Through Turbulent Terrain: Trade of the Straits Port of Penang by Loh Wei Leng with Jeffrey Seow (review)

The classic 1989 volume on Asian port cities, Brides of the Sea: Port Cities of Asia from the 16th to 20th Centuries, edited by Frank Broeze, called on scholars of the Asian maritime world to 'put the port back into port cities'; and this is something admirably brought to the fore in Through Turbulent Terrain: Trade of the Straits Port of Penang. In this history of Penang, Loh Wei Leng and Jeffrey Seow make a conscious effort to keep the reader's attention on the development of the port and note how the limitations or restrictions on the port, in terms of infrastructure or policies (colonial and post-colonial), had an impact on the economic fortunes of this port city. Themes such as trade, commodities, communities, shipping, and port technology are also taken up in this study, alongside a narrative history of the port.

This volume is written as an introductory history for scholars and students who have an interest in uncovering the history of Penang. This informative volume is largely chronological in approach, with its main focus from the 1780s through to 1945. It provides detailed trade statistics for Penang and also pays attention to the currencies in use as Penang developed. It is commendable that there are extensive notes throughout the volume, designed to provide further references for those who wish to delve deeper into various aspects of the port city's evolution. This work covers a broad span of history by bringing the reader from an overview of the movement of people in prehistoric times through to the recent history of Penang. This is a good approach as it provides a context for understanding the history of Penang as a trading centre prior to its 'colonial beginnings and early settlement' (Chapter 2) and also in its present form. The connections between Penang and other port cities—such as Singapore—are discussed but in a way that retains the attention on Penang. In fact, Loh makes a valid argument that to merely link Penang's development to that of Singapore's development is too simplistic (p. 86); there is certainly an inter-relationship but rightly so, this warrants a more nuanced approach. What is also interesting for researchers is a discussion of not only regional trade networks but broader links to trade with the United Kingdom and America, and how these trading relationships changed over time; this is where the maritime aspect of Penang as a port city remains at the forefront.

As an introductory volume, this is a commendable account of Penang's history and development as an EIC outpost, as an entrepôt and as a staple port. The discussion of some key individuals involved in the early development of Penang is good, although some more subheadings would have been useful in this regard as the number of tables and charts interspersed with text sometimes makes it challenging to read the main narrative with coherence. As a reference work, this volume makes a good contribution to existing works, such as Penang and Its Region: The Story of an Asian Entrepôt, edited by Yeoh Seng Guan, Loh Wei Leng, Khoo Salma Nasution and Neil Khor (NUS Press, 2009) which had a strong focus on networks and their role in Penang's development. Read together with the volume under review, these works provide a rich body of recent scholarship on Penang's history as a port.

A few ideas could have been developed further in the volume. Two stand out: one is the issue of the controversy surrounding Francis Light's role in the British acquisition of Penang. There is reference to the 'conventional story' which prevails in schools which does not allude to this controversy (p. 24). Here it would have been interesting for the author to have developed these comments further to reflect on present-day history writing and the role of 'founding stories' or founding figures in shaping...