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A review by misspalah
The Minorities by Suffian Hakim
4.0
THERE IS A saying in Malay: takutkan hantu, terpeluk bangkai. Directly translated, it means, "In fearing a ghost, one embraces a corpse." I never quite understood the proverb's translation. I first heard it as a child, and until now, I could not understand it in any way other than my first interpretation of it which was that one was so frightened of a ghost, that one would hug a corpse just for comfort. What the proverb implies is that in avoiding a small, possibly imagined danger, one could end up facing an even larger, actual threat. I fared poorly in the Malay language as a student.
- The Minorities by Suffian Hakim
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.
3.5 is my actual rating - i rounded it up simply because i find this book fun , eccentric and haunting at the same time. Singaporean story that still confronted racism, sexism and taboo subject but also explored the connection that doesnt have to be bound by blood ties, the complexity of identity and sense of belongingness and the fixation on supernatural beings. The story highlighted how other minority helping other minority ; in this book, We were introduced to a quasi Malay man (Remain Nameless for almost half of the book) , A Bangladeshi man (Cantona) , A chinese man from China (Tights) and An Indian girl (Shanti). Different circumstances brought them together and they lived together in Yishun’s HDB flat. 2 are illegal immigrants, 1 ran away from an abusive husband and 1 are trying to revive his father in a ghost form. I have to admit that the first 90 pages is boring and i almost put it aside simply because i cannot see which direction this story is going to take me. Then, the ‘Pontianak’ or ‘Diyanah’ appeared in-front all of them and eventually caused havoc in the house. This is where it becomes interesting (at least to me) because i am all in whenever Malay folklore and the absurdity of modern world got entangled in the story. They met the ‘Bomoh’ to get rid of the pontianak only to end up befriending her. Then, they somehow found that there are others like Diyanah and has been part of ‘COME’ - an acronym of Council of Metaphysical Entities. It was so ridiculous but i am here for a fun ride specifically when they decided to help Diyanah who’ve wanted to return to her homeland (Malaysia) and stay there for good. I understand that this is not everyone’s cup of tea, heck - i don’t even know how non-Southeast Asian (putting Non SEA simply because i believe SEAsians can) read this novel. They may not be able to get the nuances , culture and even might find too many ghosts / apparition types mentioned in the book overwhelming. BUT don’t dismiss it yet, keep on reading and maybe you will end up laughing and even felt second-hand embarrassment for whatever these characters attempt to do. I will not review it any longer as i don’t want to spoil the story so i just shared what i don’t like about this book. First, the relationship that the Main character has with his father. The plot mentioned sense of abandonment, gaslighting and lack of attention but it was addressed briefly. Only towards the end it got cleared up but even then, it felt inadequate. It’s frustrating because it was supposed to the major plot tool but it got sidelined by the Pontianak’s Homeland Quest (for what its worth, i do like Pontianak thingy but the synopsis of the book highlighted ‘wanting his father to come back as a ghost so he brought whores home’. Second, placing, trusting and living with strangers in your own home took guts. But i wanted to know how the solid bond is being established. Everyone has a sob story and its normal for us to be empathetic and try to help each other out but using your saving to sustain and feed 2 illegal immigrants and one battered wife without any expectation of rewards seems too good to be true. That being said, while this book is amusing - some gaps in the story is obvious and some readers might not take this lightly. Anyway, if you just want to read something that might boggle your mind but not in serious way - more like humorous and weird way, this is the one.
- The Minorities by Suffian Hakim
.
.
3.5 is my actual rating - i rounded it up simply because i find this book fun , eccentric and haunting at the same time. Singaporean story that still confronted racism, sexism and taboo subject but also explored the connection that doesnt have to be bound by blood ties, the complexity of identity and sense of belongingness and the fixation on supernatural beings. The story highlighted how other minority helping other minority ; in this book, We were introduced to a quasi Malay man (Remain Nameless for almost half of the book) , A Bangladeshi man (Cantona) , A chinese man from China (Tights) and An Indian girl (Shanti). Different circumstances brought them together and they lived together in Yishun’s HDB flat. 2 are illegal immigrants, 1 ran away from an abusive husband and 1 are trying to revive his father in a ghost form. I have to admit that the first 90 pages is boring and i almost put it aside simply because i cannot see which direction this story is going to take me. Then, the ‘Pontianak’ or ‘Diyanah’ appeared in-front all of them and eventually caused havoc in the house. This is where it becomes interesting (at least to me) because i am all in whenever Malay folklore and the absurdity of modern world got entangled in the story. They met the ‘Bomoh’ to get rid of the pontianak only to end up befriending her. Then, they somehow found that there are others like Diyanah and has been part of ‘COME’ - an acronym of Council of Metaphysical Entities. It was so ridiculous but i am here for a fun ride specifically when they decided to help Diyanah who’ve wanted to return to her homeland (Malaysia) and stay there for good. I understand that this is not everyone’s cup of tea, heck - i don’t even know how non-Southeast Asian (putting Non SEA simply because i believe SEAsians can) read this novel. They may not be able to get the nuances , culture and even might find too many ghosts / apparition types mentioned in the book overwhelming. BUT don’t dismiss it yet, keep on reading and maybe you will end up laughing and even felt second-hand embarrassment for whatever these characters attempt to do. I will not review it any longer as i don’t want to spoil the story so i just shared what i don’t like about this book. First, the relationship that the Main character has with his father. The plot mentioned sense of abandonment, gaslighting and lack of attention but it was addressed briefly. Only towards the end it got cleared up but even then, it felt inadequate. It’s frustrating because it was supposed to the major plot tool but it got sidelined by the Pontianak’s Homeland Quest (for what its worth, i do like Pontianak thingy but the synopsis of the book highlighted ‘wanting his father to come back as a ghost so he brought whores home’. Second, placing, trusting and living with strangers in your own home took guts. But i wanted to know how the solid bond is being established. Everyone has a sob story and its normal for us to be empathetic and try to help each other out but using your saving to sustain and feed 2 illegal immigrants and one battered wife without any expectation of rewards seems too good to be true. That being said, while this book is amusing - some gaps in the story is obvious and some readers might not take this lightly. Anyway, if you just want to read something that might boggle your mind but not in serious way - more like humorous and weird way, this is the one.