Towards Understanding The_ Psyche of The MalaysianDiaspora: A Reading of K. S.

Maniam's Short Stories

Lajiman Janoory

Abstract: This paper examines the issue of psychicalfragmentation of people of the diaspora through the main theme ofnation building. It will study four short stories by K.S.Maniamwhich have identity and hybridity as their underlying themes. Theypresent different perspectives of the same dilemma of a peopleliving in an alien land.

Keywords: Psyche, diaspora, fragmentation.

INTRODUCTION

In the Malaysian educational landscape, English literature hassometimes been regarded as the difficult terrain, a domain only fewwould care to enter. This is due to the perception of literature as adifficult field, full of linguistic gorges and swamps, which requiremultiple skills to understand and appreciate, the least of which islanguage proficiency. Like it or not, Literature in English, as well as

English Literature, has now 'gate crashed' its way into our schoolsyllabus. Students have to go through its territory whether they likeit or not. It is now left to the teachers to determine the path thestudents have to take, whether the mental journey would be one ofrevelation or a torture that would be avoided in future.

Literature, in actual fact, can be a satis$ing experience once thestudents have tasted the sweet fruits of the field. They mightpossibly love to linger a bit longer if they understand that literatureis not solely about understanding texts orland being able to writecompetently. Literature can serve many purposes, one of which is toteach students to look at issues, problems or solutions from varyingperspectives. Literature provides students with human sensitivity as

Psyche of the Malaysian Diaspora

a social tool in understanding and dealing with others. Thus,

literature is very relevant to all of us because the literary text

transcends the words and sentences and is actually a window into

understanding man and his social environment and the many facets

of humanity.

In a multi-cultural country such as Malaysia, there is an acute

need for literature to be taught in schools. Taking the above

arguments into account, literature would nicely serve as a bridge toconnect the cultural gaps between the races. Nation building, more

than anything else, would then be grounded on a sense of justice

and impartiality, of understanding each other, and of taking into

account the needs of all the cultures. It is here that literature can

play its role.

Once these objectives are understood, it is of paramount

importance for teachers teaching literature to provide good

background information on literature as well as to gain the ability toteach the subject in a way that will attract students' interest. Thispaper is intended to expose teachers to one of the many ways oflooking at a text. The objective is not so much to provide acomprehensive understanding of the field as to serve as a catalyst

for students (as well as for teachers) to become interested in the

field. The writer hopes that students(and teachers) would pursue the

field later in their future educational pndeavours. It is merely an

introduction that will hopefully bloom into an intimacy.

A VOYAGE INTO THE PSYCHEOF THE DIASPORA

This paper will analyse four short stories written by the prolificMalaysian writer K.S.Maniam. While it can be interpreted through

many points of reference, this paper will deal with the texts through

the theme of nation building. Haupting the Tiger, The Eagles, The

Third Child and The Terminal all deal with the issues of identityand hybridity. Each short story presents the dilemma of a man who

tries to keep his culture in its totality and the need to conform to the

dominant cultural forces in the new land. For a race which finds

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English Language Journal

itself far removed from its cultural centre, there is always the needto find, in the adopted land, a place for the original culture toblossom. Every so often the psyche will never find itself intact. Thecollision and collusion with the dominant culture always cause thetransformation of the culture(s) of the diaspora to blend in with thenew social and cultural landscapes. As defined by Samad (2003):

The self, migrant, half-formed, unformed, dismembered,must be remade from a series of metamorphoses; it takes asparts of itself all influences and personages which haveaffected it, afflicted it, lived with it and died with it (p.17).

It is on these- on the fragmentation of the psyche, and on the needto fit into the new social landscapes- that Maniam bases the premiseof his short stories. He attempts to translate the feelings of hisculture and its psyche into words so that there will beunderstanding, which in turn will smoothen the path towards nationbuilding.

Cultural issues in Malaysia are no simple matter. This country,with its potpourri of cultures, can also become a cauldron of fire ifthe issue of race is not handled properly. Opening a cultural box islike revealing the contents of Pandora's box of uncertainty. Onenever knows how other cultures would perceive its contents.Malaysian writers like K.S.Maniam understand this andacknowledge the sensitive cultural issue. In the preface to hisHaunting the Tiger, he states that;

There is the risk of treading on cultural sensitivities; there isthe risk of political persecution if he so much critises theestablishment (xi).

This situation, then, produces a challenge for writers to utilise theircreativity in handling issues as delicate as culture. However, theend objective should be to form an understanding, in the sense thata person is able to make other cultures understand his or her uniqueroots. This will breed empathy and sympathy among the culturesand consequently establish a more cohesive and united society.

The Malaysian cultural landscape has a unique setting. It is acountry formerly colonized by the British Empire. In its centuries

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I'sychc olthc Malaysian Diasporu

of domination, the British brought in immigrants especially fronr

China and India to hasten the economic development. AfterIndependence in 1957, the races were left to sort out problems

among themselves. As mentioned by Rehman Rashid in his

Malaysian Journey:

'The country that had come to call itself Malaysia ... had

been flung free into the world as an orphan of Empire and

left to fend for itself as best it could, picking through the

rubble of its colonial identity, in search of clothes that might

fit, or the material with which to fashion new ones'(p 13).

It was a new country young yet vibrant and there was hope as well

as dangers as each race vied for a place in the political arena ofthenewly- independent country. It was not so much a political struggle

as a cultural one. After colonialism, all the races were in actuality

trying to rediscover their identities. Jostling for cultural space was

expected, and friction was unavoidable. A clash occurred and

suddenly a new power structure began to assert itself. The

immigrants realised that in order to survive in the newly

independent land they had to assimilate with the dominant culture.

As stated by Paul Sharrad in his Introduction to K.S.Maniam's

novel In A Far Country,'the ideal is not recovery of a country ofcultural origin, but the discovery of a meaningful connection to the

place one inhabits' (Shanad, cited in Maniam 1993:x).

The effort is, of course, easier said than done because it could

create the feelings of dispersal and fragmentation of the psyche, ofthe changing of an identity. Living in a land where one is a minority

is doubly hard. The first hardship is the physical survival, the need

to put bread on the table, to have clothes on the back and so on. It is

the necessities of life but then life does not merely hinge on

necessities alone. The second obstacle a minority person has to

overcome is the psychical hardship, notably of an immigrant

culture living amidst an existing dominant culture. It is the seeking

of the cultural identity, which if not resolved properly, will leave

one in a cultural abyss. Not even wealth can fill the void of one's

loss ofa cultural sense.

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English Language Journal

This is the identity, which Maniam constantly seeks and whichis evident in his writing. In essence, Maniam has to balance hiscultural sense and assertions, and a sensitivity of the otherculture(s) in the land he now is a part of. To overcome this problem,a writer like Maniam needs to use certain means to achieve both.He admits that;

"The writer is therefore compelled to distort the familiar inorder to reveal its transience; he is compelled to makeaccessible the strange in order to reveal an ignoredreality"(xi)

Maniam, thus, strategises his writing such that he can probe deeperinto his ancestral culture and expose it to the masses as well asmaintaining racial harmony. This discourse, then, strives to explainthe psychical nature of an immigrant with relation to his culture asit clashes with other existing cultures of the land. It also deals withhow the psyche tries to resolve the problems arising from the clashof cultures.

In highlighting the issue of cultural fragmentation andidentification, the collection of short stories in the text 1/aunting theTiger describe how K.s. Maniam, or any other people of the Indiandiaspora, negotiates the issue of cultural identity and confronts thedilemma of being in a borderland state. Maniam states that behindall the stories is the need to push 'the frontiers of consciousnessfurther awayfrom a purely social, political and cultural centre'(x).He further asserts that'writing is an attempt to heal thefragmentedself of man' (x). Thus, writing, for Maniam, seryes two purposes.one is to position and project the issue of the immigrant's culturalfragmentation and dispersal to the fore so that it can be understood.Another objective of writing is to serve as a psychical therapy: toheal the psychical wound, which is the result of the saidfragmentation.

cultural fragmentation and dispersal are not easy to describesince they reside in the psyche. But whatever the circumstance, onehas to confront it and try to be at peace with it. In one of the storiesHaunting the Tiger, the issue of cultural fragmentation is subtlyforwarded by Maniam. It deals with this theme right from the start.

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Psychc of the Malaysian Diaspora

'The old man had trouble dying. The peace he had hoped forwas disturbed by dreams. Some of these dreams took on the

sharp edges of a nightmare and kept sleep away' (p 37)

The search for cultural identity is a matter of great importance, inthis instance greater even than death. Culture is the umbilical cord

that binds an individual with his or her community and to a certain

extent with the country of origin. It provides a history with an

agreed code of conduct, with joint aspirations and with similarhopes. Without an identity that one can relate to he or she can never

find peace, whether in living or in dying.The first two sentences of the short story highlight the dilemma

of an immigrant seeking cultural identity in a foreign land. The

words 'dying' and opeace' in the sentences are abstract words but

they represent the reality of living in a new land. He or she can

never truly 'live' with a borrowed culture nor find 'peace' if the

reality of the cultural landscape, vis-a-vis the local culture isignored. Survival means adaptation. He or she realises that he or

she needs to refashion the cultural identity to suit the land and be

satisfied with whatever emerges out of the refashioning. It is this

decision that causes the fragmentation of the self. However, the old

man's refusal to do so causes him to lead an unfulfilled life which

will result in a troubling death.

The word 'dreqms' in Haunting the Tiger represents hope and

aspiration, but unfortunately it resides in the world of cultural

dream as opposed to the 'nightmares"' which is actually the cold

cultural reality of the multicultural land. This contradiction of hope

and reality in the psyche is the main reason for the fragmentation ofthe psychical self. That is why Muthu finds it hard to track the tigeq

itself the symbol of reality. When he traverses the depth of the

forest hunting for the tiger, he is actually deep in the jungle ofdream and reality. He is in between his aspiration of an intact

culture and the harsh reality of having to appease the dominant

culture. He seeks to track the tiger using his own culturalperspective, which he inherits from his ancestors, whereas the tiger

is a 'beast' of a new land, and to be able to see it requires a new

perspective. Thus, he fails to confront the tiger 'face to face' (p44).

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[nglish Language Journal

This failure to track the tiger signifies the fact that in dealingwith cultural integration he has to make sacrifices so as to beaccepted by the land of the tiger. This fact is futher highlighted byZulkifli when he says,"So you brought a purpose with you...And away of thinking. How can you get into the tigerb stripes andspirit?'Qt 45) These words connote the idea of the clash of cultures.lt is the locking of horns between the culture of the immigrant andthat of the native race. Muthu, understandably, strives to preservethe purity of his cultural roots while trying to gain a space in thedominating local culfure. He seeks a vacancy to put a piece of hisculfure intact into the bigger cultural puzzle. Eventually, he failsand Zulkifli provides him the clue: in order to fit into the space hemust modify his cultural psyche to suit the demands of the newland. He must molliS the tiger by sacrificing a part of himself inorder to see it.

It is this necessity to re-mould his psyche that leaves hirn andpeople like him, to feel culturally dispersed and fragmented. Hefeels alienated in his own land. Like it or not, Muthu realises that henow stands in a psychical borderland state-the border between hisroots and the de-facto dominant culture of the land as representedby the border between the jungle and civilisation. These dualidentities, though, enable him to feel and live in two culturalpsyches, but also fragment each of them. The situation does notpermit him to hold dual cultural citizenships. So, he has to be likethe 'chameleon' (p 45) which changes its colour to suit thesurrounding environment.

Muthu has to construct a new way of dealing with the land. Herealises that being a chameleon is part of the process of integration.The new way develops in the psyche, as he unclerstands the need tore-shape his cultural identity in order to stand side by sideharmoniously with other cultures. Maniam feels that to practice hisculture in its entirety freely would clash with the values of othercultures. However, his culture should not be relegated to the lowerrung of importance either because this would deny his own self-identity.

There is another factor contributing to the feeling of dispersaland fragmentation of self, and to make it complicated the factor

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llsychc of thc Malaysian Diasptlra

comes from within the inherited tradition itself. K.S. Maniam is not

one who focuses on cultural identity with respect to other cultures

alone. His conscience embodies all aspects of lives, be they cultural

or political. And we must bear in mind that the fragmentation and

dispersal of the psyche does not result due to the hegemony of one

culture over the other alone. 'The Eagles" brings to light the socio-

cultural issue within one's own culture itself. Again, Maniam's flair

in writing with subtlety exposes how the caste system within his

own culture can be debilitating to the psyche. This is further

complicated by the financial security of the higher caste as opposed

to the money-constrained lower caste. Maniam admits that'the

story images the attempts of a boy to break out from the dominating

influence of a moneyed class of people''(x')' However, in this case'

money is not the real issue. The inherited culture has a rigid

structure of caste, which one cannot break from. Even the sea that

separates the immigrant community from the mother country

cannot shake the cultural grip because the community brings its

roots wherever it goes, like a psychical passport which defines its

identity. The relationship between the castes is exemplified by the

preface by E.M. Forster for the novel (Jntouchable by Mulk Raj

Anand. Foster states that;

The sweeper is worse off than a slave, for the slave may

change his master and his duties and may even become free'

but the sweeper is bound for ever, born into a state from

which he cannot escape and where he is excluded from social

intercourse and the consolations of his religion' (vi)

One of the main features of the caste system is the job specification,

and in the case of Ganesan and his family in The Eagles the job is

specified as washer of clothes. The short story reveals Maniam's

awareness that even within his culture there are divisions and

separations, and that class and status are demarcated by territorial

and social boundaries.

These contradictions form another dilemma in Maniam's

psyche. On the one hand, living in an adopted land, demands

r".ognition of the land, while retaining his inherited cultural

iAeniity. On the other hand, like Ganesan, he is in revolt against

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linglish Languagc Journal

some aspects of his culture which he feels do not run parallel to hissense ofjustice and equality. Maniam highrights this issue throughGanesan who is bulried by the higher caste family to an absurdlevel. Ganesan feels a sense of helplessness in his encounter withthe family each time he goes there to colrect the dirty raundry. Hisfather told him ',tlte mo,rning house wants you. This poor houseneeds you"(p 55). He has to entertain the upper_caste family Uybeing an unwilling victim of their grotesque snobbishness in orderto "bring something back"(yt 5g) for the family. Their lives areintertwined in a vicious cycle of social hierarchy. Ironicaily thedirty laundry which was thrown down to him came from ups-tairs,implies that the rot and dirt actually reside at the upper leveiof thehierarchy when Ganesan notices the soiled white thundoo, theblood and the faeces all over the dying matriarch of the family.

This contradiction is significant in anarysing Maniam,s pry"t e.It points to the many stages of turmoil in his psyche in dealing withthe issue of traditions and varues. The first stage of the turmoil iswithin his inherited curture, the Hindu curture, which he identifieshimself with. The second invorves the crash of his inherited cultureand the received culture. These turmoils can be mind- numbing tothe extent that sometimes the conscience needs a form of escapismto shut the psychical dilemma. One way out is to simply fo",,, onaccumulating wearth and casting aside the cultural thlught out ofthe mind. This attempt at resorving the dilemma is evid"ent in theshort story The Third child.In order to brock the psychical pain ofculture clash, Velu simply reverts to monetary gain as a form ofescapism.

This action can be compared to Muthu's action in Haunting theTiger who buys up lands upon lands to make up for the feelin'g ofcultural disfigurement. He believes that he can trade the lands ormoney for the cultural acceptance, which he feers has been deniedhim. Velu puts much of his energy and focus on keeping theaccount books in order, as he berieves that 'the pilrars oytiis i,ortdwere expressed in columns in the little account book, (p 165). Hetries to believe that wearth would buy a place for his culLar space.He even admits that ,For me money tells me everything. That,senough '(p 175)' But the fact is that both of them have confronted

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Psyche o1'thc MalaYsian DiasPora

the cultural issue and are undergoing psychical transformation in

the aftermath of the confrontation. Muthu who wants to confront

the issue face-to-face ends up having 'trouble dying'(p 37) and

Velu simply escapes by focussing on making money.

There is still another option which Maniam feels can be taken. Itis a drastic path as taken by Kok Seng in the short story Ifte

Terminal. The bloody rituals and sacrifices symbolise the re-

awakening of the consciousness. The caged and fattened wild boar

represents the psyche of the immigrant who fails to see the

adversity of the cultural path taken by him. Kok Seng is like the

boar, which has been kept away 'from any kind of light until that

dqy' (p 15). He believes that he can overcome psychical

fragmentation by ignoring the cultural contest taking place in the

new land. Little does he realise that ignoring the landscape ofcultural reality would only exacerbate the cultural issues more

without resolving them.

The sacrifice will be a baptism: 'cleansing' the ignorance,

transforming it into an enlightened individual who is' finally,

psychically aware of his identity. The narrator notices this when he

wonders whether Kok Seng has leaped into some new life form. Itis in fact the rejuvenating of the new, highly conscious self out ofthe cocoonised psyche, which had previously been veiled by the

apparition of physical grandeur. What Kok Seng believes are the

marks of cultural achievement in the form of 'glass-sheated

buitdings'(p1), or the 'Light Rail Transit system'(p 2) or even the

'3-D advertisement'(p 8) are but the copious entities of other land's

cultural values. He fails to comprehend that what he thinks is

cultural advancement in its technological feat is actually a cultural

degeneration, a replacement of purity with falsity. The landmarks,

which are supposed to symbolise unity and pride for all cultures,

are a mere facade of a deteriorating race relation and cultural

domination.Kok Seng finally realises the truth when he, at last, notices the

'deeply embedded, wedge- like shape'(p 20) in the cheeks of the

enforcement officer. The term enforcement and wedge here have

great significance in describing the interaction between the various

cultures of this land. They signify the power that decide what to do

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qIlltglish [,:rrrguago .lourrrll

and not to do, especially in cultural relations. A wedge as a toor rrasthe power to divide or to tighten. As a social tool, the power ries inthe hands of the one with the wedge to decide the course of thenation, or the relationships between the dominant curture and thecultures of the diaspora. This interpretation is further substantiatedby the fact that the man is an enforcement officer. As much as hehates it, Kok seng has to play along with the whim of the officerwho is the master of the land. This idea can be substantiated by thefact that the clean-shaven man, constantly, needs to be pacifiedwhenever he frequents the restaurant. only then wiil peace prevail.

Macroscopically, the issue deals with cultural/racial interactionwhere the different races vie to assert self-identity. However, thedominant culture continuously seeks to dominate the immigrantculture by closing the business premises whenever they fite.Eventually, Kok Seng realises that a symbiosis of the cultures cannever happen as long as the dominant culture always plays the roleof big brother in the integrative process. Thus, the rituaristicsacrifice of the pig symbolises the effort at recognising andidentising the roots in determining the future or tr,ut part-icularculture' Sacrifice can be painful, and it can be violent but it isnecessary for, without sacrifice a culture can be forgotten or beswallowed into unrecognisable entity by the notion of jointcultures.

Cultural issues are the perennial issues faced, not only by asegment of a minority population in a certain country but alsobyhumanity itself. This world, with technological and communicationadvancement, is embroiled in the inter-influencing culturalphenomena. Some are constructive while other interactions can bedestructive. In the landscape closer to home, K. S. Maniam whoregards himself as representative of the immigrant culture feels theneed to negotiate between the inherited and received tradition inorder to survive in this multi-cultural land. He cannot afford to failthe negotiation. Failure courd onry mean the prolonging of hispsychical existence in the borderland state- neither here nor there.

I'sychc of the Malaysian Diaspora

CONCLUSION

The issues about culture will continue to dominate the Malaysiansocial, intellectual and even political scenarios. In the literary circlethe same themes will recur over time because of the durability and

relevance of the issues in describing the Malaysian social

landscape. In a country where various cultures exist togetheq closer

interaction and communication, and the sensitivity towards the

needs and aspiration of others are the only way of avoidingsuspicion thus ensuring a peaceful coexistence. There should not be

a case in which a dominant culture seeks to assert its hegemony

over the other since cultural tyranny will only beget resistance and

resentment. In turn, the cultures of the diaspora should also be able

to reshape and transform themselves to fit into the general culturaland social landscape of the land. Only this mutual understanding

and willingness to sacrifice in each culture will enable the smooth

progress of nation building. To reverse the trend would mean todismantle the very bricks that form the pillar of trust. With trustgone the dream of nation building can easily become a nightmare ofnation dismantling.

REFERENCES

Anand, Mulk Raj. (1986). Untouchable. Penguin Books: London, England.

Maniam, K. S. (1993) In a F'ar Country. Skoob Books Publishing, London.

Maniam, K. S. (1996). Haunting the Tiger- Contemporary Stories from Malaysia.Skoob Books Publishing: [.ondon.

Rashid, Rehrnan. (1993). A Malay.sittn .hntrnc.t,. Relttttart I{irshirl: I)clrtlitrg .lrty:r,

Selangor.

Samad, D. R. (2003). Toward National ltlcrrtity its b-y I'ltt:rtotttt'ttrtl Alt'ltt'rrty. A

Reading of K.S.Maniam's ln tl lirr' ('ttttttlr t' irr llrrz,y S.ll :tlltl

Subramaniam.G.(eds).Reclaiming l'ltr,'t' rttt(l ,\l,ttt t' llrrrrl'.i. linivt:rsitiKebangsaan Malaysia.

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