Scan barcode
misspalah's review
4.0
"Sir, based on my experience, partnering with a tiger, regardless of whether the tiger is Chinese, Indian or Malay, brings plenty of danger, there are many tricks. The moral code of the business world is firmly in place, but it is a bed of thorns. The terms "cheating", "being deceived", "lies", "pretention" and many other terms can be interpreted very loosely, up to a point where it doesn't make sense, but there are limits when one has gone beyond the moral code. So if we are partnering a powerful tiger, then we have to become a sly fox. Don't become another tiger or even a bull or a crocodile." The Honourable Gentleman smiled and appeared truly glad. "My thoughts exactly, Mr Mat, can I call you just Mr Mat?" He looked straight at Mr Muhammad's face, appealing for friendship. Mr Muhammad smiled willingly. The Honourable Gentleman continued: "You are a brilliant man, Mr Mat. I remember the fables from when I was young. The tiger certainly is the enemy of the fox." "That's wrong, sir. The fact is that the tiger and the fox are not enemies but contenders. Those who compete are not necessarily enemies. The tiger truly knows about the deviousness of the fox, and the fox on the other hand, knows exactly the strength and courage of the tiger. They fight each other hard to continuously remind their opponent of their abilities and also to remind themselves about the abilities of their opponent.
- The Big Businessman from Kuala Lumpur by Keris Mas
.
.
Greed, Capitalism and class differences is the 3 themes that was discussed the most throughout the novel. Mr. Muhammad has planned a strategy to overtake Datuk Tan’s monopoly on Mining industry. That strategy requires him to be cunning and bold specifically in pushing villagers to sell their land. While this is the major plot for almost 500 pages, Keris Mas also inserted other social commentary in some of the scenes that happened in the story. The clash of ideologies between Rahim (Mr. Muhammad’s son) with him managed to portray how distinctive the older and younger Malay psyche at that time. One saw the land takeover as manipulation and the other saw it as development - for it will help improve the Malays economic wellbeing. There’s also love story that happened between Mahani with Rahim and also Sudin with Gayah though it was underlined with purpose to highlight whatever works back then which is matchmaking and arranged marriage done by parents is considered outdated already. Hence, when they are already like each other - marriage is the next step without any delays. The sentiment of Malays should help another Malays is strongly expressed whenever Mr. Muhammad talked about how the future will looks like once the area is developed. That sentiment also hinted an undertone of ‘it is the same Malays that exploited the other Malays’. Family connection also seemed to be emphasised in the story as back then, during the 80s and 90s - if you made it in KL, all your relatives will be relying on any kind of assistance you can offer - either job opportunities/ connections, money / allowances and even guidance on how to make it in a big city as well. This is the first novel of Keris Mas that i have read and while i did enjoy it, i felt it was too long for my liking. Too many storylines within one major plot and some characters did not even get to develop properly. I was waiting for Mahani character to shine but it was reduced to meek girl that used to nod and agree with everyone despite being highly educated. Keris Mas has a problem writing a strong minded women characters that are consistent throughout the story which is also my observation with some of the female characters in ‘Blood and Tears’ short stories that i have read last year. Overall, this was an insightful read despite some issues i have mentioned above. Intentionally, i felt he wanted to show that the end doesn't justify the means. Just for profit making, Mr Muhammad decided to push the idea of selling the land and relocating to Felda is better for the ‘development’ and their ‘economic prosperity’ of his own race.
- The Big Businessman from Kuala Lumpur by Keris Mas
.
.
Greed, Capitalism and class differences is the 3 themes that was discussed the most throughout the novel. Mr. Muhammad has planned a strategy to overtake Datuk Tan’s monopoly on Mining industry. That strategy requires him to be cunning and bold specifically in pushing villagers to sell their land. While this is the major plot for almost 500 pages, Keris Mas also inserted other social commentary in some of the scenes that happened in the story. The clash of ideologies between Rahim (Mr. Muhammad’s son) with him managed to portray how distinctive the older and younger Malay psyche at that time. One saw the land takeover as manipulation and the other saw it as development - for it will help improve the Malays economic wellbeing. There’s also love story that happened between Mahani with Rahim and also Sudin with Gayah though it was underlined with purpose to highlight whatever works back then which is matchmaking and arranged marriage done by parents is considered outdated already. Hence, when they are already like each other - marriage is the next step without any delays. The sentiment of Malays should help another Malays is strongly expressed whenever Mr. Muhammad talked about how the future will looks like once the area is developed. That sentiment also hinted an undertone of ‘it is the same Malays that exploited the other Malays’. Family connection also seemed to be emphasised in the story as back then, during the 80s and 90s - if you made it in KL, all your relatives will be relying on any kind of assistance you can offer - either job opportunities/ connections, money / allowances and even guidance on how to make it in a big city as well. This is the first novel of Keris Mas that i have read and while i did enjoy it, i felt it was too long for my liking. Too many storylines within one major plot and some characters did not even get to develop properly. I was waiting for Mahani character to shine but it was reduced to meek girl that used to nod and agree with everyone despite being highly educated. Keris Mas has a problem writing a strong minded women characters that are consistent throughout the story which is also my observation with some of the female characters in ‘Blood and Tears’ short stories that i have read last year. Overall, this was an insightful read despite some issues i have mentioned above. Intentionally, i felt he wanted to show that the end doesn't justify the means. Just for profit making, Mr Muhammad decided to push the idea of selling the land and relocating to Felda is better for the ‘development’ and their ‘economic prosperity’ of his own race.
More...