Lesson 10: Malaysia and Singapore: The Melting Pot

• The seeds of Malayan literature in English were sown by the natives who used English because it was the language used in their formal education. Later on, they started to adopt some Malayan elements in their writings
• One of the early writers who attempted to blend Malayan identity and English language was Wang Gunguri through Pulse, a collection of his poems
• Malaysian drama in the 1960s


  Experimented with techniques from traditional drama such as using images reflected on the screen, like the shadow play, as special effects or to convey a character's past experiences
• In Singapore, only literature produced after 1965 can be regarded as its own for most works written before 1965 belong to Malaysian literature
• The 1970s witnessed the flowering of writing in English. Malaysian short stories appeared regularly in magazines like Tenggara and Lidra
• Notable works in the 1970s

  • Catherine Lim's Little Ironies
  • Tan Kong Seng's autobiographical novel
  • Edwin Thumboo's God Can Die
  • Arthur Yap's Commonplace
• Today, with English as the dominant medium in literary writing, Singaporean writers in other languages are trying to maintain their status quo. But the publication of Singapore Writing, with its short stories and poems in English, heralds a new place in the development of Singaporean literature
• Lee Tzu Pheng, the author of After the Rain, lives in Singapore. Her keen observation has made her see what a startling effect rain can have on the landscape and the people
• Singapore is the largest port in Southeast Asia and one of the largest in the world. It is a major commercial center with industries like oil refining, shipbuilding, textiles, electronics, and a developed fishing industry
• People in a highly industrialized country often lose the opportunity to admire the beauty of nature
• Sensory Images


  • Details that appeal to our senses — the sense of sight, hearing, smell, taste, or touch
• Developing sensory images helps us look at the world around us with heightened awareness
• In The Interview by Patrick Ng Kah Onn, the author was born in Kuala Lumpur in 1932 and has various interests including stage craft, exotic cooking, Balinese and Malayan ballet, dress designing, and collecting paintings
• Kuala Lumpur became the capital of the Federated Malay States in 1895 and a federal territory in 1974. It is a major commercial center serving an important tin mining and rubber-growing area
• Local Color


  • Using slang, colloquialism, dialect, or foreign words in an English material to make a setting realistic
• Singapore Food: A Melting Pot of Different Cultures by Sandra Ee, a contributor to Check-In Singapore, a magazine published by the Singapore Hotel Association, describes the best food available in Singapore
• Sandra Ee is a contributor to Check-In Singapore, a magazine published by the Singapore Hotel Association
• The agency publishes beautiful brochures to help tourists in Singapore
• The brochures include a description of the best food available
• Different countries have their own distinctive cuisine reflecting the eating habits, ingredients, religions, moral or social conditions
• Ideally, the food of any country includes staple energy-giving carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals
• However, poverty or warfare may make this impossible in many places
• An essay is a nonfiction work that deals with one subject, often in a personal way
• Essays are generally classified according to subject matter, purpose, mood, or style
• The word "essay" comes from the French writer, Michel de Montaigne, in the late 1500s
• A gourmet appreciates fine foods and wine, while a gourmand takes great pleasure in eating and drinking
• Propaganda includes half-truths, distortions, or manipulations of ideas
• Techniques used in propaganda include glad names, bandwagon, emotional words, elitist appeal, and testimonials
• Paraphrasing means to restate the meaning of a passage or word in other words
• Paraphrasing means to restate the meaning of a passage or word
• The word paraphrase comes from the Greek word paraphrazein which means to tell the same thing in other words
• Paraphrasing


  1. Note significant details and their relationship with the rest of the literary work

  2. Note symbolisms and figures of speech, then think about their relationship with the realities of life

  3. Pronounce words clearly and correctly
• One of the most mispronounced vowels is that with the sound of / 0 / (as in fought) which is often pronounced /ow/ (as in boat)
• Practice words for /ow/ sound

  • low
  • sew
  • know
  • goal
• Practice words for /Ɔ/ sound

  • law
  • saw
  • gnaw
  • gall
• Significant ideas are those that are relevant to the topic you are working on
• Significant ideas either give main ideas or support main ideas
• Recognizing the Participle


  1. Study italicized words used as adjectives that describe the noun that comes after it

  2. Notice the form of each adjective, either present participle (ending in -ing) or past participle (ending in -en, -ed, etc.)

  3. Verb forms used as adjectives are called participles
• Participles


  Verb forms used as adjectives
• Participles usually come before the word they modify