Chuah Guat Eng (Part ii)

Part 2

In the interview that was conducted by UPM’s student, Juliet Lavania Kaur a/p Soba Singh, she asked on Chuah Guat Eng’s opinion about the current status of English Literature in Malaysia. Dr Chuah stated that, the prognosis is good because many younger Malaysians and ex-Malaysians are now writing. More importantly, she emphasise that  these younger writers are well supported by a growing infrastructure: more local and international publishers interested in Malaysian writings; more universities offering courses in Malaysian literature in English; more creative writing courses run by English departments in universities as well as by private individuals; and more reading and discussion groups that meet either virtually on the Internet or physically in educational institutions and in private homes. This means that Malaysians are getting more interested in writings and their involvement in this field, which is the English Literature are stimulates by the growing infrastructures in Malaysia.

Source: Juliet Lavania Kaur a/p Soba Singh

Echoes of Silence

EoS not only deals with issues of post-colonialism and post-Independence Malaysia but also with the subversion of the Western concept of mystery novel itself. The book is a life size protest against Western domination especially in the media industry.

 Her other works

Chuah Guat Eng has published four short stories that were short enlisted of the NST and Shell Writing Competition III in 1992. They are “The Power of Advertising” (published in New Sunday Times, 28 June 1992), “Forbidden Fruits” (NST, 5 July 1992), “The Day Andy Warhol Died” (NST, 9 August 1992) and “The Old House” (NST, 30 August 1992).

These stories address various themes and explore diverse life situations from the male-dominated world of business, to domestic issues of extramarital affairs and guilt betrayal, to child abuse and questions about good parenting, to fears of aging and portrayal of the world of spinsterhood.