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.
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
•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.
•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
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