The Pineapple Trail

Recently, I published my novel The Pineapple Trail on Amazon. I feel pleased and grateful that I have achieved this long-held dream.

This blog has been an important part of the journey towards this goal. So thank you to all my blogger friends, fellow bloggers and readers for being part of that journey. ( Thanks also to Goodreads friends for sharing their reading recommendations and insights.)

Here’s a description of the novel:

Two sisters, Safia and Nora, grow up in a town in Malaysia where the pineapple is king, where the fruit’s factory and plantation provide livelihood for the residents. As young women, they start their adulthood at the factory.

Nora is happy to stay in her hometown with all that it offers. Charming and bubbly, Nora has many suitors. Will she make the right choice?

For Safia, the older sister, a chance encounter with a glamorous woman unveils a side of her that she never knew existed. She leaves home to follow the lure of a bigger dream. Alone in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, through her timidity, Safia loses the drive to seek her goal. Then she meets an ambitious young man who revives that dream. At a time when the city is brimming with new opportunities and new wealth, can they pool their yearnings and achieve all that they want?

The sisters tread life’s journey through expectations, unfulfilled dreams, joys and resolve. This is the story of their pineapple trail.

Read Full Post »

The Pineapple Journey

Recently, the pineapple has been an important part of my writing.

The photo on the left  is of the pineapple factory and plantation in Hawaii, from vintage Dole pineapple factory and American Can Company booklets. The photo on the right shows women packing canned pineapples at a factory in Malaysia, seen at the Pineapple Museum in Johor, Malaysia.

Read Full Post »

Book’s Magic

Read Full Post »

The Artist

 

Here’s an excerpt from my novel, set in Malaysia. Hope you enjoy it.

 

They walked slowly towards the house, taking in the greenery around them. The garden felt expansive. Four sturdy trees looked like sentinels guarding the house. One looked like a mango or kuini tree. The fruits were still small and green. It was hard to tell. Another was a rambutan tree. The red fruits dangled from the branches, like rubies playfully hiding away in their hideout.

“Oh look at that rambutans,” Jee whispered excitedly. “We have to ask Zain if we can pluck some.”

The house came into view, and Nora saw a traditional Malay house on stilts. A wooden staircase painted cream, flanked by two brown pots of bird’s nest fern, led up to the verandah. From a large window on the right side of the house, Zain popped his head. “Glad you found your way. Welcome.” His voice rang from the higher level of the house. It sounded like an echo to Nora.

He led them pass the small verandah into to the living room. Furniture was minimal here – just a sofa, a coffee table and a small bookcase. One side of the living room was bare, but there were several Malay pandanus mats in beige and pastel pink shades spread on the floor. Two big cushions were thrown on the mat. On the wall above the mats, hung a painting, Zain’s presumably, of two stylised red flowers. The deep shades of the paintings accented the colors of the mats.

As though reading her thoughts, Zain said, “Please excuse the unconventional arrangement of the room. I like to read, rest, on the mats. More comfortable for me.”

He showed them around the house. He told them that the rumah ibu, the main section had four bedrooms. But Zain had knocked down two bedrooms and converted the area into the kitchen. He explained that the kitchen was previously on the lower level of the house, in the old style of Malay houses. “It’s called rumah dapur, the kitchen house. Interesting isn’t it, the language of our forefathers.”

They walked down a short flight of wooden steps into a huge open area. “So, the kitchen is no longer a kitchen. But has become my studio, where I work every day. Well. almost every day.” Zain said, as though expecting them to appreciate it. Nora could hear the pride, or was it joy, in his voice.

The walls were painted white and the floor was tiled with big, light cream tiles. Splashes of colors were added by the paintings hung on the walls and some stacked against a wall, as well as a variety of paints and brushes on a table.

The three of them, never having been in an artist’s studio before, didn’t really know what to say. “That’s good. You have a nice area to work in,” Jee said. She and Mak Cik walked towards the steps to go back to the main section of the house, followed by Zain.

Nora lingered, curious about an easel with a big canvas on it, situated close to a wall. Nora moved closer and saw that Zain had started just on one spot at the bottom of the canvas. They were strong strokes of blue. She tried to imagine the completed painting. She wondered what kind of painting he already had in mind. Then she realised the rest had left and she made a move to join them. As she turned towards the staircase, she noticed the wide window in the studio. Something drew her to it. She looked out and saw the merry cluster of banana trees, its leaves glistening emerald and bright.

Read Full Post »

The Sounds of Childhood

Royston Tan directing actress J.Rosmini in his film which was inspired by the sounds of his childhood.

Sound is a one of our most powerful senses. A small tinkle, a laugh can bring forth memories, associations and expectations.

Recently, Singapore’s filmmaker Royston Tan was in California to talk about his films and his career. One of the projects that he was involved in was 7 letters, an anthology of short films by Singaporean fimmakers. He shared with the audience his film in the anthology titled “Bunga Sayang”.

“Bunga Sayang” means “Flower of Love, or Flower of the Heart” in Malay. It refers to the title of a song that has a central role in the film.

Royston explained that the film was inspired by the sounds of his childhood.

One of them was the sounds of the traditional Chinese opera. The opera was often staged in a public area where everyone could come and see. (It was also a part of my childhood. Like most children, I was drawn to it when it was staged in my neighborhood. For me, what was most fascinating were the shiny, colorful costumes, especially those with the long, flowing sleeves.)

Another inspiration for the film was the sounds of a song.

The main protagonist in Royston’s film is a young boy, around 10 or so. A normal day, after school, brought a small crisis. The tap in his flat suddenly stopped when he was taking a shower.

The boy called his mother, who was away working, who then instructed him to go to his neighbour’s house and to request if he could finish his bath there. The neighbor, an older Malay woman, couldn’t speak English, and the boy spoke broken Malay, but somehow they communicated.

After the shower, he found himself drawn to the kitchen where the woman was preparing food, while her radio filled the flat with the song “Bunga Sayang”. The sounds and notes of that song formed a strong memory of that day for him. And soon a friendship developed between the two of them.

“Bunga Sayang” is a heartfelt film because, I believe, it was made from the heart. Watching it made me think of the sounds of my childhood. And what comes to my mind, without hesitation, is the sound of fish frying in my childhood home.

Our big extended family was run by my grandmother and grandaunt. They would start cooking around 10 or 11 am in the morning. I would often hang around in the kitchen, being in their company, or enjoying doing some coloring.

One dish that was often served in our home was deep-fried chunks of tongkol fish, which is a type of tuna fish. Oil was heated in the kuali, a deep frying pan. And when the first chunk of fish hit the hot oil, it created a pristine sizzle and hiss. So clear that one could visualize the hiss rising up, winding up, from the pan.

That sound, together with the fragrance of the turmeric spice coating the fish, leads me back to my young days, in our sunny, warm kitchen in the tropics.

Read Full Post »

My Father’s Book

My father’s passion was reading. Our favorite weekend activity as a family was to visit the newsstand to buy magazines.

 

My father’s short stories will be republished soon by Fixi Retro.

I’m lucky to come from a family that loved books and writing.

My grandfather loved poetry and owned a small second hand bookshop in Singapore. My late father Hamzah Hussin, helped him in the shop as a young boy, and he grew up to become a figure in the Malay literary world.

My father became a journalist and writer, penning and publishing short stories and novels.  He then joined Cathay Keris Organisation, one of the pioneer studios that produced Malay films, as a scriptwriter/ public relations officer. He later went to live in Malaysia to continue to contribute to the film industry and also to teach at FINAS Film Academy.

He was always generous with his knowledge, and I knew that he cherished the opportunity to teach, and the interaction with the students and their ideas.

Most of the Malay films of his era are still widely viewed, and thus my father’s screenplays are still intact. However, some of his literary works are not so readily available.

The good news is that Amir Muhammad, Malaysia’s well-known author, filmmaker and publisher, has located three of my father’s published short stories and has compiled them into a book. Amir and his company Fixi Retro will launch the book on November 21 at Ilham’s Gallery in Kuala Lumpur.

I feel very grateful and pleased to share my father’s work with more people, and I’m sure he would be too.

If you’re in Malaysia or Singapore, I would like to invite you to the launch. Amir will also talk about Malay movies in the 60s at the event. More details on the event and the venue are at this page.

Read Full Post »

A Gift of Literature

Tea and a good read – timeless classics.

David Lean’s “Great Expectations” said to be the most faithful and among the best adaptations of literature to film. ( Pic: moviemail.com )

 

How wonderful to get presents that reflect what you love.

One that I received recently was a bundle of Collector’s Library books, which included “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens.

The book was part of the syllabus of my English Literature class in high school.

Of course, we had to learn and memorize the book for the coming examinations. But with Dickens’ genius writing and the guidance of a wonderful teacher, we grew to love the characters and the story. And at the same time, though we might not know it then, we were learning a little about life and love as a young teenager from the stories of Pip, Estella, Miss Havisham, and the other characters.

At that time, my best friend in class was K. When we heard that the British Council was screening a film based on the book, we were so excited and decided to make an outing of the event.

I remember going to K’s house on that day. I met her sisters – all very smart and strong-willed like her. I remember, after that, we ran to the bus stop, hoping to make it in time for the screening.

In the darkened theater, when the movie started, it was quite amazing to see the characters that had lived in our imagination for most of the year come alive on the screen.

K and I went to different colleges. We kept in touch for a while. Then she got married; we started our careers, and we lost touch through all the busyness of young adulthood.

But I believed that, for both of us, the year that we studied “Great Expectations” was an enjoyable time in our growing up years.

 

 

Read Full Post »

Johor’s Gathering of Writers, Readers and Musicians

Danga Bay – the scenic setting of the JB Writers and Readers Festival.

I had an enjoyable time at the JB Writers and Readers Festival held recently in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

The setting was the beautiful Danga Bay, where the water and its fluidity seemed to throw its reflection on the event. In addition, as many of the festival’s participating writers, musicians and publishers were indie folks, the vibe was friendly and casual.

The audience had interesting questions at my session where I discussed my book “Kampung Memories”, which revolves around the Malay kampungs (villages) that are now gone from Singapore’s high-rise landscape. An audience member pointed out that several kampungs have had to make way for development in Johor, and we discussed the need for documenting the social history of these places.

After that, a duo came on stage, and they rendered a Singapore Malay folk song “DiTanjong Katong”. I was very touched by this gesture.

On the whole, the organizer Tok Rimau, his team and the volunteers did a great job, and I look forward to see what they have in store next year.

The host Widda (right) and members of the audience had several insightful questions for me to discuss.

Nam Ron, one of Malaysia’s most interesting playwrights and film makers, with his books at the festival.

The duo performed a lovely rendition of a Singapore Malay folk song.

Read Full Post »

Book Festival in Johor Bahru

The JB Writers & Readers Festival 2013 celebrates literature and the community of writers and bloggers in Johor Bahru,  the main city in the southern part of Malaysia.

There will be sessions and talks by publishers and writers, music and book sales. One of the objectives of the festival is to focus on new and self published authors in Malaysia and in the Archipelago.

It will be held on 14 and 15 September (Saturday and Sunday) at Danga Bay Marina Club.

I’m happy to be included in the festival. I will appearing on 15 September, Sunday, at 11 am. And I will be discussing my book “Kampung Memories – A Life’s Journey Revisited”.

If you are in Singapore or Malaysia, I hope you can come down and support the community of writers.

Links: program schedule

Festival Facebook Page

Read Full Post »

Book Giveaway

I’m pleased to giveway three signed copies of my book Kampung Memories – A Life’s Journey, Revisited.

Kampung means “village” in Malay, and my book is part social history and part memoir of life in the kampungs of Singapore before they gave way for urban redevelopment.

It combines interviews with the residents, explanation of Malay customs, and my own memories and reflections. Artistic sketches by Malaysian artist Fausin MdIsa and old family photos add to the experience of the book.  More about it at the book website .

Please email me your name at hsharifah@hotmail.com, by September 28, to participate in the draw. Thanks and good luck.

Read Full Post »