The relations between ethnic groups in Malaysia and their reflection in contemporary Malay prose

Abstract

In 9 stories the Chinese girl is the incarnation of the sensual principle, while in all these stories, with one exception 'Budi' [Kindness] by Usman Awang she intentionally or unintentionally leads the Malay man astray and even openly seduces him. [...]Che' Shukur, a newly appointed member of the People's Representative Council in Usman Awang's story 'Kacang dan Kulitnya' [The Peanut and its Shell], decides to look for a new wife after having danced with a charming young Chinese girl at an evening party. The given rigid structure of the text decidedly precludes excessively active heroes who ignore die special border-area rules.e The lovers are pursued by two unknown Chinese and receive anonymous threatening letters, Abdul Rahim is blackmailed in a restaurant by a Malay he has never seen before, and finally a few days before their marriage he is killed by a young Chinese, a tooi in the hands of unknown malefactors, and Kim Lian commits suicide by taking poison. [...]Percintaan di Kuala Lumpur' confirms the impression that in a Malay story the love of a Malay for a Chinese woman can only have a happy (matrimonial) ending if the object of his feelings is prepared to adopt Islam and become assimilated to the Malay world. Half the stories of the third group contain the sarae situations that we are familiar with already. [...]in Keris Mas's story 'Banyak Anak' [A Lot of Children] a certain Tan Lian, who loves a life of ease and dubious entertainments, tries in vain to lead astray the thoughtful Hamzah, who is looking f or a way of combining in one person the role of a loving son and of a wise and prudent family head. [...]they are marriages between a Chinese girl who has been brought up in a Malay family and has adopted Islam, and a Malay man" (cf.