Overview: The decolonisation of Asia was one of the great events of the twentieth century, and more importantly, the European empires in Asia were ‘fundamentally undermined from below’. The book Underground Asia, written by a renowned historian in the University of Cambridge, Tim Harper, explores the shadowy world of anti-colonial activity across South, Southeast and East Asia that sought to undermine empire “from below”. These young radicals have gathered in the great cities of Asia – Calcutta, Singapore, Batavia, Hanoi, Tokyo, Shanghai, Canton and Hong Kong – and plotted the end of the colonial regimes through various means. In this session, we shall discuss, together with Tim Harper, the extraordinary world of transnational solidarity and networks of resistance in the opening decades of the twentieth century, and what lessons can we draw from them in facing today’s predicament.
Panelists:
Speaker: Tim Harper is Professor of the History of Southeast Asia at the University of Cambridge, a Director of the Centre for History and Economics, and a Fellow of Magdalene College. He was the co-author with Christopher Bayly of two landmark Penguin books on the British Empire’s experience of the Second World War in south and southeast Asia: Forgotten Armies and Forgotten Wars.
Discussant: Jomo Kwame Sundaram is Research Adviser, Khazanah Research Institute, Fellow, Academy of Science, Malaysia, and Emeritus Professor, University of Malaya. He was UN Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, Assistant Director General, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the recipient of the 2007 Wassily Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought, and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Award in Social Sciences for 2026.
Moderator: Dr. Shahridan Faiez, Chairman of Citizens International
- *th August 2026 (Saturday)
- 2.00PM - 4.30PM (KL Time)
- Bayang Coffee, TTDI
We look forward to seeing you there!
