THE CONSUMPTION OF KUALA LUMPUR.

By Ziauddin Sardar. London: Reaktion Books. 2000. [pound]17.95

It is not often that what appears to be a sober academic history of a city's development, even one set in the hot and humid climate of the South-East Asian tropics, culminates in a saga of sodomy, police brutality and judicial corruption.

'Kuala Lumpur began as a shop' in 1857, a trading post to serve tin miners at Ampang, up-river from the junction of the Rivers Klang and Gombak, the geological accident that would give the city its name, literally translated as the 'muddy confluence'. The book charts the development from remote backwater to bustling Capital City, with the tallest building in the world.

The author delights in challenging the colonial view of history. Few will not enjoy the story of two Tunisian merchants meeting the explorer Vasco Da Gama on his 'discovery' of India. They puzzled over why he had bothered, since the trade routes to India and the Far East were no mystery; except to the Europeans. He also takes to task those who criticize the apparent racism of the Country's New Economic Policy with its affirmative action in favour of the 'bumiputera' Malays, while ignoring the colonial history that independent Malaysia inherited.

That he is normally to be found siding with anti-colonial voices gives authority to his account of the events leading up to the trial and conviction of the Deputy Prime Minister, Anwar Ibrahim, that has so outraged Western opinion. Convicted of sodomy and using his authority to cover up his offence, allegations that the author claims 'no one but no one' believes, Anwar has been sentenced to a total of 15 years imprisonment. He is paying the penalty for attempting to demolish the feudal domain of Malaysia's veteran Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad. The book explains how over the last 20 years this fiefdom has determined the most rapid changes in the history of the City and the Country.