have been written Europeans. And, until recently, argues Syed Hussein Alatas of the University of Singapore, most have perpetuated The Myth of the Lazy Native (Cass, 1977).
In a colorful tour of earlier historical writings, Alatas cites dozens of examples of this stereotype. In 1927, for example, Hugh Clifford flatly stated that the Ma- lay "never works if he can help it, and often will not suffer himself to be in- duced or tempted into doing so by offers of the most extravagant wages."
But,...