What do I like to read?

I think a good way to further describe myself is to say some thing about my reading preferences.

I like to read history. Of course this means nothing as history is such a broad topic. To be more specific: I like to read about the decline and the eventual dismemberment of the second British Empire. This is still a very broad area as the British Empire began to show signs of decline as early as from 1855. I also like to read about the decline and the eventual demise of the Ottoman and Chinese (pre 1911) Empires – yes, in general I seem to be infatuated with the countries and empires that had been terminally ill, suffered long periods of decline or had vanished/ceased to exist. In this regard I have to tell readers that I also use to read about the decline and fall of the Roman Empire.

I also like to read about the independence movements particularly those in India and Malaysia, Indonesia and Indo-China. This interest is in line with what I mentioned in the previous paragraph. Specifically, these independence movements coincide with the decline of the British, and the virtual collapse of the Dutch and French empires in this region.

Finally, I like to be informed about the current affairs. I use to read the Economist, but nowadays I prefer the BBC website. For local news I read the Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian newspapers. I also, from time to time, I read Malaysian, Singaporean and Indonesian newspapers/journals to keep in touch with the developments of these 3 countries. Additionally I also read the AWSJ (Asian Wall Street Journal) to get a broader perspective within the South East Asia and Asia.