A century ago, Somerset Maugham’s stories painted a romantic picture of life in Asia, of people swapping bowler hats, walking sticks and thick woollen trousers for pith helmets, machetes and baggy khaki shorts, exchanging the grey skies of London for the lush greenery of Batavia. Because it took six weeks to ship newspapers, everyone lived in a time warp, sheltered from whatever was happening eight thousand miles away.