MALAYSIA BACKGROUND AND LITERATURE

Malaysian literature is the collection of literary works produced in the Malay peninsula until 1963
and in Malaysia thereafter. Malaysian literature is typically written in any of the country's four main
languages: Malay, English, Chinese and Tamil. It portrays various aspects of Malaysian life and
comprises an important part of the culture of Malaysia.
The earliest works of Malaysian literature were transmitted orally in the absence of writing
scripts. Oral literature encompasses a variety of genres of Malay folklore, such
as myths, legends, folk tales, romances, epics, poetry, proverbs, origin stories and oral histories.
Oral tradition thrived among the Malays, but continues to survive among the indigenous people of
Malaysia, including the Orang Asli and numerous ethnic groups in Sarawak and Sabah.
Early Malays literature was mainly influenced by Indian epics, such as the Mahabharata and
the Ramayana, which later included other traditions that now form the Malay literary heritage prose
which were delivered through generations by oral, such as the Hikayat Mara Karma, Hikayat Panca
Tanderan and Hikayat Gul Bakawali. Much of the stories were recompiled and republished into
books, driven by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, the national language society. Malay romantic tales
were also sourced from the Panji cycle of Hindu Java. There were also several forms of Malay
poetry, which are either in the form of pantun (poems that rhymed with each other and are didactic in
its every sense), syair (a long narrative poem, that is made up of four stanzas and recited with a tone
akin to singing), gurindam and seloka and are still remain popular until today.[1]
For the Orang Asli, literature was and still is constituted by accounts of actual events. Different
ethnic groups have different versions of the same story, although there are several recurring themes
and elements in every tale.[1]
The cultural practices of the indigenous people in Sarawak are shaped in part by oral traditions.
Themes like the relationship of the people to their past, particularly their ancestry, and the spirit
world, including its influence on the production of food and health are the primary themes of the oral
literature of various ethnic groups in Sarawak. The recitation of oral literature is often accompanied
by rituals.[1]
The oral traditions of Sabah encompass folk tales and legends, such as creation myths, that have
been preserved by the ethnic groups in the state. This oral literature is recited during ceremonies
conducted by priestesses, who serve as ritual specialists, faith healers and spirit mediums.[1]
By the 19th century, oral literature on the Malay peninsula was superseded by written literature. This
was attributed largely in part to the introduction of Islam to the Peninsula by the 15th century and the
adoption of the Jawi script as well as their surging fervor of nationalism that had seeped through the
intellectuals, educated in Turkey or in Al-Azhar University, in Egypt. This tradition was influenced
both by earlier oral traditions and Islamic literature from the Middle East. Works during this time
ranged from theological literature that discusses religion as the crucial solution towards social
problems as well as colonialism (Melati Kota Bharu by Abdul Kadir Adabi) and legal digests, to
romances (Nasib Hasnah by Abdullah Sidek; discusses of the principles of romance and long-lasting
relationship within the husband and the wife, moral anecdotes (commonly seen in short stories
throughout 1920s and the 1930s), popular tales of Islamic prophets and even animal tales, which
were written in a number of styles ranging from religious to the Hikayat form.[1]
The literary traditions of the Malay sultanates were distinct in that scribes were hired to record the
significant events of the time. One important work of this period was Sejarah Melayu (The Malay
Annals), which was written during the era of the Malacca Sultanate, rewritten in 1536 and revised in
1612.[1]
A surge of new, modern writers gave the birth of what considered as a novelty then, in the form of
novel and short story. The colonialism and the increasing numbers of intellectuals mainly educated
in MPSI (Maktab Perguruan Sultan Idris) or MCKK (Malay College Kuala Kangsar) had such
profound impact throughout the development of the two forms. First developed by Abdullah Munshi
in his Hikayat Pelayaran, it is developed more by the end of the 1920s and throughout the 1930s.
Much of the works were didactic in every sense, implementing elements of religion and theology,
and a critique of the social problems that surfaced and deemed to halt such progresses of economic
prosperity as well as independence. In every sense, their novels often melancholic and portrayed the
Malay proletariat class in an idealistic manner, much driven with realism as well as romanticism.
Writers during this period were Abdul Rahim Kajai, Harun Aminurrashid and to a lesser extent,
Abdullah Sidek.
During the Japanese Occupation, literature were mainly driven with such fervor of the Emperor of
Japan and were published in magazines (Fajar Asia as such). Most of the works centered about the
strength of the Japanese Army and their successes, and Japanese-induced nationalistic fervor. Not
much of the novel, short story nor poetry were written during this period, only a few remained from
the 1930s such as Ishak Haji Muhammad and Abdul Rahim Kajai.

LITERATURE IN MALAYSIA
 Malaysian literature is the collection of literary works produced in the Malay peninsula until 1963
and in Malaysia thereafter. Malaysian literature is typically written in any of the country's four main
languages: Malay, English, Chinese and Tamil. It portrays various aspects of Malaysian life and
comprises an important part of the culture of Malaysia. [Source: Wikipedia]
 Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim and The Rescue were set in the Malay archipelago. William Somerset
Maugham wrote several short stories on Malaya and Borneo in the first part of the 20th century.
“Maugham's Malaysian Stories” include “The Vessel of Wrath,” “The Force of Circumstance,” “The
Door of Opportunity,” “The Four Dutchmen,” “P&O” and “A Casual Affair.” “Maugham's Borneo
Stories” include “The Yellow Streak,” “The Outstation,” “Before the Party,” “Flotsam and Jetsam,”
“Neil Macadam” and “Virtue.”
 One of Malaysia's top writer is Shahnon Ahmad. He has held the position of Malaysia's literary
laureate since 1982. In 1999, he caused a stir when he wrote a book called Shit that was highly
critical of the Mahathir government. Shit ended up being one of the best selling books ever in
Malaysia.
 Dr. Jukka O. Miettinen of the Finnish Theatre Academy wrote: “The literary tradition of Malaysia
bears clear marks of the country’s many-layered history. The Hindu stratum is represented by
localised versions of the originally Indian epic, Ramayana. Originally it was known in the Sultanate of
Malacca in a Javanese version, but later, during the Islamic period, it was rewritten as Hikayat Seri
Rama, in which the main heroes are Muslims. However, in the border regions of Thailand still
another version is known, related to the Thai Ramakien. Of the history chronicles the most important
is the Sejarah Melayu, the history of the Malaccan Sultanate. Through international contacts several
literary works and stories were adopted and adapted from India and the Arab world. [Source: Dr.
Jukka O. Miettinen,Asian Traditional Theater and Dance website, Theatre Academy Helsinki |~|]

Early Malaysian Literature

 The earliest works of Malaysian literature were transmitted orally in the absence of writing scripts.
Oral literature encompasses a variety of genres of Malay folklore, such as myths, legends, folk tales,
romances, epics, poetry, proverbs, origin stories and oral histories. Oral tradition thrived among the
Malays, but continues to survive among the indigenous people of Malaysia, including the Orang Asli
and numerous ethnic groups in Sarawak and Sabah. [Source: Wikipedia]
 
Animal Folk tales
 Animal fables are often used to explain certain natural phenomena. Other times, they are simple
moral tales. In almost all instances, the animals in these stories possess the ability to speak, reason
and think like humans, similar to Aesop's Fables. The kancil or mouse-deer serves as the main
character in a number of the stories. The Malays regard this humble animal in the highest esteem
due to its ability to overcome obstacles and defeat adversaries despite of its rather small and benign
appearance. The mouse-deer appears in the state herald of Malacca and even plays a part in the
legend of Malacca's founding. [Source: Wikipedia]

Mouse Deer Stories

 Mouse Deer is small, and many animals want to eat him—but first they have to catch him! A favorite
trickster of Indonesia and Malaysia, it must be quick and smart to stay alive. That is why the
Indonesians and Malaysians have made Mouse Deer their favorite trickster. Any of their boys or girls
can tell you tales about him. [Source: Aaron Shepard, aaronshep.com
 The mouse deer, or chevrotain, is about the size of a large rabbit. Found in India, Sri Lanka and
Southeast Asia, it weighs only three pounds and stands a foot high at the shoulder and lives in
tropical rain forest subsisting of nuts, leaves, buds, seeds, fungi and fruit that have fallen from above
or are found on the forest floor.

Mouse Deer and Tiger

 One upon a time, there was a mouse deer living in a forest. Although he was small, he wasn’t afraid
of the other bigger animals who wanted to eat him. He was so smart; he always managed to ditch
them. One day, a tiger was wandering around for food. He hadn’t been eating for days. He was
really hungry. While he was walking in the forest, he saw Mouse Deer. The tiger wanted to eat him.
Tiger slowly ducked, crawled, approaching Mouse Deer, then…”Gotcha!” said Tiger. He caught
Mouse Deer. “Hello, Mouse Deer! I’m really hungry right now. You’ll be my lunch!” said Tiger.
[Source: aditya indonesianfolktale.blogspot, April 21, 2010 <^>]

Malaysian Ghost Stories

 Malays, as with other Southeast Asians, have always taken great interest in stories of ghosts and
spirits. It must be stressed that due to the animistic root of Malay folklore, these ghosts are seen as
sharing the plane of existence with humans and are not always considered evil. However, when the
delicate line that separates the boundaries of existence is crossed, or a transgression of living
spaces occurs, a conflict ensues that may result in disturbances such as possessions.
 The Malay word for ghost is hantu. However, this word also covers all sorts of demons, goblins and
undead creatures and are thought to have real physical bodies, instead of just apparitions or
spectres. The most famous of these is the pontianak or matianak, the ghost of a female stillborn
child which lures men in the form of a beautiful woman.
See Separate Article GHOSTS, FOLK BELIEFS AND SUPERSTITIONS IN MALAYSIA

Malaysian Fairy Tales (Kisah Dongeng)

 Kisah dongeng are a loose collection of bedtime stories, fables and myths that involves human or
non-human characters, often with superhuman powers along with talking animals, and an unearthly
setting. In this category, the story of Puteri Gunung Ledang, Bawang Putih Bawang Merah and Batu
Belah Batu Bertangkup is well known by the Malays. All three have been made into movies, albeit
with differing interpretations and settings. [Source: Wikipedia]
 

The Harmony Silk Factory

 In a review of “The Harmony Silk Factory,” Alfred Hickling wrote in The Guardian, “Tash Aw's
mercurial debut novel opens with the enigmatic anti-hero dead and his disaffected son determined to
stamp on the grave. We learn how Johnny Lim - a natural whiz with machines - stabbed an English
mine owner in Malaya during the second world war, went on the run, and established himself as a
local legend in the featureless Kinta valley. Prized for his ingenuity and natural powers of
persuasion, Lim becomes the protégé of elderly textile magnate Tiger Tan, whose business activities
provide a front for the squads of communist guerrillas camped in the mountains to resist the
Japanese occupation. Lim rapidly succeeds Tan as terrorist-in-chief, marries the daughter of the
richest man in the valley, and sells out his comrades to the head of the Japanese secret police, a
scholarly psychopath named Mamoru Kunichika. [Source: Alfred Hickling, The Guardian, March 26,
2005 /*/]

Evening Is the Whole Day

 In a review of “Evening Is the Whole Day,” Allegra Goodman wrote in the New York Times,” Preeta
Samarasan’s delicious first novel, set in Malaysia in 1980, provides such a feast. We enter the big
blue house just outside the town of Ipoh, the home of Raju, a rich Indian lawyer whose difficult
mother, Paati, has just died, and his unhappy wife, Vasanthi, and their children. Their brilliant,
melancholy Uma has just flown away to Columbia University, leaving her 11-year-old brother,
Suresh, and 6-year-old sister, Aasha, a girl with a poetic and sometimes dangerous imagination.
Deftly switching points of view, and flitting backward and forward in time, Samarasan constructs a
narrative that opens outward even as it deepens, revealing the wounds and secrets within each
character. We meet the family’s neighbors, friends and servants, notably their maid, Chellam. We
learn about Raju’s brother, known to the children as Uncle Ballroom for his peripatetic career as a
dancer in Europe. We even meet the ghosts: the phantom of a young girl drowned by the mistress of
the house’s original owner, Mr. McDougall, and the ghost of Raju’s irascible mother, who dies shortly
before the novel begins, under tragic, shameful circumstances we gradually come to understand.
This is not a claustrophobic family drama but a continually unfolding mystery, in which the reader
follows each character down dark, winding passageways into hidden rooms, walled gardens and
beyond to view a complex society in which Malay, Indian and Chinese coexist and chafe against one
another after the end of British colonial rule. [Source: Allegra Goodman, New York Times, July 27,
2008 >*<]
 

1971 Novel “Interlok” Stirs Ethnic, Political Waters in Malaysia

 Dustin Roasa wrote in the Los Angeles Times, “When Abdullah Hussain released his novel
"Interlok" in 1971, the author could not have known the impact it would have on this Muslim-majority
country. Few at the time read the Malay-language book, which portrays the interlocking lives of
ethnic Malay, Chinese and Indian families in pre-independence British Malaya. But four decades
later, the book became a sensation. It has galvanized the country's Indians — a mostly poor minority
that is traditionally known for political passivity — after they objected to its portrayal of Indian
characters. This has altered the political landscape in advance of upcoming national elections,
expected to be the most competitive in years.[Source: Dustin Roasa, Los Angeles Times, April 8,
2012 **]

Kampung Boy
 Lat's Kampung Boy series is favorite of millions of readers in Southeast Asia. With masterful
economy worthy of Charles Schultz, Lat recounts the life of Mat, a Muslim boy growing up in rural
Malaysia in the 1950s: his adventures and mischief-making, fishing trips, religious education, and
work on his family's rubber plantation. Meanwhile, the traditional way of life in his village (or
kampung) is steadily disappearing, with tin mines and factory jobs increasingly overtaking the
village's agricultural way of life. When Mat himself leaves for boarding school, he can only hope that
his familiar kampung will still be there when he returns. The first in a delightful series, Kampung Boy
is hilarious and affectionate, with brilliant, super-expressive artwork that opens a window into a world
that has now nearly vanished.

MALAYSIA BACKGROUND
 During the late 18th and 19th centuries, Great Britain established colonies
and protectorates in the area of current Malaysia; these were occupied by
Japan from 1942 to 1945. In 1948, the British-ruled territories on the Malay
Peninsula except Singapore formed the Federation of Malaya, which became
independent in 1957. Malaysia was formed in 1963 when the former British
colonies of Singapore, as well as Sabah and Sarawak on the northern coast
of Borneo, joined the Federation. The first several years of the country's
independence were marred by a communist insurgency, Indonesian
confrontation with Malaysia, Philippine claims to Sabah, and Singapore's
withdrawal in 1965. During the 22-year term of Prime Minister MAHATHIR bin
Mohamad (1981-2003), Malaysia was successful in diversifying its economy
from dependence on exports of raw materials to the development of
manufacturing, services, and tourism. Prime Minister Mohamed NAJIB bin
Abdul Razak (in office since April 2009) has continued these pro-business
policies. 1. The most abundant resources from Malaysia are palm oil for cooking,
rubber and timber for furnitures. The country's tropical climate allows for these
plantations to flourish. The also allow for great biodiversity in the rainforest. 

1. The most abundant resources from Malaysia are palm oil for cooking, rubber and
timber for furnitures. The country's tropical climate allows for these plantations to
flourish. The also allow for great biodiversity in the rainforest. 

2. The country also has an oil and gas industry. Ever heard of Petronas? As in Petronas
Twin Towers? The building that used to be the tallest skyscraper in the world?

3. The tallest mountain in Southeast Asia is Mount Kinabalu, located in a state called
Sabah.

4. The country is rich in culture and has lots of traditions. The five main races (Malay,
Chinese, Indian, Iban, Kadazan) make up most of the citizens of the country.
5. There are countless traditional food from the country, and amongst each traditional
food, some may still have variations based on the states/ region.

Laksa is a traditional fish soup noodle. This is laksa from a state named Kelantan, this is
laksa from a southern state named Johor, and this is laksa from a northern state name
Penang. As you can see, the color of the broth is different, and as you can imagine, they
taste really different too.

6. Drinking a cold drink from a plastic bag is common and pretty true to Malaysian
style. Often you can find people sipping on lime water, iced coffee or Teh Tarik, which is
a kind of milk tea.

7. These houses are called terrace. They are connected at the sides and usually have a
garden in their front yard. Since the side walls are connected, the houses can only be
separated by fences and gates in the front yard.

8. Malaysia has a total of 878 islands, and it's really hard to pick a favorite

9. Supper is a huge part of the Malaysian culture. If you are a guest at a house, don’t be
surprised if the host brings you to a restaurant at 11pm. Since it’s more chilly in the
evening, Malaysians like to sit at outdoor tables or get street food at night.
10. Hot chocolate in Malaysia is called Milo.

It’s so good that I’d pick Milo over hot chocolate everyday. It smells phenomenal yet it’s
not too sweet. I miss it everyday.