FILMS
New Malaysian Shorts 3
Date & Time: 6-9 Oct, 9pm/ 10 Oct, 7pm & 9.30pm/
11 Oct, 7pm & 9.30pm
Venue: The Stonor Centre, 3 Lorong Stonor, 50450 KL
Tickets: RM10
Tel: 03-2141 9620

A buffet of short films directed and produced by Malaysian amateur and professional talents.

The Big Durian
Date & Time: 1-2 Oct, 9pm/ 3-4 Oct, 7pm & 9.30pm
Venue: The Stonor Centre, 3 Lorong Stonor, 50450 KL
Tickets: RM10
Tel: 03-2141 9620

This prickly film about a soldier who runs amok in KL's Chow Kit district was first publicly screened in June.

Those who missed local writer and filmmaker Amir Muhammad's film then, can catch it here. More info on the Arts can be found at www.kakiseni.com

OTHER
Enjoy Traditional European Christmas Spirit in the Heart of KL
Austrian-German-Swiss Charity Christmas Bazaar 2003
Date: Sunday, 30 November
Venue: Mandarin Oriental Hotel, KLCC, (Grand Ballroom)
Time: 10am to 1pm

All kinds of Christmas handicraft and decorations, homemade cookies, candies, traditional cakes and more from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. This year, representatives from the Italian Embassy and Italian community in KL will be selling many specialties from their country too. Several Malaysian Charities will offer a wide range of their own handicrafts. The hotel chef will take you on a culinary journey through Europe with his preparation of a delicious Christmas Lunch and there are fabulous prizes to win in a lucky draw. All proceeds go to local charity projects.

A Donation of RM12 to charity from adults and children over the age of 12 years will ensure your entrance to the Christmas Bazaar and a chance to enter the lucky door prize draw.

MCG NEWS

Chapters I & II
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
ISBN: 0-571-17936-3

Over July-August we read Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance, written in 1995 and easily available in KL. It won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Fiction, the Giller Prize, the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize, the Royal Society of Literature’s Winifred Holtby Prize and was a Booker Prize finalist.

Rohinton Mistry was born in 1952 and grew up in Bombay, India, of Parsi descent. In 1975, at the age of 23 and just one month after a state of emergency was declared in India, he migrated to Toronto.

A Fine Balance is set in the India of 1975 during the Emergency, when Indira Gandhi suspended many aspects of the constitution in order to hang onto power after being implicated in a scandal. Mistry shows us life then in Bombay and rural India through the eyes of four main characters, whose lives become connected by their struggle to earn money to survive and to find a reasonable place to live.

We meet Dina, a widowed Parsi who decides to take on two tailors, who work in her home, and also a student boarder, so that she can remain financially independent of her tyrannical brother. The tailors, Ishvar and his nephew Om, left their rural hometown after transcending their caste destiny as tanners to seek work as tailors in Bombay, the city which is actually never named in the novel.

Maneck is the student who seeks relief from a student hostel where he was bullied, and through his eyes we see the underworld of student politics and the world of change in the name of progress as it affects his family’s Himalayan village.

Through the lives of these characters we see the downsides of the Government’s City Embellishment and forced Sterilisation programmes, and the appalling political manipulation of people’s lives at that time. In fact we wondered if life in India then was really as bad as the author portrayed.

However, our Indian members, Nisha and Ratina, who grew up in Bombay and Delhi respectively during these times, confirmed for us that based on the experiences of their respective family’s servants when they returned to their villages, Mistry’s portrayal of events was really very realistic.

Although not a book with a happy ending, there are some very warm moments in the book when the characters transcend barriers of caste, class and religion as their lives merge for a time.

We thought it extremely thought-provoking and informative regarding life in India during the 1970s, and very well-written with excellent character development and portrayals.
- Suzanne Davey

Many of our selections over the past few months have revolved around the theme of the indomitable spirit of human desire and unfulfilled dreams, and true to form, Rohinton Mistry did not disappoint us with A Fine Balance. Having enjoyed his previous Booker Prize nominated Family Matters, we eagerly invested our ringgit, laid our emotions on the line and were taken on a steady, downward spiral to the depths of human despair and misery worthy of 624 pages.

Mistry vividly portrays the horror and devastation of the Emergency period, as well as provides political and social commentary played out by meticulously drawn characters. In spite of their misfortunes, a thread of hope always shines on the horizon, although tantalisingly out of reach and overshadowed by the next downward turn of events. Like phoenixes, the characters rise once again from the ashes to meet the next barrage of challenges to their existence.

Mistry is a very fine writer whose intricately detailed novels encapsulate the lives of his characters on many levels in a profoundly moving way. The essence of this novel lies in an observation made by one of the characters, the secret to life is to maintain a fine balance between hope and despair. Emotionally extreme, but understandable, nevertheless. A highly recommended read by our group members.
- Roslyn Woods

Chapter III
River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze by Peter Hessler
ISBN: 0-719-56480-8

American Peter Hessler and his friend Adam, members of the first Peace Corps group to enter China, lived in Fuling from August 1996 until July 1998. Fuling is situated at the confluence of the Yangtze and Yu rivers in the province of Sichuan. At the time, they were the only Americans living in Fuling, and they taught at the Fuling Teachers College.

Hessler specialised in English literature. His knowledge of Chinese culture and language was rudimentary when he arrived but he persisted with language lessons throughout his time in Fuling and went out of his way to get to know the locals. His book is devoted to his observations during that period. Currently Hessler lives in Beijing and continues to write.

The whole group enjoyed the book. We empathised with his situation and appreciated his insights into the Chinese way of life and psyche.

Throughout the book, Hessler makes observations about commitment levels of the self-employed person and those employed by the state. The idea of belonging to a ‘danwei’ or government work group provoked discussions of compulsory union membership and of government scholarships and the ensuing periods under bond. We pondered if the West was so very different.

Hessler looks at the Three Gorges Dam project and worries about the loss of historical artefacts, architecture and livelihoods. He was surprised to discover that most people he spoke to were unfazed by the project and considered the options of improved housing, uninterrupted electricity and easier passage down the river as simply ‘good’. The Three Gorges Dam was completed in June. The only negative comments on the news here have been about the buried toxic wastes. The local people apparently remain silent and committed.

The book covered many other topics, too numerous to mention here. It is well structured and easy to follow with a nice balance between descriptive passages and information. The group considered the book a worthy read, especially if you are interested in learning more about modern China.

Thank you, Robyn, for leading a stimulating discussion, and Nancy for being a charming host.
- Bridget Tesch

LIBRARY REPORT

First, I would like to thank MCG life member, Mrs Joan Russell, for her generous donation of a very special, limited edition book, Tuanku Ja'afar–10th King of Malaysia.

This book was published to commemorate the 80th birthday of His Majesty, Tuanku Ja'afar Ibni Al-Marhum Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Yang Di-Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan. You’ll find a lot of interesting information about the history, not only Negeri Sembilan’s royal family, but also about the history of all Malaysia. The book is also full of amazing old photos from the rich past of this country.

Thank you, Joan. Our library budget is limited and without your donation, we could never have had this book.

I have very good news for Penang’s admirers. I’ve bought a new book about this amazing place:Penang – Postcard Collection 1899-1930s. With over 700 images this is the largest collection of pre-warPenang postcards ever published. It is testimony to Penang’s rich heritage, and a great visual resource for researchers, artists, collectors, and all who lovePenang. The collection was compiled by Malcolm Wade, with historical research by Khoo Salma Nasution, author of the Streets of George Town,Penang, which we already have in our library.

Krakatoa by Simon Winchester is an informed and brilliantly vivid tale. The impact of the most terrifying volcanic eruption on27 August 1883 was truly global. Ships sailing in theRed Sea were covered in ash, barometers went haywire inWashington, the seas were disturbed inDevon, stunning sunsets burned overLondon, and immense rafts of pumice floated toAfrica.

The island was destroyed and almost 40,000 people were killed. There would be further and even more far reaching effects–the destruction wrought by this volcano would become the catalyst to a dramatic and bloody uprising of the region’s Muslim community against their Western colonial masters. If you would like to find out more about it, come to the library and borrow this new book.

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