Books of Borneo
In this month marking Malaysia Day, we take a look at the publishing scene in Sabah and Sarawak.
IF you’re not from there ( or maybe
especially if you’re from there), just hearing the names “Sabah” and “Sarawak” will probably evoke a thousand images – of lush jungles and oil platforms; hornbills, orang utans and giant cat statues; the elaborate costumes of native peoples, the shadow of Mount Kinabalu and the flowing Rajang River.
What might not come to mind are books. There is a “rich and diverse” publishing scene, as Kuching- based academic Patrick Yeoh puts it, but it’s not a scene that is particularly well- known beyond Sabahan and Sarawakian borders. Many of the books that do emerge tend to focus on the colourful myths and customs of the people from the two states.
“We are a distinct culture within Malaysia, well beyond the colourful and fancy costumes,” says IbanMelanau author Golda Mowe, who lives in Sibu, Sarawak.
“We have poetry and songs that are epics in their own right. Our lives may be simple but we have complicated rules and taboos. I think it is about time that everyone else gets to enjoy our culture too!” she says in an e- mail interview.
Books on Sarawakian culture aren’t hard to find, actually; in fact, when it comes to English nonfiction from Sabah and Sarawak, readers are definitely spoiled for choice: there is a vast array of titles, mostly about the nature, history and customs of the region, published by groups such as National History Publications Borneo and the Tun Jugah Foundation.
There are also books that document the two states’ history, such as Agnes Newton Keith’s The Land
Below The Wind ( 1939, re- issued 2007) about Sabah, Redmond O’Hanlon’s Into The Heart Of Borneo ( 1984) and Ada Pryers’ A
Decade In Borneo ( 1894, re- issued 2001) about living in Sabah as her husband William “established” the British North Borneo Company there.
English fiction readers have less of a choice, but still a good amount to choose from: you can try
Sarawak Stories ( 1991) by Heidi Munan ( who also writes much nonfiction), Kris Jitab’s Tales From
A Headhunter ( 1991), Elsie Sze’s Ghost Cave ( 2014), or Steven
Morris’s In Kinabalu’s Shadow ( 2009), just to name a few.
Of course, there are those W. Somerset Maugham stories set in Borneo at the turn of the last century, while Joseph Conrad’s first novel, Almeyer’s Folly ( 1895), is also set there. Secret In Sabah by Frances and Francis Lee, and its sequel, Time Out In Sabah ( by Frances Lee), are both young adult adventure novels written in the 1960s, before young adult fiction even became a thing!
The Sarawak writing scene
Academic Patrick Yeoh, a researcher in Borneo literature in English, says that the literature of Sabah and Sarawak is a diverse and vastly interesting subject.
“While Sabah and Sarawak are usually referred to as East Malaysia, as if they are one entity – which, to some extent, may be justifiable geographically – from the literary perspective, we are talking of two quite different niche areas of study despite certain cultural similarities,” Yeoh says in an e- mail interview.
For Sarawakian literature in English, he recommends the anecdotes of Angela Yong and the short stories of Cecilia Ong, two authors he considers leading writers in English from the region. Yong, he says, is particularly notable for having started her first book at 75, while Ong wrote a short story a week for almost two years.
According to Yeoh, other starting points for anyone interested in Sarawakian writing are the retold folktales of the Iban, Bidayuh and Melanau by Heidi Munan, specially written for school children. There are also poems by the late James Wong and Abang Yusuf Puteh and scores of retold folktales by other authors.
There is also a series of three collections of Iban, Bidayuh and Penan folk tales translated into English put out by Universiti Malaysia Sarawak’s Institute of East Asian Studies ( now called the Institute of Borneo Studies).
Perhaps one of the most wellknown Sarawakian authors in English today is Golda Mowe, whose novels Iban Journey ( 2015) and Iban Dream ( 2012) incorporate many local cultural elements in their storytelling.
Mowe shares that, “Iban folklore is filled with interesting characters – the vain Keling, the accomplished Kumang, the bad tempered halfdemon Sempurai, and the unbending Sengalang Burong among a few.
“There is also a long list of demons and spirits I can use in my stories. Creative storytelling is such a large part of the Iban culture that my use of these characters is not considered sacrilegious by practitioners of the old religion. Or rather, I have yet to meet anyone who complained.”
Mowe says that both international and local writing seems to be doing well in Sarawak, although she feels local nonfiction was doing better than local fiction.
“I am not sure about the level of demand, but the bigger bookstores seem to have a fair turnover rate. Independent bookstores are not doing too well, though, and that is where the bulk of local English fiction is sold, in my humble opinion,” Mowe says about the retail situation in Sarawak.
According to her, one of the biggest challenges in putting out fiction titles of local writing comes from finding the right publisher: In Mowe’s case, she searched for one for four years before finally publishing her works with Singapore- based publisher Monsoon Books after it published Sir Peter Mooney’s A Servant Of
Sarawak ( 2012). “After Monsoon Books published
Iban Dream, it was easy enough to persuade them to take Iban
Journey. The hard part, I guess, is to find a publisher who understands Iban culture. No publisher will be willing to take on something they don’t understand or of which they have no knowledge,” she says.
The Sabah writing scene
According to Tawau- born playwright and author Ann Lee, English writing in Sabah is most apparent in the state’s capital urban areas: a condition that is relevant to any writing, not just in English.
Various online initiatives, chats and blogs dedicated to the medium also exist.
“I see it encouraged in pockets, cafés, letters, here and there,