I’m Still Waiting For A Good Book On Tun Perak
January 17th, 2012 § 2 Comments
Since Professor Khoo Kay Kim argued that Hang Tuah and Princess Hang Li Po probably never existed (see here), I guess I’ll file this book under historical fiction then, shall I? Tun Perak: Pencetus Wawasan Empayar Melaka by Muhammad Yusof Ibrahim is, as the title suggests, about Tun Perak the most famous adviser to the Malaccan Sultanate in the 15th century. But since it’s about Tun Perak, of course Hang Tuah appears in the book.
Written in the style of a biographical novel, it is not a bad book but it didn’t rock my world either. The most glaring omission I felt was the lack of details. Very little is spent fleshing out the characters. Tun Perak, his father Tun Perpatih Serdang, his mother (unnamed), even the bad guys like Raja Rekan were not given much space to explain their motivations. It is simply, “here are the cast, this what they did”. It is as if the author takes it for granted that the reader already knows Malaccan history and the politics of the era. After a few chapters of this I lost patience and just skimmed the pages to the end.
Could have been better.
Comics Taught Me English, Dammit!
January 4th, 2012 § Leave a Comment
“We encourage you to bring reading materials to school but not comics”, said my daughter’s teacher during assembly today. While I think it’s great there is a lot more freedom to bring non-textbooks to school nowadays, I’d like to disagree about the comics ban. Actually I would like to poke the eyes out of the people who say that but apparently that’s illegal.
At least schools today allow the kids to bring buku cerita to school. Back in my time, we couldn’t bring anything not associated with school not even novels (but my friends and I brought them to school anyway, ’cause we were rebels like that). There was a kind of a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy where you weren’t bothered with a spot check of your bags as long as you don’t get caught reading a story book in class. Heaven forbid. And comics? Fergedaboutit.
But why? What’s with this anathema towards picture books? Comics taught me English. Others helped as well, like Agatha Christie, but comics, usually Asterix or Tintin but more often than not a superhero comic, helped me understand this perfidious language. Well, okay I’ll concede that today’s mainstream superhero comics aren’t suitable for a nine-year old but it’s not like they are all bad. I wouldn’t give my daughter this:
Yes, that’s a woman vomiting blood. She’s a member of the Red Lantern Corps, you see, and to join the group you vomit out all your blood and replace it with hate. Yeah, even I find it ridiculous.
But I would totally give my daughter this:
Unfortunately, since it’s a comic book it is officially banned from school. So the kids bring Wimpy Kid or Geronimo Stilton or Horrible Histories which are technically not comics even though they have pictures in them, sometimes sequentially. Those are all right but Tiny Titan Robin isn’t? Darn you Malaysian schools! What do you say to that Doctor Doom?
Art by John Byrne
Wait, what?
Cerita Malaysia Tidak Ke Piala Dunia (Dubook Press, 2011)
January 1st, 2012 § 3 Comments
(Disclosure: My copy of this book was mailed to me gratis from the author in return for a review)
Cerita Malaysia Tidak Ke Piala Dunia (Malaysia Won’t Be Appearing In The World Cup) by Lucius Maximus does what it says on the cover. Published by local indie press, DuBook Press, it chronicles the Malaysian national football team’s as-yet-unrewarded effort to qualify for the prestigious World Cup. Beginning with the nation’s first attempt in 1974 to the recent attempt to qualify for the 2014 tournament, this small book (only 101 pages) is heartbreaking to read. And this comes from someone who does not even care about Malaysian football or football in general (see footnote).
The Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) comes out looking bad in this book. It appears to be incompetent and rife with politicking. Head coaches with proven track records were summarily dismissed (Frank Lord in 1985) or lambasted in the media for not following orders from higher ups (Ken Worden in 1993). Is the total revamp of the organisation a priority in order to give any sort of hope to the national team? No such suggestion was offered in this book and that probably was not the author’s intent anyway but seriously, something has to be done with the FAM when countries not known for their football prowess like the United States, Australia, Japan, Angola…freaking Angola!…have qualified for the World Cup tournament. Meanwhile, football obsessed Malaysia couldn’t even beat the Philippines, Laos, Palestine(!) and Singapore.
It is unfortunate that this book merely scratched the surface on what the national team went through for the past 40-odd years in their pursuit of a World Cup debut. Lucius remains mum with regards to his sources but it is doubtful if he had interviewed many of the former players, coaches and various officials involved with the team. Many of the quotes and details that appear in the book could have been dug out from the sports section of the newspapers of the day. In the afterword, he confesses that FAM was not one of his sources. He found their website to be useless and their record keeping non existent (or not forthcoming).
A football ignoramus like me found this book mildly interesting. A hard core fanatic of ‘Harimau Malaya‘ might get something more out of it. Cerita Malaysia Tidak Ke Piala Dunia can be ordered directly from here. There are plans for it to be made available at all good bookshops and some bad ones as well but no idea when that’s going to happen.
footnote: That’s not quite true. I did care. I was a Selangor fan back in the heyday of the Semi Pro league but when the bribery scandal hit the league I just rolled my eyes and walked away. Never looked back since.Bookshopping, Online or B&M? In Malaysia That’s Hardly An Issue
December 23rd, 2011 § 5 Comments
Last week, Farhad Manjoo wrote a piece in the Slate pining the death of local bookshops because we should all shop from Amazon like the civilized humans that we are. Well, that ruffled a few feathers and prompted some name calling. Even local reviewer, Allan KW Wong got into the act (but then again you could say he’s biased). I have no dog in this fight so I won’t be cheering for either side because I’m Malaysian and in this country we should just be thankful that books are still available for purchase.
Disclosure: I’ve been shopping online for books, usually from Amazon, since 1998. I even wrote an FAQ on how to shop at Amazon in this blog last year. I occasionally shop at the brick & mortar (b&m) bookshops like MPH and, when I can be bothered to take the 30 minute train ride, at Kinokuniya Malaysia. These are bookchains though. Mr. Manjoo’s argument isn’t really relevant to Malaysia. He railed against the independent bookshops of which there are none here. Other than the chains, what we have are usually second hand bookshops like the Chowrasta in Penang and Pay Less (which I don’t see anymore, have they closed?) But a neighborhood bookshop where everybody knows your name? I can’t think of any. Oh wait. BookXcess, which I wrote about last year. Wow, one independent bookshop in Malaysia.
I love logging onto Amazon. Shopping online, other than the fact that it is convenient, also opens a whole new vista to Malaysian bookworms. As long as you have a credit card and a legitimate address, we are spoilt for choice and with the discounts offered it is sometimes cheaper to buy online than at the local shop, if you don’t mind waiting a couple of weeks.
MPH is okay if you are hankering for the latest King or Grisham but try to venture outside of the mainstream and chances are you’ll be out of luck. Even some authors who are considered mainstream in the West are relatively obscure here because their books are hardly ever stocked. Kinokuniya Malaysia is at least good in that respect. It has on its shelves more of the esoteric (by Malaysian standards) titles. They are a bit on the expensive side though, so expensive that it is actually cheaper to buy from Amazon.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that Mr. Manjoo’s rant is a typical ‘First world’ problem. There are enough indie bookshops over there for him to rail against. We Malaysians however should just shop for books wherever we can find them. If you can afford to go online, the world is your oyster. You may even bring in that ‘dirty’ book that you were looking for. I did (see here). If you’re limited to the local chain shop then be grateful there is one nearby. I do not subscribe to the opinion that Malaysians do not read because we see it as a wasteful hobby. I believe we hardly read because there aren’t well stocked bookshops and libraries outside of the major towns. Farhad Manjoo doesn’t know how fortunate he actually is.
By the way, MPH is the only true ‘Malaysian’ bookshop isn’t it? That is, owned by a Malaysian. Times and Popular are Singaporean. Kinokuniya is Japanese. I’m not sure about Borders. Their branches here don’t seem to be affected by the closures in the States and Australia. Are they not owned by Borders USA?
Mentioned In Despatches #2
December 15th, 2011 § 6 Comments
I promise this is the last time I’ll mention the recent JAKIM book banning thing…that is, until the next time I need to mention it again. It’s just that I’ve been mentioned in The Star.
A blogger, The Malaysian Reader (http://themalaysianreader.com/2011/12/08/jakims-list-of-banned-islamic-themed-books-2011/), had posted a list of books banned by Jakim; and a literary figure, Feisal Tehrani, is also one of the authors scrutinised, and whose book Batu di Kuala Berang is banned.
The full article here.
Yes, These Books Are Banned…Wait, No They Aren’t: JAKIM Denies Banning Faisal Tehrani’s Book?
December 14th, 2011 § 3 Comments
Last week there was a great hullabaloo among Malay bookworms (all twenty of us) when news broke that Faisal Tehrani’s novel, Sebongkah Batu di Kuala Berang was one of several books deemed unsuitable for public consumption by Malaysia’s Department for Islamic Development (JAKIM). I am proud to say that this blog was probably the first with the scoop, beating even the mainstream newspapers (that particular entry here). The importance of having friends at the right places.
Well, today I was informed by ‘that friend’ that a source at JAKIM, in an article published in Malay daily Berita Harian, stated that the list of banned books should not have been distributed because they have not informed the Home Ministry and only the Ministry can decide whether a book is actually banned.
This is contradictory to what my friend’s department received from JAKIM. In my entry where I posted JAKIM’s list of banned books (see here), their cover letter clearly states that JAKIM has “attached a list of books that have been classified as haram (forbidden)” in a meeting the department held in October 2011. That letter was distributed to all the department for Islamic affairs in the twelve states and they in turn informed the various departments under them especially those that deal in books like libraries and schools. I have seen the letter from my friend’s State religious department but have not posted it on the blog because it is not relevant. However, scrawled on the letter is a handwritten note that says (in Malay), “Please distribute” and signed by some higher up or his/her representative.
Now JAKIM has apparently turned around and said in a press statement, “No, no. They aren’t banned. Not yet. The Home Ministry has to decide that”. What they say and what they wrote contradict each other.
My friend has informed me that all announcements regarding this ban in their department’s Facebook page, blog and website has been deleted in accordance with JAKIM’s recent denial. My friend has also requested that I delete the blog entry featuring the list but I refused, so we compromised. I have deleted all mention of my friend’s name and department…which is why I keep referring to this person as “my friend” and not by name.
I will only delete the ‘offending’ page when and if I receive an official request from JAKIM and not before. And even then I will probably tell them that I will think about it.
Can someone check out Tuesday’s Berita Harian where JAKIM denies the banning? I don’t bother with Malaysian newspapers, neither the English dailies nor the Malay ones, so I missed it. And nothing turns up on Google or maybe my Google-fu is lacking today. Whatever. The list still stays on the blog and I’m still against any book banning especially when no reason is given at all for the banning.
And to JAKIM and all Malaysian governmental bodies, “WELCOME TO THE INTERNET!”, where everything you publicly say and write is announced to the world within minutes if not seconds. So think first and coordinate with each other before opening your respective mouths. Sincerely, the Malaysian public.
Telling Muslims To Loosen Up Is Enough To Get Your Book Banned
December 9th, 2011 § 14 Comments
I want to read it now that's it banned.
But why should it? Firstly, Lee Kuan Yew (LKY) isn’t a Muslim. He is…I don’t know…a secularist? Whatever. In any case, he was just giving an opinion albeit one that sounds silly to a practising Muslim. Trust me, it does. But I for one do not think that it justifies a banning of a book. Is JAKIM worried that we Muslims in Malaysia would go up in arms and create a fuss because they’re offended of what this old man said? Does JAKIM think that a Malaysian Muslim like myself who happened to be reading the book would come across the passage and think, “Hmm, you know what? Mr. Lee is right. I’m gonna stop praying 5 times a day right now”? That’s giving way too much credit to LKY. What contributed to more eye-rolling is that the book was banned nine months after it was published and made available in Malaysia’s bookshops. If that book wasn’t selling nine months before, believe me it’ll sell like hot cakes now. (Thanks to Allan KW Wong for the heads up).
Faisal Tehrani’s book, Sebongkah Batu di Kuala Berang, was also banned and was the one that started this whole kerfuffle among Malay bookworms these past two days. I have stated before that I’ve never read any of his books but according to those who have, Sebongkah Batu was probably banned because it suggested that Islam was propagated in the Malay archipelago by Shia’ clerics (correct me if I’m wrong, guys). And since Malaysia’s official policy is to regard the Shia’ like that drunk uncle you never invite to weddings and family get togethers, that was probably why Faisal’s book was banned.
The funny thing is, Sebongkah Batu di Kuala Berang is fiction. And according to his fans, quite a disappointing one as well when compared to his previous works.
Good luck if you can find any of these books in the bookshops from now on. I was going to suggest the online retailer Ujana Ilmu for Faisal’s book but they decided to play by the rules and have pulled out the title from their site (whoops, apparently not. It’s not listed in Ujana Ilmu’s site because they don’t have it in stock not because they adhere to JAKIM. Thanks to Ms. Nisah in the comments section). Try MPH. And while you’re there, look out for LKY’s book as well.
I wonder what books will be banned next year?
(EDIT: technically none of the books in the list have been banned. They were only recommended to be banned by JAKIM. The actual banning has to be done by the Home Ministry and those guys have to do their own ‘investigations’ first)
JAKIM’s List Of Banned Islamic-Themed Books 2011
December 8th, 2011 § 6 Comments
Yesterday I wrote that JAKIM had allegedly banned Faisal Tehrani’s book, Sebongkah Batu di Kuala Berang. Well, that post sure hit some buttons. It’s this blog’s most viewed post ever, beating the previous champ which was my FAQs on how to shop at Amazon. Apparently the author himself doesn’t know about the banning and wonders if it’s true or not.
Sadly, yes it is. All the books deemed unfit for Malaysian eyes in this list touch on Islam but no reason was given in the covering letter nor in the list as to why these books have been banned. Curiously, Lee Kuan Yew: Hard Truths to Keep Singapore Going is also in the list. Is there something insulting towards Islam or Muslims in the book? This just makes me more curious. I think I saw the book at MPH the other day. Maybe I should grab a copy before they pull it from the shelves. See? This is what book banning does. It gives free publicity to the books. JAKIM doesn’t make their case any better when they don’t bother to tell anyone why they saw fit to ban a particular title. Well, okay, I think I know why Aayan Hirsi Ali’s book is banned. She renounced Islam but does that make her book untouchable? Do they think that Muslims in Malaysia will renounce Islam en masse if they read her book? All this ‘father knows best’ attitude doesn’t go down well in this new century, you know?
Faisal Tehrani’s book is listed in the second list before last.
My post where I broke the news of the banning is here.
8/12/1941: Yet Another Foreign Nation Conquered Us
December 8th, 2011 § 4 Comments
image from Wikipedia
70 years ago today, the Imperial Japanese troops landed on the beaches of Kelantan and proceeded to work their way down the Peninsula of (then) Malaya, sweeping aside the mainly British and Australian forces who, though were prepared for a clash with the Japanese, incredibly did not expect them to arrive from the north.
Preaching an ‘Asia for Asian’ slogan, the Japanese troops outflanked, outmaneuvered and outwitted their opponents. They traveled by bicycles (“borrowed” from the locals) and used geography textbooks to find their way down the Peninsula.
Within two months, they occupied the Peninsula and Singapore. Winston Churchill was seriously pissed off when told of the news.
My paternal grandparents didn’t really suffer much during the occupation. When you’re at the bottom rung of the social ladder, a change in occupiers doesn’t mean much. I’ve heard stories of men being marched off to the north for no reason (they were forced to build the ‘Death Railway’ in Burma but no one knew that then) and having literally nothing to eat during the Occupation but being Malay my father’s family were not harassed as much as the Chinese who were singled out by the Japanese. My father was born in early 1944 when the Japanese were still Banzai-ing across South-East Asia so obviously having your land occupied by another nation didn’t bother my grandparents. British, Japanese, Martians. They’re all the same. My father’s parents were still poor no matter who was in charge. So they made kids instead.
Oh yeah, at the same time as their Malayan landing, the Japanese also ambushed an obscure harbor in Hawaii.
There are also some folks out there who seem adamant to claim “FIRST!” when it comes to the invasion. They say due to the time difference the Japanese army attacked the Malayan soil first and that American harbor second.
Seriously? You want to be proud of the fact that we were invaded first? Seriously?? *bangs head on wall*
Life Through My Eyes: A Teacher’s Little Steps Towards Perfection (MPH Publications, 2011)
October 3rd, 2011 § 7 Comments
image from MPHOnline.com
Found out about this book from Alan Wong’s blog and though I tend to avoid books adapted from blogs (blooks?) this one intrigued me enough for me to actually pick it up. Perhaps being married to a teacher who was once posted to a rural school in Sabah (but not as rural as the Temiar school in this book), I think I can understand where Muhamad Hafiz is coming from. I only say “I think” because I am not a teacher and I believe it takes a special kind of person to be one. You think teaching is easy? Try doing it for a week. I know you won’t.
Not going to write a brief synopsis here because Alan Wong has done all the work, just click on that link above, and maybe because I have that slightest of connections with the teaching world, Life through my eyes didn’t actually bore me like other blogs-turned-books have before (Awang Goneng’s Growing up in Trengganu for example). Since it was adapted from the author’s blog, each entry is just a page or two in length but there are a lot of colour photos of his students, the faculty and the school itself to give the reader an idea of the kind of environment Muhamad Hafiz encountered at his first ever posting as a maths teacher. Though considered rural (there is hardly a cell phone connection), the school is equipped with several computers and an internet connection which was how he managed to write a blog. Judging from the photos though, the school looks to be just as well constructed as the schools in urban areas. The teachers at the school face challenges not from the isolated location but from the apathy of the Temiar children who see school not so much as a place to learn but as place to hang out with friends and enjoy good food. Many do not speak Malay fluently and none of English and Muhamad Hafiz, like many in his profession, soon discovers that he needs to multitask and teach languages as well as math. To reciprocate his students teach him their language by translating Malay songs into Temiar.
An inspiring book especially for those who are thinking of entering the teaching world. After hearing stories of new teachers refusing to accept postings to rural schools or asking for a transfer to schools closer to mom & dad, reading Muhamad Hafiz’s experiences and his earnestness teaching at an Orang Asli school is quite refreshing.
By the way, Muhamad Hafiz’s blog that inspired this book can be viewed here.
