Rehman Rashid explores how Malaysia has changed

Rehman Rashid proudly displays his new book, Peninsula. Photo: The Star/Muhamad Shahril Rosli

If there was a phrase to aptly describe Peninsula, the latest book by former journalist and columnist Rehman Rashid, it would probably be “long awaited”. The book, after all, marks the author’s first in over two decades – his last title, the bestselling A Malaysian Journey, was published in 1993!

It’s certainly been a long wait. Especially from an author advised by British Nobel Laureate V.S. Naipaul himself, who told Rehman that four years between books was too long, and you needed to “force yourself to write”.