Name : Tan Wai Kian

Matric Number : 174764

Course : BBL 4306 Literature of Malaysia

Lecturer : Mr Ewan Awang

Semester : Semester 2 ( 2015 /2016)

Programme : B. A . English Literature

Assignment :
Task 1 Creative Writing
Task 2 Essay covering the life and work of one(1) Malaysian writer in English
(Tash Aw)

I am aku and Aku ialah I

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Knock Knock, Are you still there?
I questioned this, not to you or you or you.
But ME.
Am I still the person I used to be or am I different.
Am I different because I prefer the colonizers language?
Am I different because I dont think like you?
Or
Am I different because you think I am different?

I am ME
I still enjoy my imbuhan, fonologi, morfologi , sintaksis, semantik.
I still enjoy my cerpen, hikayat, syair, guridam and pantun
I do enjoy them, YES I do.

I am Me, a different kind of firework.

I dont have the strength to carry guns
Run across the field with thousand bangs
But I am here, just like you
A part of this land
I may be no real man
But I am here with words
I may be no soldier in the war
But I am a soldier of words

This is my land too.

I have a right to fight
To protect and to love and to cherish
Dont doubt because of my colour, my language, my style
STOOOOOOPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I dont pick sides, yellow , red, yellow , red

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 Cause I dont give a F*CK
THIS IS OUR LAND!!!
This is my HOME, dont you dare corrupt it with your dirty ideologies
Things that give me fright
This that sends chills through my spine
Is here no more
I will now have no fear
Bcause You have fought for me

I remember A.Samad Saids Pada Tanah Yang Indah (1956 )

Dalam mata yang bersih merayap cahaya jernih
aku sama menagih kemerdekaan kekasih,
dalam dada yang mesra tenang telaga cinta
aku janji setia membela tanah pusaka.
Like he preached , I thirst the love of this land.
Hati ini seluruh kasihkan kekasih sepenuh
beri janji yang teguh hingga badanku luluh!
This heart will pump strength till my bone crushed

Inilah aku. This is me.

The languages I speak. I am proud because I am these.
I call upon the ancient time
To remind me that all I am is
For me to be me and you to be you
I call upon this hour to get me a magical shower
Remind the identity back to us
So that the world can see who may we really be.

I am aku and Aku ialah I

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1.0 Introduction

I am aku and Aku ialah I is a poem about self-identity and nationality. The core

theme of this poem is about being ourselves without forgetting our roots. As I draft the poem,

I thought of the love I have for Malay language and English. I was thinking of how I have

sort of neglected Malay after pursued my degree in English literature. This poem is basically

an internal conflict I have in me. I am wondering if I have really lost the passion for Malay

Language. After a thorough silent moment, I realized that I still have the passion for Malay

Language because I am doing my minor in it. I am not a different person but a person with

more knowledge and opinions. The first stanza of the poem brings out the theme of identity.

The persona is wondering if he is different from the others because of what he enjoys. The

persona is having internal conflicts as he is looked upon as outsider since his mentality and

preferences of language are different compared to other. The persona wonders if he is just

different because all of the people around him are different. The second stanza and sixth

stanzas illustrate the theme of love for national language which is Malay Language. He

remembers his linguistics rule in Malay Language (BM). He also states that he enjoys the

Malay literature and he used a poem by A.Samad Said to prove it. He took Pada Tanah Yang

Indah which illustrates the theme of nationalism. It is important that I address this theme as

this is what the persona wants. Nationalism is often connected to language. The fourth stanza

illustrates the theme of self-identity. The persona is saying that he is who he is just that he is

not like the others. For example, I am Me, the different kind of firework. The word

firework is used to illustrate how personality of the persona. He is nice to look but is

explosive like the fireworks. He may not be a manly man but he is blunt with words. For

example, I may be no real man / But I am here with words / I may be no soldier in the war /

But I am a soldier of words. This shows that he is a person with very strong opinions. In

stanza five, the persona includes the theme of nationality. He used the contemporary issue

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where the Bersih rally and Red Shirt rally were out to fight. The persona is trying to portray

that the rally is a unnecessary rally corrupted with racist ideologies and it had corrupted the

minds of the youth. For example I dont pick sides, yellow , red, yellow , red / This is my

HOME, dont you dare corrupt it with your dirty ideologies. The persona believes that the

war is over because the You had fought for us. You could be God, it could be the soldiers

or it could also be the older generations. The last stanza though is a conclusion or the hope

that the persona has. He used Ini aku. This is me. to show that he is all the language

he speaks and he is proud of it. He wants to remind himself that he is different because what

he made of and it is not wrong being himself.

2.0 Literary Device

I am aku and Aku ialah I was written based on many references to figurative

language. Figurative language is using figures of speech to be more effective, persuasive and

impactful. Figures of speech such as metaphors, similes, allusions go beyond the literal

meanings of the words to give the readers new insights. On the other hand, alliterations,

imageries, or onomatopoeias are figurative devices that appeal to the senses of the readers.

Figurative language can appear in multiple forms with the use of different literary and

rhetorical devices.

2.1 Figurative Languages

The poem I am Aku and Aku ialah I is written based on the languages I know and

mastered. I used Malay, English and Chinese in the poem. The reason I used so many

languages in my poem is because it is a symbol of identity. For example, Inilah aku. This is

me. I used three languages here to express that the languages represent my

identity. Another example is , I translated the line with I am

Me, a different kind of firework. The reason why I used this line because it is a symbol of

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identity. This line is related to the first stanza, where I state that I am different because my

language and the colonizers language, I enjoy English and my mother tongue and my

thoughts are different compared to the others. The word firework is a symbol of my

thoughts. The reason for this is because different thoughts are deemed as explosive and

fierce. The word bangs in stanza 3 is a symbol of war. In stanza 3, I have stated that I may

not be able to fight in the war but I am able to fight using my knowledge. The reason why I

used these line (I may be no soldier in the war / But I am a soldier of words) is because the

history of Malaysia. I used references from history. For example, people from the 1940s and

1950s that fought in war, there were two batches of people where one batch fought in the

war like Leftenan Adnan and another fought the war by writing in the newspaper like Ibrahim

Yaakob. The idea of soldier of words is a symbol of Ibrahim Yaakob where he is brilliant

writer. Another figurative language is metaphor. Metaphor is a figure of speech in which a

word or a phrase is applied to an object or action which is not literally applicable. Another

definition of metaphor would be a thing regarded as a representative or symbolic of

something else especially something abstract. An example of metaphor is the use of the

colour red and yellow in stanza 5. The metaphor of the colour is a symbol of the riot that

happened recently in 2015. The yellow is a metaphor of the Bersih rally and the red is the

metaphor of the Red Shirt rally. I used these metaphors because I want to stress that the

politics is very manipulative and I realized that. That is why I stressed that I am not affected

by the ideologies. For example, This is my HOME, dont you dare corrupt it with your dirty

ideologies in stanza 5. I would like advise the rally organizers to make peace and stop

corrupting the youth with racist ideologies and corrupting ideologies.

The intention of it is to make my poem more imaginative. Thus, it could mean

more than one single meaning. Thus making the poem worth studying. Having figurative

language in poetry is to invoke the sense of imagination of readers. Learning to use figurative

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language is an important step in developing a mature and rich writing style. From similes and

metaphors to hyperbole and personification, taking words beyond their literal meaning

through the use of figurative language is enjoyable for both the writer and the reader. In fact,

the ability to use figurative language successfully is one of the most effective tools in a

writers skill set. Creative writers use metaphor, analogy, symbols and more to stir the

reader's imagination and bring out the emotion and understanding that can't be expressed by

the words' dictionary meaning alone. It is the best way to exaggerate and stretch the meaning

of words to get the most extreme meaning possible. The best part of using figurative language

is it does not have to make sense rationally or logically. Reader can easily get the point of the

phrase by reading the whole line.

2.2 Parallelism

Parallelism is the use of components in a sentence that are grammatically the same; or

similar in their construction, sound, meaning or meter. Parallelism examples are found in

literary works as well as in ordinary conversations. This method adds balance and rhythm to

sentences giving ideas a smoother flow and thus can be persuasive because of the repetition it

employs.

When I composed I am Aku and Aku Ialah I, I did not insert too much of rhyme

scheme on purpose. First and foremost, I used phrase repetition in stanza 1 which is also

syntactic parallelism. Syntactic parallelism focuses more on grammatical. For example, Am

I different in line 4, 5, 6 and 8. The repetition used is to stress a certain message and in

stanza one, I would like to stress that I am not different compared to others. I repeated the

phrase Am I different.The syntactic parallelism creates convincing tone to the readers the

stress placed on the phrase. Besides that, I also used assonance. Assonance means the

repetition of vowel sound. For example, in stanza 4 line 26 Dont doubt because of my

colour, my language, my style. It is obvious that the sound of vowel o is so visible in that

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line. Assonance is a phonological parallelism. Another phonological parallelism is the use of

rhyme at the end. This could be seen in stanza 6 The languages I speak. I am proud because

I am these. / I call upon the ancient time. Notice the last words in these two lines? The word

these and time both ends with an e. I end the sentences with the same vowel e to

invoke the sound quality and make it rhyme. There is also alliteration. Alliteration is a

stylistic device in which a number of words, having the same first consonant sound, occur

close together in a series. For example is stanza 4 To protect and to love and to cherish.

The consonant t is repeated.

Parallelism is a very effective to break the use of repletion by laying out many

different ways of expressing the same thoughts or idea. It provides structure, order, and

balance in a poem and clarifying the argument or meaning. By making it rhyme, readers will

find it interesting to actually read the poem and maybe add music into it and make it into a

song.

2.3 Grapholgy

Graphology simply is the pattern of the written language or the shape of the language

on the page. Graphological Deviation, this is the deviation in which poets disregard the

rules of writing. They write the words in such a way without any boundaries in lines, space,

or rhymes. I used two graphology methods in my poem. First, I bolded the last stanza or line

which is I am aku and Aku ialah I. The reason why I bolded this line is that line alone

stands for what I want convey to the readers. I am not different due to my preferences. I still

enjoys Malay language and English together. Aku is basically the translation of I. Thus

there are no differences in me. This line interprets many of my lines such as I am Me, a

different kind of firework, Dont doubt because of my colour, my language, my style,

The languages I speak. I am proud because I am these and To remind me that all I am is.

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Thus the last line is very important to my entire poem. It is also bolded because it is the title

of my poem.

Another graphology is the italicize of few lines, phrases or words. The reason I

italicize the lines is to show the differences in languages. In the poem I am Aku and Aku

ialah I I used different languages in the poem. For example, I still enjoy my imbuhan,

fonologi, morfologi , sintaksis, semantik./ I still enjoy my cerpen, hikayat, syair, guridam and

pantun These italicizations are to show the Malay words in my poem. Another italicization

is in stanza 6

I remember A.Samad Saids Pada Tanah Yang Indah (1956 )

Dalam mata yang bersih merayap cahaya jernih
aku sama menagih kemerdekaan kekasih,
dalam dada yang mesra tenang telaga cinta
aku janji setia membela tanah pusaka.
Like he preached , I thirst the love of this land.
Hati ini seluruh kasihkan kekasih sepenuh
beri janji yang teguh hingga badanku luluh!
This heart will pump strength till my bone crushed

I used the work of a Malay writers work. I used A. Samad Said works because it is a

symbol of my identity as a Malaysian to love the work Malay Literature despite being

exposed to a lot of Western Literature. The italicization is to show this not my work and it is

not in English. Most of all to express my theme which is self-identity.

Conclusion

After composing this poem, I see that it is important to remember my roots as a

Malaysian. I am not different compared to others just because I have different ideologies. I

have to appreciate the work of art by Malaysian writers no matter in what language it is

written. Writing the poem makes me feel like I am being truth to myself as all the language I

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know is all I am. Nobody should tell me what I am when I have already know who I am.

Speaking of linguistic elements, there are many more linguistic elements that I tried to utilise

when composing the poem. In fact, there many more elements in the poem that I, myself have

not discover. However, I am very sure that the linguistic elements aid the poem to be a greater

piece of literary work. By creating a piece of work with a lot of rhymes and figurative

language makes the work or poem worth studying. Readers could interpret the poet in

different point of views and concepts.

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 Task 2 : Tash Aw

1.0 Biography

Tash Aw is a Malaysian writer but based in London now. He grew up in Kuala

Lumpur, Malaysia. He is the author of three critically acclaimed novels The Harmony Silk

Factory (2005), which won the Whitbread First Novel Award and a regional Commonwealth

Writers Prize; Map of the Invisible World (2009) and Five Star Billionaire (2013) and a

work of non-fiction, The Face: Strangers on a Pier (2016). His novels have twice been

longlisted for the MAN Booker prize and been translated into 23 languages.

His real name is Aw Ta Shi. Tash Aw was born in Taiwan, October 1971 to a

Malaysia parents. He moved to Kuala Lumpur at the age of four. He grew up in Kuala

Lumpur before moving to England to study law. He pursued his law studies at Jesis College

Cambridge. He worked numerous job after graduating. He made use of his law degree by

working as a lawyer for four year. During that four year, he was completing his creative

writing course at the University of East Anglia.

Based on royalties as well as prizes, Aw can be considered as the leading Malaysian

contemporary writer. Following the announcement of the Booker longlist, the Whitbread

Award and his Commonwealth Writers Prize, he became a celebrity in Malaysia and

Singapore, and is now one of the most respected literary figures in Southeast Asia.

There are three novels written by Tash Aw. In 2005, he wrote The Harmony Silk

Factory, Map of the Invisible World (2009) and Five Star Billionair (2013). He wrote five

stories which dated back in May 2006 such as The American Brick Propect, To the City,

Sail, Tian Huayi and Tiger. He also wrote a nonfiction which is The Face: Stranger On

A Pier.

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2.0 Works (Novels)

2.1 The Harmony Silk Factory

The Harmony Silk Factory was written in 2005. The Harmony Silk Factory, set in

1940s British Malaya on the brink of Japanese invasion, won the Costa (Whitbread) first

novel award and a Commonwealth Writers prize. It was on various longlists, including the

Man Booker and the International Impac Dublin prize, and has been translated into more than

20 languages. According to Goodreads, The Harmony Silk Factory traces the story of textile

merchant Johnny Lim, a Chinese peasant living in British Malaya in the first half of the

twentieth century. Johnny's factory is the most impressive structure in the region, and to the

inhabitants of the Kinta Valley Johnny is a hero--a Communist who fought the Japanese when

they invaded, ready to sacrifice his life for the welfare of his people. But to his son, Jasper,

Johnny is a crook and a collaborator who betrayed the very people he pretended to serve, and

the Harmony Silk Factory is merely a front for his father's illegal businesses. This story is

told from the point of view of three narrators.

The Harmony Silk Factory comprises three personal accounts of life in Malaysia

during the early 1940s. Johnny Lim - Chinese trader, local communist hero and champion of

a discriminated class - marries Snow, the most beautiful girl in the Kinta Valley and daughter

of local business tycoon, TK Soong. Johnny and Snow, who explore the difficulties of

bridging societal barriers, reveal a mindset of growing deviousness against cultural tradition.

The conflict appeared with the arrival of Peter, an Englishman searching for idyllic

journey through the Orient. Jasper's grasp of the character of his mother, Snow, is no less

histrionic: "She was magical, compelling and full of love, and I have no memory of her."

That's because she died giving birth to him. But a diary recording her early days of marriage

survives. And it serves, in the novel's middle third, to contradict most of what came before it.

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In it, we see Johnny shrink to a peripheral, pathetic figure with command over almost nothing

in his life.

A third narrator, Peter Wormwood, a British expatriate who becomes Johnny's best

friend-and who ultimately participates in the worst sort of betrayal-views him even more

complexly, as a "native" with an intensely inquiring mind, in fact, "the only person in

Singapore [where he first encounters him in a caf] who reads Shelley."

This debut novel from Tash Aw gives us an exquisitely written look into another

culture at a moment of crisis. Tash Aw has attempted to venture deep into historical Malaysia

and has set the scene for further exploration of this era, but I feel there was a need for greater

sensitivity and attention to detail in the interweaving:

2.2 Map of the Invisible World

The second novel written in 2009, Map of the Invisible World is about two brothers,

Adam and Johan, who were abandoned by their mother as children, and later separated when

they were adopted by different families in Indonesia and Malaysia. According to Harper

Collins Publisher, sixteen-year-old Adam is an orphan three times over. He and his older

brother, Johan, were abandoned by their mother as children; he watched as Johan was

adopted and taken away by a wealthy couple; and he had to hide when Karl, the Dutch man

who raised him, was arrested by soldiers during Sukarnos drive to purge 1960s Indonesia of

its colonial past. Adam sets out on a quest to find Karl, but all he has to guide him are some

old photos and letters, which send him to the colourful, dangerous capital, Jakarta. Johan,

meanwhile, is living a seemingly carefree, privileged life in Malaysia, but is careening out of

control, unable to forget the long-ago betrayal of his helpless, trusting brother.

Adam's quest to find his adopted father takes him to the capital, Jakarta, where he

connects with Margaret, who decades earlier shared an unconsummated love with Karl. She

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is an anthropologist, "conceived on one continent, born on another, and raised on four -- five

if you count Australia." Presumably, such an international pedigree ought to equip her with an

incisive, nuanced perspective, yet as they search for Karl, Margaret seems to forget all she

knows about Indonesian culture, often resorting to broad generalities about how to deal with

"Asian men." Her central place in a novel that is ostensibly about a character, Adam, and a

society undergoing post-colonial convulsions is tiring, as are her internal monologues on

pubescent love and her pick-me-up comments such as, "Do not get flustered, Margaret Bates,

do not back down."

Din is brilliantly portrayed, a double-deceiver who leads the story

into the shadows of revolution. Margaret symbolises hope - she has never abandoned her

love of Karl. And with Adam's appearance she finds new energy to pursue the unfinished

business of their affair. Meanwhile Johan, far away, detached from the centre of the narrative,

seems like a figure hatched from a dream, bruising and brutalised by turns.

In the end of the novel, the writer (Tash Aw) used three separate perspectives to paint

an evocative portrait of the factory owner and alleged gangster Johnny Lim. His willingness

to leave certain questions unresolved reflected an authorial confidence not found in this new

book, which, despite a widely ambulating narrative, wraps up too neatly.

2.3 Five Star Billionaire

Five Star Billionaire was written in 2013 and it was long listed for the Man Booker

Prize for Fiction in 2013 Man Booker Prize. According to Forna from The Guardian, it is

expansive, eye-opening novel that captures the vibrancy of China today.

Five Star Billionaire is a brave, partly successful attempt to capture the size and

variousness of Shanghai through the interlocking lives of five Malaysian Chinese immigrants

(Phoebe, Yinghui, Justin, Gary, Walter Chao), all searching for money and love. Walter Chao

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is the only character that gets a first-person narrative where it might put the reader on alert for

unreliability.

Phoebe is a factory girl who has come to Shanghai with the promise of a job but when

she arrives she discovers that the job doesnt exist. Gary is a country boy turned pop star who

is spinning out of control. Justin is in Shanghai to expand his familys real estate empire, only

to find that he might not be up to the task. He has long harboured a crush on Yinghui, a

poetry-loving, left-wing activist who has reinvented herself as a successful Shanghai

businesswoman. Yinghui is about to make a deal with the shadowy Walter Chao, the five star

billionaire of the novel, who with his secrets and his schemes has a hand in the lives of each

of the characters. All bring their dreams and hopes to Shanghai, the shining symbol of the

New China, which, like the novels characters, is constantly in flux and which plays its own

fateful role in the lives of its inhabitants. Here you get a sense of the city's overheated, chilly

atmosphere, the strain of being crowded in with millions suffering from gold fever. All those

news stories may give you an exterior view of Shanghai, but the story gives the impression

that this may well be what it is like from the inside.

The novel itself has the opposite problem. It gets tangled up in its past, especially the

backstory that links Yinghui and Justin - and the present-day plot lacks coherence, rhythm,

motive. The predictable interlocking of the characters' lives relies too much on coincidence -

Justin has a past with Yinghui, and just happens to end up living in the same apartment block

as Phoebe; Phoebe just happens to end up working for Yinghui, dating Walter and chatting on

the internet with Gary

According to Evans,

Five Star Billionaire is a splendid achievement. The narrative, mapping the characters'

lives and their fleeting encounters, is brilliantly designed, a puzzle whose pieces click

satisfyingly into place. As an account of the snakes-and-ladders game of urban life in

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 the 21st century - the connections made and lost; the fortunes built and destroyed -

Aw's book could scarcely be bettered (20)

3.0 Interview of the Writer

The interview that I am using is A Conversation With: Novelist Tash Aw by Neha

Thirani Bagri from India Ink.

The interview took place after the Tata Literature Live in Mumbai about the

contemporary China, societies in transformation and capitalism in Asia. It started off with the

talk about Aws Five Star Billionaire. Aw said that the outlook of young Chinese who are

leaving behind old traditions and embracing capitalism is due to the hardships that the older

generation of 80s went through during the Cultural Revolution. There is a sense where the

parents want to protect their children from the revolution. Aw also said that there is a lot of

economic changes that have been organized by the government but it is on the personal level

of people to leave it behind. Aw is aware that the younger generation in China are not

necessarily bothered by the history and they do have access to information about the current

world. Although China is controlling internet tightly, the younger generations installed

antigovernment spyware to gain outside information.

The second question is about the transformations that took place in China and India.

Aw explains that there is a slight different in attitude between Indian and Chinese youth. India

have a different starting point where it doesnt have Confucianism embedded in it. The

process of change happens so fast in Chine where it might seemed a little scary. The growth

in India is more organic.

Then there was a question about one of the quotes from Aws book about Asian

temperament. Aw explains that the line Corruption is quite comforting, really. I mean, it

suits us, suits the Asian temperament. was delivered ironically by the wealthy Malaysian

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whose family benefited from corruption. Speaking of the extreme level of corruption in

countries, the acceptance of people toward are quite high that the people doesnt deemed it

something weird. Aw talks about the attitudes to wealth as his book looks deeply at the

characters economic aspirations. He said that people from very crushing poverty have a very

great rejoicing in wealth whereby the Western liberal snobbery of materialism and money.

The younger generation doesnt the hardship gone through for the money.

The interview ended with asking the next project that Aw is working on. Aw is

working on writing a short story about what is it means for a Malaysian Asian travelling in

India. Aw is interested in the changes of Asia and Asia relating to India.

To me, the interview was quite futile as it talks about Aws book Five Star Billionaire,

and how the book is related to us, as the younger generation. I could relate very much to the

interview and I do gain lots of insight about materialism and attitude. The interview is to

comparison of the Indian society and China society where the two countries are very different

when they have much similarities. This somehow show Tash Aws influences towards the

world.

4.0 Articles of Tash Aw works.

4.1 History and Narrative: The Use of Sublime in Tash Aws Fiction

This essay was composed by Wai-Chew Sim from Nanyang Technological University.

The article integrates the work of Raymond Williams and Hayden White with the perspective

to examine the utilization of radiant on The Harmony Silk Factory and Map of Invisible

World. Aw's writings give structures of feeling which look to adjust the calculated geology.

The dispute of this paper is that this sending of the glorious is attached to Aw's

representations and establishments of history in his writings, to his endeavors to utilized

history in a manner that it can fill specifiable story needs that permit the tasteful and the

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political to order experiential and ethico-political objectives, decisively to make "structures of

feeling". The superb is contended that a class White forgot, qualities, for example,

speculations by the making authentic specificity not a case of a more broad situation. The

author depicted how radiant catches as a structure of feeling Aw's worry the likelihood of

human collectivities. The essayist contends that they order readers to concentrate on the style

in which groups are envisioned instead of on customary or patrilineal ideas of legacy.

Taking into account The Harmony Silk Factory, there is a feeling of unknowablity is

upgraded by the novel's competent utilization of chronicled point of interest. The Harmony

Silk Factory emplots history in this way just turns out to be clear in the peak, when the

readers understand that Jasper's revocation of Johnny works in coupled with other

repudiatory moves.

The postcolonial content here revamps nonattendance questionable ancestry as

nearness, as the chance to attest self-rule and self-determination. Jasper's disavowal of

Johnny (in his Lai Teck incarnation) in this way works in coupled with a bigger revocation of

the British and Japanese imperia. What's more, this is likewise to say that the cooperative

rationale of the content makes Jasper an image of the beginning postcolonial state, of the

authentic stalemate that made ready for an option social structure to develop. The story vitally

gets the chance to raise a key topical worry, to connect the repudiatory moves depicted before

with the coherent subsequent inquiry of what social powers can hold together the new

postcolonial state.

Another point of preference of the glorious mode would along these lines be its key

extensiveness, its simplicity with variety, implying that it can emplot history in the way

depicted above whilst evading more petulant issues, maybe assuming that with time and the

advancement of syncretism social structures (to which Harmony is itself a proffered

commitment) conceivably segregationist weights will fade or subside.

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 The author additionally examined about Map of Invisible World for his second part,

the story sends the heavenly so as to propose critical issues. It too proposes that supportive

ties can be an option way of being on the planet.

The story appends transcendent qualities to a memorial circumstance, yet here the

content investigates the all the more enervating parts of the wonderful. The stifling or

massive part of the wonderful is passed on by the picture of the ocean of skin that swallows

Adam. Adam doesn't have any acquaintance with it, however Din is plotting to kill Sukarno,

whom he blames for not doing what's necessary to help the oppressed. Map counterposes

nativism or filiation with connection. Adams double-quest narrative. Accordingly a

squeezing venture of our times is a clearer comprehension of the financial associations that

frame and encompass us.

The possibility that sentimental adoration involves a maritime feeling and loss of self

is an ordinary or even prosaic occurrence of the glorious. What makes Map irregular is that it

utilizes the peruser's libidinal speculation as a part of such connections in the figure of

speech of the rejoined beaus and the figure of speech of youthful affection to advance its

vision of affiliative fidelity. As a metafictional reference to Aw's own aesthetic undertaking,

in this manner, the determination underscores the elective affinities that he investigates and

sanctions. Probably his solution for Din's inquiry would be that, as with Zubaidah, our social

equity duties ought to trump the circumstances of our introduction to the world.

In conclusion, Aw's writings give structures of feeling which look to change our

applied topography. While they push contemplations that get to some degree from the

legislative issues of acknowledgment, they likewise keep alive social law based and financial

redistribution standards avoided by the predominant neo-liberal conventionality. Rather than

the atomism advanced by the product culture that encompasses us, they proffer self-amazing

quality fuelled by wonderful encounters and experiences, helping us to remember the

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noteworthiness hidden the irruptions of the group will seen particularly in hostile to pilgrim

and progressive connections.

4.3 The Roles of Nature in Tash Aws The Harmony Silk Factory

This article was written in Zainor Izat Zainal and Wan Roselezam Wan Yahya from

Universiti Putra Malaysia.

This paper looks at Tash Aws The Harmony Silk Factory, which is set in colonial

Malaysia in the 1930s and 40s, and divided into three parts; each part is narrated by a

narrator who is also an important character in the novel. Jasper, Snow and Peter each gives

their personal account of who is Johnny Lim, Jaspers father, known as a successful

merchant, petty crook and great inventor. As is the case for novels set in postcolonial

societies such as India, Singapore and Africa, one could easily mistake Aw, who was brought

up in Malaysia but now resides in England, as another postcolonial writer, writing against the

West. Initially, that was what Aw set out to do. The reader discovers soon enough that the

writer not only infuses nature-based symbols and imagery but also highlights the

interconnectedness between humanity and nature. Ultimately, this paper hopes to demonstrate

that Aws representations of the natural world not only add to the aesthetical value of the

novel, but it also resonates with notable ecological sentiments.

The essay included an introduction, plot and setting, aim of studies, methodology,

analysis and discussion and also a conclusion.

In critical work of most literary works, nature has to a great extent been assessed for

the stylish quality it adds to the works. For as far back as two decades be that as it may,

abstract feedback which is subsumed under the umbrella of ecocriticism, has enthusiastically

tended to questions identified with the possibility of nature as a political expression in

writing. Dwindle's connection to nature could imply a couple of things. His alliance to nature

could bolster the coding of nature as a definitive home to humankind, who should deal with

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it. The Edenic garden that Peter has conceived for so long, and which he in the end makes

and returns home to has Biblical and Quranic roots. Diminish's closeness to nature

additionally serves to add nature to the measurements of "home". Nature as home is less

constraining than the customary idea of home, which signifies a physical, raised space, for

example, a house or a foundation, or a physical staying with family and considered as far as

body, local space, group, and country.

Another essential lesson that we gain from this novel is that nature is one element; not

differentiated by guide lines or universal limits. Subside's Garden of Eden, which gathers

components of nature (blossoms) from various parts of the world, East and West, may

propose nature as an endless and different scene, yet it is one, worldwide scene for

humankind

5.0 Thematic Concern of the Writer

Tash Aw is an postcolonial writer and all his three novel were about the life after

colonialism. Post-colonial criticism is quite similar to cultural studies, but it assumes a unique

perspective on literature and politics that warrants a separate discussion. Specifically, post-

colonial critics are concerned with literature produced by colonial powers and works

produced by those who were/are colonized. Post-colonial theory looks at issues of power,

economics, politics, religion, and culture and how these elements work in relation to colonial

hegemony (western colonizers controlling the colonized).

For example in The Harmony Silk Factory, the story is set before, during and after the

Japanese invasion of British-administered Malaya in the 1940s. The story revolts around the

Japanese Occupation. At first glance, Aw's plot hovers around a criminologist topic in which

the readers inspects the thought processes of individual characters in an obscuring pre-World

War Two air: each of the three storytellers recounts occasions identified with the war and love

trysts from their own particular constrained viewpoint; Jasper, the primary storyteller, voices

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his conclusion of the activities of his dad, Johnny, including the homicide of a British pioneer

figure which unleashes a chain of occasions prompting Jasper's introduction to the world; the

second storyteller, Snow, who oozes just blamelessness, obviously lays down with one or

more men, leaving the peruser pondering about the character of Jasper's dad; the third

storyteller, Peter, later uncovers shocking insights about Johnny's dangerous propensities and

the affection trysts. This topic is an extremely huge one in (post) pilgrim writing. Diminish's

tirade about supposed indigenous plants, as said in the opening of this article, strongly

uncovers the perplexing connection between organic examinations and (post)colonialism in

contemporary writing in general. The removed and transplanted self is a figure of speech in

transient and (post)colonial writing, despite the fact that this agitated self is not exclusively

spoke to by cultivating pictures. In any case, Peter, of Tash Aw's The Harmony Silk Factory,

develops a bit uniquely in contrast to these storytellers, as he speaks to the fictionalized

colonizer, not the colonized. In alternate accounts, the removed transient perceives his or her

failure to forestall transplantation because of servitude, war or colonization, accordingly

looking to become legitimate new roots, essentially through the force of portrayal. Of the

above storytellers, Hayslip is maybe the special case who intentionally or energetically

relocates. And, after its all said and done, the fall of Saigon put colossal weight on her choice.

Diminish's joint effort with a Malay local and his appearance on utilizing accessible assets,

and not only his English-imported nourishments (bread and wine), demonstrates that he can

work with the Bumiputra and area to guarantee his survival.

While in Map of Invisible World, the story talks about the Indonesias life after

Colonialism. For some history facts, The Republic of Indonesia is a country of 17,508 islands

With a population of around 230 million people, it is the worlds fourth most populous

country, and has the worlds largest population of Muslims. Indonesia is a republic, with an

elected legislature and president. Indonesia is a founding member of ASEAN and a member

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of the G-20 major economies. The Indonesian archipelago has been an important trade region

since at least the seventh century, when Srivijaya and then later Majapahit traded with China

and India. Local rulers gradually absorbed foreign cultural, religious and political models

from the early centuries CE, and Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms flourished. Indonesian

history has been influenced by foreign powers drawn to its natural resources. Muslim traders

brought Islam, and European powers fought one another to monopolize trade. Following

three and a half centuries of Dutch colonialism, Indonesia secured its independence after

World War II. The current nation of Indonesia is a unitary presidential republic consisting of

thirty three provinces. The Proclamation of Indonesian Independence (Proklamasi

Kemerdekaan Indonesia, or simply Proklamasi) was read at 10.00 a.m. on Friday, August 17,

1945. The declaration marked the start of the diplomatic and armed-resistance of the

Indonesian National Revolution, fighting against the forces of the Netherlands until the latter

officially acknowledged Indonesias independence in 1949. In 2005, the Netherlands declared

that they had decided to accept 17 August 1945 as Indonesias independence date.

On one level, Map of the Invisible World is about how postcolonial culture is shaped,

how histories and memories collide to produce a new synthesis. The emerging construction is

not free from xenophobia or anti-colonial sentiments; both become important components of

the new national culture. Karl is seized largely for his pink skin as Dutch colonial

administrators are repatriated. Even Indonesia's aggressive stance towards Malaysia, the

policy of Konfrontasi, is projected as an attempt to shape a distinctive cultural identity.

However, Malaysia and Indonesia, with the same dialect thus a lot of their history and

traditions in like manner, resemble two kin. Aw demonstrates to us how the two nations took

distinctive courses. Johan, Adam's senior sibling, was received prior and lives with a well off

family in Kuala Lumpur. Like the city itself, Johan is self-fixated, captivated by rate and

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continually nearly self-obliteration. He is driven with a feeling of blame at surrendering his

kin.

Adam is aided in his journey by Margaret, an American anthropologist who educates

at a college in Jakarta. A previous darling of Karl, Margaret experiences blame at American

strategy towards South-East Asia and feels unease at the counter American assumptions she

witnesses in Indonesia. She is drawn towards Din, a youthful partner with comrade

sensitivities why should arranging kill President Sukarno.

Commotion aches for the bona fide Indonesian culture free from pilgrim look; and

plans to compose a "mystery history" of the "lost world" of Bali. Aw handles both political

change and the individual injury it creates with impressive expertise and verve. Be that as it

may, his genuine ability is for portrayal. His composition is distinctively melodious; and one

can just about feel the warmth and smell the sweat of Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur. However, at

some point the portrayals get to be oppressive: Jakarta is dark as well as its grayness goes

about as a waterfall to cloud the city. In the long run, they show signs of improvement of an

account which dwindles towards the end. Adam's mission, to our mistake, turns out as rather

inconsequential.

Map of the Invisible World deliberately echoes the books of the late, incredible

Pradoedya Ananta Toer, who chronicled Indonesia's battle against the Dutch and the turmoil

of the rising country. Unmistakably, Aw has packs of ability. Be that as it may, he has some

approach before he can coordinate the virtuoso of the Master.

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6.0 Citations and References

Adair, Tom. "Book Review: Map of the Invisible World: Brothers Lost in a Phantom

Zone." The Scotsman: 15. May 02 2009. ProQuest. Web. 15 May 2016 .

Cornford, Rupert. "Books: Culture Clashes Ruin Malaysian Idyll ; THE HARMONY SILK

FACTORY by Tash Aw, Hardback, Fourth Estate, Pounds 12.99." Daily Post: 4. Mar

11 2005. ProQuest. Web. 15 May 2016 .

Evans, David. "FIVE STAR BILLIONAIRE." The Independent: 20. Jan 05

2014.ProQuest. Web. 15 May 2016 .

"Five Star Billionaire, by Tash Aw, Review." Telegraph.co.ukMar 21 2013. ProQuest.Web. 15

May 2016 .

Forna, Aminatta. "Five Star Billionaire by Tash Aw Review." The Guardian. Guardian

News and Media, Aug. 2013. Web. 15 May 2016.

"Map of the Invisible World - Tash Aw - Paperback." HarperCollins UK. Web. 17 May 2016.

Silverman, Jacob. "BOOK REVIEW; in Search of a Family and His Country; Map of the

Invisible World; A Novel; Tash Aw; Spiegel & Grau: 318 Pp., $25." Los Angeles

TimesJan 10 2010. ProQuest. Web. 15 May 2016 .

Sim, W.-C. "History and Narrative: The Use of the Sublime in Tash Aw's Fiction." The

Journal of Commonwealth Literature 46.2 (2011): 293-310. Web.

"The Harmony Silk Factory." Goodreads. Web. 17 May 2016.

"Welcome to the Purdue OWL." Purdue OWL: Literary Theory and Schools of Criticism.

Web. 17 May 2016.

Zainal, Zainor Izat, and Wan Roselezam. "The Role of Nature in Tash Aws The Harmony

Silk Factory." THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY

SOCIAL SCIENCES 1st ser. 4 (2009). Print.

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