Paddylands (old Malaya)

by Susan Abraham

Introduction:

The above image was secured from Amazon Books and so the photograph is not my personal copy, although the cover is the same.

This morning, I purchased PADDYLANDS A Story of Malaya, once written by Grace P. Garnier and illustrated by Nora Hamerton; from Japan’s Kinokuniya Bookstore at the Suria KLCC in Kuala Lumpur.

There stood the steadfast tall book, for a long while, still fashioned after a bashful aristocratic flavour. What with its fragile tarnished jacket sheltering a green hardback while accompanied by stubbornly resistant colour-pencil drawings that up to now, still stoutly refusing to sacrifice their artistic lustre… Perhaps then seen through the canvas of enthusiastic children from a kampong, ferrying their school slates alongside towering plantations, a little like a faded dame of a forgotten bride that icily rejects the hand of mortality. Soon, embraced by my own excitement, PADDYLANDS would bid goodbye to the bookshop’s locked glass showcase, that exhibited other patient rows of valuable antiquarian publications also.

I paid RM790, about 185 euros I’d say, for my original version. Of course, there are far more reasonably priced ones packaged as reprinted editions and generously displayed online. I collected a 50 Malaysian ringgit book voucher for my extravagant efforts and so picked for free, another paperback edition of Sir Hugh Clifford’s later collection of Malayan rural tales, titled At the Court of Pelusu and other Malayan Stories. I still have a 20 Malaysian ringgit voucher left over.

Some months ago, I had purchased a rare book called Haji’s Book of Malayan Nursery Rhymes also from the same bookstore, that never seems to disappoint with its stock of magical finds. If every astonishing decision of late, makes for my life’s wealth of learning experiences; than I suspect that I am often drawn to a touch of the whimsy. This, in my taste for the slightly ancient Malayan publication and especially one that calls for a sudden, thrilling reminiscence of childhood, woven through the musical fancies and narrations of cultural poetry and folklore.

Now, in my PADDYLANDS published by George G. Harrap and Company Ltd. in London; lay an endearing inscription scribbled with a fountain pen and addressed to an English boy called David Porter. It was a present by Christopher and dated 1954.

It was obvious to me that Porter treasured his gift greatly as the storybook is so well-preserved. Were they friends, classmates, cousins, brothers, a father and son? Perhaps even a kindly neighbour? I like to think that both Porter and Christopher may have been pleased by my purchase. This, from a long-ago goodwill, shared by a similar passion for a romanticised and gentle Malay culture. Hopefully, wherever these gentlemen may be today since several decades have now long passed; that they would be reassured this treasured find had fallen into the right hands. PADDYLANDS will follow me rather gallantly back to Ireland and have its pride of place, closeted snugly on a library shelf.

I often feel drawn to such books from the memory of my Malaysian childhood and would not buy them, otherwise. Still, this 56-pp book was published in 1947 a good while before I was born and with a second reprint conducted in 1952 in England.

That Little Oomph About PADDYLANDS:

Garnier’s childrens’ literature of olden day kampong life seems very precious to me. She writes with all the tender love and care, that one could only expect from a woman who must have happily regaled in noisy, merry bands of children around her.

Through this piece of juvenile children, Garnier painstakingly prints a story of a Malay family made up of the book’s little hero, Hussain, his dad called Mat, his mother Habibah and his baby brother called Sap.

The close-knit family live in a nipah palm hut, that has been steadily built on poles, above the padi fields. A stream runs past their doors and the family also command their own rowing boat and buffalo stock.

Some of Hussain’s more adventurous antics are reserved for the wide spaces in between the coconut trees, where all the children play and once, he even gets into a tussle with an angry monkey determined to steal the prized, seasonal *durian fruit.

Naturally, because it is childrens’ literature, Garnier ensures that there is never a bored moment. She gaily uses Hussain’s eager mischief on all counts to offer a detailed educational study on Malay kampong life. In fact, Garnier’s descriptions are vivid and highly atmospheric. She pens her tales with an insider’s view and I suspect that she has herself spent time in the kampong and talked to the families.

For one, Garnier outlines Hussain’s many pastimes. These included kicking balls of plaited grass about and playing the wild-bull game. Here one boy would pretend to be a bull, while the others scampered around teasing him, but keeping clear of his heels.

One very interesting game appeared to be that of the ‘fighting fish. The children kidnapped guppies and bottled them securely in glass jars. The fun happened when two glasses of jars would be deliberately placed next to each other. How the ticklish children would scream with delight as they watched the fish while intent on a fierce struggle, trying miserably to pounce on each other through the thick glass.

Garnier also made serious fruitful attempts in her exquisite show of storytelling in which to draw cultures together. She silently brought home the fact that no culture could be compared as being better or worse than the other but that they simply varied. Here then, lay her universal hope for peace and understanding. Through her amusing whimsical tales, she held the graceful art of being careful never to patronize a reader.

For instance, the author was quick to add that Hussain’s cockleshell games with his mates, were very similar indeed to knucklestones often played by children in England. Then there was Blind-Man’s Buff she suggested, although in Hussain’s case, it was Blind Chinaman. Here I am gently reminded of the legendary Malay comedian and actor P. Ramlee’s (March 22, 1929 – May 28, 1973) famous film, Bujang Lapok Ali Baba - Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves – where a trembling Chinese tailor was led blindfolded to a strange house while a famous song played on, in the movie’s fold. The tailor was ordered the grim task of having to stitch corpses back up together again after the mutilated victims had been found sneaking into Ali Baba’s secret cave and hence, been killed.

Garnier also explains with great tenderness, all of the young, energetic Hussain’s chores. These included babysitting which appeared to be the obligated responsibility of the older children working in the rice fields, cutting and drying grasses and bamboos and then later, weaving mats, bird-cages and baskets. One of Hussain’s memorable boyhood highlights lay in following his father, Mat, to the market while riding the bullock-cart.

Hussain often tried to show off to one of his best friends, the perplexed little Minah, how clever he was. Now and then, he’d warn the cherubic little girl with an exaggerated show of bravery, the shivers she’d better be prepared for or else… Here, Hussain was referring to the sight of the scarecrow in the paddy field! Of course, Minah had her own set of duties to worry about. One of her errands was to wash, clean and polish an array of pots belonging to her mother, Fatimah. She did this faithfully on the river bank until they shone.

Sometimes, the children liked to tease old Awang’s buffalos. They persisted with their mischief until the elderly man finally made a feeble attempt at warning them off, with an angry chase.

Garnier’s goes on to describe other lively and colourful scenes that include a market day, a gripping episode with robbers and an exciting show featuring an exhibition of buffalo fights. Here she would hail the same intense fervour as those likely to be encountered at England’s football matches.

I would definitely describe PADDYLANDS as an essential record marking one aspect of Malaya’s multi-layered cultural heritage. There are four colour plates…illustrations that feature ladies heading for the bazaars, Hussain trotting off to school, Habibah sitting on the doorstep awaiting the return of the men and a trip to market on the *sampan.

Various b/w line drawings by Hamerton also include little boys up an elaborate tree-house, Minah’s mother, Fatimah bargaining at the market place, old Awang making his walking sticks and two ladies chatting in the middle of the paddy field.

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*The durian is of the of the bombax family, of southeastern Asia. It commands a tough, prickly rind that shells large oval fruits and what many consider, a deliciously flavored, pulpy flesh. Often enjoyed as feasts for the family table or at community gatherings while in high season, the fruit also claims a lingering overpowering smell, but not one that may be deemed as unnecessarily unpleasant. The popularity of the fruit thrives on an individual’s personal taste and the common result often being that one either embraces its sweetness without question or rejects it without hesitation.

*The sampan – a small boat used in the Far East, propelled by a single scull over the stern and prodded to movement by the use of oars.