This is no ordinary novel. It's really good. It has a great characters and storyline and have some elements of facts about pre independence Malaysia in the 1900s. Very highly recommended to read this book.
The author is Mr Khoo Kheng-Hor from Penang and published by Pelanduk Publications (M) Sdn Bhd. I think you can find the book in various bookstores in Malaysia.
A historical saga that brings back the past for those who could still remember and for the young who may wish to know how things used to be in the years between 1922 and 1982.
From the beginning in prewar British-ruled Malaya, the story revolves around the life of a boy as he grows to manhood. It traces the migration of his family from South Thailand to Penang after his father passes away, his brief childhood living with his young widowed mother who subsequently remarried, and thereafter his banishment as a youngster by his stepfather to war-torn Shanghai. On his return, he had to find a way to earn a living and thereafter, survive the bloody days of the Japanese Occupation. Even after the surrender of the Japanese, there was the lawless postwar period, from which he saw opportunities to eventually emerge as a taikor(big brother) in Penang's chaotic underworld. Apart from opportunities, the postwar years also saw dangers, like the Emergency period when Communist insurgents tried to destabalize the country's development.
Finally, a nation was born when Malaya became an independent sovereign State. And just as the new nation strive to build a future from its historical legacy, the taikor sought to break away from his past involvement in triad activities to build a new life for himself and his family.
Check it out. You won't regret it. This novel was nominated for the 2006 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.
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Taikor wasn't the only one novel that Mr Khoo wrote. There are 3 more.
The second one - Don't judge the book by it's cover.
Following the success of his first novel, Taikor, which was nominated for the 2006 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, Mr Khoo has launched this second one which plunges the readers into the glitzy world of nightclubbing.
As Mr Khoo takes you behind the scenes of a large Kuala Lumpur cabaret and nightclub, be shocked and fascinated by the lives of a host of vividly-drawn characters, from the dance hostesses, mamasans, managers, bouncers to those customers who patronize nightclubs. Be prepared to find yourself in a whole new world totally different from those known to most of us. It is a world where money "plenty of it" is king, arousing greed, lust, violence, and yet be surprised to find out that the players are, in truth no difference from us, the average guys, as they too could love, hate, dream, hope, despair, feel hurt, bleed, laugh and cry as we do.
As passionate storyteller, Mr Khoo spins a tale encompassing other tales covering juvenile delinquecy, growing up, deceit versus honesty, love, broken home, corruption and power abuse of police officers, rape, blackmail and murder.
Be entertained.
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The third one.
Today, many people around the world have heard of Malaysia and Singapore. But not many really knew that these two nations were once known as literally meaning the "Southern Ocean", a name given by the early Chinese migrants who flocked to this part of the world to escape from war, poverty, hunger and famine, and to seek their fortune.
In this absorbing historical saga, Mr Khoo weaves an engaging tale linking the multi-racial peoples who inhabit the two countries: the orang asli(i.e. the aborigines), the people from various parts of Southeast Asia collectively known as the Malays, the Chinese(migrants and Straits-born Peranakan), the Indians, and of course the Eurasions, descendent of inter-marriages of the natives and the Europeans, such as early Portuguese who came to colonize the wealthy Malacca Sultanate, before being chased out by the Dutch, who in turn were outmaneuvered by the British, who thereafter systematically colonized the land to be known as British Malaya and the Crown Colony of Singapore until they too were driven out by the invading Japanese.
Here is the fascinating story of their relationships, as seen through the lives of four generations as they toiled and struggled for wealth and power, fought for their beliefs and freedom, and felt their hopes and dreams for their future and those of their offsprings, as Nanyang became two separate fledging nations.
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And the most recent one.
Death was an old companion for him.
He grew up in uncertain and violent times. Even with the return of the British after the Japanese Occupation, a peaceful life was still non-existent in post-war Malaya. He was forced to join his family in suffering an uprooting from his home to a barbed-wire New Village as a government’s strategy to contain a Communist insurgency.
Having watched his father’s cold-blooded murder as ordered by an over-zealous British army officer, he knew he had to survive in order to seek vengeance. Young as he was, he also knew he couldn’t do it all on his own but had to learn from those who were able to teach him.
It was his destiny to meet the sifu - teacher or master - who would initiate him in the deadly craft of a professional assassin. But unlike many others, he wouldn’t kill indiscriminately. He killed only those who deserved to die until death came too close to him.
Just finished Sifu. Again, another twist of characters and plots in this book. I shall not reveal more so it's better you grab a copy and read it yourself.
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