Muhammad Haji Salleh and Tunku Halim: Writers from the two different eras

Muhammad Haji Salleh

Tunku Halim

It is interesting to write about these two Malaysian writers from two different eras. The first one, Muhammad Haji Salleh is a well-known Poet Laureate which his entire life has been spent as a writer. The second one is Tunku Hakim, a successful lawyer with a profound enthusiasm in writing for fiction and non-fiction. Muhammad Haji Salleh has proven to us that even a son of a proletariat could become a great scholar, while Tunku HaIim in the other hand has shown us how a person with the royal blood could also be a great writer with his own effort.

Professor Muhammad Haji Salleh was born in 1942 in Taiping, Perak. He received his early education at the Bukit Mertajam High School and Malay College Kuala Kangsar before he moved to the Malayan Teachers College, Brinsford Lodge, England. He then furthered his studies at University of Malaya, Singapore and his Ph.D at the University of Michigan, United States of America. In an interview session with Mohammad A. Quayum which was published by the International Islamic University Malaysia entitled 'On A Journey Homeward: An Interview with Muhammad Haji Salleh', he revealed how he just spent RM 5.00 per month at that time while most of his friends would receive seven times as he had. Even a prince was receiving RM 300.00 for his allowance. He confessed that his writing started a bit late actually, when he was in form IV in school. There was a competition by that time and he wrote his essay because he wanted to win it for the prize.

As contrast to Muhammad Haji Salleh, Tunku Halim was born as the youngest son of Tunku Abdullah, from the royal blood of Negeri Sembilan. He was born in 1964, almost two decades after Professor Muhammad Haji Salleh was born. He lived in Petaling Jaya, Selangor before moved to Hobart, Tasmania (Australia) together with his wife, Suzanne and children: Tunku Kristina & Tunku Adam. Tunku Halim received his education from St John's Institution, Kuala Lumpur, Cheltenham College, Sussex University, City University and Inns of Court School of Law, Britain. He left to study in Britain since he was thirteen.

Both writers have written a lot of works, especially for Muhammad Haji Salleh who has been writing since 1969. His works have been published by numbers of well-known publishers like 'Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka', 'UKM Press' and 'Utusan Publication and Distributors Sdn Bhd'. Most of his works are poems in anthologies. His contribution in writing can be seen in more than 37 printed works until now. Among them are 'Sajak-sajak Pendatang' (1973), 'The Travel Journals of Si Tanggang II' (1979), 'The Mind of Malay Author' (1991) and '100 Sajak Malaysia' (1984). Even though Tunku Halim's works are not as many as produced by Muhammad Haji SalIeh, he has written for more genres compared to Muhammad Haji Salleh who seems to be interested only in poems. Among his works are non-fictions like 'Everything the Condominium Developer Should Have Told You but Didn't' (1992), 'A Children's History of Malaysia' (2003) and 'History of Malaysia: A Children's Encyclopedia' (2009). Two of his famous short stories are 'The Rape of Martha Teoh & Other Chilling Stories' (1997) and '44 Cemetery Road' (2007). He also has written short stories in multiple-author anthologies like 'Keramat' (2008) and 'In the Village of Setang' (2012). Three of his novels are 'Dark Demon Rising' (1997), 'Vermillion Eye' (2000) and 'Juriah's Song' (2008). 'Vermillion Eye' is used as a study text in the National University of Singapore's Language and Literature course.

In an interview with Charles Tan through the Apex-magazine, Tunku Halim claimed that he tends to use dark and supernatural elements in his writings. Therefore, he prefers novel than poem as his medium. He believes that the Malaysian fiction is unique because the settings and the dialogues can be in English but still representing the cultures from multiethnic diversity. He gives an example where the sentence "Eh boss, pass me your handphone, lah" contains words derived from Indian, Chinese and Malay cultures. He views Malaysian literature in English situation as poor because books were published for profit rather than for the sake of the craft of writing. Tunku Halim has spent many of his years studying in United Kingdom. He admitted that his written Malay is not as good as his English. Muhammad Haji Salleh on the other hand has proven his ability to write greatly in both languages: Malay and English. Muhammad Haji Salleh initially started his writings in English since he has been influenced by most of British writers like Auden, R.S Thomas and Robert Graves. This is contrast with Tunku Halim who was influenced by American writers like C. S. Lewis and Stephen King. Professor Muhammad Haji Salleh's works were initially written in English until he decided to only write in Malay in 1970s. In his interview with Mohammad A. Quayum, he said that English itself cannot fully express his personality but only with tones and connotations imported from the Malay would it be able to convey more of him. For the Malay writings, Muhammad Haji Salleh admires Amir Hamzah and Chairil Anwar from Indonesia. Others are Subagio Sastrowardojo and Pramoedya Ananta Toer. Among the Malaysian writers that he admires are A. Latiff Mohidin, Baha Zain and Anwar Ridhuan. When giving his opinion regarding the term 'Bangsa Malaysia', Muhammad Haji Saleh said that some people tend to think from their own cultural perspectives alone and are very selfish. In the interview also he gave his opinion that politicians should step aside and give space for academicians to decide about the language issues. When talking about translating the works from Malay to English by the native speakers, Prof Muhammad Haji Salleh said that the task of translating the works from Malay to English should be made by writers or scholars. He claimed that they are sometimes better than the native speakers because they have a sense of the hidden echoes of culture, meanings and connotations. When commenting about national literatures, he said that Malay language can only be used as national literatures but he encourages people to write in both languages with one of them is Malay to solve the problem. For him, writers should have a sense of roots, national identity and pride in their language. He claimed that he did not write because of money but merely a personal satisfaction. For records, Prof Muhammad Haji Salleh gave up writing in English for creative writing but still doing the translation work from Malay to English. By the time the interview is made, he is working on translating the Hikayat Hang Tuah (The Epic of Hang Tuah).

Like any other writers, Muhammad Haji Salleh was never free from being criticized by other critics. Wong Phui Nam, for example, used to criticize him in his article entitled 'Muhammad Haji Salleh ed. An Anthology of Contemporary Malaysian Literature' as published by Asiatic in 2010. Phui Nam criticized him by stating that the anthology consists only the latest work until 1983 while it was published in 1988. He also stated that the translation of the works could be done better than what had been presented to the readers. Phui Nam also mentioned about the argument of using only the Malay language as the national literature but refused to debate much about it in his article. In his response to Wong Phui Nam as he wrote in 'From the Cave of Denial and Discontent, Darkly: Response to Wong Phui Nam's Review of An Anthology of Contemporary Malaysian Literature', Muhammad Haji Salleh responded to him that national literatures in Malaysia should be in Malay by giving an analogy that a poem would surely not be included in an anthology of British national literature if it were written in Punjabi. He also argued on why Phui Nam did not protest when the 'Seven Poets: Singapore & Malaysia' was published in 1973 when there were non-English poems by Malaysians and Singaporeans included in the anthology. In his response to Phui Nam about the English position in Malaysia, Muhammad Haji Salleh asserted that writers should be allowed to write in their own national language, free from the dictates of the colonial language and its values. He claimed that he did not judge literary works from the perspective of English literature like Phui Nam did. For him, "British came as imperialists and English was used as an instrument of subjugation and of hegemony -- other languages have no real place, except in trade and transaction, which brought them handsome profits. The language was imperial, forced from above and has never belonged to the country, and not of the land." He also mentioned that Malay was and is the biggest language of the country which used to be the lingua franca of South East Asia for more than a millennium, and has become one of the largest literary corpuses in Asia and beyond. Professor Muhammad Haji Salleh believed that it is time for the Malay language to rise especially after the colonizers have left for good. He also defended the works in the anthology as he said that they had been recognized by our own critics, foreign scholars and translators for they were able to speak to them and convey a universal meaning and sense. Many of these scholars and translators had studied Malaysian history, national language, the literary and political context of the times and had been reading more closely and more appreciatively than Phui Nam. He mentioned that these scholars: Harry Aveling and Virginia Hooker (Australians), Monique la-Joubert and Lawrence Metzger (French), Lisbeth Littrup and Vagn Vlenge (Danish), Kazuo Oikawa and Miyuki Kosetsu (Japan), and Sermsuk Hussain (Thai) actually did not judge the works from a British perspective. When giving the response about Phui Nam's critic regarding the quality of the works in the anthology, he countered by stating that he did not think that Phui Nam's works consist the quality, purpose, commitment and the sense of identity as these works had shown. These works carried the issues of the times, predicament of the people and celebrate their language. These writers stand on a ground of tradition, pick metaphors from their own times and cultures, but also experiment with the new variations and varieties of language. They looked back into history and tried to use its prospective and transport their meaning across time. Muhammad Haji Salleh admitted that translation has its own special problems, not only in Malaysia but throughout Asia. However, he had struggled all the time to find good renderings towards the works. He claimed that he had chosen the best translators in and out of the county since there were not many translators in the 1980s. He wishes that with Phui Nam's mastery in English, he might be able to put together another anthology of national literature not as an Anglophile, a colonial poet, but from a Malaysian prospective and to celebrate the literary achievements of Malaysia.

Aside from the 'war' between these two writers, Tunku Halim is much interested to explore the new genres in the Malaysian literature in English with the influence of C.S. Lewis and Stephen king for his works. His horror short stories and novels, and also the children's books have shown that these genres would gain their readers if they were given the same space like other genres as non-fiction and poem. In an article entitled 'Prince of Dark Fantasy' by Wong Li Za, the writer mentioned that Tunku Halim had managed to write history as a fairytale with the element of simplicity to draw the imaginations of his audience back to childhood engendering feelings of romantic nostalgia. Tunku Halim claimed that he got inspired by C.S. Lewis's Narnia Chronicles to write a version of Malaysian history that he could remember. He managed to display history of Malaysia in the world of fairy and depicted war during the Japanese occupation in a seamless fashion to ensure that it is suitable for children. The article also described Tunku Halim's perspective as leaning towards an elite perspective with special emphasis on the kingship of each state. He is described as a storyteller persona who is being keen to trace the activities of kings directly linked to the Malacca Empire. Li Za also stated that Tunku Halim had contributed to a 'royal' perspective of Malaysian history that is both provocative yet rooted in the frameworks of Malay folklore and fairytales.

These two writers, Muhammad Haji Salleh and Tunku Halim have contributed a lot to Malaysian literature within all these years. Tunku Halim tends to view literature from the aspect of ''Art for art's sake", while Muhammad Haji Salleh views literature as "Art for society's sake". Even though Tunku Halim's view for arts might not be as philosophical as Muhammad Haji SalIeh, he was still being careful when presenting his works to the readers, especially the children. He uses metaphors in conveying the meaning since he does not want the minors to be influenced by the negative style of narration. Muhammad Haji Salleh has thrived from being a son of a proletariat to a great eminent scholar while Tunku Halim has proven that even a person from the royal family could also be creative and humble when it comes to writing. Besides the two different genres that are separating them which is poem for Muhammad Haji Salleh and short story/novel for Tunku Halim, these two writers have shown that their personalities are also different when it comes to the style of writing. While Tunku Halim's style of writing could be provocative for his fictions, Muhammad Haji Salleh's style of writing is viewed as provocative for his non-fictions (as his response to Wong Phui Nam's critics). When commenting about some of his works which are viewed as 'horror', Tunku Halim preferred to call it as 'dark fantasy' or 'darkness and imagination' since he claimed that people expect fear when they think 'horror' and that is not his intention. We can see that Tunku Halim tends to incorporate the elements of supernatural in most of his short stories and novels because he likes the readers to imagine the settings that he uses in the stories. This is contrast to Professor Muhammad Haji Salleh, where he tends to use metaphor in writing, so he chooses poems to express his feelings. He said, "...poetry as a genre is the great house of the imagination, closer to music and art -- it is felt rather than explained or described". For him, literature deals with the core of human life and meaning; it is close to philosophy, and complements the sciences. He sees that through literature, a person is able to read the passions of a human heart, to know of the shapes and colours of his dreams and ideas, and also his search for meaning. Muhammad Haji Salleh feels that he was in between two cultures initially before he finally decided to write only in Malay. No one has ever argued about his ability to write greatly in both languages: Malay and English. This is contrast to Tunku Halim where he is much closer to English even he was born as a Malay. English is like his first language compared to the Malay language since more than half of his life was spent in Britain. He admitted himself that his written Malay is not as good as his English and wished that he could produce his works in Malay one day.

In conclusion, these two writers have truly made the world of Malaysian literatures to be merrier with their works. Despite some of their works were written in English, they did not write their works from the British perspective, but from Malaysian perspective. They are also being responsive in presenting their works to the readers. Even though there is an argument regarding English's position at the side of national literature in Malaysia, none of these two writers is denying the importance of empowering English for their social life.

  

References:

Bin Mad Nor, Mohd Fahmy Izzudin. “Muhammad Haji Salleh: A Biography”            mohdfahmyizzudinbinmadnor.blogspot.com Web. 5 April 2014.

Haji Salleh, Muhammad. “From the Cave of Denial and Discontent, Darkly: Response   to Wong Phui Nam’s Review of An Anthology of Contemporary Malaysian        Literature” Asiatic 4:1 (2010): 156-160. Asiatic.iium.edu.my Web. 5 April 2014.

Lim, Chee Cheang. “Fictionalized History: Initiating Changes in Malaysian Identity”     The International Academic Forum (2011): 96-106. www.iafor.org Web. 5 April 2014.

Quayum, Mohammad A. “On a Journey Homeward: An Interview with Muhammad       Haji Salleh” Post Colonial Text 2:4 (2006): n. pag. postcolonial.org Web. 5 April          2014.

Tan, Charles. “Interview with Tunku Halim” Apex-magazine Web. 5 April 2014.

Wong, Li Za. “Prince of Dark Fantasy” The Star Online Web. 5 April 2014.

Huzir Sulaiman: Writer, Actor and Director

Background

Huzir Sulaiman was born in Kuala Lumpur in 1973. He had his study at Princeton University. His father, Sulaiman Abdullah, is a veteran lawyer who served as Malaysian Bar Council President. His mother, Mehrun siraj, is known as a professor, lawyer, consultant for United Nation agencies, NGO activist and also serves with the SUHAKAM (Human Rights Commission of Malaysia).

Career

Sulaiman used to host an afternoon talk show on WOW FM. He founded a theatre company named 'Straits Theatre Company' in Kuala Lumpur in 1996. The theatre' s first success was Sulaiman 's first work, 'Lazy Hazy Crazy' (1997). He then pursued with his second master piece, 'Atomic Jaya' (1998) and 'The Smell of Language' (1998), his third theatre piece. 'The smell of Language' is a postmodern play which questions the roles of author and focuses on the controversy in Malaysia's political arena when the chief minister of Malacca was alleged for raping a fourteen-year-old girl in 1995. Sulaiman wrote six more plays with the latest ones appeared in 2002 in his anthology, 'Eight Plays'. Also in 2002, he was commissioned by Singapore Arts Festival to write a piece about the Japanese Occupation of the country during the World War II. He then produced 'Occupation' for that purpose in the same year depicts this period through the prism of the author's own grandparents and links the trauma with an episode in which the grandmother falls in love with her future husband and becomes occupied by this love. Besides than writing plays, Sulaiman also writes for film and television. In 2003, he moved to Singapore and has worked as actor and director. He was also one of the co-founders of 'Checkpoint Theatre', based there, of which he is now Joint Artistic Director. Sulaiman's works consist the dark humor, political satire and surrealistic twists. Sulaiman is now working on a novel about the artist-c counterculture in Malaysia and Singapore at the turn of the millennium. He holds at present the 2005 Writing Fellowship by the National University of Singapore and The Arts House. Sulaiman is currently living in Singapore. His wife, Claire Wong, is a Malaysia-born Singaporean stage actress.

List of works:

• Lazy Hazy Crazy

• Atomic Jaya

• The Smell of Language

• Hip Hopera

• Notes on life and love and painting

• Election day

• Those four sisters Fernandez

• Occupation

• Whatever that is

A brief description on 'Atomic Jaya'

Huzir scripted this play when he fantasizes about what happens if his homeland decided to build its own atomic bomb.

The story starts by introducing Dr. Mary Yuen, the protagonist of the story. She is a Malaysian Chinese Catholic who was educated in USA. She was caught in a dead end job, zapping prawns and cocoa beans, until a military General whose main motivation was to be like Napoleon, gave her a visit. He invited her to help develop Malaysia's own atomic bomb.

            She takes up the tempting top-secret offer, meets two other scientists, Dr. Saiful, a laidback and nonsensical Malay, and Ramachandran, an Indian who tries hard to prove himself (but fails), as well as many other people who were interested or disinterested in the project for various reasons. The play continues to circle around this very quote of “Chinese do the work, Malay gets the credits and Indian get the blame” Mary Yuen explains that it was very easy to make the bomb, such that even A-level students with the Malaysian KBSR syllabus could do it. But the problem lies with the resources and the intention to make it the  

            Meanwhile, USA was getting suspicious and news of Malaysia buying nuclear resources were spreading through the media. The Malaysian minister covers it up with nonsensical speech. At the same time, Dr Mary Yuen meets up with several dealers in search of supply materials. Suspicion grows and even more nonsensical cover-ups ensued. Mary Yuen finally found supplies from a German smuggler who has supplies from Russia, where the scientists were poor and needed the money to feed their children. USA became even more suspicious, and Malaysian minister gave more excuses, which shows even more of his stupidity.

            Mary Yuen begin to have doubts about the purpose of building an atomic bomb, and USA, having gotten some evidence of Malaysia’s attempt to build the bomb, sends threats. Malaysian minister continues to give excuses. Mary Yuen finally decides to sabotage the plan, and since she was the only character who was really involved, no one else notices. The failure leads to mass finger pointing, as the minister, general and the other scientist tries to find someone to blame, without suspecting Mary Yuen at all.

            The story ends with the different characters going their separate ways, with the Chinese, Dr Mary Yuen leaving the country, as the brain drain, Malays like the minister, the General and Dr Saiful taking the credit, and Dr Ramachandran getting the blame, migrating to Australia under a cloud of suspicion.

Source:

suhadafadzil.blogspot.com. 6 May 2014. Web.

www.literaturfestival.com. 4 May 2014. Web.

Lloyd Fernando: As Told by the Wife

Lloyd Fernando: As Told by the Wife

Lloyd Fernando was a Malaysian writer and author at the University of Malaya. He was born in Sri Lanka in 1926. In 1938, he and his family moved to Singapore. According to his wife, Marie Fernando, Lloyd had his education at the University of Malaya in Singapore and upon graduation, he taught at the Politechnic in Singapore for a short time. He then joined the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur in 1960 as an assistant lecturer. He got a scholarship for an MA at Leeds University, United Kingdom which turned into PhD. He came back and after that he was appointed as a professor at the English Department of the University of Malaya. In 1978, after he had retired (aged 56), he went to England and studied law at City University and then at Middle Temple. He joined a firm and started his own practice until he had a stroke in December 1997.

Source:

Pauline, T. Newton. "Lloyd Fernando's Circle: An Interviw with Marie Fernando, Wife of Lloyd Fernando." Asiatic 2.2 (December 2008): 101-110. International Islamic University Malaysia. Web. 28 March 2014.

Lloyd Fernando's Literary Works

In 1976, his novel the 'Scorpion Orchid' was published. 'Cultures in Conflict' was Fernando's essays collection which was published In 1986. Previously, he became an editor for "Twenty-two Malaysian Stories: An Anthology of Writing in English" with his article 'New Women in the Late Victorian Novel", in 1977. "Green is the Colour" is his second novel which was published in 1993. A collection of Fernando's essays entitled "Fernando: A Celebration of His Life" was compiled by his wife, Marie and published after his death in 2004.

Source: 

www.wikipedia.com

The Summary of "Scorpion Orchid"

This is among the Malaysian novels to address race as the major social challenging issue in Malaysia and Singapore. As Fernando states, "I believe no Malaysian writer can claim to be writing with truth if he does not carry, woven into his fiction, the reality of relationships between the races, and its unavoidable undertow of threatened violence.” 

The novel is set in 1950’s Singapore where a time of racial tension and nationalistic was uprising. The themes are about national birth and the anxieties present regarding racial conflict and ethnic self interest.

As an exciting first novel set in preindependence Singapore, "Scorpion Orchid" follows the lives of four young men: a Malay, an Eurasian, a Chinese & a Tamil against a backdrop of racial violence and political factions struggling for dominance. Excerpts from classical Malay and colonial English sources appear throughout the narrative, illuminating the roots and significance of this period in history.

In this novel, we can see that the text is a metaphor for growth of a new nation. The four young men gain a new awareness of their ethnic identities as the negotiate the race riots that destroy their complacent sense of camaraderie. The new awareness is central to their transition from adolescence to adult life. This novel also represents the Malayan society and the transition between former tolerance and present assertiveness.

"Scorpion Orchid" generally preserves an allegorical distance between the personal and the political in both countries, Malaysia and Singapore. The personal and the political develop along parallel lines and mirror one another, and when they do intersect they remain clearly defined.

There are four main characters in the novel: Santi, a Tamil Indian, Sabran, a Malay, Guan Kheng, a Chinese, and Peter, a Eurasian. Santinathan, refuses to observe conventions of university life, gets expelled ends up as village schoolteacher. Sabran, involved in politics, gets arrested and his future prospects somewhat set back considerably. He reflects on his family in the kampung (village) that has sacrificed for his education and which exerts a strong emotional pull on him, but is in no position to offer him either comfort or advice. Guan Kheng, comes from wealthy family, feels betrayed by the Malays who suddenly consider him a foreigner. Peter D’Almeida is confused about his identity, loses faith in ‘new’ Singapore, emigrates to England after he is beaten up in a riot (comes back at the end). Another character, Sally which is uncertain ethnic background and origin, works at a hawker stall, part time prostitute, has an ambiguous relationship with all four men involving sex, money and love, although they pay her for sex she is treated as a friend.

Source:

http://www.shvoong.com/humanities/theory-criticism/2327783-scorpion-orchid/#ixzz2xM6DsSxf

The Summary of "Green is the Colour"

Lloyd Fernando's "Green is the Colour" displayes the moment when the country is still scarred by violence, groups roam the countryside, religious extremists set up camp in the hinterland, there are still sporadic outbreaks of fighting in the city, and everyone, all the time, is conscious of being watched. It comes as some surprise to find that the story is actually a contemporary (and very clever) reworking of a an episode from the Misa Melayu, an 18th century classic written by Raja Chulan.

In this climate of unease, Fernando employs a multi-racial cast of characters. At the centre of the novel there's a core of four main characters, good (if idealistic) young people who cross the racial divide to become friends, and even fall in love.

Dahlan, a young lawyer and activist who invites trouble by making impassioned speech on the subject of religious intolerance on the steps of a Malacca church; his friend from university day, Yun Ming, a civil servant working for the Ministry of Unity who seeks justice by working from within the government.

The most fully realised character of the novel is Siti Sara, and much of the story is told from her viewpoint. A sociologist and academic, she's newly returned from studies in America where she found life much more straightforward, and trapped in a loveless marriage to Omar, a young man much influenced by the Iranian revolution who seeks purification by joining religious commune. The hungry passion between Yun Ming and Siti - almost bordering on violence at times and breaking both social and religious taboos - is very well depicted. (Dahlan falls in love with Gita, Sara's friend and colleague, and by the end of the novel has made an honest woman of her.)

Like the others, Sara is struggling to make sense of events :"Nobody could get may sixty-nine right, she thought. It was hopeless to pretend you could be objective about it. speaking even to someone close to you, you were careful for fear the person might unwittingly quote you to others. if a third person was present, it was worse, you spoke for the other person's benefit. If he was Malay you spoke one way, Chinese another, Indian another. even if he wasn't listening. in the end the spun tissue, like an unsightly scab, became your vision of what happened; the wound beneath continued to run pus."

Although the novel is narrated from a third person viewpoint, it is curious that just one chapter is narrated by Sara's father, one of the minor characters, an elderly village imam and a man of great compassion and insight. This shift in narration works so well that I'm surprised Fernando did not make wider use of it.

The novel has villain, of course, the unsavoury Pangalima, a senior officer in the Department of Unity and a man of uncertain racial lineage. He has coveted Sara for years, and is determined to win her sexual favours at any cost.

The novel is not without significant weaknesses. It isn't exactly a rollicking read, and seems rather stilted - not least because there are just too many talking heads with much of the action taking place "offstage", including the rape at the end, which is really the climax of the whole novel.

If we're interested in Yun Ming, Dahlan and Omar it is because of the contradictory ideas they espouse, but in each case their arguments could have been explored in greater depth and the characters themselves have been more fully fleshed.

The plot of Green is the Colour never really holds together as well as it might but seems to be perpetually rushing off in new directions (as actually do the characters!) without fully exploring what is set up already.

But the strengths of the novel more than makes up for these lapses.There's been a lot of talk about local authors not being brave enough to write about the prohibited issues about race, religion and politics in Malaysian society. Fernando just proved to us that he was brave enough to do just that.

Fernando had shown that he was able to think himself into the skin of people of different races - how many since have been able, or prepared, to make that imaginative leap?

He too is an author who is able to convincingly evoke the landscape of Malaysia both urban and rural in carefully chosen details.Above all, though, one feels that here is an author who says what needed to be said. Heck, what still needs to be said!

Fernando uses Dahlan to speak on behalf of him, as he states:"All of us must make amends. Each and every one of us has to make an individual effort. Words are not enough. We must show by individual actions that we will not tolerate bigotry and race hatred."

Source: 

http://mliegreenisthecolor.blogspot.com/2009/04/summary-of-green-is-color.html

                                                                                                      

Sybil Kathigasu

Sybil Kathigasu

Sybil Kathigasu was born on 3rd of Sept, 1899 in Medan, Sumatra, Indonesia as Sybil Medan Kathigasu to an Irish-Eurasian planter (Joseph Daly) and a French Eurasian midwife (Beatrice Matilda nee Marlin). Her middle name derived from her birthplace, Medan. Sybil was a Malayan nurse who supported the resistance during the Japanese Occupation of Malaya in 1940. She was the only Malayan woman to be ever awarded with the George Medal for her bravery. She could speak malay, english and cantonese fluently. She and her husband operated a clinic at Brewster Road (now Jalan Sultan ldris Shah) in Ipoh from 1926 until the Japanese Invasion of Malaya. They escaped to a nearby town of Papan before Japanese forces occupied Ipoh. Her husband, Dr Abdon Clement Kathigasu was known as 'You Loy-De' by the Chinese community when he was still alive.

Japanese Occupation in Malaya

In her town, Papan, Kathigasu secretly kept shortwave radio sets to get the news from BBC broadcasts. She and her husband supplied medicines, medical services and information to the resistance forces until they were arrested in 1943. Even though she was tortured by the Japanese military police, she persisted in her efforts and was thrown in Batu Gajah jail. After Malaya was liberated in August 1945, she was flown for medical treatment in Britain where she began her memoirs there. In 1948, she received the George Medal for gallantry several months before her death the same year.

Marriage and Family

Sybil's husband was a Ceylonese (now Sri Lankan) Tamil from Taiping. He was born on 17th of June, 1892 and was raised in Taiping. He married Sybil in St John's Church on 7th of January 1919 in Bukit Nanas, Kuala Lumpur. Her first child was born in 1919 but died after only 19 hours. The baby was named as 'Michael' after Sybil's elder brother who was killed in Gallipoli in 1915 as a member of the British Army. She adopted a young boy, William Pillay, who was born on 25th of October, 1918 as her son. On 26th of February, 1921, her daughter, Olga was born in Pekeliling, Kuala Lumpur. Her second daughter, Dawn, was born in Ipoh on 21st of September, 1936.

Death and Memorial

Sybil Kathigasu died at the age of 48 on 4th of June, 1948 in Britain. She was first buried in Lanark, Scotland. Her body was later returned to Ipoh in 1949 and reburied at the Roman Catholic Cemetery beside St Michael's Church at Brewster Road in Ipoh. In commemorate her bravery, a road in Fair Park, Ipoh was named after her (Jalan Syabil Kathigasu). The shop house at no 74, Main Road, Papan serves as a memorial to her and her efforts.

Published works

Her first novel, 'No Dram of Mercy' was first published by Neville Spearman in 1954; reprinted in 1983 by the Oxford University Press; and reprinted by Prometheus Enterprises in 2006. A biography on her life entitled 'Faces of Courage: A Revealing Historical Appreciation of Colonial Malaya's Legendary Kathigasu Family', written by Norma Miraflor and Ian Ward was published in 2006.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Tan Twan Eng

Tan Twan Eng

Tan Twan Eng is a Malaysian writer born in Penang in 1972. He was a Law student in University of London and later worked as an advocate and solicitor in Kuala Lumpur before becoming a full time writer. He is now living in Cape Town.

Career

His first novel was 'The Gift of Rain' which was published in 2007. It was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize. It takes the setting of Penang during the pre and post Japanese Occupation of Malaya in World War II. The novel has been translated into Italian, Spanish, Greek, Romanian, Czech, Serbian and French.

His second novel which Is ‘The Garden of Evening Mists’ was published in 2012. It was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize 2012 and won the Man Asian Literary Prize and Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. He has also given speeches at literary festivals as Singapore Writers Festival, the Ubud Writers' Festival in Bali, the Asia Man Booker Festival in Hong Kong, the Perth Writers festivals, the Abbotsford Convent in Australia and Franschhoek Literary Festival in South Africa.

Works:

l. The Gift of Rain (2007)

2. The Garden of Evening Mists (2012)

(Source: Wikipedia)

Tash Aw

Tash Aw: A Biography

Task Aw is a Malaysian writer who resides in London. He was born in Taipei but was raised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Among his works are 'The Harmony Silk Factory' (2005), 'Map of the Invisible World' (2009) and 'Five Star Billionaire' (2013). He had won the Whitbread First Novel Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize (South East Asia & South Pacific Region Best First Book) since his debut in writing. The 'Five Star Billionaire' was placed on the list in Britain top literary award's Man Booker Prize. His novels have been translated in 23 languages. His short story has won the O. Henry Prize and has been published in A Public Space and the landmark Granta 100, amongst others.

Tash Aw moved to England when he was a teenage to study Law in the Universities of Cambridge and Warwick. When he was in London, he had taken various jobs. He used to be a lawyer for four years before he studied Creative Writing MA in the University of East Anglia. His first novel juxtaposes three stories of the life of Johnny Lim, a Chinese peasant in rural Malaya. The 'Map of the Invisible World' (2009) is set in Indonesia and Malaysia in 1960s.

Aw gets his influence from Faulkner, Nabokov, Conrad and Flaubert. He has used multiple narrators and non-linear narrative from Faulkner; a delight in the possibilities of language from Nabokov; an interest in the dark, nightmarish and revelatory aspects of journeys from Conrad; and a heightened, intense reality generated by deliberate and sensitive use of detail from Flaubert.

‘The Harmony Silk Factory’ takes the setting of pre and post Japanese Invasion of British-administered Malaya in 1940s. The story is about Johnny Lim, a poor son of Chinese immigrants who became a legendary textile merchant, smuggler, political activist and murderer in the Kinta Valley. The novel starts with the narration from his son, Jasper, who considers his father as 'a liar, a cheat, a traitor and a skirt-chaser'. He has devoted many years of his life to pursuit the 'True Story of the Infamous Chinamen Called Johnny'. From early on, he reveals himself to be that most familiar of figures: The unreliable narrator. For Jasper, "We all know the retelling of Harry can never be perfect especially when the piecing together of the story has been done by a person with as modest as intellect as myself'.

However, the womanising 'monster' Jasper lets us see that Johnny is quite different from his son's point of view. Johnny was displayed as a diligent worker and an inspired salesman. His gift with machines is resented by his bosses who finally set him up which leads him to build a new career in the Tiger Brand Trading Company which he is eventually to take over.

The second and final parts of the novel tell Johnny's honeymoon trip to the mysterious Seven Maiden Islands with his wife, Snow Soong, daughter of the wealthiest man in the Valley. Johnny and his wife travel there with three chaperones, Mamoru Kunichika (a Japan professor), Frederick Honey (an English mine-owner) and the effete aesthete Peter Wormwood. Johnny's wife, Snow is attracted to the professor. Part two is described from Snow's point of view through her diary about their disastrous voyage to the land and what takes place upon their arrival. Part three is described by Peter Warmwood where he recalls his meeting with Johnny Lim and the others, and his own version of what happened on the island.

‘The Harmony Silk Factory’ deals with the near impossibility of knowing someone, the deception of appearances, and the problematic nature of testimony. Jasper views his father as a man of malice; Snow displays her husband as ineffectual and naive; and Wormwood views him as a figure with an enquiring mind distinct from those around him. Their conflicting treatments tell the readers as much about their own characters and prejudices as they do to Johnny Lim. ‘The Harmony Silk Factory’ is far stronger in its truly striking opening section. Jasper Lim is a fine creation, full of false modesty and paper-thin self-deprecation. Snow and Wormwood voices do not convince in the same way and the reader cannot help but long for the return of Jasper. The gradual metamorphoses in the novel's mood and the make Emphasis is affecting. This can be seen from the dash and impudence of Jasper's mischievous pursuit of myth, to the regret and emotional pain of Peter Wormwood’s resigned confessional.

(Source: Wikipedia, Tash Aw Official Website)

Tunku Halim

Tunku Halim

Tunku Halim is a Malaysian writer, academician and lawyer who was born in 1964. He was qualified as a barrister in United Kingdom after he graduated for his law degree. He has been called to the Bar in the High Court of Malaya and as a solicitor in New South Wales. He also has a Master of Science degree in Shipping, Trade and Finance (Distinction) from the City University Business School in London. He practised corporate and conveyancing law with a firm in Kuala Lumpur before moved to a property developer in Petaling Jaya. He then moved to Sydney and became the Legal Counsel to Oracle Corporation Australia.

Among his works are:

Short Story Collections

The Rape of Martha Teoh & Other Chilling Stories (1997)

BloodHaze: 15 Chilling Tales (1999)

The Woman Who Grew Horns and Other Works (2001)

44 Cemetery Road (2007)

Gravedigger's Kiss (2007)

Short Stories in Multiple-Author Anthologies

"Keramat" (2008, Exotic Gothic 2, ed. Danel Olson)

"In the Village of Setang" (2012, Exotic Gothic 4, ed. Danel Olson)

Novels

Dark Demon Rising (1997)

Vermillion Eye (2000)

Juriah's Song (2008)

Non-Fiction

Everything the Condominium Developer Should Have Told You But Didn't (1992)

Condominiums: Purchase Investment & Habitat (1996)

Tunku Abdullah – A Passion for Life (1998)

The New Golf Paradigm with Kris Barkway (2001)

A Children's History of Malaysia (2003)

History of Malaysia – A Children's Encyclopedia (2009)

(Source: Wikipedia)