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Marshall Cavendish International - Su Kim Lee

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96 pages

English

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After Kebaya Tales and Sarong Secrets comes a rich, gutsy collection of short stories immersing the reader into the vivid, multi-hued world of the Peranakans. Here, the babas take centre stage: masculine perspectives, voices and protagonists are put under the spotlight, even as fiery and headstrong heroines pursue their passions in the face of powerful obstacles. The cast of characters seek to forge individual identities within a unique cultural heritage facing the challenges of modern times. The stories are accented with photographs peppered throughout - of exquisite beadwork, bejewelled adornments, vintage fabrics, gilded artefacts from private collections, personal belongings of the babas, and of course, twinkling, manek-encrusted accessories.

Sujets

Historical fiction

Short story

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Publié par	Marshall Cavendish International
Date de parution	18 avril 2017
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9789814779364
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	3 Mo

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Praise for Manek Mischiefs
In Manek Mischiefs , Lee Su Kim captures diverse aspects of the Baba Nyonya culture with gentle humour and a sharp eye. Her talent for voice and dialogue will have you chuckling even as your heart is breaking for her characters, whom she treats with unfailing sensitivity and generosity. These stories were very obviously written by someone with a deep but nuanced love for the culture.
Preeta Samarasan, author of Evening is the Whole Day
The eagerly awaited sequel to Kebaya Tales and Sarong Secrets is now here. Manek Mischiefs is another feast of intriguing tales based on the Peranakan community - family intrigue and rivalries, secrets of the bedroom, long-lost love re-discovered - all set against the rich fabric of this unique culture. Yet the cultural specificity also offers us universal themes to ponder. All as complex as the manek beadwork of the title.
Professor Alan Maley, O.B.E.
It is always a great pleasure to read Su Kim's fascinating Peranakan inspired stories. She has a great talent and ability to entertain and at the same time of being very informative about the various traditions and lives of the Peranakans. Personally, I have learnt a great deal and have had a most enjoyable time in so doing.
Dato Jeremy Diamond, author of An Exceptional Life
Su Kim s stories are embroidered with humour and empathy. As she draws us deeper into a many-layered Peranakan world, she enfolds us within the colours and richness of the bead work, furniture and myriad artefacts that have remained an integral part of their culture.
Cheah Hwei-Fe n, author of Phoenix Rising: Narratives in Nyonya Beadwork from the Straits Settlements
This book is definitely a must-read for those who love the Peranakan culture or have a passion for reading. (Lee Su Kim s) great sense of humour seasons the stories and the messages are delivered in such a witty way!
She has ... not only preserved her Peranakan heritage but also enriched the culture tremendously, as reflected in all her stories which include all aspects of being Peranakan.
Udaya Halim, President of Peranakan Indonesia PERTIWI and founder of Benteng Heritage Museum
Praise for Sarong Secrets
Su Kim invites us into a powder room where gossip, sisterly sharing and heartfelt confession remind us that nyonya women living in a baba world had to have extra pluck to transgress those social mores. In Sarong Secrets , she divulges the nyonyas colourful idiosyncrasies and guilty secrets with ever so much wit and sympathy.
Khoo Salma Nasution, President, Penang Heritage Truste
The sarong remains embedded in the collective consciousness of people across Southeast Asia, not just in memories related to clothing and fashion, but also to tradition, family heritage, loved ones and sexuality. There are also powerful resonances with regard to pattern, texture and scent. Su Kim magically suffuses her narratives with all these sensations, while confronting them with the paradoxes, imperfections and the often uncomfortable realities of contemporary life.
Peter Lee, Co-author of The Straits Chinese House and Honorary Curator, NUS Baba House
Praise for Kebaya Tales
Like the generations of babas and nyonyas who traverse these stories, this book is a succulent mixture of colours, kebayas, kerosang and conversations, of scents, spicy food and feisty families. Su Kim brings her sharp eye, her love of stories, and her keen sense of the verbal and visual to this delightful book which gives us a chance to savour the richness and diversity of Peranakan lives.
Professor Alastair Pennycook, University of Technology, Sydney
If there were such a word as nyonyaness , this feminine book would epitomise that quality. These bitter-sweet stories have the diaphanous delicacy of an embroidered, lace-trimmed Swiss voile kebaya blouse, the dark richesse of the buah keluak - that Peranakan rival to the French truffle - combined with the piquant zest of a freshly pounded sambal belacan .
Ilsa Sharp, Off the Edge

Footstool cover in glass and metal bead embroidery

Image courtesy Ken Yap. First published in Phoenix Rising: Narratives in Nyonya Beadwork from the Straits Settlements by Cheah Hwei-Fe n. Singapore: NUS Press, 2010. Photography by Sok Lin from Studio DL.
Manek Mischiefs
Of Patriarchs, Playboys and Paramours
Lee Su Kim
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
All items and accessories featured are from the author s personal collection, unless otherwise stated. Photographs cannot be reproduced without the author s permission.
2017 Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited Text and photos Lee Su Kim
Published by Marshall Cavendish Editions An imprint of Marshall Cavendish International
Reprinted 2018

All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Requests for permission should be addressed to the Publisher, Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited, 1 New Industrial Road, Singapore 536196. Tel: (65) 6213 9300 E-mail: genref@sg.marshallcavendish.com Website: www.marshallcavendish.com/genref
The publisher makes no representation or warranties with respect to the contents of this book, and specifically disclaims any implied warranties or merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose, and shall in no event be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
Other Marshall Cavendish Offices: Marshall Cavendish Corporation. 99 White Plains Road, Tarrytown NY 10591-9001, USA Marshall Cavendish International (Thailand) Co Ltd. 253 Asoke, 12th Flr, Sukhumvit 21 Road, Klongtoey Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand Marshall Cavendish (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Times Subang, Lot 46, Subang Hi-Tech Industrial Park, Batu Tiga, 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Marshall Cavendish is a registered trademark of Times Publishing Limited
National Library Board, Singapore Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
Name(s): Lee, Su Kim.
Title: Manek mischiefs : of patriarchs, playboys and paramours / Lee Su Kim.
Description: Singapore : Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2017
Identifier(s): OCN 974932248 | eISBN 978 981 47 7936 4
Subject(s): LCSH: Peranakan (Asian people)--Fiction.
Classification: DDC M823--dc23
Printed in Singapore by Fabulous Printers Pte Ltd
Dedicated to
Stephen J Hall and Lee Jan Ming with love
and to the memory of my parents, Mr and Mrs Lee Koon Liang
Contents
Preface
Acknowledgements
About the Babas and Nyonyas
The Bride Who Refused to Strip
The Stump in the Hole under the Casuarina Tree in the Garden of the Mansion by the Sea
The Merry Wives and Concubines of Patriarch Baba Gan
The Kueh Brothers
Green Eyes
Moonlight Bay
A Light Bulb Moment
Through Lara s Eyes
About the Author
Preface
Manek Mischiefs completes the trilogy of stories of the unusual and unique Peranakan community.
After writing two collections of short stories, Kebaya Tales and Sarong Secrets , I thought the series was completed, only to be coaxed and cajoled to write another collection. I decided to take up the challenge, this time focusing on the stories of the babas. Just as Kebaya Tales was inspired by my mother s stories, this book is inspired by a baba I loved very much and still do. He was my father, Mr Lee Koon Liang, a baba from Malacca who could not speak a word of Chinese but had an excellent command of English and Baba Malay. He was a wonderful and loving father, a man of integrity and courage with a great sense of humour. Unlike my mother, he was a man of few words, but when he spoke, his words always meant a lot. He enjoyed taking photos with his Brownie camera. I asked my Pa once why he took so many photos and his reply was, To be remembered. One of these photos I remember well is of my mother in her sarong kebaya and her favourite pair of kasut manek.
The word manek ( beads in Malay) is used to describe the minuscule glass beads from Bohemia and Czechoslovakia, brought over to this region by traders. In the past, beaded shoes or kasut manek and beaded items with intricate designs were made solely for weddings and for ornamental purposes. From the mid-19th century onwards, wealthy baba families tried to ensure their nyonya daughters were skilled in the domestic arts including beading and embroidery in order to become good wives and homemakers. A test of a well brought-up nyonya was her skill and patience reflected in the refinement and creativity of the beadwork items she made for the prenuptial exchange of gifts ceremony. Beaded items included kasut manek slippers for the bridegroom, pillow and bolster ends, decorations for the bridal bed, table mats and runners, covers for tables, mirrors, beds and footstools, cases for watches, magnifying glasses and spectacles, boxes for hairpins or jewellery, panels for door and window lintels and many more.
I grew up in an extended family setting and remember a home full of delicious, spicy and piquant aromas as my nyonya mother loved to cook, but do not remember either Grandma or my mother ever doing any kind of embroidery or beading. They told me they just did not have the patience or the inclination. However, watching them dress up for a formal event in their elegant sarong kebayas always meant watching them slip on, as the final touch, those gorgeous, colourful kasut manek, a necessary accessory to complete their graceful outfits. I have decided to name this book after the vibrant and brilliantly-coloured manek, the last book in this collection of s