P. C. B. Newington
Philip Campbell Beatson Newington (1888 – 1964) was the author of a cookery book celebrating Malaysian food, something he conceived while starving as a prisoner of war at the Sime Road Camp in Singapore between 1942 and 1945.[1][2] During his incarceration, Newington founded a Gourmet Club, Good Food, for him and his fellow prisoners; the Club celebrated, in precise detail, cooking and eating imaginary meals.[3][4] A book of his experience and the recipes remembered and created, Good Food, was published in 1947.[5] Always curious of the culture of his adopted home he was, before and after World War II, a contributor to journals on his experiences of local customs.[6][7][8]
Life
Newington was baptised on 10 July 1888,[9] the son of Charles Douglas Godfrey Newington and his wife, Frances Maria Newington.[9] He was educated at Bedford Modern School.[10]
Newington began his career in the Sarawak Service, becoming District officer amongst the Melanau at Mukah.[11][12][13] He was curious about local culture and was a contributor to many journals during his time as an expatriate.[14][15][16]
Newington later became a plantation owner in Sarawak[1] and was a prisoner of war in Singapore between 1942 and 1945.[2] He was initially interned at the Changi Prison[17] where he witnessed the so-called Double Tenth incident and kept an extant notebook of his experience.[18] After Changi he was transferred to the Sime Road Camp where he founded a gourmet club, Good Food, which celebrated cooking and eating imaginary meals.[19] In his book, Wartime Kitchen, Hong Suen Wong explained that ‘Revelling in the finer details of food and dining in a systematic way…became a way for the prisoners to relieve their hunger and to sustain them psychologically’.[19] A book of Newington's experience in the prison of war camp, Good Food, was published in 1947.[5]
In 1919 Newington married Valerie Murray Henderson.[20] He was a prominent Rotarian[21] and died in Ipoh on 15 May 1964.[10]
Selected work
- Good Food. Published by Charles Grenier, Ipoh, Malaysia[5][22]
- Melanau Memories. Published by Sarawak Museum Journal, 1961[6][7][8][23]
References
- ^ a b "Malaysia". google.com. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ^ a b "Wartime Kitchen". google.com. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ^ "Food Culture in Colonial Asia". google.com. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ^ "Private Papers P C B Newington (Documents.7620)". Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ^ a b c "Good food". worldcat.org. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ^ a b "The Sarawak Museum Journal". google.com. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ^ a b "Proceedings of the ... International Symposium on Asian Studies". google.com. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ^ a b "The Sarawak Museum Journal". google.com. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ^ a b "Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records at Ancestry.co.uk". ancestry.co.uk. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ^ a b "Malaysia". google.com. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ^ "Janus: Archives of the British Association of Malaysia and Singapore". cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ^ "The Colonial Office List for ..." google.com. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ^ "Malaysia". google.com. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ^ "A Borneo Journey Into Death". google.com. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ^ "The Sarawak Museum Journal". google.com. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ^ "Acts of Integration, Expressions of Faith". google.com. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ^ "Good food (11 / 1298)". Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ "Private Papers P C B Newington (Documents.7620)". Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ a b "Wartime Kitchen". google.com. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ^ http://www.pustaka-sarawak.com/gazette/gazette_uploaded/1370831200.pdf
- ^ "Witness to history". google.com. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ^ "Good Food". google.com. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
- ^ "Brunei Museum Journal". google.com. Retrieved 13 November 2015.