ABSTRACT The significance of food in colonial Malayan society went far beyond sustenance. Food reconfigured Malaya’s physical landscape, mediated social difference, accentuated hierarchies, and shaped the textures of everyday thought. These contentions are grounded in a case study of bovine milk, focusing on how different versions were created, processed, traded, consumed, and perceived in Malaya. By analysing bovine milk’s multi-faceted history alongside other important edibles such as breast milk, sugar, rice, and coconut oil, this study investigates the extent to which patterns of agriculture, household consumption, child-rearing, and state intervention changed during Malaya’s colonial period. The social histories surrounding these foodstuffs also indicate that the fundamental drivers of Malayan consumption – namely those related to life and death – were differentiated primarily by wealth, rather than ethnicity.

中文翻译：

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每个人都喝牛奶？

摘要 食物在马来亚殖民社会中的意义远远超出了维持生计。食物重新配置了马来亚的自然景观，调节了社会差异，强化了等级制度，并塑造了日常思维的结构。这些争论以牛乳的案例研究为基础，重点关注不同版本在马来亚是如何被创造、加工、交易、消费和感知的。通过分析牛奶、糖、大米和椰子油等其他重要食品的多方面历史，本研究调查了马来亚殖民时期农业、家庭消费、育儿和国家干预模式的变化程度。时期。