Who was James Richardson Logan?
Book title: Spiky, Like a Durian by Mike Gibby
Talk: Who was James Richardson Logan?
Speaker: Mike Gibby
Book title: Spiky, Like a Durian (Entrepot Publishing, 2025)
Location: Penang Institute
Time: 8:00-9:30pm
Date: Thursday, 29 January 2026
Bio of the Speaker:
Mike Gibby is a retired British educator, who has spent the majority of his life in South East Asia, and the last 15 years in Penang. He holds a B.Sc. in Biology, and M.Sc. in Evolution, but throughout his career retained a strong interest in history; after coming to live in Penang, he was finally able to indulge his passion, the result being numerous books on the history of Penang, and of Malaysia. More generally, Mike has been a life-long outdoorsman, with interests in hiking, kayaking, cycle touring and photography. He is married, with two daughters.
Abstract of the Talk:
James Richardson Logan was born in the windswept hills of Berwickshire, where the River Tweed divides nations and heroic legends run deep, yet he devoted his life to Penang and its peoples. Why? This retrospective traces Logan’s progression from his birth in a modest Scottish farmhouse to becoming the most prominent legal mind in the Straits Settlements. But Logan’s journey from the hills of Scotland to the tiger-haunted jungles of colonial Malaya was anything but ordinary. Armed with the idealism of a reformer and the pen of a provocateur, Logan challenged the complacency of empire, pursuing justice both in the courtroom and through the pages of his newspaper, the Pinang Gazette. From defending pirates and sultans in court, to exposing abuse by colonial officials, his colourful career embraced a defiance of unchecked imperial power. Forged in 19th-century Malaya at the crossroads of law, loyalty, and legacy, Logan’s call for justice resonates through time to our present day.
Opening Remarks:
Dato’ Seri Dr Anwar Fazal, President of The Dr. Wu Lien-Teh Society