DOCSLIB.ORG

A Comparative Study of Thai and Malay Short Stories Written by Regional Writers from Southern Thailand and Northern Malaysia

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
A Comparative Study of Thai and Malay Short Stories Written by Regional Writers from Southern Thailand and Northern Malaysia A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THAI AND MALAY SHORT STORIES WRITTEN BY REGIONAL WRITERS FROM SOUTHERN THAILAND AND NORTHERN MALAYSIA NUREEYAN SALEH A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Oriental and African Studies University of London 2 0 0 4 ProQuest Number: 10673231 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10673231 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Abstract This thesis offers a comparative examination of short stories written by writers from southern Thailand and northern Malaysia, namely Phaithuun Thanyaa, Kanokphong Songsomphan, S. Othman Kelantan and Azizi Haji Abdullah. The texts have been analyzed within the framework of comparative and reception approaches to highlight the similarities and differences between Thai and Malay short stories. An attempt has been made to identify their respective unique qualities. This study asserts that the authors use their work as a means of communicating an account and portrayal of the particular identities of southern Thailand and northern Malaysia and, more generally, of their countries as a whole. The regions of southern Thailand and northern Malaysia are chosen because of their particular political, social and historical interaction. Moreover, the short stories are chosen because, in both countries, they are used as a vehicle of self-expression and of social criticism. Furthermore, this study also shows that Thai and Malay writers are influenced by their oral tradition and the didactic aims of producing literary works. This study comprises six chapters including an introduction and a conclusion. All chapters will address the significance of regional factors found in Thai and Malaysian short stories. Among the regional issues which form an element of this study are history, politics, religions, animistic beliefs, and ethnic perceptions. In conclusion this thesis contends the significance of the region as writers’ source of inspiration yet the regional problems they have raised reflect the authors’ commitment to their national society and religion and their sensibilities towards their national culture. 2 Table of Contents Abstract 2 Acknowledgements 5 Notes on Thai Transliteration 8 Introduction 11 Chapter One: Literature in the National Context 14 Introduction 14 The Selection of Thai and Malaysian Writers 14 Theoretical Concerns 15 Thai and Malaysian Literature in a Comparative 21 Framework The Use of ‘Local Colour’ in Modem Thai and 28 Malaysian Literatures The Perceptions of Thailand and Malaysia 29 Conclusion 44 Chapter Two: Authors and Literary Associations 45 Introduction 45 The Formation of the Authors 46 Literary Associations 64 Intellectual Genealogies 85 Conclusion 91 Chapter Three: History and Politics 93 Introduction 93 The Literary Expression of National and Local Histories 93 Literary Criticism of Political Systems 118 Conclusion 127 Chapter Four: The Literary Reflection of Religions and Local Beliefs 130 Introduction 130 3 The Literary Expression of Religion: Buddhism and 130 Islam in the Short Stories The Literary Expression of Local Beliefs in the 149 Short Stories Conclusion 164 Chapter Five: Ethnic Identities and the Representation o f ‘Us’ and 166 ‘the Other’ Introduction 166 The Regional Identities of Southern Thais and 166 Northern Malays in their Short Stories Portrayals of Ethnic Identities and Political Conflict 171 Portrayals of Ethnic Identities and Economic Conflict 182 Conclusion 191 Chapter Six: Gender Relations and the Representation of Women 193 Introduction 193 Male Dominance and the Control of Women 193 Women’s Experience of Sexual Oppression under 198 Patriarchy Conclusion 228 Conclusion 231 Appendices 240 I: A Brief Survey of Thai and Malaysian Short Stories 241 II: List of the Short Stories of this Study 256 Illustrations 260 I: Southern Thai Authors 260 II: Northern Malaysian Authors 261 Bibliography 262 4 Acknowledgements I wish to thank the following institutions and people for their generosity and help which were rendered to me during my study. First, I would like to express my gratitude to the Thai Government for the scholarship, without which this study would not have been possible. I also would like to thank Thaksin University and the Department of Thai and Oriental Languages for allowing me to pursue my studies. Special thanks and deep gratitude to my supervisors—Dr. Rachel Harrison and Professor Ulrich E. Kratz—for their academic advice, patience, understanding, encouragement and belief in my ability to achieve the result. I am also indebted to Dr. Manas Chitakasem for his invaluable assistance and concern. I wish to thank the Documentation Centre of Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, the library of the Faculty of Arts, University of Malaya, the library of the state of Kedah, and SOAS library whose academic sources had benefited me tremendously. At Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, I am indebted to Mr. Hamdan Yahya, the former Director of the Department of Literature, and his staff for providing me with some useful information. I am highly indebted to the writers that I have selected for my study; Phaithuun Thanyaa, Kanokphong Songsomphan, S. Othman Kelantan and Azizi Haji Abdullah, who devoted their precious time to discussing and answering my questions. I want to express my heartfelt thanks to the families of Jasmin Baharom and Rosnah Baharuddin for ‘adopting’ me as their sister. With their warm welcome, kindness and moral support, Malaysia has been my second home. For camaraderie, I would also like to thank Pomtip Bodeepongse, Assistant Professor Yurachat Bonsanit, Dr. Patha Suwannarat, Dr. Pojjanii Sapsamaan, Walaipom Tantikanangkul, Dr. Soison Sakolrak, Dr. Monthira Rato, Or-thai Panya, and Panchai Poonwathu. To Jonah Foran, Ida Baizura Bahar, Zaharah Othman who helped in correcting my English and to Dr. Martin Platt and Dr. David Smyth for their invaluable comments. To my sisters, brothers, sisters-in-law, brothers-in-law and my uncle, I remain grateful for their ‘doa’ and their tireless devotion in taking care of my ailing parents while I undertake my study. Finally, I want to record my eternal gratitude here to my late parents whose ‘doa’ sustained me throughout my study. My mother’s demise in 5 October 1999, followed by my father’s in April 2002 regrettably deprived me of the much-needed moral support during the early years of my study. NUREEYAN SALEH July 2004 the memory of my late parents Fatimah Maidin Ghouse and Abdullah Saleh Notes on Thai Transliteration There are various systems for writing Thai in roman letters, each with its own advantages. This study uses the following; Consonants Vernacular Romanization Romanization Sound (approximate) when initial when final as in medial u b P 11114 (baan) li PP i l l (paa) VJ,iN,fl ph P Vi 114 (phaan) t t flfl (tok) th t fill (thaan) *0 j t ?1 (jam) ft,^ ch t ft 3 (chine) Other sounds (such as ‘m% ‘r’, T’) are not included in this list as they are not significantly different from the English. Vowels and Diphthongs Vernacular Romanization Sounds (approximate) as in 9SJ, 0 a l h (pa) 01 aa i l l (paa) 0 01 am $1 (tarn) 0 i (khit) 0 ii U (sil) 8 *3 0 eu H?0 (phreuk) =9 0 eu 13141^0 (nangseu) u W (phu) 0q uu 0<u yj (phuu) 10s , 10 e 111 Sills (pepa) t0 ay I* (say) U0S, U0 ae IMS (phae) L10 ae llfTD (saep) 10 0 111 (no) 101S or’ ttnsm (sorlhaa) 00 o ’ 0 0 f ll^ (do) km aai) 100S euk 110^110 (jeukjoe) 100, 10 oe 110, 111-1 (joe), (poeng) 100 ie tH 00 (phlie) 100 eua 1110 (beua) 01 ua 113J (ruam) 100 ooi I l 0 (rooi) 0 0 0 o’y 000 (kho’y) 101 ao 111 (khao) 011 aaw I'll (khaaw) 010 aai 1110 (chaai) 10, I©, 00, 100 ai IniJ (maj) 00 ui 1J01J0 (pukprn) 9 000 uai 000 (ruai) 00 iu ft (siu) d 100 eo 100 (reo) 100 eow 100 (leow) U0O aew U3J0 (raaew) if EJO iew 1000 (khjew) The English spellings of authors’ names reflect their own preference if it is known; otherwise, I have used the spelling that seems most reasonable to me. 10 Introduction This study aims to compare Thai and Malaysian short stories produced by writers from southern Thailand and northern Malaysia to examine the role of the authors, the distinctive characteristics their writings share, and the regional and national affairs on which they comment. Such investigation poses the questions: what is the place of the region in the mainstream of modem Thailand and Malaysia’s national literatures, and to what extent do writers play a significant role. No less important are the questions of how the writers perceive their regions, and what kind of content they inscribe in their works. The relationship between region and nation (periphery and centre) is also integral to an understanding of their writing career and their texts. The comparative study is chosen here because, firstly, no comparative study of Thai and Malaysian short stories has been done by either Western or local literary academics; secondly, to support the Thai government’s educational policy on comparative South East Asian studies; and thirdly, to contribute to the field of South East Asian comparative literature in general and to Thailand and Malaysia in particular. I have chosen to concentrate on those two regions due to four main reasons.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    UCLA UCLA Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Collecting the People: Textualizing Epics in Philippine History from the Sixteenth Century to the Twenty-First Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/61q8p086 Author Reilly, Brandon Joseph Publication Date 2013 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Los Angeles Collecting the People: Textualizing Epics in Philippine History from the Sixteenth Century to the Twenty-First A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in History by Brandon Joseph Reilly 2013 © Copyright by Brandon Joseph Reilly 2013 ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Collecting the People: Textualizing Epics in Philippine History from the Sixteenth Century to the Twenty-First by Brandon Joseph Reilly Doctor of Philosophy in History University of California, Los Angeles, 2012 Professor Michael Salman, Chair My dissertation, “Collecting the People: Textualizing Epics in Philippine History from the Sixteenth Century to the Twenty-First,” examines the study and uses of oral epics in the Philippines from the late 1500s to the present. State institutions and cultural activists uphold epics linked to the pre-colonial era as the most culturally authentic, ancient, and distinctive form of Filipino literature. These “epics” originated as oral traditions performed by culturally diverse groups. Before they could be read, they had to be written down and translated into, first, the colonial language of Spanish, and later, the national languages of English and Filipino. Beginning from the earliest Spanish colonial times, I examine the longer history of writing about, describing, summarizing, and beginning in the late nineteenth century, transcribing the diverse sorts of oral narratives that only in the twentieth century came to be called epics.
    [Show full text]
  • Gendered Perspectives
    RESOURCE BULLETIN Winter 2014 Volume 28 :: Number 2 endered erspectives Gon InternationalP Development IN THIS ISSUE Greetings from the Center for Gender in Global Context (GenCen) at Michigan State University, the host center for the Gender, Development, and Globalization (GDG) Articles . 1 Program, formerly the Women and International Development (WID) Program! Audiovisuals . 4 The Gendered Perspectives on International Development Working Papers Seriesis Monographs and Technical pleased to announce the publication of its newest paper: Reports . 6 GPID Working Paper #303 (December 2013): Periodicals . 14 Gender, Power, and Traumatic Stress in a Q’eqchi’ Refugee Community in Mexico, by Faith R. Warner, Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. Books . 15 Study Opportunities . 19 This paper is available online for free at www.gencen.isp.msu.edu/ and the rest of the Working Papers Series is available at www.gencen.msu.edu/publications/ Grants and Fellowships . 21 papers.htm. Conferences . 24 As always, we encourage submissions and suggestions from our readers! We especially invite graduate students, scholars, and professionals to review one of a Calls for Papers . 26 number of books that are available for review. We also encourage submissions by authors and publishers of relevant articles and books for inclusion in future issues. Online Resources . 28 Remember, the current issue of the Resource Bulletin, along with the most recent Book Review . 30 back issues, is now online! Visit gencen.msu.edu/publications/bulletin.htm. Thank you very much, and enjoy the Winter 2014 issue of the Gendered Perspectives on International Development Resource Bulletin! Executive Editor: Anne Ferguson, PhD Managing Editor: Kristan Elwell, MPH, MA Editorial Assistants: Varsha Koduvayur **The contents of this publication were developed under a Title VI grant Michael Gendernalik from the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Malaysia's Security Practice in Relation to Conflicts in Southern
    LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE Malaysia’s Security Practice in Relation to Conflicts in Southern Thailand, Aceh and the Moro Region: The Ethnic Dimension Jafri Abdul Jalil A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in International Relations 2008 UMI Number: U615917 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U615917 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Libra British U to 'v o> F-o in andEconor- I I ^ C - 5 3 AUTHOR DECLARATION I certify that all material in this thesis which is not my own has been identified and that no material has previously been submitted and approved for the award of a degree by this or any other University. Jafri Abdul Jalil The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. Quotation from it is permitted provided that full acknowledgment is made. This thesis may not be reproduced without prior consent of the author. I warrant that this authorisation does not, to the best of my belief, infringe the rights of any third party.
    [Show full text]
  • Spice Large.Pdf
    Gernot Katzer’s Spice List (http://gernot-katzers-spice-pages.com/engl/) 1/70 (November 2015) Important notice Copyright issues This document is a byproduct of my WWW spice pages. It lists names of spices in about 100 different languages as well as the sci- This document, whether printed or in machine-readable form, may entific names used by botanists and pharmacists, and gives for each be copied and distributed without charge, provided the above no- local name the language where it is taken from and the botanical tice and my address are retained. If the file content (not the layout) name. This index does not tell you whether the plant in question is is modified, this should be indicated in the header. discussed extensively or is just treated as a side-note in the context of another spice article. Employees of Microsoft Corporation are excluded from the Another point to make perfectly clear is that although I give my above paragraph. On all employees of Microsoft Corporation, a best to present only reliable information here, I can take no warrant licence charge of US$ 50 per copy for copying or distributing this of any kind that this file, or the list as printed, or my whole WEB file in all possible forms is levied. Failure to pay this licence charge pages or anything else of my spice collection are correct, harm- is liable to juristical prosecution; please contact me personally for less, acceptable for non-adults or suitable for any specific purpose. details and mode of paying. All other usage restrictions and dis- Remember: Anything free comes without guarantee! claimers decribed here apply unchanged.
    [Show full text]
  • Interrogating Malaysian Literature in English: Its Glories, Sorrows and Thematic Trends
    Kunapipi Volume 30 Issue 1 Article 13 2008 Interrogating Malaysian literature in English: Its glories, sorrows and thematic trends Mohammad Quayum Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/kunapipi Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons Recommended Citation Quayum, Mohammad, Interrogating Malaysian literature in English: Its glories, sorrows and thematic trends, Kunapipi, 30(1), 2008. Available at:https://ro.uow.edu.au/kunapipi/vol30/iss1/13 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] Interrogating Malaysian literature in English: Its glories, sorrows and thematic trends Abstract Malaysian literature in English has just attained its sixtieth anniversary since its modest inception in the late 1940s, initiated by a small group of college and university students in Singapore. Singapore was the academic hub of British Malaya and the only university of the colony was located there, therefore it was natural that a movement in English writing should have started from there. Nonetheless, given the current cultural and political rivalries between Singapore and Malaysia, it is rather ironic that a Malaysian tradition of writing started in a territory that now sees Malaysia as the ‘other’. This journal article is available in Kunapipi: https://ro.uow.edu.au/kunapipi/vol30/iss1/13 149 MoHAMMAD QuayUm Interrogating Malaysian Literature in English: Its Glories, Sorrows and Thematic Trends Malaysian literature in English has just attained its sixtieth anniversary since its modest inception in the late 1940s, initiated by a small group of college and university students in Singapore.
    [Show full text]
  • Federalisme Dan Pengurusan Pendidikan Islam Di Kelantan
    Kajian Malaysia, Vol. 36, No. 2, 2018, 89–111 FEDERALISME DAN PENGURUSAN PENDIDIKAN ISLAM DI KELANTAN FEDERALISM AND MANAGEMENT OF ISLAMIC EDUCATION IN KELANTAN Azmil Mohd Tayeb1* and Sharifah Nursyahidah Syed Annuar2 1School of Social Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang, MALAYSIA 2Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor, MALAYSIA *Corresponding author: [email protected] Published online: 28 September 2018 To cite this article: Azmil Mohd Tayeb and Sharifah Nursyahidah Syed Annuar. 2018. Federalisme dan pengurusan pendidikan Islam di Kelantan. Kajian Malaysia 36(2): 89–111. https://doi.org/ 10.21315/km2018.36.2.5 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.21315/km2018.36.2.5 ABSTRAK Secara teorinya, federalisme sebagai sebuah sistem tadbir urus membolehkan susunan kuasa yang seimbang antara kerajaan persekutuan dengan negeri-negeri komponen yang berautonomi, yang secara rasmi digariskan oleh perlembagaan. Walau bagaimanapun, dalam amalan yang sebenar, keseimbangan kuasa itu jarang berlaku. Di Malaysia, sistem persekutuan amat memihak kepada kerajaan persekutuan yang dominan walaupun bidang kuasa yang jelas telah diberikan kepada negeri-negeri oleh perlembagaan. Artikel ini akan menggambarkan mengapa kerajaan persekutuan di Malaysia dapat mengatasi pemisahan kuasa yang dibentuk secara perlembagaan dengan menumpukan kepada bidang pendidikan Islam. Jadual Kesembilan dan Artikel 3 Perlembagaan Malaysia menetapkan bahawa setiap negeri mempunyai kuasa yang meluas untuk mentadbir hal ehwal Melayu dan Islam dalam batasnya sendiri, di mana pendidikan Islam adalah sebahagian daripadanya, dengan campur tangan yang minimum daripada kerajaan persekutuan. Pada hakikatnya, sejak akhir tahun The original article in English was published as "Federalism in Serambi Mekah: Islamic Education in Kelantan," in Illusions of Democracy: Malaysian Politics and People Volume II, ed.
    [Show full text]
  • The Creation of National Ideologies in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan Erica Marat
    Imagined Past, Uncertain Future The Creation of National Ideologies in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan Erica Marat National ideologies were a HEN the Central Asian nations inherited statehood as Wa result of the collapse of the Soviet Union in late crucial element in the process 1991, their political elites quickly realized that the new states needed to cultivate a unifying ideology if they were of state-building in the to function as cohesive entities. What with the region’s independent Central Asian fuzzy borders and the dominance of the Russian language and Soviet culture, Central Asian leaders had to develop a states. national idea that would solidify the people’s recognition of post-Soviet statehood and the new political leadership. The urgent need for post-communist ideological programs that would reflect upon the complex Soviet past, accom- modate the identities of majority and minority ethnic groups, and rationalize the collapse of the Soviet Union emerged before the national academic communities could meaningfully discuss the possible content and nature of such ideologies. Attributes for ideological projects were often sought in the pre-Soviet period, when there were no hard national borders and strict cultural boundaries. It was in this idiosyncratic setting that the Central Asian regimes tried to construct national ideological conceptions that would be accessible to the mass public, increase the legitimacy of the ruling political elites, and have an actual historical basis. National ideologies were a crucial element of the state-building processes in the independent Central Asian states. They reflected two major goals of the ruling elites. ERICA MARAT is a research fellow at the Institute for Security & Develop- First, the elites were able to strengthen themselves against ment Policy in Stockholm, Sweden, and the Central Asia–Caucasus Institute competing political forces by mobilizing the entire public at the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, in Washington, DC.
    [Show full text]
  • Epic of Manas - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia 08/25/14 01:21 PM Epic of Manas from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
    Epic of Manas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 08/25/14 01:21 PM Epic of Manas From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The Epic of Manas (Kyrgyz: Манас дастаны, Turkish: Manas Destanı) is a traditional epic poem of the Kyrgyz people. The monumental epic Manas is the most treasured expression of the national heritage of the Kyrgyz people. Composed and sung entirely in oral form by various singers throughout the centuries, Manas is regarded as the epitome of oral creativity. It is considered to be one of the greatest examples of epic poetry, whose importance is not inferior to that of the Homeric epic. As nomads, the Kyrgyz had no written language. However, they excelled in oral composition, which they artistically employed in their traditional poetry and epic songs. As the internationally renowned Kyrgyz writer Chingiz Aitmatov notes: "If other peoples/nations displayed their past culture and history in written art, the sculpture, architecture, theatre and literature, Kyrgyz people expressed their worldview, pride and dignity, battles and their hope for the future in epic genre." Today there are about sixty versions of the epic Manas recorded from various epic singers and oral poets. Its longest version, consisting of half Manas monument in Bishkek. a million poetic lines, was written down from one of the last master- manaschï (singers of Manas) Saiakbai Karalaev (1894-1971). The epic is indeed unique in its size. It is twenty times longer than the Homeric epics Iliad (15693) and Odyssey (12110) taken together and two and a half times the length of the Indian epic Mahabharata.
    [Show full text]
  • Kunapipi 32 (1&2) 2010 Full Version
    Kunapipi Volume 32 Issue 2 Article 1 2010 Kunapipi 32 (1&2) 2010 Full Version Anne Collett University of Wollongong, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/kunapipi Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons Recommended Citation Collett, Anne, Kunapipi 32 (1&2) 2010 Full Version, Kunapipi, 32(2), 2010. Available at:https://ro.uow.edu.au/kunapipi/vol32/iss2/1 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] Kunapipi 32 (1&2) 2010 Full Version Abstract Full text of issue. For individual articles see: ro.uow.edu.au/kunapipi/vol32/iss1/ This full issue is available in Kunapipi: https://ro.uow.edu.au/kunapipi/vol32/iss2/1 JournalKUNAPIPI of Postcolonial Writing & Culture VOLUME XXXII NUMBER 1–2 2010 ii Kunapipi is a biannual arts magazine with special but not exclusive emphasis on the new literatures written in English. It aims to fulfil the requirements T.S. Eliot believed a journal should have: to introduce the work of new or little known writers of talent, to provide critical evaluation of the work of living authors, both famous and unknown, and to be truly international. It publishes creative material and criticism. Articles and reviews on related historical and sociological topics plus film will also be included as well as graphics and photographs. The editor invites creative and scholarly contributions. The editorial board does not necessarily endorse any political views expressed by its contributors. Manuscripts should be double-spaced with notes gathered at the end, and should conform to the Harvard (author-date) system.
    [Show full text]
  • Km34022016 02.Pdf
    Kajian Malaysia, Vol. 34, No. 2, 2016, 25–58 THE MARGINALISATION OF MALAYSIAN TEXTS IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE CURRICULUM AND ITS IMPACT ON SOCIAL COHESION IN MALAYSIAN CLASSROOMS Shanthini Pillai*, P. Shobha Menon and Ravichandran Vengadasamy School of Language Studies and Linguistics, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, MALAYSIA *Corresponding author: [email protected]/[email protected] To cite this article: Shanthini Pillai, P. Shobha Menon and Ravichandran Vengadasamy. 2016. The marginalisation of Malaysian texts in the English language curriculum and its impact on social cohesion in Malaysian classrooms. Kajian Malaysia 34(2): 25–58. http://dx.doi.org/10.21315/ km2016.34.2.2 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.21315/ km2016.34.2.2 ABSTRACT In this paper, we seek to investigate the place that local literature has been given in Malaysian Education in the English Language Subject for Secondary Schools in Malaysia. We argue that literature engenders a space for the nation to share in the experiences and feelings of groups and situations that might never be encountered directly. It often engages with the realities of a nation through diverse constructions of its history, its realities and communal relations. As such we posit that literature can be a significant tool to study the realities of Malaysian nationhood and its constructions of inter-ethnic relationships, and ultimately, an effective tool to forge nation building. The discussion focuses on investigating the role that literature has played in Malaysian education in the context of engaging with ethnically diverse Malaysian learners and whether text selection has prioritised ethnic diversity in its Malaysian context.
    [Show full text]
  • Global Invasive Plants in Thailand and Its Status and a Case Study of Hydrocotyle Umbellata L
    Global invasive plants in Thailand and its status and a case study of Hydrocotyle umbellata L. Siriporn Zungsontiporn Weed Science Group, Plant Protection Research and Development Office, Department of Agriculture, Bangkok, Thailand 10900 Email: [email protected] Summary Global invasive plant may invade in some countries, but it is not invasive plant in its native country or in range of distribution. Those plants are utilized in some means, such as vegetable, fruit, ornamental plant or medicinal plant in it native country or even it was invasive plant but people learned how to manage with that plant, they can utilize it. On the contrary way, an invasive plant of any country may not be invasive in any country else. Most of the invasive plants are intentionally introduced to a country for some purpose especially for ornamental plant. Hydrocotyle umbrellata L. was introduced to Thailand as ornamental plant, the plant can grow well and with some habit of invasive plant of this plant, nowadays the plant was found in many natural areas as weed. Introduction Most of invasive plant in an area is alien plant which was introduced from different habitat within a country or other country across geographic barrier. Well development of transportation stimulates traveling and international trading which cause of increasing introduction of alien species. Some of introduced alien plants can establish and spread out if it can adapt itself to survive in the new habitat well. If the environment of new habitat is suitable for it growth, the plant may express it invasiveness and compete for space and nutrient with native plant which it may complete over native plants due to lack of it natural enemy in new habitat.
    [Show full text]
  • Re-Writing Malay History and Identity in Faisal Tehraniâ•Žs Novel 1515
    Kunapipi Volume 32 Issue 1 Article 9 2010 The empire strikes back: Re-Writing malay history and identity in Faisal Tehrani’s novel 1515 MD. Salleh Yaapar Follow this and additional works at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/kunapipi Part of the Arts and Humanities Commons Recommended Citation Yaapar, MD. Salleh, The empire strikes back: Re-Writing malay history and identity in Faisal Tehrani’s novel 1515, Kunapipi, 32(1), 2010. Available at:https://ro.uow.edu.au/kunapipi/vol32/iss1/9 Research Online is the open access institutional repository for the University of Wollongong. For further information contact the UOW Library: [email protected] The empire strikes back: Re-Writing malay history and identity in Faisal Tehrani’s novel 1515 Abstract Published in 2003, 1515 by Faisal Tehrani is a unique text within contemporary Malay literature. Among recent novels in Malaysia it is one of the most difficulteadings, r but probably the most refreshing and rewarding one. Perhaps it is also one of the most multifaceted narratives, with elements of romance, adventure, history, legend, postcolonial discourse, postmodernism, socio-political criticism, feminism, and even fantasy. Consequently, the novel also lends itself to various ways of reading: from the perspective of postcolonial, postmodern, socio-political, and feminist theories, or a blending of all of them. Although the novel appears to be postmodern and unique, it in fact is connected not only to postmodernism and magic realism (as associated with Carlos Fuentes and Gabriel Garcia Marquez), but perhaps more importantly it draws on a long established tradition of Malay folk literature, specifically the folk omancer known as cerita penglipur lara (tales of soother of cares).
    [Show full text]