KS Maniam Removal In Pasir Panjang
K.S. Maniam: Removal in Pasir Panjang
As the first-generation descendant of indentured Indian labourers brought in to service the rubber plantations of British colonial Malaya, Maniam knows too well the trauma and losses attendant on that position of cultural, linguistic, geographic and temporal displacement. Early stories such as "Ratnamuni", and "The Third Child" and "Removal in Pasir Panjang" capture the nuances and particular texture of diasporic Indian life, replete with its fears, failures and feelings of betrayal as its members cling desperately to familiar, long-ago rituals that are fast losing their currency in the new cultural location.
Themes:
Tradition vs Changes – perspectives on striking changes which have taken place in modern Malaysia and Singapore societies.
Power relation – human relationship in different strata and racial aspects.
Conflicts
Setting
Physical
Penang in post independence time
Small town – Pasir Panjang (refer to the text how the writer describes the town – the shop, the school, the buildings etc)
The road – its significance impact to the town people
Social setting
Multi-racial community
Nathan, Ramasamy representing the Indian, Ah Seng and CRC the Chinese community, the students etc
The housing development on the other side of the river – representing changes
The CRC (Chinese Recreation Club) – representing the tradition
Plots (themes)
A subtly paced contrast of this life with the more rapid changes brought about by urban development. There is a comic strand running throughout the story, the better because it is played by seriousness, concerning Nathan (protagonist) the school teacher’s resignation from CRC.
Nathan sent in his resignation from the CRC
The reaction of CRC concerning his decision
CRC bent their rules to admit him, and send successive deputations to urge him to rejoin.
The building of the road – Leng Leng’s death and other children who were also killed on the same road after its completion brings in the irony
As the first-generation descendant of indentured Indian labourers brought in to service the rubber plantations of British colonial Malaya, Maniam knows too well the trauma and losses attendant on that position of cultural, linguistic, geographic and temporal displacement. Early stories such as "Ratnamuni", and "The Third Child" and "Removal in Pasir Panjang" capture the nuances and particular texture of diasporic Indian life, replete with its fears, failures and feelings of betrayal as its members cling desperately to familiar, long-ago rituals that are fast losing their currency in the new cultural location.
Themes:
Tradition vs Changes – perspectives on striking changes which have taken place in modern Malaysia and Singapore societies.
Power relation – human relationship in different strata and racial aspects.
Conflicts
Setting
Physical
Penang in post independence time
Small town – Pasir Panjang (refer to the text how the writer describes the town – the shop, the school, the buildings etc)
The road – its significance impact to the town people
Social setting
Multi-racial community
Nathan, Ramasamy representing the Indian, Ah Seng and CRC the Chinese community, the students etc
The housing development on the other side of the river – representing changes
The CRC (Chinese Recreation Club) – representing the tradition
Plots (themes)
A subtly paced contrast of this life with the more rapid changes brought about by urban development. There is a comic strand running throughout the story, the better because it is played by seriousness, concerning Nathan (protagonist) the school teacher’s resignation from CRC.
Nathan sent in his resignation from the CRC
The reaction of CRC concerning his decision
CRC bent their rules to admit him, and send successive deputations to urge him to rejoin.
The building of the road – Leng Leng’s death and other children who were also killed on the same road after its completion brings in the irony