Had completely forgotten this encounter:
23/6/97
Met a writer. Was asked to judge a choral speaking contest at Bukit Bintang Girl's School. Chief judge was Lloyd Fernando ("Scorpion Orchid"). He gave me a lift home in his old Volvo. I remembered reading in in Abu's Law association report that he had become a lawyer. But he says he wants to make more time now to get back to writing.
Now this is the bit I find most interesting looking back:
He told me that he was sad that no writer seemed to be chronicalling the changes in Malaysian society, addressing issues. There needs to be a Malaysian Dickens, a Malaysian Vikram Seth.
My thoughts: 1) he was (still is) totally right 2) we're still waiting.
8 comments:
I know what you mean by patterns that emerge, which was what I noticed when I found myself re-reading my own entries in my offline journals; it feels depressingly like walking in ever smaller circles ;)
Could it be because we're a multicultural society?
I think there's good work done in each group (Malay, Chinese, Indian) - and not only in writing, either (but other forms such as film, music, dance, etc.) - but the problem seems to be in bringing all the groups together.
Sad isnt it? Yes, about time we have a Malaysian Dickens.
btw, sharon u are brave to be ploughing thru those scribblings. I cant bear to look at them now without suffering pangs of guilt - smany things that I jotted down that I wanted to follow up..one of them is the interviews with those who went to Kirky - their memories, experience etc.
...i mean Kirkby.
kak teh - it's not too late to do those interviews, is it?
chet, (tumpang lalu, sharon) i know its not too late - but to decipher those scriblings..alamak! But will find one fine day, without a care in the world, without an explosion or the wailing siren within my ear shot..then I will sit down and do it!
Well Dickens lived in another time. I'm not sure there even will be another British "Dickens", let alone a Malaysian one.
Perhaps Lat is the closest so far to a Malaysian Dickens? Even tho he used another medium - pictures and not words.
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