Atomic Jaya by Huzir Sulaiman

Written and directed by Huzir Sulaiman.

 

The play is a wicked satire on what would happen if Malaysia decided to build an atomic bomb. If you know something about life and politics on the other side Causeway, you will appreciate this political parody, especially when you think of the slogan “Malaysia Boleh”! It pokes fun at everything Malaysian, and has reached some notoriety for its satirical incisiveness.

In Atomic Jaya, Huzir Sulaiman sets his sights on a broad range of targets in Malaysian society. His satirical arrows are aimed not only at the Malaysians but also at American and British journalists and an American Secretary of State. And his barbs are not always politically correct, which adds to the enjoyment. According to Sulaiman, no offence is taken as the play celebrates the craziness of life in Malaysia!

In case you are wondering about the word “Jaya”, it’s a Malay word meaning ‘big success’. Fortunately, there is no successful regional nuclear program in real life but judging by its track history, this restaging is bound to be a success!

Performances:

1.  The upcoming production also marks the 15th anniversary of the play that was first staged in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 to rave reviews. Then, it starred Malaysian actress Jo Kukathas, who played all the roles.
2.  It was first staged in Singapore in 2001
3. Next, in 2003.  In 2003, Huzir and Claire Wong under Checkpoint Theatre performed it in Singapore and KL, with cameos by Gani Abdul Karim (in Singapore) and Fahmi Fadzil (in KL). For this outing it will star Claire Wong and Karen Tan.

Synopsis :

The physicist, Dr. Mary Yuen, is surreptitiously recruited by the ambitious General Zulkifli for a top-secret national project to build the region's first atomic bomb. But first, they must source for uranium, which seems to be available only through illegal means. As she gets drawn deeper and deeper into the ambitious scheme, she meets a madcap assortment of characters from uranium smugglers to cabinet ministers, and a special canteen lady. As the plot twists, turns and thickens, Dr. Yuen finds herself swept from one hilarious situation to another, while she grapples with a growing moral dilemma.

Interviewed between Huzir Sulaiman & Claire Wong:

1.Why has Checkpoint decided to restage Atomic Jaya fifteen years after its premiere in 1998 

Claire: It's a really funny play that audiences love. It's become something of a contemporary Asian classic and has had productions, workshops and readings all over the world - in Tokyo, London, New York, and of course Singapore and KL - regularly since its premiere, and has been published and excerpted several times. So it seemed right to celebrate its 15th anniversary with a major new main stage production

Huzir: Almost every week for the last ten years (since the 2003 Checkpoint production) someone asks us, "When are you going to stage Atomic Jaya?" Well, here it is!

Claire: Atomic Jaya is one my favourite plays and is also, deservedly, one of those “evergreen” plays that withstand the test of time very well. The story and characters are really compelling. The themes remain relevant, with some aspects being more striking today because of current socio-economic and international political conditions. The script allows the actors and the director to be very creative and inventive while also demanding from them a high degree of skill to execute well. This means it becomes a real joy and lot of fun to watch as a performance, while also giving the audience a lot of food for thought.

 2.What was the original inspiration behind “Atomic Jaya”?

Huzir: I was inspired by the burgeoning sense of national pride in Malaysia in the late 90s, that pretty much amounted to hubris, with all these mega-projects being willed into existence in a (pretty successful) attempt to put the country on the map. So I thought to myself, what would be the most extreme version of a mega-project? The atomic bomb seemed like a good way to explore the foibles of a nation with crazy ambitions.

3.The world in 2013 is very different from the one in 1998. Will “Atomic Jaya” be updated for a present day audience?

Claire: In terms of the production, it will be very new and different, but as for the text, the funny (and maybe also a little tragic) thing is that in terms of both the Malaysian scene as well as the international arena of countries with nuclear ambitions, very little has changed. So the play is still amazingly relevant as it was written.

Huzir: I'm fortunate that the play still resonates with audiences as it is. As a director, what I'm exploring is new ways to tell the story with these two very accomplished actresses, Karen Tan and Claire Wong.

4.What will appeal to the audience about Atomic Jaya?

Claire: It's a really funny script, where everyone and everything is both skewered and celebrated. You get to see everyone from generals to canteen ladies to politicians to socialites to dodgy expats, and everyone has a part to play in this madcap satire. What I really like is that it's a story told with a lot of love.  At Checkpoint Theatre, we make theatre with honesty and humour, head and heart. So, this play captivates because the stories make us laugh and ponder – we recognize the characters and we feel for them, inasmuch as they make us reflect and think about our own lives and loves.

Huzir: Audiences will have the pleasure of watching two of the finest actresses on the local scene play 17 characters between them. Karen and Claire are hilarious together, and it's really something to watch.

5.Both of you have acted in Atomic Jaya before. Are there new challenges when it comes to directing/performing in the play?

Huzir: On a directorial level, I am really interested in exploring different ways of having these two actors tell a story with so many characters. That's been a really fruitful and exciting aspect that we've worked on in the rehearsal room.

Claire: It's both a pleasure and a challenge to take on Huzir's writing again: he writes with great precision, and each character speaks with a different speech pattern and accent. So it demands a great deal from the actor, but it definitely repays the effort!

Huzir: It is always challenging to create work that is authentic and complex, that challenges and inspires. As the director together with my actress and the creative team, we have had to dig deep. We have had to rely on not just our skills and experiences in theatre making but also our own life experiences to find the layers of meaning and to create an experience in the theatre for the audience that will continue to resonate long after the curtains close.

So, I hope this has whetted your appetite for some incisive, thought-provoking satire.

Biography of Huzir Sulaiman

Huzir Sulaiman (born in 1973) is a Malaysian actor, director and writer. One of Malaysia's leading dramatists, acclaimed for his vibrant, inventive use of language and incisive insight into human behaviour in general and the Asian psyche in particular. His plays, often charged with dark humour, political satire, and surrealistic twists, have won numerous awards and international recognition. He currently lives in Singapore and currently married to  Claire Wong, a Malaysia-born Singaporean stage actress.

His father is Haji Sulaiman Abdullah, who was born G. Srinivasan Iyer, a Tamil Brahmin who later converted to Islam. Sulaiman is a veteran lawyer who served as Malaysian Bar Council president. His mother is Hajjah Mehrun Siraj, who has served as a professor, lawyer, consultant for United Nations agencies, NGO activists and a Commissioner with the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia.

Careers:

1.  hosted an afternoon talk show on WOW FM, a now-defunct Malaysian radio station.
2.  He also contributes articles to the The Star.

Plays which have been published in his collection of "Eight Plays" by Silverfish :

1.  "Atomic Jaya",
2.  "The Smell of Language", 
3. "Hip-Hopera" the Musical, 
4. "Notes on Life and Love and Painting", 
5. "Election Day", 
6. "Those Four Sisters Fernandez", 
7. "Occupation" 
8.  "Whatever That Is"

Green is the Colour by Lloyd Fernando

Lloyd Fernando's Green is the Colour is a very interesting novel. The country is still scarred by violence, vigilante 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.

There's 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 days, 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 looks Malay, has adopted Malay culture, so of course, that's enough to make him kosher!). 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. (I was particularly disappointed that we don't get to spend more time with Omar in the commune.)

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 great mustn't-be-talked-abouts of race, religion and politics in Malaysian society. Here's one author who was brave enough to do just that. (And look, hey, the sky didn't cave in!)

Here's an author too who 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?

Here 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!

Here, he's using Dahlan as his mouthpiece, but the sentiments are clearly the author's own :

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.

Scorpion Orchid by Lloyd Fernando

SYNOPSIS

An exciting first novel set in pre-independence Singapore. Scorpion Orchid follows the lives of four young men—a Malay, an Eurasian, a Chinese and 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.

SETTING & THEME

•Set in 1950’s Singapore – a time of racial tension and nationalistic uprising 

•Theme of national birth and the anxieties present regarding racial conflict and ethnic self interest 

THE TEXT AS METAPHOR

•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 

•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. 

• The personal and the political develop along parallel lines and mirror one another, and when they do intersect they remain clearly defined

CHARACTERS

•Santi, a Tamil Indian, Sabran, a Malay, Guan Kheng, a Chinese, and Peter, a Eurasian.
•Santinathan – Indian, refuses to observe conventions of university life, gets expelled – ends up as village schoolteacher
•Sabran – Malay, 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 – Chinese, comes from wealthy family, feels betrayed by the Malays who suddenly consider him a foreigner. Peter D’Almeida – Eurasian, 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)
•Sally – 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

Biography of Lloyd Fernando

Lloyd Fernando is a MALAYSIAN but he was born in Sri Lanka in 1926, and in 1938, at the age of twelve, he migrated to Singapore with his family. This early migration across the Indian Ocean had an enriching influence on Fernando, the writer and scholar, as it was to plant the seeds of a transcultural, diasporic imagination in him at an impressionable age. Life was moving along at a steady pace, and Fernando continued his schooling at St Patrick’s, but the Japanese occupation of Singapore from 1943 to 1945 dealt a severe blow, interrupting his formal schooling and, most tragically, costing his father’s life in one of the Japanese bombing raids. Following his father’s death, Fernando started working as a trishaw rider, construction labourer and apprentice mechanic, to support himself and the family. He also joined the Ceylon branch of the Indian National Army, not impelled by any ideology but out of a sheer necessity for self-sustenance.

After the war, Fernando completed his Cambridge School Certificate and embarked on a school teaching career. In 1955, he entered the University of Singapore, graduating in 1959 with double Honours in English and Philosophy. In 1960, he joined the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur as an assistant lecturer, and returned to the same post four years later, having obtaining a Ph.D. in English from the University of Leeds, England. In 1967, he was elevated to Professor and Head of English at the University of Malaya, posts he held until 1979. People retire at Malaysia at 55, and so when it was time for him to retire, Lloyd didn’t want to have to continue on a yearly contract, and not be certain of anything. He decided to take up law. He went to England and studied law at City University and then at Middle Temple, coming back with his law degrees. He joined a firm, and eventually started his own practice here, which he continued right up to the time he had a stroke, which was in December 1997.

Works:

a) Scorpion Orchid , 1976
b)Cultures in Conflict , 1896
c)Green is the Color , 1993

Biography of Tash Aw

Tash Aw was born in Taipei to Malaysian parents. He grew up in Kuala Lumpur before moving to Britain to attend university. He is the author of three critically acclaimed novels, The Harmony Silk Factory (2005), Map of the Invisible World (2009) and Five Star Billionaire (2013), which have won the Whitbread First Novel Award, a regional Commonwealth Writers' Prize and twice been longlisted for the MAN Booker prize; they have also been translated into 23 languages.
His short fiction has won an O. Henry Prize and been published in A Public Space and the landmark Granta 100, amongst others. 

1. FIVE STAR BILLIONAIRE

 

Phoebe is a factory girl who has come to Shanghai with the promise of a job—but when she arrives she discovers that the job doesn't exist. Gary is a country boy turned pop star who is spinning out of control. Justin is in Shanghai to expand his family's real estate empire, only to find that he might not be up to the task. He has long harbored a crush on Yinghui, a poetry-loving, left-wing activist who has reinvented herself as a successful Shanghai businesswoman. Yinghui is about to make a deal with the shadowy , the five star billionaire of the novel, who with his secrets and his schemes has a hand in the lives of each of the characters. All bring their dreams and hopes to Shanghai, the shining symbol of the New China, which, like the novel's characters, is constantly in flux and which plays its own fateful role in the lives of its inhabitants. Five Star Billionaire is a dazzling, kaleidoscopic novel that offers rare insight into the booming world of Shanghai, a city of elusive identities and ever-changing skylines, of grand ambitions and outsize dreams. Bursting with energy, contradictions, and the promise of possibility, Tash Aw's remarkable new book is both poignant and comic, exotic and familiar, cutting-edge and classic, suspenseful and yet beautifully unhurried.

2. MAP OF THE INVISIBLE WORLD

What does it mean to lose your home? Adam and Johan are orphans, torn from each other at an early age in post-Independence Indonesia. The year is 1964, the start of Sukarno's so-called Year of Living Dangerously, and sixteen-year-old Adam once again finds himself alone as his foster father is taken away by soldiers. In a country teetering on the brink of civil war, Adam is forced to travel to the capital Jakarta in search of his father, and of his own identity. Memory, loss, the turbulence of international politics of the 1960s – multiple strands entwine in this novel of love and belonging.

3. THE HARMONY SILK FACTORY

 

A landmark work of fiction from the twice-Man Booker prize-longlisted author: a devastating love story set against the turmoil of mid-twentieth-century Malaysia.
Set in Malaysia in the 1930s and 40s, with the rumbling of the Second World War in the background and the Japanese about to invade, 'The Harmony Silk Factory' is the story of four people: Johnny, an infamous Chinaman – a salesman, a fraudster, possibly a murderer – whose shop house, The Harmony Silk Factory, he uses as a front for his illegal businesses; Snow Soong, the beautiful daughter of one of the Kinta Valley's most prominent families, who dies giving birth to one of the novel's narrators; Kunichika, a Japanese officer who loves Snow too; and an Englishman, Peter Wormwood, who went to Malaysia like many English but never came back, who also loved Snow to the end of his life. A journey the four of them take into the jungle has a devastating effect on all of them, and brilliantly exposes the cultural tensions of the era.

Biography of Sybil Kathigasu

Sybil Kathigasu was born Sybil Medan Daly to an Irish-Eurasian planter (Joseph Daly) and a French-Eurasian midwife (Beatrice Matilda Daly née Martin) on 3 September 1899 in Medan, Sumatra, Indonesia. Her middle name reflects her birthplace, Medan. Her paternal grandparents were an Irishman and a Eurasian woman while her maternal grandparents were a Frenchman (Pierre Louie Martin) and a Eurasian woman (Evelyn Adeline Martin née Morrett). She was the fifth child and the only girl. She was trained as a nurse and midwife and spoke Cantonese fluently. She and her husband, Dr. Abdon Clement Kathigasu, operated a clinic at No 141 Brewster Road (now Jalan Sultan Idris Shah) in Ipoh from 1926 until the Japanese invasion of Malaya.

Sybil Kathigasu's husband was Dr. Arumugam Kanapathi Pillay, a Ceylonese (now Sri Lankan) Tamil from Taiping. He was born on 17 June 1892 in Taiping to Kanapathi Pillay and Thangam. He married Sybil in St John's church (now cathedral) in Bukit Nanas, Kuala Lumpur. Initially there had been a religious objection from her parents as he was a Hindu and she was a Catholic. However with agreement from his father, the wedding took place. They were married on 7 January 1919 in St John’s Church, Bukit Nanas, Kuala Lumpur. Sybil's first child was a son born on 26 August 1919, but due to major problems at birth, died after only 19 hours. He was named Michael after Sybil's elder brother who was born in Taiping on 12 November 1892 and was killed in Gallipoli on 10 July 1915 as a member of the British Army.

The devastating blow of baby Michael's death led to Sybil's mother suggesting that a young boy, William Pillay, born 25 October 1918, who she had delivered and had remained staying with them at their Pudu house, should be adopted by Sybil and her husband. Then a daughter, Olga, was born to Sybil in Pekeliling, Kuala Lumpur, on 26 February 1921. The earlier sudden death of baby Michael made Olga a very special baby to Sybil, when she was born without problems.

So when Sybil returned to Ipoh on 7 April 1921, it was not only with Olga, but also with William and her mother who had agreed to stay in Ipoh with the family.

Sybil Kathigasu died on 4 June 1948 aged 48 in Britain and her body was buried in Lanark,Scotland. Her body was later returned in 1949 to Ipoh and reburied at the Roman Catholic cemetery beside St Michael's Church in Ipoh.

A road in Fair Park, Ipoh was named after Sybil Kathigasu (Jalan Syabil Kathigasu) after

independence to commemorate her bravery. Today, the shop house at 74, Main Road, Papan, serves as a memorial to Sybil and her efforts.

works:

• No Dram of Mercy (Neville Spearman, 1954; reprinted Oxford University Press, 1983 and Prometheus Enterprises, 2006)

 Sybil Kathigasu, is an epitome of a freedom fighter, who happened to live in the then Malaya during the Japanese Occupation. She was married to Dr. Abdon Clement Kathigasu and they had two daughters, Olga and Dawn, and an adopted son William. They lived in Ipoh, Perak but spent much of their time during the Japanese Occupation in Papan, outside Ipoh.

Sybil Kathigasu and her husband known as the Doctor spent much of their time treating many wounded and sick anti-Japansese guerillas as well as local people who are ill and in need of constant medical attention during the Japanese Occupation. They were constantly under extreme stress and dangerous situation while carrying out their duties to heal the sick and wounded anti-Japanese guerillas. The call of this selfless concern and act for these wounded guerillas came at the start of the Japanese Occupation from God.

Even with the help of many kind people of Ipoh and Papan, Sybil Kathigasu and her husband were eventually betrayed to the Japanese authorities. They were both interrogated and tortured for hours on end by the extremely ruthless and cruel occupied forces. All because she answered the call from God to treat the anti-Japanese guerillas as well as in the possession of a wireless set to listen to the broadcasts by BBC for the progress of the Allied forces in the World War II battles. Although Sybil and the Doctor had to endure extreme cruelty from their Japanese captors, never once they buckled under the extreme stress and torture inflicted upon them even though the physical and mental pain were beyond description.

However, the physical injuries suffered by Sybil were horrendous and she never completely recovered from them. She even suffered a fractured lumbar vertebrae form repeated beatings during interrogations, which resulted in partial pralysis. She underwent numerous surgeries in the effort to restore her health but with limited success. She managed to walk again unaided and attended a ceremony where King George VI awarded her with the George Medal in the honour of her bravery during the Japanese Occupation. Unfortunately, Sybil died on June 12, 1948 from septicaemia from a fractured jaw sustained from the boot of her torturer, Ekio Yoshimura.

Sybil's heroic efforts were not well-known by the younger generation of Malaysians today, even to myself. I only knew of her story in its barest form, having first encountered it in an English Language reading comprehension exercise when I was in secondary school. Thus, recently when I finally managed to procure a copy of her book, the above-mentioned title, only then I realised that she is one of the lesser known heroines of the Malaysian history, espcially on the Japanese Occupation.

This book should serve as a profound reminder to all, especially those who have read it and/or know her story well the price she had paid in the name of freedom for our country, Malaysia. Although we may have our political forefathers to spearhead in the freedom and independence of Malaysia, the story of Sybil Kathigasu should never ever be forgotten; her contributions to Malaysia's freedom is very much an invaluable part of the Malaysian history.

Biography of Tan Twan Eng

 

Tan Twan Eng was born in Penang in 1972. He is a Malaysian author of fiction . He used to study law at University of London and later worked at Kuala Lumpur`s law firm before he becoming a full time writer. He wrote 2 novels which is The Gift of Rain (2007 ) and The Garden of Evening Mists (2012).

1. The Gift of Rain ( 2007 )

-It is set in Penang in the years leading up to and during the Japanese occupation of Malaya in World War II. It concerns Philip Hutton, of mixed Chinese-English heritage, and his relationship with Endo-San, a Japanese diplomat who teaches him aikido. As war looms and the Japanese invade, both Endo-San and Philip find themselves torn between their loyalty to each other and to their country and family respectively. Philip decides to assist the Japanese and Endo-San in administering the country in an attempt to keep his family safe, but wherever possible passes intelligence to the guerilla fighters of Force 136 which include his best friend Kon.

2. The Garden of Evening Mists ( 2012)

Newly retired Supreme Court Judge Yun Ling Teoh returns to the Cameron Highlands of Malaya, where she spent a few months several years earlier. Oncoming aphasia is forcing her to deal with unsettled business from her youth while she is still able to remember. She starts writing her memoires, and agrees to meet with Japanese preofessor Yoshikawa Tatsuji. Tatsuji is interested in the life and works of artist Nakamura Aritomo, who used to be the gardener of the Japanese Emperor, but moved to this area to build his own garden.

During the Japanese occupation of Malaya, Yun Ling was in a Japanese civilian internment camp with her sister, Yun Hong. Yun Hong did not make it out alive, and after the war was over, Yun Ling decided to fulfil a promise made to her sister: to build a Japanese garden in their home in Kuala Lumpur. She travelled to the highlands to visit family friend Magnus Pretorius, an ex-patriate South African tea farmer who knew Aritomo. Aritomo refused to work for Yun Ling, but agreed to take her on as an apprentice, so she could later build her own garden. In spite of her resentment against the Japanese, she agreed to work for Aritomo, and later became his lover.

During the conversations with Tatsuji, it comes out that Aritomo was involved in a covert Japanese program during the war, to hide looted treasures from occupied territories. The rumours of this so-called "Golden Lily" program were widespread, and Magnus was killed trying to save his family from the Communist guerilla, who came looking for the gold. Aritomo never talked about the treasure to Yun Ling, but gradually it becomes clear that he might have left a clue to its location. Before he disappeared into the jungle, he made a horimono tattoo on her back. It now appears this tattoo might contain a map to the location of the treasure. Yun Ling decides that, before she dies, she must make sure that no-one will be able to get their hand on her body, and the map. In the meantime, she sets out to restore Aritomo's dilapidated garden

Biography of Keris Mas

LIFETIME

Kamaluddin Muhamad was born on 10th June 1922 in Kampung Ketari, Bentong , Pahang and he is well known as Keris Mas throughout Malaysian writers as he was a Malaysian literary figure. Keris Mas poured his heart to the large scale contributions to Malay Language literature especially in the short story form and because of that he became Malaysia`s first National Laureate in 1981.

He gets his first education at the Malay School in his village. Then he continued his education at Tawalib school in Sumatra and went to the Muallimin Al-Islamiah College. Keris Mas was an active person. He joined the Parti Kebangsaan Melayu Malaya based in Pahang and was involved in its branch in Singapore where he held the Information Officer post. Besides that, he also worked with Melayu Raya , Warta Negara and Utusan Melayu newspapers. Mastika magazine and Utusan Zaman were also got his touch.

In December 1956 , he joined the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka as an editor before retired on 10 June 1977. After his retirement, he continued to be a Resident Writer at the University of Malaya and Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

Keris Mas died on 9 March 1992 from a heart attack at the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital at 3 p.m and he was buried at the Bukit Kiara Muslim cemetary.

WORKS

Since his main contribution was in short stories, he had written about 60 short stories by the end of 1960s. Here is the example of his work.

1. Wasiat Orang Bangsawan ( The Last Will and Testament of a Nobleman), published in Suluh    Malaya magazine( The Malayan Torch) in 1946.

2. Antology Mekar dan Segar ( Rise and Shine) 1959.

3. Antology Dua Zaman (Two Eras) 1963.

4.Antology Patah Tumbuh (What Is Lost Returns) 1973.

5. Antology Menunggu Ratu Adil ,1984.

6. Antology Angin Pulau , 1985.

7. Antology Dongeng Merdeka  , 1985.

Keris Mas also the author of four novels with the lively characters and themes that addressing about social injustice.

1. Pahlawan Rimba Malaya (Hero of the Malayan Jungle) (1946)

2. Korban Kesuciannya (His Holy Sacrifice) (1949)

3. Saudagar Besar dari Kuala Lumpur (The Big-Time Merchant From Kuala Lumpur) (1983)

4. Rimba Harapan (The Jungle of Hope) (1983).


TRANSLATED VERSIONS INTO ENGLISH

1.Misguided  ( 1967 ) translated by Nesamalar Chitravelu

2.Fallen ( 1968 ) translated by Fadzillah Amin

3. They Do Not Understand  ( 1969 ) translated ny Adibah Amin

4.Stubborn (1981 ) translated by Harry Aveling

5. Jungle of Hope ( 1990 ) translated by Adibah Amin

AWARDS

1. Pejuang Sastera award , 1976 by 3rd Pime Minister , Malaysia Tun Hussein Onn.

2. Sasterawan Negara award , 1981.

3 . Conferred an honorary doctorate in literature , 1989 , Universiti Sains Malaysia.

Malaysian writers

1.DRAMA

Yasmin Ahmad

She was born on January 7, 1958 in Bukit Treh, Muar, Johor, Malaysia. She was a director and writer. She died on July 25, 2009 in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

works:

-Sepet ( 2004 )

 Sepet is a 2004 Malaysian romantic comedy drama film set in ipoh , Malaysia. It tells a tale of a love that blooms between a Chinese boy and a Malay girl. Sepet is a Malay word which, in this context, refers to the 'slit eyes' of the Chinese.

19-year old Ah Loong (who also called himself "Jason") is in charge of a stall selling pirated VCDs. Contrary to the stereotype of his social standing, Ah Loong is an incurable romantic with an unlikely hobby: He loves to read and write poetry. Quite content with being the Romeo of the slums, Ah Loong's life takes a sudden turn one day when a Malay schoolgirl, Orked, arrives at his stall while looking for films starring her favorite actor Takeshi Kaneshiro.Love blossoms between Orked and Ah Loong, although there are social and racial pressures that stand in their way.

In the end, Ah Loong is involved in a motor vehicle accident while Orked is going to England to pursue her studies. It is not clear if he lived or died until the sequel,Gubra which shows that Jason really didn't die. After the credits finish rolling however, Orked is shown wearing a wedding ring sleeping beside Jason, who also has a wedding ring. In Mukhsin ,Jason and the adult Orked are shown to be living together. However, the adult Orked is not called by her name in this scene as the young Orked is.

-Mukhsin (2006)

The story takes place in Sekinchan, Sabak Bernam in 1993, revolving around the first love of a 10-year-old Orked when a 12-year-old boy, Mukhsin, comes with his elder brother and aunt to spend the school holidays in her village.

Around this relatively simple plotline of a blossoming young romance between the film's two young protagonists, are interweaved scenes of Malaysian village life and the dynamics of different types of families. Most of the family scenes revolve around Orked and her mother (Mak Inom), father (Pak Atan), and the family's close maid who is almost like a family member (Kak Yam).

The other families which are given attention in the movie are Mukhsin's family (with his elder brother who has lost his way in life and is trying desperately to find their mother who abandoned them at a young age, and their Aunty who is trying to take care of the two boys as though they were her own), and Orked's neighbours (with the young daughter and pregnant mother who are critical of the western ways of Orked's family, while they themselves are hurt by the father who wants to abandon them to take on a second wife).

2.POEM AND SHORT STORY

Uthaya Sankar

He was born in Perak before moving to Klang, Selangor and later settling in Shah Alam.He writes non-conventional short stories as well as poetry, novels and articles. Some of his writings have been translated to Tamil, Mandarin and English.



Poems:
 -Sitayana (2010)

 

emotion calculates time

eyes counting days

the expected has not arrived

further suffers the soul

words too hard to orchestrate

to express the heart’s bitterness

could simply words represent

unspoken suffering

full moon

appears without words

wanes without news

what remains – suffering

speechless sita

awaits rama

* ayana – “path” or “journey” in Sanskrit

- Fear not to live in Our Own Hut  (2010 )

How to capture a dream

With our hands still chained

Faded are memories

Of the green land

Of the blood and sweat

Building this hut in the jungle

How to have a sense of self

If our children lack self-respect

As if the earth we stand on isn't ours

But just on loan

While waiting to be driven out

Don’t talk and talk and talk and talk

Of the fight to defend the nation

When our heart and soul are stained by darkness

Of how we fought, and gave, and stood

This is not about sheltering in a grubby little hut

While waiting for the rain to stop

And then to continue back to the glass palace

Not at all

But of the little hut we built together

The hut which belongs to all of us

Oh! Not just now but since way back

Since the foundation of this hut

To its present different form

Yes, this palace we built together

Not yours, yours, yours or yours or yours alone

But belongs by right to every citizen

Look at the walls – our blood

Touch the pillars – our bones

Smell it – our sweat

Listen – our tired heartbeats

Fear not to live in our own hut

And create generations

Short stories:

- Nayagi , Mistress of Destiny (2009)

MADHAVI strode on. She was delighted. She raised her pavade to the level of her calf. She jumped again. Reaching the final step, she stopped; she let go of the bright blue pavade embroidered with silk flowers. Madhavi smiled joyfully. Looking down, she pretended to be giddy. Then, quickly, she pulled back the end of her pavade to her calf and ran down the stairs as fast as possible.

Fun, she thought, out of breath.

“You look delighted!”

Madhavi was startled for a moment. Her eyes glanced to her left and right.

Then, very politely, she rearranged the black mundani which covered her chest.

“It’s nothing, Ravi Mama. Just for fun.”

Ravi Kumar who had a thick moustache, smiled. He approached Madhavi and caressed her loosened hair. Madhavi bowed shyly. Her soft cheeks reddened.

“Paapa, you like running up the stairs?”

Madhavi nodded faintly. It was true that she enjoyed going up the stairs. That was the main reason for her visits to Ravi Kumar’s house every day. Or a secondary factor.

“Do you want to stay permanently in this house?”

Madhavi looked up at Ravi Kumar. He was thirty-two years old: twice her age. Ravi Kumar took the opportunity to gaze at her face for a long time. Then, at her body. Madhavi smiled shyly. Then she ran towards the front door.

“Hey, wait! What’s the reason for your visit, paapa?”

Madhavi stopped; she remembered the actual reason for coming.

“Haren’s pacifier was left behind just now,” she said while walking up the stairs. Yet, this time, she did not run like before; even though she really wanted to do so. “In Viji Mama’s room.”

In Vijay Kumar’s room, Madhavi looked at the books scattered on the floor.

“Untirutable,” she grumbled as she collected the books one by one and put them on the rack.

“Unthirutable,” she repeated.

Madhavi was not sure what language that was. According to Vijay Kumar, it was a colloquialism which could be translated as “unchangeable behaviour”.

Vijay Kumar was a year older than Madhavi. But he was really bright. Maybe he had a lot of blessings from Kalaimahal. He could speak English. He spoke fluently in Malay. He knew about Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination two years ago. He knew that Indonesia was in the midst of gaining her independence. Also, he knew stories of India’s independence.

Madhavi was grateful to be able to listen to those stories. Then, she prayed that her homeland would also obtain independence quickly.

For Madhavi, ever since her grandfather, Kumara Kurunadhar, had arrived here from Kerala as a kangani in the past and been involved alongside others in the economic development of Malaya, this land had become her motherland. Also, on that same basis, Vijay Kumar actively participated with other citizens to free this country from the shackles of the colonisers.

Vijay Kumar’s dream was for the ethnic parties of MCA, MIC and UMNO to unite, cooperate and work together towards independence.

“If not us, who else?” Vijay Kumar had once asked such a question. “If in Indonesia, there is General Sudirman, here too in this country, a Sudirman will be born!”

Madhavi normally giggled every time she heard such words. But it was not to make fun of him. And it was far from wanting to insult him. Madhavi greatly admired Vijay Kumar’s dream.

Educated people like Viji Mama needed to be in the forefront preventing the spread of colonial power, her heart whispered. And Madhavi would always be behind them with support and assistance.

Madhavi smiled to herself. When they were married later on, Madhavi wanted to actively join Vijay Kumar’s struggle for independence.

At that time, surely Viji Mama would teach me to speak English fluently. Surely Viji Mama would be a loving and caring husband, and ready to guide me, her thoughts ran on.

Madhavi covered her face with both hands. Bashfully and shyly, she imagined her future.

“What are you doing here?” She was greeted by a lad in a striped shirt of black, red and blue, with a big collar and purple pants. The hint of a moustache added to the glow on his face.

Madhavi immediately stood up from the chair facing the green metal window frame; she pretended to look for the pacifier which she knew for sure was on top of the piles of books of Subramaniam Barathi’s poems and Rabindranath Tagore’s collection of short stories.

“The pacifier.” Her voice was soft. Her cheeks were red.

Her eyes sparkled. Her heart beat fast. Her lips curved into a smile. The glass bangles on her wrists clinked.

Vijay Kumar picked up the pacifier and handed it to Madhavi. Madhavi took it and ran out of the room. She descended the stairs. Vijay Kumar grinned sweetly.

“Paapa!”

Madhavi stopped at the front door. Ravi Kumar walked towards her, smiling broadly.

“You cannot behave like this anymore. Walk; don’t run. You are sixteen now!”

Madhavi did not understand the reason for her uncle’s advice. Didn’t she always run away when her eyes met Vijay Kumar’s? Ravi Kumar surely didn’t know because Madhavi had never told anyone about it.

Maybe only she and Vijay Kumar were aware of the presence of those delicate feelings in her soul. Or maybe Vijay Kumar himself did not realise it. Maybe Vijay Kumar had yet to succeed in interpreting the meanings of the smiles, the bowing of the head and Madhavi’s feeling of shyness every time their eyes met.

“Tomorrow evening, I’ll be going to your house to ask for your hand. Hasn’t your mum informed you yet?”

Madhavi’s face was glowing. She looked at her uncle’s face. Then she turned towards Vijay Kumar who was standing outside his room, upstairs.

“Viji Mama?”

Ravi Kumar laughed softly. Madhavi’s head was bowing lower and lower out of sheer embarrassment. Shyly and bashfully, but happily.

“Isn’t he a patriotic soul? He is always busy. This evening, he wants to attend a speech on the freedom of women at the Siru Kambam Main Hall.”

adhavi looked at Vijay Kumar. He smiled indifferently. Then he went into his room as Madhavi stole another glance at him.

“It’s fine if he’s not present,” said Ravi Kumar, pouting his lips.

Madhavi ran out in delight.

“Hey! Don’t run ...”

Madhavi ran straight home without caring about his advice.

-  The Painted Cat  (2010)

Dad came home one night and woke us from our sleep. We rushed out of the house. Then, we took out a match and burnt down the house. The whole family stood staring as the flames brought down the house to ashes.

Since then, we have been moving from place to place without a house to stay. This situation is better, said Dad. We don’t have to crack our heads to think about what colour to paint the walls, what brand of paint to use, hire someone to paint or paint it ourselves, how many cans of paint would be needed and so forth.

That is only about the paint. Dad listed tens – hundreds and thousands, indeed – of problems that we would be able to avoid all together since we do not own a house.

“But, Dad,” said one of us while we were seated inside a peanut shell. “Which address shall we use for official purposes? What about school registration; which address to use? What if someone wants to send us a letter; a fan perhaps.”

“Just give the Parliament address or our Prime Minister’s,” Dad answered spontaneously. “At least we won’t be receiving all those junk mail.”

“And we do not have fans,” someone among us added; but not the one who raised the initial question. “We are nobody.”

The others among us agreed while shaking our heads. By then, we had already left the peanut shell where we took shelter while waiting for the rain to stop.

“What about school registration; which address to use?” Someone asked; could have been the same person or someone else.

“Why worry? Have you forgotten that all of you have never been to school,” Dad assured while walking.

“Oh, yeah!” We responded in unison.

* * *

We don’t know why we named him Cat. Perhaps since – to the best of our knowledge – there has never been a cat called “Kucing”, we spontaneously named him Cat.

Others do not have the right to question why we named the cat as Cat. If we were to name a cat as Dog or Snake, people can start questioning the rational behind such a decision. But, aren’t there people out there who name their dogs as Tiger? So, what is wrong with a cat being named Cat?

Cat is bright. Not very long ago, a government department advertised an opening for the Head of Department. Words are that all the previous heads were too old and retired merely a week after being promoted to the post. So, the Government decided to hire a younger Head of Department who would last longer.

Cat applied for the job. He was called for an interview. The interviewer had no reason to deny Cat’s right to apply for the advertised position. Cat seems to fulfil each and every requirement and qualification to be the head of a government department. Indeed that was the reason why, says Cat, the Public Services Commission called him for an interview.

“We are looking for a candidate who is fluent in more than two foreign languages,” said the interviewer while using a pen to circle the requirement which was indeed clearly stated in the newspaper advertisement.

Hence, Cat began to deliver a speech in Italian, German, French, Japanese and Hindi.

Strangely enough, the interview result – which was received three months later – says Cat was unsuccessful. It seems that when Cat spoke Italian, German, French, Japanese and Hindi, it sounded the same: miew-miew-miew.

What a stupid interviewer! Doesn’t he know that cats in Italy say miew-miew-miew, cats in Germany say miew-miew-miew, cats in France say miew-miew-miew, cats in Japan say miew-miew-miew and cats in India say miew-miew-miew?

* * *

Mum would lose her temper if she finds the males among us pretending to cook. Or if the males among us wanted to play house with the females among us.

“The traits of a real man are as follows,” Mum would quote two Western feminists – Jane Bardwick and Elizabeth Douvan – who have done studies about the expected behaviour of boys among the American parents: “Aggressive, strict, brave, active, rational, not influenced by sentiment, and not showing emotion.”

And if the males among us are disheartened – and confused – with what Mum says, and gave Dad a hug or started crying, he would say: “Boys are not supposed to and are not allowed to show emotion, not supposed to and are not allowed to hug, not supposed to and are not allowed to have fear; not supposed to and are not allowed to cry.”

A female among us tried to quote Dr James Prescott, a neuropsychologist: “The aggressiveness and violent behaviour among adult males are among others caused by the lack of hugging and the lack of physical touch during the early years in a boy’s life.”

Without paying any attention to what was being expressed, Dad would continue while leaning on the lazy chair: “A real macho male knows neither fear nor sadness. Even if he knows it, a real male should know how to conceal any form of emotion. Emotion only belongs to the weaker gender.”

Mum would proudly add: “A son must be strong, should not be soft and feminine, must choose aggressive games, should be able – indeed must be able – to command the girls to follow all his orders, and must have the desire to become the nation’s leader.”

Unable to bear such long lectures, the males among us would start making guns and knives out of sticks. The males among us would play war. The males among us would combat each other and hit each other and hurt each other.

The males among us would tear down the “homes” built by the females among us. The males among us would bully the females among us until the females among us start crying. Upon seeing that, the males among us would laugh arrogantly.

Mum and Dad would smile proudly upon witnessing the males among us bullying the females among us. They would say: “We are very proud because all the males among you will become real men.”

Afterwards, Dad would continue lying on his lazy chair. Mum would continue to cook, wash, clean and look after the children while grumbling: “Men are useless. Why must women do all the housework! Why don’t fathers try to be closer with their children? Would they be losing their manliness if they helped to clean the house and cared for the children?”

* * *

One day, we caught Cat and dumped him inside a glass container. Then, we baught a can of paint. We are not sure of the colour. We don’t even recall the brand. But words are that the paint which we bought has a five-year guarantee. If used somewhat after a general election, the paint is assured to last until the next general election, five years later.

We poured the paint into the glass container containing Cat. We let Cat soak in the paint for a few hours. Later we took him out. Of course Cat has changed colour according to the colour of the paint.

Cat told us that he was actually dead. But he was still alive, he said, because cats have nine lives.

“Miew-miew-miew,” said Cat. Translation: Take me to the government department which rejected my application to become the Head of Department.

“What for?” asked someone among us.

“Miew-miew-miew,” said Cat. Meaning: Do not ask!

We took Cat – who has changed colour after being soaked in the paint – to the government department which had previously rejected his application.

Cat demanded for a second interview. The highest authority from the Public Services Commission was summoned to come and interview Cat. Throughout the interview, Cat said absolutely nothing. Not even miew-miew-miew. Ten questions asked, zero answered. Hundred questions, none answered.

“Great! This is the sort of Head of Department we want. Mister Cat, you still have eight lives, right? So, the Government hereby appoints you, Mister Cat, as the Head of Department until you, Mister Cat, die for the eighth time,” the interviewer used his authority to decide.

* * *

Cat is bright. He seems to have paid close attention to what Mum and Dad have always been saying about the traits of a real male. Cat has also mastered the art of reading. It didn’t take long before Cat came to be known as a respected leader in the society.

Cat, whom was once soaked in paint – the colour which we don’t seem to remember – now has in himself all the criteria of a real male as mentioned by Mum and Dad: strong, not soft and feminine, chooses aggressive games, able to command the women to follow all his orders, unemotional, does not like to hug and be hugged, and has a stronger desire than ever to become the nation’s leader.

Cat has also made it possible for us to buy a residence by means of his salary as the head of a government department. Cat is often refered to as the most potential candidate to become the nation’s prominent leader.

But the fact still remains that Cat is a cat which was once dumped into a glass container and soaked in paint – God knows what colour – that is guaranteed to last five years only.

That was when Dad came home one night and “Wake up from your sleep” he said. We rushed out of the house. Then, we took out a match and burnt down the house. The whole family stood, staring as the flames brought down Cat to ashes.

4.NOVEL

Tan Twan Eng

Tan Twan Eng  was born in Penang in 1972. Tan studied law at the University of London  and later worked as an advocate and solicitor in one of Kuala Lumpur's law firms before becoming a full-time writer.

Works:

- The Gift of the Rain (2007 )

It is set in Penang in the years leading up to and during the Japanese occupation of Malaya in World War II. It concerns Philip Hutton, of mixed Chinese-English heritage, and his relationship with Endo-San, a Japanese diplomat who teaches him aikido. As war looms and the Japanese invade, both Endo-San and Philip find themselves torn between their loyalty to each other and to their country and family respectively. Philip decides to assist the Japanese and Endo-San in administering the country in an attempt to keep his family safe, but wherever possible passes intelligence to the guerilla fighters of Force 136 which include his best friend Kon.



-The Garden of Evening Mists (2012)

Newly retired Supreme Court Judge Yun Ling Teoh returns to the Cameron Highlands of Malaya, where she spent a few months several years earlier. Oncoming aphasia is forcing her to deal with unsettled business from her youth while she is still able to remember. She starts writing her memoires, and agrees to meet with Japanese preofessor Yoshikawa Tatsuji. Tatsuji is interested in the life and works of artist Nakamura Aritomo, who used to be the gardener of the Japanese Emperor, but moved to this area to build his own garden.

During the Japanese occupation of Malaya, Yun Ling was in a Japanese civilian internment camp with her sister, Yun Hong. Yun Hong did not make it out alive, and after the war was over, Yun Ling decided to fulfil a promise made to her sister: to build a Japanese garden in their home in Kuala Lumpur. She travelled to the highlands to visit family friend Magnus Pretorius, an ex-patriate South African tea farmer who knew Aritomo. Aritomo refused to work for Yun Ling, but agreed to take her on as an apprentice, so she could later build her own garden. In spite of her resentment against the Japanese, she agreed to work for Aritomo, and later became his lover.

During the conversations with Tatsuji, it comes out that Aritomo was involved in a covert Japanese program during the war, to hide looted treasures from occupied territories. The rumours of this so-called "Golden Lily" program were widespread, and Magnus was killed trying to save his family from the Communist guerilla, who came looking for the gold. Aritomo never talked about the treasure to Yun Ling, but gradually it becomes clear that he might have left a clue to its location. Before he disappeared into the jungle, he made a horimono tattoo on her back. It now appears this tattoo might contain a map to the location of the treasure. Yun Ling decides that, before she dies, she must make sure that no-one will be able to get their hand on her body, and the map. In the meantime, she sets out to restore Aritomo's dilapidated garden

5.AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Mahathir Mohamad

Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad   was born in July 1925. He was the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia and the longest serving prime minister as he held the post for 22years from 1981 until 2003.

Works:

- A Doctor in the house ( 2012 )

 In his twenty-two years as Prime Minister of Malaysia Dr Mahathir Mohamad transformed his country from an agricultural backwater into an industrial powerhouse that would become the seventeenth-largest trading nation in the world.

This remarkable achievement was not without controversy, and Dr Mahathir’s extraordinary vision and iron grip earned him both enemies as well as ardent admirers within and outside of Malaysia. He has been described—typically and paradoxically—as a tyrannical dictator, a bête noir, as well as inspiring, courageous and an outspoken defender of the downtrodden, the Third World, and moderate Islam.

At almost every turn Dr Mahathir rewrote the rules. This book reveals hitherto unknown aspects of this intensely private, but publicly bold, statesman. It provides a clear and compelling narrative of modern Malaysian political history as seen through the eyes of one its greatest shapers. It is neither apology nor defence, but a forceful, compelling and often exciting account of how Dr Mahathir achieved what he did in so short a time, and why.

-The Malay Dilemma (1970)

In The Malay Dilemma , former prime minister , Mahathir Mohamad examines and analyses the make - up of the Malay and the problem of racial harmony in Malaysia. First published in 1970, the book sees to explain the causes for the 13 May 1969 riots in Malaysia.Dr Mahathir sets out his view as to why the Malay economically backwards and why they feel they must insists upon immigrants becoming real Malaysian speaking in due course nothing but Malay , as do immigrant to America or Australia speak nothing but the language of what the author calls "the definitive people" . He argues that the Malays are the rightful owners of Malaya. He also argues that immigrants are guests until properly absorbed, and they are not properly absorbed until they have abandoned the language and the culture of their past.

The Malay Dilemma, former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad examines and analyses the make-up of the Malays and the problem of racial harmony in Malaysia. First published in 1970, the book seeks to explain the causes for the 13 May 1969 riots in Kuala Lumpur. Dr Mahathir sets out his view as to why the Malays are economically backward and why they feel they must insist upon immigrants becoming real Malaysians speaking in due course nothing but Malay, as do immigrants to America or Australia speak nothing but the language of what the author calls “the definitive people”. He argues that the Malays are the rightful owners of Malaya. He also argues that immigrants are guests until properly absorbed, and that they are not properly absorbed until they have abandoned the language and culture of their past. - See more at: https://www.e-sentral.com/search/byid/550/the-malay-dilemma#sthash.bVC50kLX.dpuf

The Malay Dilemma, former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad examines and analyses the make-up of the Malays and the problem of racial harmony in Malaysia. First published in 1970, the book seeks to explain the causes for the 13 May 1969 riots in Kuala Lumpur. Dr Mahathir sets out his view as to why the Malays are economically backward and why they feel they must insist upon immigrants becoming real Malaysians speaking in due course nothing but Malay, as do immigrants to America or Australia speak nothing but the language of what the author calls “the definitive people”. He argues that the Malays are the rightful owners of Malaya. He also argues that immigrants are guests until properly absorbed, and that they are not properly absorbed until they have abandoned the language and culture of their past. - See more at: https://www.e-sentral.com/search/byid/550/the-malay-dilemma#sthash.bVC50kLX.dpuf

The Malay Dilemma, former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad examines and analyses the make-up of the Malays and the problem of racial harmony in Malaysia. First published in 1970, the book seeks to explain the causes for the 13 May 1969 riots in Kuala Lumpur. Dr Mahathir sets out his view as to why the Malays are economically backward and why they feel they must insist upon immigrants becoming real Malaysians speaking in due course nothing but Malay, as do immigrants to America or Australia speak nothing but the language of what the author calls “the definitive people”. He argues that the Malays are the rightful owners of Malaya. He also argues that immigrants are guests until properly absorbed, and that they are not properly absorbed until they have abandoned the language and culture of their past. - See more at: https://www.e-sentral.com/search/byid/550/the-malay-dilemma#sthash.bVC50kLX.dpuf