HXE 305 Malaysian Literature in English

Essay Assignment:

Compare and contrast two short stories written during different eras in

Malaysian history with respect to the themes or issues explored by the

authors in the selected stories.

Prepared for: Dr Nurul Farhana Low bt Abdullah

Prepared by: Mohd Firdaus Bin Ismail (126648)

Political thinkers have attempted to explain the origin of the state in various ways. This is

because, when, where and how the state came into existence have not been recorded

anywhere in history. Therefore, the political thinkers were compelled to adopt various

hypotheses, many of which are now discredited in the light of modern knowledge. Among

these hypotheses, the two most discussed about are the Matriarchal and Patriarchal theory, in

which Mclennan, Morgan and Jenks are the notable exponents of matriarchal theory. The

matriarchal system was prior to the patriarchal system and tribe. In the place of a family

consisting of a man his wife and children there was a large and loosely connected group

called a horde or pack organised for matrimonial purposes. On the other hand, The

Patriarchal theory explains that the state originated from the patriarchal family or the family

in which the father was the head. State is an enlargement of the family. Originally the family

consisted of a man, his wife and children. But the authority of the father and head of the

original family remained as before, and it was duly acknowledged by all his descendants. The

chief exponent of the patriarchal theory is Sir Henry Maine. Patriarchal cultural practice

exists in the histories and ethnographic of Malaysia. It is a country of great diversity in

South-East Asia with its unique colourful cultures and heritage where various races are able

to come together to live and work peacefully in a harmonious respect for each other's race

and cultures. For this essay, I had chosen two short stories titled; Journey by Shirley Lim and

Flowers for KK by M Shanmughalingam, in which the setting of a male dominated society

and the struggles of the female form are often being highlighted throughout the story. There

are also several differences, which I will try to shed light to in this essay.

In both of the short stories, the main leads are females that are being pressed into

servitude by an overbearing society dominated by their male counterpart. In Journey, the

main point of view of the story takes place from the perspective of a young girl presumably

on the verge of blossoming to adulthood and how she was trying to understand the struggles
that her mother goes through, as a supporting but highly underappreciated figure in a

household. Her mother, from her perspective is a figure that nurtures and yet are forgotten, in

a sense that she (the mother) was left to suffer the pain of abortion by herself, unnoticed by

her husband and children, to the exception of the young girl (whose perspective was what we

had seen). On the other hand, Flowers for KK plays on this trope by instead setting us; the

readers, through the eyes of a mother, whom at the beginning of the story were

underappreciated by the head of the household. As you can see, both uses an

underappreciated female lead that found herself thrust into a sullied predicament brought

forth by their inability to act in order to fully freed themselves from the shackles imposed

upon them by society. Both stories also presented a hopeful ending in which both stories

protagonists chose to see the positive side of their predicament, although in Journeys case, it

was shown in a rather subtle way.

However, the two main protagonists have different ways in order to counteract the

idea of patriarchy. In Journey, the mother was pictured as an almost helpless and powerless

figure. She adhered to the affirmed standards of society, being a meek and submissive spouse

to her husband, which in this story was pictured almost as an ignorant piece of plebeian mess,

showing ignorance to his surrounding, only paying attention to his own enjoyment, which in

this case was shown by his time playing dice with his friends all the while .now and again

spitting out an expletive.. The males in this story shows a form of detachment from reality,

which can be contributed from the fact that married men in Malaysia and by extension in

these patriarchal cultures acquaint themselves with their superficial belief of their sexual

entitlement and social autonomy outside their institution of marriage. This is a staple idea

within the Asian culture, especially in Malaysia. Furthermore, culture is used as a tool to

further cement a form of gender binary/hierarchy reinforcement to the readers. In the case of

this story, in Asian culture, man is the breadwinner of the house; therefore he holds the
highest position within the confines of the family. By comparison a woman should stay in the

confines of the kitchen and simply lay bare as if she is a field that should be fertilised by the

man. This can be seen from the way the main character (the girl) described how she felt as

men laid their gaze upon her as she specifically said.. she thought his eyes rifled her

clothes and she was glad to leave.., perhaps to show how a woman is often at times being

objectified as a sexual plaything. It is interesting to take note that during the time in which

this story was written, the awareness about gender bias within our society was not yet widely

discuss about. Perhaps, Shirley Lim uses the characters in order to shed light on such

problems that was plaguing our society. Another thing that we can pay heed to is the fact that

the overall tone of the story gave off something that is akin to a feeling of hopelessness. It

ends abruptly with the young girl being powerless at seeing her mothers pain as she aided

her in her predicament. The end of the story is also interesting as the young girl appears to be

at a loss when it comes to helping her mother. In many ways the paralysis that the she felt in

her dream is mirrored by her inability to help her mother. No longer will it be her mother

looking after her but instead it will be the girl looking after her mother. Her childhood is now

over and the task ahead of her is to be her mother's nurse. Furthermore, it appears that the

girls act of shining light on her mother specifically when she saw her writhing pain

poetically seemed as if this is Shirley Lims way of showing that the younger generation (the

young girl) is capable of educating themselves and shedding light on this issue, and at the

same time work on advocating the idea of gender equality.

On the other hand, in Flowers for KK, the main character strives to bid her time to

undo all the pain that she had suffered. Indra, whose younger sister ended up taking her

husband, the late KKs (King Kana) full attention, despite being ridiculed and loses her

seniority in her marriage to her sister, refused to back down and act powerless. However,

Indra waited until the right time came for her to reap her vengeance. In the case of the ending
of the story, Indra ended being the main power player of the household after the absence of

KK, crowning herself Amma, possibly to show her reign of supremacy over the much

younger Thangachi. The difference between these two stories lies on how the two main

protagonists react towards the predicament of their surroundings. Whereas the young

unnamed girl in Journey chose a pacifistic, more subtle approach in showing her

empowerment by helping her mother, Indra from the Flowers for KK are far more aggressive.

She snatches away the opportunity presented to her in the form of her husbands death and

completely decimated her opponent. This is not surprising since in a post 1960s Malaysia,

women have started to become aware of the discrimination and double standard imposed

upon them by this male dominated society. This happened as woman as steadily being

absorbed into the work force and unfortunately treated unequally. This could possibly stem

from the fact that that men in a pre-1969 Malaya had not had to compete with women before.

Another thing about Flowers in KK is that it also sheds light on the horrors of a

bigamy marriage. We could see in excruciating detail how a woman would feel if they were

to be thrust into such predicament. Perhaps one thing that is often hard pressed on by a

patriarchal view was the importance of womens ability to procreate. A woman that couldnt

bear a child is seen as more of a liability from their husbands perspective. This was shown

from KKs own opinion regarding the reason Indras inability to give him a son and also his

reasoning as to why he should marry Indras sister, Thangachi. This can be associated with

the idea od shame. Shame as a symbol, is still typically equated with both female sexuality,

and social deviance in Malaysian cultures. This is indicative of how women are idealized in

the Malaysian social and cultural context, and how gender inequality lies at the heart of social

organization. Profound consequences of shame for women are targets of male dominance

perpetrated against women. Fear of shame of public knowledge of a husbands infidelity acts

to silence women about problems in their marital relationships. Social significance of female
shame is also reflected in the prevalence of personal blaming, and social blaming. A woman

would subject herself to personal blaming for failing to keep her husbands loyalty to their

marriage; to please him sexually or in the maintenance of her household duties or upbringing

of their children.

As a final side note, we should be aware that changing roles is something that is not

only challenging, but very enlightening. However it will take many generations before men

and women can merely be themselves without society dictating their roles. Its our aging

social and religious institutions that are slow to accept change. Give it a couple of generations

more and perhaps we wont have to be discussing this anymore.

References

Dorey-Stein, C., About Caroline Dorey-SteinI play on a team bound by the goal to empower

women in professional achievement. We attack gender bias and challenge antiquated work

structures to create an equal playing field for women and men. My drive for equality stems

from my parents, brother and sister who have all fought barriers to score successful lives.,

Says, H. S., Says, R. A., Says, N. T., Says, D. M., & Says, M. J. (2015, September 24). A

Brief History: The Three Waves of Feminism. Retrieved October 30, 2017, from

https://www.progressivewomensleadership.com/a-brief-history-the-three-waves-of-feminism/

Ng, Cecilia (2013). Feminism and the Women's Movement in Malaysia: An Unsung

(R)evolution. Routledge.

Pillay, Navi (May 15, 2012). "Valuing Women as Autonomous Beings: Women's sexual and

reproductive rights" (PDF). University of Pretoria, Centre for Human Rights.

Tan Beng Hui (2012) 'Movement building and feminism in Asia: challenges and

opportunities' in The Future of Asian Feminisms: Confronting Fundamentalisms, Conflicts,

and Neoliberalism, edited by Nursyahbani Katjasungkana and Saskia E. Wierenga,

Cambridge Scholars Publishing: Cambridge