[1097] Of purchasing books liberally

It is Chinese New Year and I got myself more books. I did not mean to purchase anything in the first place. The act was impulsive especially when I have yet to finish up the previous books that I bought earlier. In fact, I am still reading The Origin of Wealth. Furthermore, I have not even started on Clinton’s My Life and Dawkins’ The God Delusion. Yet, here I am, supporting the economy by spending.

At first, since I was in the vicinity of Kinokuniya under the majestic Petronas Twin Towers, I thought I could do with a browse. Alas, temptation got the best of me.

I found myself in the history section. For some reason, I wanted to read more about Srivijaya. It was kind of hard to find a book on the ancient Malay kingdom which in my opinion is greater than the Malay Sultanate of Malacca. If the Malays wanted to look for something to build their pride on, they should look beyond Malacca and embrace the Srivijayan. At the very least, acknowledge Srivijaya as a kingdom as great as Malacca.

Despite the size of the store, its collection is limited. I could not find a specific book on Srivijaya.

Nevertheless, Hugh Clifford’s Farther India looked promising. For those that score F for history without fail, Clifford was one of the more important colonial administrators of British Malaya. He was also one of those foreign administrators that fell in love with the Malays and Malaya, just like Frank Swettenham. At Cambridge Journals, the phrase “doyen of the colonial service” is attributed to Clifford.

The synopsis describes Farther India as one of the most important publications on Southeast Asian history. Yet, it seems to me that the book is concentrating on mainland Southeast Asia and talks about European explorations and discoveries of old Southeast Asian civilizations. I suspect the book does not talk much about Srivijaya. So, when I saw Paul Michel Munoz’s Early Kingdoms of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Malay Peninsula, it placed Clifford’s back on the shelf and grabbed Munoz’s instead.

While on my way out of the history section, I stumbled upon a book entitled British Malaya. That book directly reminded of an article at Wikipedia of the same name that I have been working on for more than a year. I thought this particular book might help me finish up what I started. So, book number two.

While on my way out of the store, somehow, Sophie’s World came across my mind; I made it as my third book.

And so, right now, five books await the completion of The Origin of Wealth. The pressure is now on me.

Ah… the curse of purchasing books liberally.