Archive for the 'East v. West' Category

When I was in Kuala Lumpur at the end of February, it was Chinese New Year and when my Mum and I popped into Standard Chartered Bank to get some cash, we found ourselves surrounded by lions dancing to a crashing, deafening beat of cymbals and drums.

The dance troupe were making their rounds of the KL city banks and financial institutions, their ritual intended to bestow luck and prosperity on their hosts. We watched with delight and amazement. I kept thinking how one would never see this in a UK bank!

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Photos: thanks to Miss Sun Piu Yee of Standard Chartered Bank, Kuala Lumpur who kindly emailed me these pics.

Asia’s love affair with technology and the web is taking its toll. According to Reuters, students in India are spending so much time surfing the internet and blogging that they are becoming isolated, depressive and even suicidal. There’s been a decline in real life social activities and sports on campus with students preferring the solitude of being with their laptops and computer in the virtual company of a billion bytes of humanity.

Read the full article here.

Photo: thanks to thetrial on flickr.com

We’re not all about high-brow stuff and books here at Fusion View. Ladies, if you want some eye-candy, a pretty boy, a big slab of countryside hunk, we can help you find one.

Just head on over to Beaut Blokes at www. beautblokes.com.au and sign up for a weekend in the stunning Australian landscape with some stunning Australian men.

The strap line for the site is “revitalising rural communities.” It seems that too many smart women are heading off to the cities for big time careers, leaving too many beaut Ozzie blokes in the countryside. The Beaut Blokes events are aimed at bringing the women back to see what they are missing out on - hopefully, they will find the man of their dreams and revitalise the parched countryside.

This is not a solely Australian problem. In China, there are likely to be 30 million single men by 2020 - partly due to the country’s one child policy where many female foetuses were aborted and partly due to many young women preferring to move to the cities for their careers.

In the UK, farmers in Wales will appear on milk cartons with the enticing invitation, “Fancy a Farmer?” with contact details for the ladies to get in touch if he tickles their fancy over their breakfast cereal.

While I am in Malaysia in the next 10 days or so, I will be having a go at Phone Blogging. The player below will be updated with a new episode every time I report by phone on my Malaysian trip. This page will headline Fusion View until Monday 05 March 07.00 am GMT.

Why Phone Blogging? Because I will be staying with my parents and the most up to date technology they have is an electric typewriter… So, I will not be able to update this blog using text.

I won’t be able to do any editing to the phone blog so it will essentially be like a live podcast from my phone

Also, I won’t be able to add any written notes to my phone report so the player will show only Episode 4*, Episode 5* etc. You can listen to each episode by clicking on the relevant episode in the player below. I will aim to record a report every other day so check back from time to time to hear the latest episode.

I hope you enjoy this experiment!

Alternatively, to launch a standalone version of the player, click on the button below.

* It starts with Episode 4 - I used up the previous episodes with “testing, testing”!

Photo: thanks to makinasu from flickr.com

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The Guardian first book prize has gone to Chinese-born author YiYun Li who has only recently learnt to write in English. This is very exciting. She won it for her short story collection “A Thousand Years of Good Prayers”. Her stories have been described as “perfect and complete capsules” and one of the judges of the prize speaks of her as “a writer of rare perceptiveness and originality”. She has already won the Frank O’Connor international short story prize and the PEN/Hemingway award. Wow!

You can read the full article in The Guardian here.

I was taken by the samples of Li’s writing that the Guardian article gives:

“Li’s stories, the longest of them 24 pages, exploit the ability of the short form to register fine shifts in everyday lives. The background events that shape the people she writes about are the imperial centuries of feudalism, Mao’s communism and cultural revolution, Tiananmen Square and the plunge into capitalism.

In their speech, new half-poetical sayings mix with old proverbs: “a dew-marriage before the sunrise” (a one-night stand); “There is always a road when you get into the mountain” [see extract]; and, poignantly, in the same story, “The happiness of love is a shooting meteor. The pain of love is the darkness following.” “

I wonder if the influence of her mother tongue, Chinese, has blurred over into her use of English thus creating these powerfully evocative images. I have been exploring the issue of identity and language and even dialect in this blog, with thought-provoking contributions from commentors and guest-bloggers. We’ve looked at how our core selves may be formed by whether we speak English or Japanese and how one might change like a chameleon depending on whether one speaks standard American or working-class / regional American. Now, these examples of Li’s writing make me curious as to how the writing of multi-lingual writers is enriched by their many tongues.

The dense, intense writing of Joseph Conrad comes to mind. He made fictions from his experiences in Malaya and the Far East and Africa, having served as a merchant seaman. He was Polish originally, I believe, but wrote in English and is studied as a major figure in English literature. The intensity and power of his writing can in part, I think, be attributed to his writing in a language that was not his mother tongue.

Do you have any personal experience of this question as a writer? Or perhaps as a reader, certain phrases from books strike you - could those idioms come from the book’s author’s multi-lingual life?

Please add a comment or email me. I will post the most relevant and interesting contributions as individual Guestblog writings for Fusion View.

You can find out more about Li at her homepage www.yiyunli.com

Photo: thanks from Li’s homepage

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Will Buckingham’s first novel “Cargo Fever” is set in Indonesia, using a myth from the region as the basis of his story. He speaks Indonesian and is an expert on Buddhism - and I am delighted that he is joining our fusion community here at Fusion View with a post on how he came to write his novel, his connection with Indonesia and what he’s working on now.

Will writes:

When I travelled to Indonesia, it was not with the intention of writing a novel. The novel came much later. I had recently graduated in Fine Arts, and was planning to undertake postgraduate work in anthropology. In between, I had a year to spare, and I had been fortunate to be given a grant to undertake research in east Indonesia into the work of wood-carvers. So I caught three planes, two boats and finally another plane to Saumlaki in the Tanimbar Islands (http://www.tanimbar.org.uk), where I spent several months.

It was in Tanimbar that I first decided to write a novel. It was, I sometimes think, something as simple as nostalgia for the English language that got me started on my career in fiction. For months I had been speaking only in Indonesian and I missed my native tongue. So just after the rainy season had begun, when I borrowed a manual typewriter to write up my field notes towards the end of the stay, one afternoon a story came to me. I put a fresh sheet of paper in the typewriter roll, and I wrote. I still have the original story—a fable called “George’s Devil”—and whatever its literary virtues, I remain particularly fond of this tale that for me marks the beginning of my life as a writer.

It was almost ten years before my experiences in Indonesia, both good (the generosity of my hosts, watching master craftsmen at work, the insights into another culture) and bad (malarial fevers and exorcisms) found their way into what is now officially my first novel, Cargo Fever. I say “officially” because there are several now abandoned projects that preceded it. My first attempt at a book was a travel book, but somehow I felt restricted by writing non-fiction. Then I turned to fiction, writing two novels on other subjects, neither of which (I hope) will ever see the light of day. Somehow, however, I kept returning to my experiences in Indonesia. There was something that remained unsaid, and it wouldn’t leave me alone.

When I got round to writing it, however, it was not the novel that I had expected to write. At first I’d planned the novel as a kind of Heart of Darkness for the twenty-first century, but somehow it did not seem to take off. It was not until a small and curiously furry creature wandered into my mind—an orang pendek, the “short man” of Indonesian legend—that the story came together. So I left my fantasies of becoming the new Conrad behind, and wrote the first scene: Ibu Nilasera, a pious Christian, walks into the church one Sunday afternoon holding a clutch of plastic flowers that she is going to offer to the Virgin and sees, seated in the front pew, a devil, its head bent in prayer. It was a short scene, but by the time I had finished it, I knew I had my story.

From this moment to the final draft—sent to my publishers only a week or two ago—much has changed. Early on, I decided to shift the scene from the all-too-real Tanimbar islands to the fictitious island of Kenukecil: the change allowed me to invent much more freely than otherwise would have been possible. Whilst I was writing my second draft, I picked up the newspaper to find that my short man was front-page news: in a cave on the Indonesian island of Flores, archaeologists had discovered the remains of what they believed to be a new species of tiny human, Homo floresiensis. It was a strange experience looking at the front page and seeing a real-life prototype for my mythical hero.

In the constant writing and rewriting, my sense of the novel itself has changed. There are stories that I would have loved to have told, but that didn’t fit into the flow of the narrative. Inevitably many things have had to remain unsaid. But now that the novel is ready to go to press, it is a question of casting it adrift and seeing how it fares in the world. I wish it—and its protagonist—well. For now, however, my mind is on other things. The next novel is already in the early stages, set far away from Indonesia in Bulgaria and Paris.

Written by Guestblogger: Will Buckingham

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Will Buckingham blogs on literature and related subjects at http://www.willbuckingham.com/blog and on Buddhism at http://www.thinkbuddha.org.

Cargo Fever is due out from Tindal Street Press in the spring, and can be pre-ordered from amazon.co.uk - click here to pre-order Cargo Fever

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Matthew G., a regular commenter on Fusion View, wrote this in response to Jennifer’s comment to my podcast Two Voices (which I highlighted in my comment round-up Chop Suey). What he says intrigued me so I thought I would share his comment more widely by giving it a post-space all to itself.

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Matthew writes:

I am native English speaking with Japanese as second language and French as third (measured just by proficiency). I have exactly that sense that she mentions of adopting a slightly different persona especially when in Japanese and I do wonder about it sometimes (” is it real me, who am I etc”). Occasionally my British work colleagues have commented (not unfavourably, though) that I look like a somewhat different person when I am talking to a Japanese colleague in Japanese (though they don’t understand what we are talking about). But I don’t think it is about being some kind of chameleon with no “true” core. If that is how you express yourself in a certain linguistic context then it is from within, so it must part of you. I think it just goes to show that language and communication is not just about the spoken word.

It is often said that the ear is more important than the tongue. I would add that a “sense of immitation” is also the essential ingredient for a successful linguist. Every language is rooted in a context of cultural and social patterns / values and this is probably all the more so between say European and Asian languages (eg honorifics). So it should be no surprise that operating successfully across this linguistic divide involves more than just words. This leads into the bowing debate. Have you ever tried having a discussion (eg mutual thanks after an enjoyable business dinner) when your guest bows to you? It’s so difficult not to feel like bowing back! (or is that just me?) Many times I succumbed but I resist it now having seen so many westerners trying to bow and we are just not good at it! Get in with a handshake first! This is a bit off the subject but we all know how different English can sound according to who is speaking it (eg a Glaswegian versus a Home Counties type).

But how voluntary is our default accent or “presentation” in each of us? How easily can the Glaswegian sound like the HC type if he tries (not that he would want to)? I believe most people find it very difficult to immitate. In the Japanese case the difference between “standard” Tokyo type Japanese and, say, the Osaka dialect is huge, not just an accent but very often different words, verb endings etc. Yet I am always amazed to hear how easily the Osaka types for example switch into standard Japanese when say they are on the phone to someone in Tokyo. And then switch back without turning a hair when they put the phone down. There’s something different there!

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My thoughts on what Matthew has written above:

What intrigues me is the thought that one is someone different in a different language. I touched on it in my Two Voice podcast - I feel warmer and more exuberant speaking Malaysian English and more formal and verbose in English English. Matthew’s comment makes me think about the existentialist movement and those “who am I?” writers like Camus and the one who wrote the play about the cockroach (”Metamorphosis”). Would Camus’s books have been more devil-may-care if he had been fluent in American English rather than so angst ridden in French? Would the protagonist of Metamorphosis have changed into another kind of creature if the playwright had written in another language?

Body language is also a huge part of communication - some say it’s 90% of the message you are conveying. And I have experienced the “immitation factor” that Matthew mentions. With some French people I used to know, I started adopting the Gallic shrug which involves a shrug of the shoulders, an exhalation of breath through pouty lips to make the sound “boff” or “bouff”, ideally accompanied by the wave of a cigarette. I don’t smoke so a wave of the hand stands in for that part. Anyway, I’ve lost touch with the French friends but I’ve retained the Gallic shrug in my English life. The interesting thing is that I think the Gallic shrug has made me less uptight and worked up about things that I might have been exercised about in the past eg. Old me: “It’s outrageous! How can they do that!” (Slam table and rant); Gallic me: “Boff, what can you do? Let’s just forget about it.” (Languidly pour more wine/ slice more Camembert).

There’s been a flurry of comments in the last few days and I haven’t had a chance to respond to all of them. Some of them are quite thought provoking so I thought I’d highlight them all in a post.

First, thanks to yeeton for your helpful factual corrections on planes and the Canadian constitution.

My Great-Uncle Jackie has also visited to listen to the podcast of his eldest brother, my Grandfather telling the story of our family. He says, “He (Grandfather) sounds wonderful… just like the good ole days.”

There’ve been three comments on my podcast about my Two Voices. Mika, who is Japanese, pokes a little fun at herself and her effort to speak English. David, who is English, is reminded of how he had to learn to switch from “army speak” (ie lots of swearing) to “civvy speak” (more genteel polite language) with his family at home. Jennifer, who is American I believe, describes how she has learnt to switch from her higher-education voice to her working class voice as she moves between her working life and her family. I am fascinated by these stories of two voices within what seems to my eye a single linguistic culture ie English-English and American-American. In particular, to my ear, all American voices sound the same - except for the exaggerated elongated vowels of the Deep South that one hears in cowboy songs and movies. I am going to ask Jennifer if she will do a longer guest post for us to tell us more about her two voices and I hope she will agree.

Jennifer also comments on the unavailable video of the Star Trek mash-up and the conflict between copyright and the wide enjoyment of artistic endeavours. My view is that these mash-ups and parodies and excerpts that are put out on the web are done by fans who want to share their passion for a particular movie or show. I say: what a great way of free advertising and marketing for the originator of that movie or show. The free viewings on the web don’t take a piece of the pie from the film etc - in fact, it increases people’s interest in the real thing. Take the ad for Molson beer that’s several years old, where Joe talks proudly about being Canadian - it is parodied by William Shatner (who of course himself is parodied in the Star Trek mash-up). Its being shown on YouTube raises millions of people’s awareness of the brand all over the world and not just Canada - a wider audience, I bet, than the original audience numbers when the ad was first aired on Canadian TV. The parody of it by William Shatner does the same, by making people go and seek out the Molson ad that it parodies. So Molson should be overjoyed about the ad being shown on YouTube rather than insisting on it being removed from this free viewing platform.

I also got a visit from Jim, the Grey Surfer I featured. I just love the weaving of the web and how so many connections can be made through comments and links with a diverse range of people who share one thing - the passion to communicate.

And speaking of oldies who blog, my Dad’s post on Memories of Malaya have been very popular. The most recent comment was from Khairudin, another young guy, this time in Singapore. It’s great that blogging seems to be reaching out across the generations.

Pey and Lydia, two Malaysians, have taken part in my Book Lovers Poll - and hopefully, they attest against the statement I heard that Malaysians only read 2 books a year. If you haven’t yet taken the poll, you can do so now by going to the blue box in the sidebar on the right. It’s anonymous and takes only one click, so please do take part!

And I must thank Pey for expanding on my post about the use of “-lah” in Malaysian English. It’s all about tone. So if I were to try to cajole you in Malaysian English to take the Book Lovers Poll, I would say, “Go on-lah. Takes only a second. Just for fun only-wat. Do the poll-lah.” “Wat”? What’s “wat”? That’s another cajoling noise like “-lah”: it just felt natural to put it there!

So this post is a bit of a chop-suey (English version of Chinese for mixed vegetables!) or campur-campur (Malay for mixed bag) but I wanted to thank everyone who left a comment and also highlight some of the comments that made me stop and think.

Working on the Malaysian English of my third novel has made me think about that peculiarly Malaysian word “-lah”. It’s not really a word, I suppose - more a suffix used from time to time in colloquial Malaysian English as an emphasiser. “-Lah” is used only in Malaysia, as far as I know.

There’s a great entry in Wikipedia about Malaysian English with a section on the use of “-lah”. The entry implies that it derives from Chinese rather than Malay, although there is a suffix “-lah” used in Malay. I believe that the usage and context of the sound in Malay and Malaysian English are different - the “-lah” of Malay is a grammatical element that is integral to the language whereas “-lah” in Malaysian English can be dropped without changing the meaning. This is my lay person’s understanding - if there are any linguists or academics out there who would like to comment or deepen our understanding on this point, please do add a comment!

There’s also long discourse on Malaysian English - aka Manglish to afficionados - at Malaysia Uncut.

I speak in Manglish with my family and Malaysian friends and happily slip into “-lah” this and “-lah” that. If an English friend is also present, I can switch to full English English in the same breath as I turn towards them. My English friends who have visited Malaysia use “-lah” when remembering the fun times they had on their visits - but it sounds weird when tacked onto a proper English English sentence!

I’d love to hear from Malaysians living in Malaysia or abroad about your emotional connection with “-lah” and/ or Malaysian English. And also any migrants to Malaysia from other English speaking countries - have you got the hang of Lah-Lah land?

Photo: thanks to gamleys .co.uk

I’ve been re-working the draft of my third novel Tianming Traviata recently.

The novel is an off-beat family drama with a cast of quirky, colourful characters. The main character is a 70-year old cabaret singer, Evie, who is still going strong in her sequinned gowns and feather headdresses. She owns the only nightclub in a small town in Malaysia and sings old show tunes, with the “grand dame” air of days gone by. Her neice Kit-Mei works as software programmer in Kuala Lumpur, a blogging, city-slicking modern young woman who is very much part of 21st century Malaysia. The family are thrown into crisis when Evie’s daughter disappears and the clash between the old and the new generations are brought to a head.

I had been writing it in Standard English using a third person narrative structure. It was zipping along nicely - but it just lacked “oomph” and I was finding that I was getting bored. The dialogue bits were fine when Evie was in the thick of the action. But the narrative was just lacklustre. Now, if the author is bored by the novel, there’s no hope that the narrative will be able to grip others!

So I put it away for several months. Then a few weeks ago, Evie’s voice kept coming back to me. In the dialogue bits, she is in full flow, loud and raucous and full of energy - speaking in Malaysian English. In contrast, the third person narrative was in measured, proper, sensible full sentences with proper syntax, grammar and punctuation.

And I thought, why not try writing the narrative bits in Malaysian English? Yah, why not-lah? So stupid I was before. This one is Evie’s story-lah so, of course, got to tell it with her voice, isn’t it?

Since then, I’ve had such fun getting the narrative down in the voice of a 70 year old cabaret singer who will not let her arthritic hip stop her doing high-kicks and whose language is full of verve and peppered with “-lah”s.

When I’ve got a bit further along with the text, I will upload a podcast reading of the first chapter so you can see what you think. In particulary, I would be interested to see the response of Malaysians to the use of our form of the English language in fiction.

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To hear what Malaysian English sounds like in contrast to Standard UK English, listen to my podcast “Two Voices” about my “schizophrenic” relationship with language.

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I will write more next week about “-lah” and its use in Malaysian English.