part of the wider spectrum of the Chinese population living outside mainland China. It is the history of the Chinese who had braved the odds and ventured to build their livelihood in a foreign land before and during World War II from 1881 to 1946. Sharing a common root, the Chinese of Sabah and their other Southeast Asian counterparts possess many similar characteristics, yet within these similarities are variants which distinguish them from the rest. Apart from being the largest non-indigenous ethnic group in Sabah, they also stand out in many ways in relation to the other Chinese communities in Malaysian. Distinctively prevalent amongst the Chinese of Sabah is its large composition of Hakkas, thus making the Hakka dialect the lingua franca of the Chinese in the state, a feature few can parallel in Malaysia or Southeast Asia. Within this community is also found a large number of Christians, forming thirty per cent of the total Chinese population in Sabah. The Chinese of Sabah also stamped their prominence when they staged an open uprising against the Japanese Army during World War II despite a lack of resources and manpower, a feat few communities in Southeast Asia could emulate. Even in local politics, they have proved to be different as they build themselves into a cohesive political force, and have to this day provided the state with two chief ministers. This book provides a backdrop to these dominant features and an insight into what made the Chinese of Sabah who they are today.