Malaysia’s links to the colonial past of British rule are well known, and even the distant Portuguese era has left its imprint, but the connections between another European power and our country are not as well known.

Trained in both history and geography, Serge Jardin is a Frenchman who makes it his business to document ties between his native France and his adopted country, which he moved to in 1986.

His latest book ‘French Memories of Malaysia’ is a painstaking collection of stories linking the two nations.

In an interview with Malaysiakini, Jardin shared that...