A great review for 'Merdeka' on the QARANC website

According to a website dedicated to Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps (QARANC): 

'Merdeka is a military book that smoothly finds the balance between love, history and warfare.' 

The review also states:

The QARANC and RAMC feature in Merdeka and a romance soon blossoms between Alick and a QA Sister serving at the Military Hospital Penang at Minden Barracks..............There is a huge emotional feel to Merdeka and the effects of combat and killing on the young officer, especially following the strange turn of events during the ambush.

To read the whole review visit the 'Books About Army' page on the QARANC website.

For other reviews visit the 'Reviews Page' on this website.

The Eastern & Oriental Hotel in Penang

Some of the final scenes in 'Merdeka' are set in the Eastern & Oriental Hotel in Penang (known as the E&O).  It was founded by the Sarkies Brothers in 1885 (they also founded the Raffles Hotel in Singapore in 1887 and the Strand Hotel in Rangoon, Burma in 1896).  It never really regained its former glory after World War Two and went into a period of decline, finally shutting down in 1996.  After a major refurbishment,  it opened under a new owner in 2001. 

I was lucky enough to visit in 1992 and, while it was clear that its former glory had faded, it was nice to sit and enjoy the facilities and dream of what the Hotel must have been like in its heyday.  If you want to see what the hotel is like today visit its website.

Uplands School - Penang

Uplands School is mentioned in the closing Chapters of 'Merdeka'. The information below has been taken from the History page of the school website.

The School was founded during the Malayan Emergency. Attacks by insurgents against rubber estates led the Incorporated Society of Planters - I.S.P to seek a safe location where expatriate planters could send their young children to school while keeping them in Malaya.