About
The BBC in South East Asia is an expanding collection of primary source materials focusing on the British Broadcasting Company's significance in the region during Great Britain's late colonial and early post-colonial periods (1927-1961). Led by Cristina Juan, the project aims to gather BBC-produced sound recordings for and about these geographical entities (currently the nation-states of Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Burma, Cambodia, the Philippines, Brunei, Timor-Leste, Laos, and Thailand. There is a special emphasis (and more materials) on The British Colonies in South East Asia which include Burma (now Myanmar) - Colonial period: 1885–1948 Independence: January 4, 1948; Malaya (part of present-day Malaysia) - Colonial period: Various states from the late 18th century, unified as the Federated Malay States in 1895 and later the Malayan Union in 1946 Independence: August 31, 1957; Singapore - Colonial period: 1819–1963 (joined Malaysia in 1963 and separated to become an independent nation on August 9, 1965); North Borneo (now Sabah, part of Malaysia) - -Colonial period: 1882–1963 (joined Malaysia in 1963); Sarawak (now part of Malaysia) - Colonial period: 1888–1963 (joined Malaysia in 1963); and Hong Kong, - Colonial period: 1841–1997, Handover to China July 1, 1997, becoming a British Special Administrative Region (SAR) which, while it is geographically and culturally distinct from South East Asia, is also included in this database as it played a significant role in British colonial history and the BBC’s regional influence during the period. These recordings are contextualized through related materials from the BBC written archives, The BBC Transcription Service, and the Kew National and SOAS archives.
The sound recordings begin with the earliest surviving BBC broadcasts, now digitized and accessible at the British Library. They encompass diverse materials, such as a 1937 broadcast featuring an Englishman's reaction to the 1927 Krakatoa explosion, the inaugural address of the BBC Empire Service in 1932, and the initial broadcast in May 1951 of London Calling Asia, a programme transmitted to South and South-East Asia as part of the BBC's Far Eastern Service.
Pre-1961 recordings of BBC broadcasts were expensive and only done for practical reasons. Consequently, the corpus of recorded material in the inventory is selective and incomplete. Yet the archive still enables us to listen to sounds that might otherwise remain unheard: commercially viable popular music, field recordings for ambient sound, speeches, and the social and ideological positioning of colonial subjects through voice inflections and sonic expressions. The soundscapes offer insights into both significant political events and the everyday lives of people within and beyond the British imperial sphere.
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787 items
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The Director of the Department of Broadcasting responds to a letter from RJ Baker about listener research, offering some help from BBC London in their efforts to conduct more thorough listener surveys at Radio Malaya More »Message
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It was suggested they increase activity in Far East, including increasing staff and extending coverage. More »Article
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Bercherai Kaseh (Masri): A traditional instrumental Malaysian folk dance in the masri (Egyptian) style, performed by violinist Hamzah Dolmat and his group Rakan2. The performance includes unestablished instrumentation, most likely harmonium, violin, accordion, guitar, drum, and bell-rattles. More »Field Recording |Topic: Culture |Audio
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23 years old at the time of this interview; has completed 2 of a 3-year B.A. course More »Person
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Drums and gong from Trengganu, north east Malaysia Music (Instrumental) is a collection of traditional musical instruments from the region of Trengganu in Malaysia. The recording includes unidentified drums and gongs commonly used in indigenous music and cultural performances in the area. These instruments are representative of the instrumental music traditions of north east Malaysia. More »Music (Polyphonic) |Topic: Culture |Audio
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Edmund Comber (8 January 1886 – 1 March 1942),[2] known professionally as Bobbie Comber, was a British comedian, singer and actor.[3] More »Person
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Brian Denney, responding to Terrence Cooper on behalf of Peter Albany (to whom Terrence Cooper's original proposal was addressed), asks for clarification about whether his proposed two way exchange broadcast will be between Kuala Lumpur and London or London and Singapore. More »Message
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Brian Denney recounts an exchange he had with Bert Read, Radio director of Radio Malaya to Terrence Cooper of BBC London. Bert Read suggests that one of the new Malay Justices could serve as a potential speaker for their broadcast. No name is given as of yet. More »Message
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the British Broadcasting Corporations Empire Programme Director expresses that they will contact E.Jago when needed regarding advice on matters in Malaya More »Message
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the British Broadcasting Corporations Empire Programme Director expresses that they will contact E.Jago when needed regarding advice on matters in Malaya More »Message
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The British Military Administration announces that civilians who voluntarily helped the Japanese forces are to be punished. The text is written both in English and Malay. More »Article
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Recording contains information about a Buffalo horn folk songs and music recording on a 30 cm disc with 33 rpm. The recording is labeled as BBC ARCHIVE 27027 and starts at 00:08:45.22, ending at 00:09:34.01. Side 2 of the disc begins at 00:10:37. The recording likely contains traditional folk songs and music played on Buffalo horns, captured from BBC ARCHIVE LP 27027. More »Music |Topic: Culture |Audio
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In the memoir "Building the Burma-Siam RailwayTalk," a former prisoner recounts the brutal conditions endured while constructing the railway for the Japanese. The prisoners faced harsh working conditions, including being pelted with iron rivets by a Japanese engineer and working in non-stop downpours during the monsoon season. Cholera outbreaks, lack of proper clothing, and extreme exhaustion from long work shifts further compounded their suffering. Despite the high death rates and disease ravaging the crowded camps, the Japanese enforced a speedup of work, neglecting to address the epidemic. The prisoners endured meager rations and slept in leaky, overcrowded huts. More »Spoken voice : narrative |Topic: Military Conflcit |Audio
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Record contains a recording of Burmese folk music, specifically the Tonka Dance, as well as a collection of folk songs and music with no linguistic content. The recording is stored on a single disc with two sides, measuring 30 cm and playing at 33 rpm. The item is cataloged under the BBC ARCHIVE 27026 2LP0068699 and 1LP0199913, with unidentified performers. More »Music |Topic: Culture |Audio
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Memo on the Malay rebroadcasts, Liasion Machinery, and Cable Reaction Reports More »Article
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The telegram discusses issues with the cables and scheduling of the Malay rebroadcasts, and suggest they are delayed for four months until new transmitters are available. More »Message
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The memo discusses the period offered for the Malay rebroadcasts were not satisfactory, and offered to use short distance transmitters from New Dehli to Malaya instead. More »Article
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C. Lawson-Reece writes to inform everyone of John Martin's plans to take over programming. More »Article
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A list of names written by C Lawson-Reece for John Martin of important people at the BBC with whom he should get in touch. More »Message
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C. Lawson-Reece confirms that prior ruling on the circulation of scrips have been relaxed for Mr. Bakers request. He suggested that Mr. Winsteadt choose which scipts to give, and to limit them to three per week. More »Message
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Sir Guy Williams suggests to reword the paragraph two in the letter to cover the point. More »Message
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C Lawson-Reece writes to ask if David Kennard can use BBC facilities to study television programme techniques, given that the Americans have already offered similar facilities More »Message
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Schedule for the added daily broadcast called the Purple Network, going from 1130 to 1145 GMT More »Article
