Yang-May Ooi has has a rare descriptive talent that brings the surroundings of her story… to vivid life

New Straits Times

The Flame Tree

I was at home in Kuala Lumpur one holiday in the year that it rained endlessly. It was boom-time and everywhere, new hotels and apartment blocks and casinos were reaching up to the heavy sky. As it rained day after day, I stayed indoors and read — the papers, novels, magazines, anything.

In the news was the terrible story of a residential block that had collapsed and killed scores of people. There were pictures of residents in pain and grief stumbling through the rubble.

Lounging in a rattan chair, I raced my way through John Grisham’s THE FIRM as breathless and tense as the prose that harried me along. It was a great read — exciting, clever, dynamic.

Being back in Malaysia after years in England, I enjoyed meandering around KL when the rain eased up, eating at my favourite Hokkien mee stall in Petaling Street, shopping for clothes that fitted my Asian-sized frame and most of all, being surrounded by Chinese, Malay and Indian faces and friendliness.

I began to wonder why there were never any thrillers set in Malaysia with an Asian hero? Why were all thrillers set in America or the West with a white main character? I wanted a book that would propel me breathlessly, excitingly, dramatically through the scenery of Malaysia and that would show me the dynamism of this modern Asian country. And that would feature a strong Asian lead character.

The idea for THE FLAME TREE grew out of those rainy days.

In THE FLAME TREE, Jasmine Lian leaves Malaysia for Oxford when she was eighteen, forging a brilliant career in the law. She becomes the youngest partner in one of the most prestigious firms in London and is poised for success in every arena. Then one of her clients, construction firm Jordan Cardale, bids for the grandest, most visionary project in Asia — the futuristic Titwangsa University, a complete town and campus in the rainforest-covered hills of Malaysia that will mark the dawning of the 21st century.Jordan wants to win that contract. By any means necessary. Jasmine, already struggling against the magnetic hold of her past, is forced to choose - between old life and new, East and West, right and wrong.

THE FLAME TREE was published in 1998 by Hodder & Stoughton. It has been translated into Dutch as De Vlammenboom. It is a set text on the Singaporean and South East Asian literature course at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. It sold out of its first print run and many people have asked me when it would be published again.

THE FLAME TREE is now available in its second edition, re-issued in 2006.