October 2025 - by Gina Pisasale, Producion Dramaturg, Ashland, Oregon; from the brochure of the play "The Importance of Being Earnest" which was staged in Ashland on 22 August 2025, and which Hootoksi and I were fortunate to attend.
Rather than 1985 London, our production has been transported to the British colonized port city of George Town, Malaya. In 1895, present-day Malaysia was divided into various sultanates and colonial European settlements. The history of this global region is one of massive cultural exchange, diversity, diplomacy and colonization.
Malaysia is at the centre of the sea route between what is now China and India. Historians discovered that by 500 BCE, peninsular Malaysia and its land on Borneo island across the South China Sea were at the centre of extensive trading networks among cultures located in what is now China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, and India, as well as Oman, Saudi Arabia and UAE. By 1000 CE, Tamil, Maliyali, Telugu and Sikhs had settled in Malaysia, drawn by the need for labour at port locations and in plantation agriculture. The first Chinese settlement was in the 14th century. By the 19'th century, Chinese settlers established mining, plantation, factory, shops and banking enterprises and began to dominate the commercial sector of the economy, making some Chinese, Malay, Indian and Sri Lankan families extremely wealthy.
By 1300, Singapore, Melaka (Malacca) and Srivijava were thriving international trading ports. These entrepots are located along the Strait of Melaka , between peninsular Malaysia and the island of Sumatra, now part of Indonesia. During two monsoon seasons (April to September and October to March) , ships would dock for months at a time to shelter from the rough seas and monsoon winds. The ports became sites of cultural exchance among trading entities and the Orang Asli ("Original People") - Malay, Senoi, Semang,and Malayic. The diversity and intermixing of people in these locations created a culture of inclusion, tolerance, and diplomacy, even among the ruling sultans. This culture remains to this day, notwithstanding occasional religious stresses between Malaysia's ethnic populations, often promoted by and encouraged by overly zealous politicians.
In 1511, the Portuguese attacked and took control of Melaka, determined to get a foothold in the spice trade and in response to the Papal Bull of 1493, which authorized Catholic colonization and enslavement in non-Christian lands. In 1641, Malay rulers, some returning from exile in fhe Philippines, joined with Dutch settlements to drive the Portuguese out of Melaka, which the Dutch then occupied in exchange for military protection. In the late 1700's, the Sultans of Kedah made deals with the British East India Company (EIC) to occupy the Kedah port and the island of Penang in exchange for protection in the case of aggression from Siam and Burma. In 1786, British merchant Francis Light took possession of Penang and named it George Town. Penang developed quickly and, because it was duty free, became the largest port city in the region, attracting Chinese, Indian, Malabari and Malay merchants to permanently settle there. in 1791, the Kedah sultan attempted to reclaim Panang but instead was forced to sign a treaty guaranteeing the East India Company a perpetual lease of the island and land on the peninsula, renamed Province Wellesley. By 1874, due to regional instability, the British gained control of the ports of Melaka and Singapore. With Penang, these became known as the Straits Settlements. In 1957, Federated Mal;ay states achieved independance from British colonization.
Italicised text is by me - Robert Tyabji, October 2025
Watching "The Importance of Being Earnest" in Ashland with our hosts Bob and Susan Crowley