The Places You Will Go

The Whole Package

By DAPHNE LEE 

From Tots to Teens, StarMag
 

I HAVE just spent a pleasurable couple of weeks reading five collections of folktales, three of them locally published works. 

At a recent colloquim on children's literature, held at University Malaya, several speakers lamented the fact that Malaysian children are unfamiliar with local folktales and legends, Instead, fairytales like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty are often named as favourites -- and Disney's sanitised, saccharine versions at that! 

I had a Eurocentric upbringing, in terms of literature, and I remember my father reading to me tales by Hans Christian Andersen and the Brothers Grimm. There was a book that I particularly loved -- small and fat, with dark crimson clothbound covers, miniscule font, and no pictures. I remember especially loving the story of Snow White and Rose Red, and so it must have been a Grimm collection. I can remember how the book felt in my hands, and how it smelt deliciously dusty. 

Although I recall being introduced to Sang Kanchil when I started school, I don't remember what form the stories took - whether I was told about the mousedeer or if I read about him in a book. 

Their look, feel and smell are a big part of my memories of a great many books I read and loved as a child. This is why I think it's important that publishers of local children's literature pay attention to the way a book is packaged. 

The text is important of course, but so are the illustrations. Why include pictures at all unless they are of the best quality and best suited for the stories they are illustrating? The three local collections I recently enjoyed comprise well-written versions of local and Asian folktales, but the illustrations could be a lot better.

Could Be Better

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

I'VE just received a copy of the latest compilation of folktales from this region -- Myths and Legends of Malaysia and Singapore by Ralph Modder and Asishah Ahmed (Horizen Books, 129 pages, ISBN: 978-9810831004)

It's encouraging to see more and more writers and publishers producing such anthologies. I don't believe there can be too many books of folktales. These stories bear infinite tellings and re-tellings, should be reinterpreted, reconstructed and deconstructed, and kept interesting and relevant to each generation.  Although their origins are oral, they are too precious a record of our past not to be preserved in more permanent, traceable form.

While it's great that quite a number of these collections are now available, I am disappointed in the way these books have been produced. I have yet to see a local anthology of folktales that satisfies on all counts. At times the writing is weak. Often the stories do not seem to have been edited or proofread. The illustrations too are frequently of inferior quality.

This latest compilation suffers from lack of coherence. Is it a story book? Is it a book of trivia? Is it a record of historical sites? It's a little of every thing, really.

Malaysian Tales

By DAPHNE LEE

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

IT'S good to see more children's books being written and published by Malaysians. Last week I was introduced to an independent publisher who is dedicated to publishing Malaysian stories. Oyez! Books has a list of titles that are illustrated by Malaysian artists and is on the look-out for Malaysians who wish to write for children. More on this publishing company and its founder, Linda Tan, in another column.

This week, I'd like to highlight a new book published by Marshall Cavendish. Timeless Tales of Malaysia is a collection of 11 folktales, retold by Tutu Dutta. Born in India, Dutta grew up in Malaysia. However, she now spends much of her time away from the country as she's married to a Malaysian diplomat whose next posting is to Cuba!

Dutta has always been interested in folktales, legends and myths, which, she says are "little capsules of culture, history and also human nature". She read and researched a great many stories before selecting those that appear in Timeless Tales. Some of them were tales Dutta remembered from her childhood; others she had read on the Internet and discussion forums; a few were from travel articles and also from published collections. The final selection was based solely on what appealed to Dutta most. "First of all, they had to have an interesting plot and the possibility of character development," she explained to me via email, adding that she also favoured stories that end with twist. Most importantly, the stories had to "speak" to her.

Janet Saves the Day

I’VE been fascinated by the story of Tam Lin ever since I heard English folk band Fairport Convention’s rendition of the old Scottish ballad.

Tam Lin is a knight who becomes the Queen of Elfland’s lover for seven years. The queen has to pay a tithe to hell every seven years and plans to sacrifice Tam at the end his time with her. Fortunately for him, he meets Janet.

Janet is the heir of an old estate named Carter Hall. Maidens are warned to avoid the hall’s grounds as a strange young man lurks there, claiming the virginity of any young women he happens upon. Janet, being more headstrong than the average medieval teenager, rushes off to Carter Hall and meets Tam. He is obviously a very comely young man as he manages to get to third base with Janet on their very first date....

Of course, this is just what it sounds like in the ballad. It’s very likely that many details have been left out and Tam and Janet actually go steady for some time before their hormones get the better of them.

No Confusion

By DAPHNE LEE

From Tots to Teens, StarMag

PROFESSOR Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, announced two weeks ago that he would be leaving his post as professor of science and understanding at Oxford. One of the things Dawkins plans to do during his retirement is to write "a children's book on how to think about the world - critical thinking contrasted with mythical thinking."

Dawkins wishes to warn children about the dangers of believing in "anti-scientific" fairytales, including fantasy and science fiction. He was quoted in several British papers saying, "I would like to know whether there is any evidence that bringing children up to believe in spells and wizards has a pernicious effect. So many of the stories I read allowed the possibility of frogs turning into princes and I'm not sure whether that has a sort of insidious affect on rationality. Perhaps it's something for research."

Smouldering Scottish Folktales

From Quill, August 2008

DAPHNE LEE has never believed in the tooth fairy and thinks Tinkerbell one of the most annoying characters in literature. She likes her fairyfolk tall—and handy with a bow and arrow, but thinks Tolkien’s elves could benefit from some psychotherapy. In this piece she tells us why Tam Lin, a character in Scottish folklore, has such sizzling sex appeal.

She Did What?

I WAS in Singapore last weekend to watch The Swordfish, Then the Concubine, by Kee Thuan Chye, a critically acclaimed Malaysian playwright who also happens to be an associate editor at The Star.

The play is based on a legend, told in the Sejarah Melayu (Malay Annals) of the attack of Singapore by swordfish. I've always been fascinated by the story without really understanding it. It's obvious that Singaporean fishermen would have been affected by shoals of killer swordfish, but apparently thousands of men, women and children were also killed. Strolling by the seashore was, I suppose a favourite pasttime in those days before video games and cable TV.

Anyway, the ruler of Singapura (as the island was called then) ordera the royal guard to form a human barricade at the edge of the water, but this plan fails. Presently though, a small boy suggests that banana stems be used to form a protective barrier against the fish. This brilliant idea works like a dream: the swordfish get their sharp snouts stuck in the stems and are destroyed by the king's men. However, the boy's original thinking is not rewarded. Fearing that he will grow up to be a threat to authority, the king has the lad killed.

According to the legend, it is the blood of the murdered boy that stained the earth and gave Bukit Merah its name. And what is the lesson that this tale teaches? Ummm ... that children should be seen and not heard? As one of the character's in Kee's play says, if the boy had kept his mouth shut, he would have lived - provided he kept off the beach, that is. Hmmm ... no wonder many versions of the story end simply with the success of the banana-trunk wall.

Yet, although the end of the tale is a tragic and unfair one, it does accurately reflect life. One is not always rewarded for doing the right thing. Performing well wins you admiration and can lead to success, but also causes jealousy and may end in downfall at the hands of those who resent you. In anycase, no one actually does anything about the boy's unjust treatement. "The kingdom thrives, the people carry on ..." sings the chorus in Kee's play. All's well, so why rock the boat for the sake of one scabby little kid?

Adele Geras: Telling Stories Her Way

The Guardian's World Book Day programme ended with a seminar about reading for pleasure in secondary schools. The high point was a talk by Adele Geras on her own experiences writing for children.

You can listen to the podcast of this hilarious, interesting and enlightening talk here.

Geras' latest young adult novel Ithaka has been longlisted for the Carnegie Medal.