Abstract

This paper draws together and evaluates a number of historical events that took place during the early period of British rule in Malaya, especially those involving the official duties and the personal lives of the two colonial officers under study, Frank Athelstane Swettenham and William Edward Maxwell. Information from H. S. Barlow’s book entitled Swettenham for Frank Swettenham and my own interviews and research on Maxwell’s background contribute towards an understanding and assessment of their legacies. Both wished to establish the superiority of Western culture and civilization (as part of the imperial agenda), yet they were obliged to make compromises to achieve their personal ambitions in colonial Malaya.

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