For the upcoming Malaysia Day and the three-day weekend, delve into these delightful creations penned by Malaysian authors. With local stories and Malaysian idiosyncrasies, your hearts will be kept warm and fuzzy, especially if you’ve been living abroad for some time.
1. Little Basket 2016: New Malaysian Writing by Catalina Rembuyan, Lee Ee Leen, Ted Mahsun, Tshiung Han See (Buku Fixi, RM21.20) [add in publisher and price]
Little Basket is a planned annual literary journal that features a collection of short stories, essays, and visuals by Malaysian authors. Look out for Ling Low’s short story Wanton Noodles, visuals and poetry by Foo Sek Han, Zedeck Siew, Sharon Chin, and Timothy Nakayama in this issue. Buy here
2. Love in Penang by Zen Cho et al. (Buku Fixi, RM16.90)
Be it bittersweet, warm or complicated, Love in Penang is a collection 18 bite-sized love stories that comes in various forms. It is a book written by the Malaysians as it unapologetically employs the use of Manglish and Penang-Malay in its stories, which draw readers in with familiarity. Buy here
3. Sarong Secrets by Lee Su Kim (Marshall Cavendish, RM39.90, not inclusive of GST)
Inspired by her Peranakan heritage, award-winning Malaysian author Lee Su Kim takes her readers into the colourful yet dark world of babas and nyonyas, as it is laced with themes of passion, betrayal and lost innocence. Buy here
4. Adventures of a KL-ite in Afghanistan; by Zan Azlee and Arif Rafhan (MPH Group Publishing Sdn Bhd, RM19.90, not inclusive of GST)
Arming himself with only a camera and an open mind, Zan Azlee left the comforts of Malaysia to the war-torn Afghanistan. Follow his journey in this humorous graphic novel as he meets interesting figures, stops by tourist spots and even gets embedded with the Malaysian Army in Afghanistan. Buy here
5. The Rice Mother by Rani Manicka (Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, RM39.90, not inclusive of GST)
Manicka’s debut novel tells the story of a Sri Lankan child bride, Lakshmi who arrived on the shores of Malaysia in the 1920s for an arranged marriage. Duped to believe that her husband is rich, she struggles to raise her family and was forced to witness her daughter’s abduction by the Japanese soldiers and watch as her son turn into a compulsive gambler. In response to these events, she unconsciously inflicts her psychological wounds onto her children, until her great-granddaughter Nisha slowly unbraids the past… Buy here
