AUTUMN IN MY HEART, WINTER IN MY SOUL

The changing hues of the sky,

Deliberately bring tears to my eyes,

The falling leaves of the autumn,

Never can it make

this broken heart blossoms.

As the winter caresses my naked face,

I stand here all alone in complete darkness

Feeling so chill…so cold…freezing…

There’s no way to go, no way to hide,

Entirely lost…my soul is.

~Swan Princess~

The Physical and the Spiritual Journey of Muhammad Haji Salleh's "THE TRAVELLER”

for i am only a traveller finding my way

among the streets of your new town,

i have other places to go to.

i shall someday work out a map of this city

and traverse it on foot, someday.

for i am only a traveller, and cannot stay longer

where there is no home.

take my love while you can, take my hatred,

take my weathered hand if you will,

for i shall have no home here,

among the dull buildings

where the heart cannot stay.

for i am only a traveller

on my way, to somewhere further than here.

this is the city that broke my heart,

that stole my feelings from me;

this is the city that took away my love,

that told me i must go away.

i must go somewhere.

somewhere, where they can know me;

can recognise that i am a man.

some night when the city is asleep

i’ll walk out quietly along your cruel streets

through the suburban edge and into the dawn forests.

somewhere, perhaps near where the sun rises,

i can sit down,

and sometimes perhaps, i can tell myself,

here i am a man.

~Muhammad Haji Salleh~

Muhammad Haji Salleh’s “the traveller” can be seen as a metaphor, mainly presenting the journey in the life of a man who is in quest of his identity. This journey could be his spiritual as well as physical journey. This poem consists of four stanzas with seven lines in each of them. In these twenty eight lines, none of these sentences begins with an upper case indicating the sense of humbleness and modesty of the persona. This notion is reinforced through the word “i” which is also in the lower case.

Through his dictions, Muhammad Haji Salleh utilises the idea of uncertainty of the persona in achieving his goal in this journey. This can be seen throughout the four stanzas, the words “someday”, “somewhere” and “sometime” are repeatedly used. From the first stanza, “I shall someday work out a map of this city/ and traverse it on foot, someday.” is to indicate that he might travel to this city or may not pass through at all simply because he is a traveller who goes from one place to another and does not stay put in only one place. This can be observed from line, “for i am only a traveller, and cannot stay longer/ where there is no home.”

The same idea of uncertainty is repeated in stanza two, “for I am only a traveller, on my way, to somewhere further than here.” The word “somewhere” clearly shows to us that the persona himself does not know where his journey is leading him to. All he knows is that he must keep on moving to another place until he finds what he is seeking for in this journey. At this point of time, he seems to be out of place and alienated in the city. Again the same notion is recurring in stanza three, “i must go, somewhere. / somewhere, where they can know me; / can recognise that i am a man.” This time the persona asserts firmly that he will leave the city when the poet uses the word “must” despite not certain where his legs will be taking him.

Throughout this poem, Muhammad Haji Salleh personifies the non living things to human personal traits. This concept can be depicted from the poet’s choice of words “dull hard buildings” from the second stanza, merely to signify the sense of dreary and monotonous situation of the big city. From this phrase, readers have the idea that the persona is unhappy living in the big city and he has to seek other places, away from the city. And this notion is reinforced in line, “where the heart cannot stay.”

The personification in this poem can also be seen in the third stanza. The city offers him nothing but hardship and calamities that to a certain extent has transformed him into a strong person. From lines, “this is the city that broke my heart, / that stole my feelings from me; / this is the city that took away my love, / that told me i must go away.” readers can tell that the city is portrayed as something that is alive, something that has human qualities. It seems to be talking to the persona, telling him that there is no place for him there and hence giving him a tough time by breaking his heart and make him a cold hearted person. In stanza four, again the streets are given a life where they are perceived as “cruel” simply to indicate the harsh and unsympathetic treatment received by the persona.

However, in the last stanza, is seen as the turning point in this poem. The persona seems to take the opportunity to leave the city when no one realises his absence that is “when the city is asleep”. Here, the persona appears to know where he is going to, moving from the “suburban edge” to the “dawn forests” to “somewhere” where he hopes to have a new life and a new hope as symbolises by the morning sun as the “sun rises”. The persona seems to look forward to this new place where he is accepted as who he really is as stated in the last line of the poem, “here, i am a man.” Perhaps his journey may end here after he has found what he is seeking for all this while, that is his identity and acceptance of the society.

Blogging and what it can do to you.

I believe that blogging serves a lot of beneficial experiences to the students. As English teachers, we have to furnish our students with the newest technology in communicating; hence we cannot afford to close one eye to the importance of blogging. Weblogs have the potential to be the latest tool for teaching of language and it provides new way to access authentic reading and writing skills. It is not only exciting for the teachers but also gives students good reasons to enjoy reading and writing.

Here are some of the reasons why I feel it is encouraged to use blogs as a language teaching tool:

1. To provide a real audience to student writing. Normally only the language teacher will read the student writing but through weblogs students will be able to experience real audience who, apart from their teacher, may include their peers, students from other states and may even be anybody from other countries around the world.

2. Student collaboration. Student can easily read each other’s’ work as they are link to one another. This encourages them to learn from their peers and see the different styles of writing and approaches to assignments. Hence, they share learning experiences on the web without being familiar with web publishing.

3. Help students to realize that writing is an ongoing process. By writing and updating their blogs, students will learn to appreciate that writing is indeed an ongoing process but with the added bonus of an interactive audience, authentically communicative.

4. Writing blogs is less formal and less threatening. Research has shown that people behave differently when communicating online compared to a face-to-face situation. Therefore, students will be able to write freely and without self-consciousness. Students who are shy in class will be able to find their voice when given the opportunity to express their thoughts and feelings in the weblogs. The notion of anonymity can be a major help for the students to cut down their anxiety and gradually develops their confidence in writing.

5. As an online portfolio of student written work. Students gained a lot of benefits by having a portfolio of their work. They can easily return to previous work and evaluate the progress they have made during the course.

6. To provide extra reading practice to the students. Students will not only read their blogs everyday but they also tend to read others’ as well and respond to their reading. Besides reading the blogs, students too will have the chance to read more related articles in the links and sites suggested by their teacher.

7. Help develop critical thinking skills. Since the students are exposed to various resources and diverse viewpoints this may indirectly develop their critical thinking skills.

To all my students who have enjoyed blogging, keep up your good work and keep writing.

Female Emancipation in Forster's "A Room WIth A View"

Introduction

This writing is based on Edward Morgan Forster’s work “A Room with a View”.  There are many themes mentioned and highlighted in this novel but I will focus only on propriety and passion.  The conflict between propriety and passion is an age old phenomena that is faced by every generation.  Propriety reflects the particular society and its values.  A society is always in transition so the propriety change from time to time, but the change is subtle.  Propriety acts as a catalyst to function a society smoothly, but at the same time it also hinders in expressing true feelings.  Passion on the other hand helps in achieving one’s goal, making him focus on the goal.

This paper will discuss on the female emancipation and the changes that can be seen in the main character, Ms Lucy Honeychurch.  She goes through an evolution as a character, from a simple and ordinary English girl who comes from a protective environment to an independent and intelligent woman.  Lucy goes through a lot of internal turmoil and exposed to intense emotional feelings like love, hate, trust, deceive (through lies) and some life changing experiences throughout the novel.

This without fail forces her to question the ideas, beliefs and manners which have been taught to her in her life, against the new refreshing and unconventional ideas which she encounters during her trip to Italy. She refers the unusual situation raised from the conflict of her ideas in the novel as “muddle”. In the novel “A Room with a View”, Forster shows how questions of propriety and class build a lot of difficulties between two individuals who are fond of each other and how the early 20^th century British society in the disguise of propriety restricts women’s freedom and their individuality.

Early 20th Century - Edwardian era

The novel is based during the period of modernism that is the early 20^th century which is also known as the Edwardian era, named after the king at that time, King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. Socially, the Edwardian era was a period during which the British class system was very rigid.  However, economic and social changes also created an environment in which there was more social mobility than previously.

Literature of the Edwardian era reflected the restless ambivalence of the new millennium.  Playwright George Bernard Shaw transformed Edwardian theatre into an arena for debate over the issues of his time: the question of political organization, the morality of armaments and war, the function of class and professions, the validity of the family and marriage, and the challenge of female emancipation.  E.M. Forster, who penned such novels as “Howard's End’ and “A Room with a View’, explored difficult themes such as the insensitivity, repression, and philistinism of the English middle classes. (Art, Literature and Music, Edwardian Era)

Changes that can be seen in “A Room with a View” included rising interest in socialism (this issue is brought up during the discussion with Mr. Emmerson), attention to the class hierarchy in the society (this issue is shown numerous times in the novel: unacceptability of Mr. Emmerson because he is the son of a labourer) and the status of women (this issue is shown in the form of Cecil Vyse’s attitude towards Lucy where he thinks he was doing a favour in marrying her and pulling her from the ordinary life to a high social life not giving importance to her feelings, her likes and dislikes).

Theoretical approach

Feminist discourse shares many similarities with post-colonial theory and for this reason the two fields have long been thought of as associative, even complimentary. Firstly, both discourses are predominantly political and concern themselves with the struggle against oppression and injustice. Moreover, both reject the established hierarchical, patriarchal system, which is dominated by the hegemonic white male, and vehemently deny the supposed supremacy of masculine power and authority. The oppressed woman is akin to the colonized subject. Essentially, exponents of post-colonialism are reacting against colonialism in the political and economic sense while feminist theorists are rejecting colonialism of a sexual nature. (Key Concepts in Post colonial Studies)

According to feminist theory, the subordination of women originated in primitive societies in which women served as objects of exchange between father-dominated families that formed alliances through marriage.  While such clan relations have been replaced in contemporary capitalist societies by more fluid forms of sexual alliance, the modern industrial world is still by and large patriarchal in character. (Ryan, 101) The assumed norm in many societies is for women to be in charge of domestic labor and childrearing while men engage in more public concerns.  Such continued male domination is a consequence of male violence against women. (Ryan, 101)

According to Tyson, a patriarchal woman is a woman who has internalized the norms and values of patriarchy, which can be defined, in short, as any culture that privileges men by promoting traditional gender roles. Traditional gender roles cast men as rational, strong, protective and decisive; they cast women as emotional (irrational), weak, nurturing and submissive. (83) While all women are subject to patriarchal oppression, each woman’s specific needs, desires and problems are greatly shaped by her race, socioeconomic class, sexual orientation, educational experience, religion and nationality. (Tyson, 95)

The female emancipation

Lucy faces conflict between propriety and passion, which she discovers in Italy and later resolves them in England.  She comes from a conventional background of the Edwardian era where the women are expected to behave in a certain and proper manner that is accepted by the society.  The society enforced the restrictions especially on women in the name of propriety. The restrictions include the way they are to behave in public places, with who they talk and walk with, as well as in the matters of choosing their spouses. These restrictions are enforced so as to curtail the independence and individuality of the women. Lucy, being a different kind of woman as illustrated in this novel, goes through an evolution from a simple and ordinary to an independent and intelligent English woman. 

Despite having a conventional background, Lucy insists to have a “view” of her own.  She is adamant to have a view of the wide Arno River in which she will be exposed to varieties of new things and experience new world instead of the view of a courtyard where it is more secluded and sheltered. The window is seen as a metaphor where it symbolises the spacious view that Lucy craves for where she can see things in the world in a broader perspective.  It also reflects the views and desires that Lucy has longed for all this while, the view that can make her open to many new things, new ideas and new challenges in life.

Lucy faces her first conflict when she meets George at Piazza Sinoria where she is exposed to extreme emotional feelings of hatred (witnessing the murder at Piazza Sinoria) and the soothing and calming feeling of talking and spending time with George.  She feels the changes in her emotions when “Her heart warmed towards him for the first time.” (Forster: 42), indicating a feeling that she has never experienced in her entire life before.  She realises that along with independence there is a price to pay.  She notices that unkind things do happen but life has to go on as usual.  This is illustrated from line, “How quickly these accidents do happen, and then one returns to the old life!” (Forster: 43)

Lucy worries about George telling every one what happened at Piazza Signoria where she faints after seeing the murder.  She fears as a typical man he will be boasting about rescuing women who wanders on her own with out an escort, and finds her self in trouble. George is an unconventional man.  He sees no reason to brag about what had happened at Piazza Signoria. Lucy has a good impression on him after observing his attitude.

Young Lucy finds herself in a “muddle” after meeting the Emersons.  She hides her passion behind propriety.  This can be seen when she cries out loud, “It isn’t true. It can’t all be true. I want not to be muddled. I want to grow older quickly.” (Forster: 77)  Lucy was born and brought up in the formal and rigid upper middle class society from which she inherited her social values.  She comes out of her country with her inherited ideas but her own ideas and thoughts are challenged by the new country and people she meets in Italy, especially by the Emersons.  Some times she lets herself go back to the more protective cocoon of the propriety than facing the challenge of newly acquired freedom through her passion.  Hence, she left for Rome as a form of escapism; to avoid the Emersons as well as to hide her true inner feelings.

Lucy used to follow others and her family all her life. All her decisions are made by others for her.  However, during her trip to Italy, Lucy started taking her own decisions and forming her own opinions. The more she tries to become independent   the more   she becomes distant from others, who try to push their will on her in the name of propriety. She starts forming her own opinion based on the interaction with the people she meets. She has a soft spot for Emmersons as she likes their unconventional ideas and willing to speak openly. She starts showing her opinion in the form of defending the Emmersons when others try to belittle them. This happens when Mr. Eager tries to slander the Emmersons and Lucy tries to defend them and doesn’t like to believe him, which in turn irritates him.

Lucy is passionate but not a rebel woman.  She is exploring her independence though the experiences she is going through, with each new experience her independence increases and her dependence on others reduces.  Even though she gets the taste of independence in Italy, she is not completely sure of herself yet, so she still gives up to the pressures of propriety momentarily and accepts Cecil’s marriage proposal.  As she knows more about him and as her independent mind develops and reinforces, she is not afraid to cancel her engagement with out caring what others might say or for the sake of propriety.

Lucy realises Cecil’s attitude towards her.  He feels he is doing a favour to her and her family by marrying her.  This is illustrated clearly from line, "He practically put it like this: Wasn’t it a splendid thing for Lucy and for Windy Corner generally if he married her?” (Forster: 83)  He feels that after marriage she has to change a lot according to the propriety of the aristocracy society standards. He starts treating her as an object, like precious artefact, which in the raw form is worthwhile, but has to be refined to be appreciated as a marvel by every one.  According to Bland in her essay “The Married Woman, the ‘New Woman’ and the Feminist: Sexual politics of the 1980s”, marriage – at least loveless marriage – was nothing but “legalised prostitution”, or seen as no better than slavery.  Once married, a woman became effectively her husband’s property, including his sexual property, given his irrevocable sexual rights over her.

Cecil thinks as himself as the artist who will bring new life to Lucy. He is in love with not the real Lucy; he is in love with the idea of having Lucy to be his own. He has some of his own ideas about women and the way she should be; how she should behave in the society, which songs she should play on piano when she was among with others. Cecil wants to enforce these ideas on Lucy.  He sees Lucy as one of the praised poetry or artefacts which he is going to own soon. Even though the praise is an honest one, the intent is to objectify Lucy rather than treating her as a living person.

When George argues the reasons that Lucy and Cecil are not made for each other, initially she dismisses it.  According to George, “He daren’t let a woman decide. He’s the type who’s kept Europe back for a thousand years. Every moment of his life he’s forming you, telling you what’s charming or amusing or ladylike…” (Forster: 162)  However, later she realises it and breaks her engagement.  She explains to Cecil later that it was not an instant decision and she thinks they are not made for each other. She tells him that he would not respect her and he will curb her independence. In spite of him being well travelled and well educated, he is not able to know how a woman wants to be treated. 

Conclusion

The society enforced the restrictions especially on women in the name of propriety.   These restrictions are enforced so as to curtail the independence and individuality of the women. Women who try to follow their passion and want to stand on their own are seen as rebels. Lucy is a simple girl who is passionate about her independence. She is not flamboyant or icon of women liberalism, but a person who develops with her circumstances. She is embodiment of her family and society values, but as she experiences life on her own without anyone’s support or intervention, her personality develops into a strong and independent personality. She for that reason rejects the protectionist and controlling Cecil and goes for independent and free thinking and free speaking person like George.   

Through Lucy, Forster departs from the norms by having the female to have full control of their own body and making own decisions, a phenomenon that is not acknowledged in the patriarchy world, during the Edwardian era in particular.  Forster’s novel helps us to think about how women are being suppressed and refrain from leading their own lives due to propriety and how some escape male domination by making sturdy decisions with their strong characters.  Through this novel, one can see Forster’s attempt to create a new and independent woman in this challenging world.

Work cited:

Bland, Lucy. “The Married Woman, the ‘New Woman’ and the Feminist: Sexual politics of the 1980s.”               Equal or Different: Women’s Politics 1800 – 1914. Ed. Jane Rendall.  Great Britain: Billing & Sons               Ltd. 141 – 164.

Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today: A User-friendly Guide. New York: Garland Publishing, 1999.

Ryan, Michael. Literary Theory: A Practical Introduction. USA: Blackwell Publishers, 1999.

“The Edwardian Era (1901 – 1919).” Eras of Elegance. 21 April 2009 <http://erasofelegance.com/history/edwardian.html>

Wilfred Owen, The War Poet

Manuscript on “Dulce et Decorum est”

Bent double, like old beggars under sacks,
Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Till on the haunting flares we turned our backs
And towards our distant rest began to trudge.
Men marched asleep. Many had lost their boots
But limped on, blood-shod. All went lame; all blind;
Drunk with fatigue; deaf even to the hoots
Of disappointed shells that dropped behind.
GAS! Gas! Quick, boys!-- An ecstasy of fumbling,
Fitting the clumsy helmets just in time;
But someone still was yelling out and stumbling
And floundering like a man in fire or lime.--
Dim, through the misty panes and thick green light
As under a green sea, I saw him drowning.
In all my dreams, before my helpless sight,
He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning.
If in some smothering dreams you too could pace
Behind the wagon that we flung him in,
And watch the white eyes writhing in his face,
His hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin;
If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood
Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,
Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud
Of vile, incurable sores on innocent tongues,--
My friend, you would not tell with such high zest
To children ardent for some desperate glory,
The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est
Pro patria mori.

Dulce et Decorum Est is a poem written by British poet and World War I soldier Wilfred Owen in 1917, and was published posthumously in 1920. The Poem was drafted at Craig Lockhart in the first half of October 1917 and later revised, probably at Scarborough, between January and March 1918. The earliest surviving manuscript is dated 8 Oct 1917 addressed to his mother Susan Owen with the message "Here is a gas poem done yesterday, (which is not private, but not final)".

The 28-line poem, which is written in loose iambic pentameter, is narrated by Owen himself.  He utilises vivid imagery to give the readers the exact feelings and showing how terrible and devastating a war can be.  It tells of a group of soldiers in World War I, forced to trudge “through sludge,” though “drunk with fatigue,” marching slowly away from the falling explosive shells behind them, towards a place of rest. As gas shells begin to fall upon them, the soldiers scramble to put on their gas masks to protect themselves. In the rush, one man clumsily drops his mask, and the narrator sees the man "yelling out and stumbling / and flound'ring like a man in fire or lime". 

The image of the man "guttering, choking, drowning" permeates Owen‘s thoughts and dreams, forcing him to relive the nightmare again and again. Owen, in the final stanza enforces that, should readers see what he has seen, they (the government) would cease to send young men to war, all the while instilling visions of glory in their heads. No longer would they tell their children the "Old Lie," so long ago told by the Roman poet Horace: "Dulce et decorum est / Pro patria mori" (literally, "Sweet and fitting it is to die for your native land").

            Owen was a true revolutionary poet, opening up new fields of sensitiveness for his successors.  If he had lived there is no knowing what his promise might have achieved; he would have found active in different guises, the oppression, the sufferings and courage which had challenged his powers during the war.  Owen’ poetry is an excellent example portraying the realism of war and the damages done due to this adult’s game.  His youth, his small but eloquent body of verse, his intense dedication to the truth, his untimely unnecessary death – all of these factors combined to make him an irresistible figure to the succeeding generation, whose ‘stable background’ of traditional forms and values had, like Owen’s, been destroyed by the war.

Works Cited:

1.    Stallworthy, Jon. Wilfred Owen. New York: Oxford University Press, 1974.

2.    Blunden, Edmund. ed. The Poems of Wilfred Owen. London: Chatto &

              Windus, 1931.

3.    Hibberd, Dominic. ed. Poetry of the First World War. London: Macmilan

              Press Ltd., 1981.

4.    Breen, Jennifer. ed. Wilfred Owen: Selected Poetry and Prose. London and

              New York: Routledge, 1988.

5.    Bell, John. ed. Wilfred Owen: Selected Letters. New York: Oxford University

              Press, 1985.

The Male Domination and the Emancipation of Gender Roles in Shirley Lim’s “Joss and Gold”

“Joss and Gold” is Shirley Lim’s first novel published in Malaysia and Singapore by Times Books International and in the United States by Feminist Press, in 2001.  The book is divided into three sections, each having its own distinctive space, time frame, voice, society but all the three sections converge to form a complete novel.  “Crossing” is set in Kuala Lumpur which takes place during the riots, in 1969; “Circling” is set in the affluent middle-class, in metropolitan New York, in 1980 and finally “Landing” takes place in the modernising post-colonial country of Singapore, in 1981. 

This novel serves and provides some space for the author to voice out certain issues that might be sensitive to certain ethnics and countries to a bigger pool of audience and readers from different backgrounds.  There are many interesting issues revolve in Shirley Lim’s “Joss and Gold”; nation, identity, gender, language, to name just a few.  In this paper, I will focus on the male domination and the emancipation of the gender roles highlighted in “Joss and Gold”.

 Feminism and Post-colonialism

                        In the 1980s, many feminist critics began to argue that Western feminism, which had assumed that gender overrode cultural differences to create a universal category of the womanly of the feminine, was operating from hidden, universalist assumptions with a middle-class, Euro-centric bias.  Feminism was therefore charged with failing to account for or deal adequately with the experiences of Third World women.  In this respect, the issues concerning gender face similar problems to those concerned with class.

                        Feminism has been concerned that categories like gender may sometimes be ignored within the larger formation of the colonial, and the post-colonial theory has tended to elide gender differences in constructing a single category of the colonised.  These critics argue that colonialism operated very differently for women and for men.  The “double colonisation” that resulted when women were subject both to general discrimination as colonial subjects and specific discrimination as women needs to be taken into account in any analysis of colonial oppression.  “Double colonisation” refers to what the women experienced in the imperial time, when they were discriminated against, both as colonial subjects and as women.  It may also occur when the post-colonial societies restore their pre-colonial traditions and often muffled the voices of women.

Male domination

                        The gender hierarchy and sexual politics are witnessed in this novel, through the character Gina, one of Li An’s best friends.  The male domination is put to practice in the society with the justification merely to preserve the ethnic identity and authentic traditional culture.  In the novel, this state of affairs will not happen if Gina were to be married to other races and it is also to be the main reason why Gina’s father is all against her relationship with Paroo.  Gina is hysterical when she learns that Paroo had requested a date for the civil wedding and believes that “My father will disown me if I marry a keling-kwei, a Tamil devil.” (Lim: 53) It is obvious that Gina’s father is so ethnocentric in his viewpoint and could not imagine having his lineage being “contaminated” by other races’ blood. 

                    Another palpable evidence of male domination can be seen through Li An’s mother.  Li An’s mother has no say and no voice of her own.  Her life is completely being dominated by her second husband.  This can be seen in line, “Li An’s stepfather, Han Si-Chun, a rubber trader who spent many weeks each year travelling to plantations in the interior, had commanded every atom of her mother’s body ever since – in childbearing, housecare, cooking, and dutifulness to his family, his loud bossy sisters and infirm yet ever-present parents.” (Lim: 10 -11) to the extent that she unwillingly neglected her own children, Li An and her brother, from the first marriage.  

  In both situations mentioned above, living in the patriarchal society, the female’s lives are very much subjected according to the needs of the male, be it by the father or by the husband.  Male domination is a culture that hardly recognises women as individuals.  Both Gina and Li An’s mother are forced to be the voiceless women and to remain that way, without their freedom and independence in making their own choices in their lives.  The only difference between Li An’s mother and Gina is that Li An’s mother complies and conform to the norms of the society while Gina chooses a “short cut” to demonstrate her frustration and dissatisfaction towards her father’s treatment.

  Despite being in Singapore, the modern city, Li An finds that her daughter Su Yin, has to face the unkind exclusion of Singapore society.  She is seen as “a con lai, mistaking her for a Vietnamese Amerasian – a bui doi, child of the dust.” (Lim: 199)  She is fatherless; hence she has no position in the society.  Even though Singapore is seen as a businesslike country where its people seeks only material prosperity above everything, the gender hierarchy still remains intact in the Singapore society.  It is important for Su Yin to have a father because without one she has no identity.  As Grandma Yeh advises “Keep the father’s name…Girls with father’s name are more safe.” (Lim: 198 -199)

                                  The Emancipation

The demands made by women today on themselves, more so than by society and the imperatives of culture, unlike many of their ancestors, are enlightened by Western education, financial and economic independence.  They consciously free themselves from gendered roles, and assert an individual’s freedom to choose her living and being.  This change of the traditional image to a new modern image of a woman can be seen through the protagonist, Li An.  

She is strong and independent and chooses not to suffer like her mother or her friend, Gina.  She is not subjected to the oppression amongst the women in the male-dominated society.  She dares to speak her mind and bombarded Samad and Abdullah with lots of questions regarding English Language.  When Henry, her husband, says that “men get upset when women contradict them” (Lim: 71) she expresses her dissatisfaction by saying that “A woman has no right to a mind of her own.  She should only listen and echo what men say.” (Lim: 71)

Li An, who has a high ambition and dreams, breaks free from the traditional gender roles and creating herself as the new identity, the new woman in the society.  This can be seen from line, “She was wild, smoked a pack of cigarettes a day, spent the rest of her small scholarship funds on petrol for her secondhand Honda, and hardly ever washed her three pairs of Levi’s.” (Lim: 9) and to Henry’s eyes, she is different from other women, “She was like a Western girl – bold, loud and unconcerned about her reputation.” (Lim: 15) 

The theme of gender is expanded in Book 2, “Circling” where in the American culture the women are perceived to be more independent and self-assertive or the “new woman” as portrayed in Meryl, Chester’s wife.  Here, Lim’s interest is to break apart the gender hierarchy and the traditional norms of how women are usually perceived in the patriarchal society as she unfolds the conjugal relationship of Meryl and Chester.  Through these two characters, Lim attempts to break away from the stereotypes of men and women and proves that women are also capable of being strong, independent and autonomous whereas men could be weak and wavering at certain times.

Meryl is a determined and strong-willed woman.  She is committed to her career and would not allow anything to stand in her way, not even having children of her own.  For her, Chester should go for the vasectomy because “It’s the easiest thing in the world.” (Lim: 121), comparing to her taking pills which may lead to heart attack and cancer.  She is firm with her decision without even considering the side affects on her husband.  After an argument with Meryl, Chester finally submits to her needs wanting him to undergo vasectomy despite him feeling reluctant of the idea. 

Meryl, being a strong and independent woman, chooses Chester to be her soul mate simply because she knows that “He is safe.” (Lim: 160)  She knows that he would not abandon her as he depends on her.  Chester even sees her as “his geological bed in which he was fossilized.” (Lim: 161)  Meryl is indeed proud to have a husband who always comply and abide by her needs.  This is clear evidence that Lim tries to disentangle the gender hierarchy and the norms of the patriarchal society.  Instead of having the women to depend on the husband, in this situation it is happening the vice versa. 

In Book 3, “Landing” takes place in Singapore in 1981.  Being a modern city, as argued by Quayum “Singapore is a new, pluralistic nation, made up of mostly a diasporic, culturally deracinated population, who are cut off from the past.” Li An chooses to leave for Singapore immediately after her Amerasian daughter, Su Yin is born, together with Grandma Yeh and Ellen, to seek a new life in this new place, in order to avoid the exclusion from friends in Malaysia – for having an illegitimate child – a phenomenon that cannot be accepted in the culturally bounded country as Malaysia.

In the new environment, Li An struggles to survive as a single mother and she seems to achieve quite a handsome career.  As Paroo explains to Chester about Li An, “Li An has changed, she is businesslike now.  No more poetry, no more literature.  She’s trying to make a buck.” (Lim: 214)  This indicates that economically wise Li An manages to endure the hardship living in a new place with a new surroundings all by herself without having a male figure to depend on. 

                                        Closure

                        From this novel, it is clearly shown that as a woman, Li An manages to survive well in the society in spite of facing numerous hardships in her life, be it in Malaysia or Singapore.  However, Lim has cut loose the norms and the traditions of the gender hierarchy and place the women in the right position in the society.  Li An has decided and has chosen to continue her life without any man after being abandoned by Chester and later by Henry.  Through Meryl, Lim departs from the norms by having full control of her own body and by being dominant to her husband, Chester, something that is not acknowledged in the patriarchy world. Lim’s novel helps us to think about how women are being suppressed and refrain from leading their own lives as in the case of Gina and Li An’s mother and how some escape male domination by making sturdy decisions with strong characters.  Lim’s attempt is to create a new and independent woman in this challenging world.  Through this novel too we learnt that what we expect may not always be what we get but as we continue on our journey of life, eventually it will lead us to our destiny.

Works cited 

 1.  Lim, Shirley. Joss and Gold. Singapore and Kuala Lumpur: Times Books

             International, 2001.

2.  Ashcroft, Bill, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin. Key Concepts in Post-Colonial

             Studies. New York: Routledge, 2000.

3.  Quayum, Mohammad A. “Nation, Gender, Identity: Shirley Geok-lin Lim’s Joss

             Gold.” Diverse Voices 2

4.  Geok, Leong Liew. “Situating Gender, Evolving Identities: Women in Four

             Novels by Catherine Lim and Suchen Christine Lim.” Mohammad A.

             Quayum and Peter Wicks, eds. Singaporean Literature in English: A

             Critical Reader. Malaysia: Universiti Putra Malaysia Press, 2002:

             241- 249.

5.  Lai, Amy. "Shirley Lim". The Literary Encyclopedia. 10 October 2003.

             <http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2734,

             accessed 16 March, 2009>

Formalistic Reading of Sudeep Sen’s “New York Times”

Every morning in relentless hurry, I scurry

through the streets of New York, turn around the avenue, flee

past the red and white awning of the Jewish deli,

walk out with a bagel or croissant or spilled coffee

disappearing underground in a flurry,

speeding in a subway of mute faces, barely swallowed the bite,

barely unfolded The Times, barely awake.

                                   Before I realize, it’s lunch-time, and then,

            evening, late,

            being herded home with the flow of humankind,

up and down elevators, escalators, staircases, and ramps. I am

back on the streets again, late night,

                                   though early enough to glance headlines

            of next morning’s paper. In this city, I

            count the passage of time only by weekends

linked by five-day flashes I don’t

even remember. In this city where walking means

running, driving means speeding, there seem to exist

many days in one, an ironic and oblique

efficiency. But somewhere, somehow, time takes the toll,

malnourished, overburdened, and overutilised,

as the tunnels seeping under the river’s belly slowly cave

                        in, the girders lose their tension like old dentures, and

            the underground rattles with the passing of every train.

            After all, how long can one stretch time?

Illusions can lengthen, credit ratings strengthen,

Even Manhattan elongates with every land-fill,

                        but not time, it takes its own time

            the way it always has and always will,

            not a second more, not a second less.

                                                                         ( Sudeep Sen, New York Times)

                        Sudeep Sen’s “New York Times” basically deals with a strong sense of life in New York. This poem consists of thirty lines altogether in six stanzas, depicting a clear description of one’s every day life at a fast pace in the first four stanzas and gradually mellows down to a slower motion, where reflection manages to take place. From the first sentence itself, “Every morning in relentless hurry, I scurry/” there is the sense of hurriedness and swiftness as if “I” is in a rat race. “Scurry” is normally associated with rats, always scamper and in a rush all the time.

                        Readers have a dramatic image of the fast events that are happening to the persona. This can be witnessed through the “spilled coffee” indicating the lack of time to even stop for a sip of drink or breakfast. In New York, time does not stand still. Since every moment passes in a fast manner, the persona doesn't even realise “it’s lunch time, and then,/ evening, late,/ being herded home …” mechanically as if he has lost control of his own life. Besides the dictions chosen, Sen uses less punctuation in each line of the first four stanzas to represent the quickness and the rapidity of the persona in the midst of New York City.

                        Sen also utilises the idea of illusion in his dictions to indicate the speed of the people in this city. This can be seen in line 17, “where walking means/ running, driving means speeding,/” and since time passes in a wink of an eye, persona couldn’t even remember the days in the weekend as Sen states in line 14 – 17, “In this city, I/ count the passage of time only by weekends/ linked by five-day flashes I don’t/ even remember.” Everybody seems to be “speeding in the subway of mute faces/”. Being busy in the city, has transformed people to be so automated, mechanical person with their “mute faces”, no one cares to say hi to each other or even to smile to the person sitting next to you.

                        However, in the last line of the fourth stanza, “But somewhere, somehow, times takes its toll,/” is seen as the turning point in this poem. This sentence is depicting the reflection as if the persona stops to think for a moment. From this line onwards, the tone has changed to illustrate the sense of slowness and from narration to reflection. This can be seen in the presence of more punctuation such as commas in line 20 and 21, to offer the fast motion in the first four stanzas to slow down and to be more laboured.

                        The existence of a question mark in line 25, “After all, how long can one stretch time?” is to specify there is something worth to ponder about. Apart from that, Sen uses words with more syllables as in line 21 and 22 (the fifth stanza) “malnourished, overburdened, and overutilised,/ as the tunnels seeping under the river’s belly slowly cave…/” to add more to the effect of a slower motion. The “tunnels seeping” gives the readers the feeling of slothfulness.

                        As a whole, Sen exploits a paradox of everyday experience in his poem to tell us that in order for us to gain a good life in the urban, you will lose your sense of humanity and kindness. Nevertheless, one must not forget that no matter how hectic and demanding your life can be as illustrated in line 1, “Every morning in relentless hurry, I scurry”  time will always remain the same like he mentions in the last three lines of this poem. One needs to take some time to stop and think and make some reflections on one, instead of carried away in “the flow of humankind” in the urban life.

The Undying Love in "Wuthering Heights"

Very interesting gothic romance I have ever read before! That was my first remark upon reading Emily Bronte’s “The Wuthering Heights”. To me, the story is full of vengeance and woe. The anger and bitterness that was built in Heathcliff has made him to marry Cathy’s sister-in-law, Isabella Linton. Emotionally wounded upon knowing the fact that his childhood lover is married to someone else instead of him, Heathcliff marries Isabella merely for revenge and for her wealth. He doesn’t love the poor lady; his heart still yearns for Cathy.

It is undeniable that Cathy is also and has always been in love with Heathcliff. She has the “wild” attitude that matches well with her gypsy lover’s personality. They share the same wild, romantic passion and by spending their time at the moor, they seem to be lost in their own world, drifting away in their sea of love. The moor gives them a new hope and a new life. The description of the scenery is simply captivating and exquisite in beauty. The setting here seems to indicate a complete contrast of what they have experienced in their home, Wuthering Heights where it is dark and gloomy and full of misery.

What interest me the most about Wuthering Heights is the undying love that Heathcliff has for Cathy. His love for her is an everlasting love. He can’t even let go when he knows that he has nothing left to hold on to. The love they have for each other, Heathcliff and Cathy, is the kind of love that refuses to die. It sounds a little morbid though, when he actually wants Cathy to haunt him after she dies. One cannot live without the other and when the other half is gone, life becomes meaningless.  

Nomadology in Rehman Rashid’s A Malaysian Journey

As people travel, they offer various kinds of description of the places, society, culture and their personal experience.  Various genres emerge for instance, maps during the early documentation, report, diary, travelogue, journals or narrative account.  Rehman Rashid’s A Malaysian Journey is more like a narrative account where he narrates his experience of the present and past, blended them as if readers are reading some kind of historical facts and compare them with the current time. 

A Malaysian Journey is very rich in characters.  In every chapter, Rashid will encounter with many different people, new faces that he will not talked about again in other chapters.  By meeting a lot of people, travelers will gain lots of views from others and how the world is being viewed and perceived differently by different people.  From there, they will obtain the knowledge and information they seek for.  To Rashid, his meetings with a lot of people in his travel around the world have offered him different kinds of views and from these observations he gains self-improvement through the reflections he makes and also gains the current knowledge of his homeland.

In his book, Rashid decides to travel back to his homeland after returning from abroad is probably due to his sense of belonging towards his country.  He wants to seek his past trails that he has left behind for many years back.  It is only by doing so he can reminisce to not only his history but the history of his country as well.  This desire of his can be seen in one of the chapters in this book, when Seng Keat questions him why must he travel on railroad and wait for the train to leave at three in the morning when he has other alternative to reach his destination which is faster and more convenience.  His answer to his friend, “Because its still there,” (Rashid 105) which depicts his determination in seeking for what he has missed all these years when he was away from the country.  Perhaps he believes by meeting a lot of people from all walks of life will give him a better and clearer picture of what Malaysia is today. 

Rashid’s A Malaysian Journey can be considered as contemporary travel writing due to the fact that it is free from strictly chronological, fact driven narratives.  In this writing, he describes obviously of his childhood, his hometown Taiping, detailed and precise historical facts on Malaysia back then as well as the socio-political scenario.  When reading his work, sometimes it makes me feel that I am reading a historical book due to these reasons.

Apart from that, Rashid observes the people and their religion, Islam specifically, and how it influences their lives.  He views various kinds of Malay in his journey.  Some Malays are broad minded and some, otherwise.  He observes that his friend, Zak is a man with a vision despite not having high degree in education.  He is able to look into the future, always think of alternative ways to succeed and not just stay stagnant in their ‘comfortable zone’ – the elements that all Malays should have in order for them to be at par economically with other races.  On the other hand, Nizam who is young and well-educated refuses to venture and explore himself with the talents he has into the job world.  He prefers to return home after obtaining a degree in the university.  As observes by Rashid, “Nizam’s work was highly “accessible”, but the trouble was, Nizam himself was not- least of all to himself.” (Rashid 176)  Perhaps Nizam is lacking of confidence in himself and fear of failure in confronting the competition in the job world.

Rehman Rashid’s A Malaysian Journey is a beautifully written non-fiction work with a unique style of writing.  His insight of what is going on in his environment and his country with his powerful command of good language has placed him up high amongst the national literary work.  Reading A Malaysian Journey makes me feel like I am reading a history school text book but in an interesting manner.  His style in dictating all the historical and political accounts is very precise and detail that readers can actually visualize in their mind what is written in the pages.  It is a significant narrative of what and how Malaysia has become today.  Readers may enjoy reading his experience and observations made, but at certain points his voice can be a little bold and blunt which may lead to readers feeling offended and defensive, especially his comments on Islam.  Nevertheless Rashid is highly regarded in the writing community for his deep insights of the socio-political world and his sharp observations of human behaviour. 

In a nutshell, Rashid’s A Malaysian Journey is a book worth reading, a book that gives the readers a complete insight of the complexities of Malaysia’s historical events and political issues as well as writer’s personal accounts of his experience throughout his youth right until his adventurous life as a journalist and a writer.