Jean Marshall’s Pahang Letters, 1953-54: Sidelights on Malaya during The Emergency
Out of stock
“Life generally is a bit hedged in with precautions at the moment,” Jean Gray wrote, with characteristic understatement, to her parents in England. Twenty-seven years old, Jean was in rural Malaya working as a field officer with the British Red Cross for a year in 1953–54.
At that time, Malaya was in a state of Emergency. Communist insurgents, using the jungle as cover, engaged in guerilla war against the colonial state. Under the Red Cross scheme, Jean was appointed to provide medical and welfare services in the New Villages—guarded settlements of villagers relocated from the jungle fringes in a government move to cut off aid to the militants.
From west Pahang, where she was posted, Jean wrote weekly to her family and occasionally to her friends, sharing with them her impressions of Malaya and minutiae of her daily life and work while reassuring them that she was safe.
These all-but-forgotten letters with accompanying photographs were rediscovered and returned to their sender after 60-odd years. As historical documents, they illuminate the social and professional world of a young and perceptive Englishwoman who was in small-town Malaya at a historically critical time—during the Malayan Emergency and the last days of empire.
Jean Marshall’s Pahang Letters, 1953-54: Sidelights on Malaya during The Emergency
Slide to see
paperback
$16.82 SGD
Recommended Books
Paperback
$22.00 SGD
E-book
$22.00 SGD
Digital Braille
$19.90 SGD
A Place For Us
Paperback
$20.00 SGD
E-book
$20.00 SGD
Ayam Buah Keluak and the Art of Writing: a memoir on living creatively
Paperback
$20.00 SGD
E-book
$20.00 SGD
The Sound of SCH: A Mental Breakdown, A Life Journey (new edition)
Paperback
$20.00 SGD
E-book
$20.00 SGD
Kampong Spirit—Gotong Royong: Life in Potong Pasir, 1955 to 1965 (new edition)
Creative Non-Fiction
Paperback
$20.00 SGD
E-book
$20.00 SGD
The Sound of SCH: A Mental Breakdown, A Life Journey (new edition)
Paperback
$20.00 SGD
E-book
$20.00 SGD
Kampong Spirit—Gotong Royong: Life in Potong Pasir, 1955 to 1965 (new edition)
Paperback
$20.00 SGD
E-book
$20.00 SGD
Ayam Buah Keluak and the Art of Writing: a memoir on living creatively
Paperback
$24.00 SGD
E-Book
$24.00 SGD
Where I Was: A Memoir About Forgetting and Remembering
Paperback
$24.00 SGD
E-book
$24.00 SGD
Loss Adjustment
Paperback
$22.00 SGD
E-book
$22.00 SGD
Digital Braille
$19.90 SGD
A Place For Us
Paperback
$12.00 SGD
E-book
$12.00 SGD
Notes After Terawih
Paperback
$15.00 SGD
Growing Up in Kampong Potong Pasir
Paperback
$23.36 SGD
Bite Harder: Open Letters & Close Readings
Paperback
$20.00 SGD
E-book
$20.00 SGD
Goodbye My Kampong! Potong Pasir, 1966 to 1975
Paperback
$11.21 SGD
Rebound: LaoLao's Guide to Giving Up
Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
The Magic Circle
Paperback
$18.60 SGD
Running on Empty: The Story Behind 0.01s
Paperback
$18.60 SGD
E-book
$18.60 SGD
17A Keong Saik Road
Paperback
$18.60 SGD
Children of Las Vegas
Paperback
$16.90 SGD
E-book
$16.90 SGD
A Philosopher's Madness
Paperback
$18.90 SGD
E-book
$18.90 SGD
Ordinary Stories in an Extraordinary World
Paperback
$18.60 SGD
The Sound of SCH: A Mental Breakdown, A Life Journey
paperback
$16.82 SGD
Jean Marshall’s Pahang Letters, 1953-54: Sidelights on Malaya during The Emergency
Out of stock
Paperback
$21.90 SGD
More or Less Rapid Transit
Out of stock
Paperback
$24.90 SGD
Electric Flying Tram-Car
Out of stock
Paperback
$30.00 SGD
Kampong Boy
Out of stock
English
$20.00 SGD
Chinese
$20.00 SGD
My Daughter, My Friend: Letters to a Daughter
Out of stock
Paperback
$35.00 SGD
Routes: A Singaporean Memoir 1940-75
Out of stock
Attunement
Is life hustling you out of tune? As the week roars by, we invite you to a slice of attunement penned lovingly by our authors, friends, and yours truly. Freshly delivered weekly with care. Intimacy guaranteed. Read selected letters below.
Practising Listening
Aug 14, 2025
Our language grows, and with it, new connections to things and creatures around us.
Read more
We Rise and Fall into Spring Blossoms
Jul 23, 2025
For years, pouring myself into this collection was an outlet to make peace with my past and also,...
Read more
Touch Some Grass
May 7, 2025
We’ve traded that sense of freefall for control, but maybe in the process, we’ve lost the autonom...
Read more
