A woman’s place
Australian Chinese author draws on family stories she heard when she was growing up in Penang.
SHIRLEY Fung’s Second Chinese Daughter might be her debut novel, but she is no stranger to the world of writing.
Currently based in Australia, she has eight biology and environmental science titles to her name, and wrote for the Sun Study page of the Herald Sun in the 1980s. She enjoyed writing fiction when she was in school and took part in writing competitions, but it was not until recently that she pursued it in earnest.
“Writing a novel takes much more preparation and time than writing textbooks and Science articles for the newspaper. I wanted to leave fiction writing and its publication to a stage of my life when I have more time to enjoy the process,” she said.
Second Chinese Daughter is the result; a story that follows three generations of women in Malaya in the 1930s-60s, with a narrative that is ever mindful of a woman’s place in society.
It is based on the stories she heard from her childhood and is partly biographical in nature, with factual events included.
On the character front, there is Ah Soo, a woman who finds herself abused by different men who promise her the moon and the stars; her daughter Li Li, who is bright and resourceful, but feels stifled in her role as a devoted wife; and Feng, the granddaughter neglected by her mother, who dreams of more than what society tells her she should be.
Fung’s prose is simple and gentle. She weaves a tale that is rich in emotions and descriptions, but is not afraid to leave some things – particularly the more unsavoury bits – to the imagination.
In an interview with this writer, she mentioned that she was mindful about not imposing her judgement upon her readers, in the hope that they can draw their own conclusions. “In Chinese culture we are raised to be respectful of our elders and not to speak or write negatively about them. In my novel, where there were aspects of my elders’ behaviour that I did not agree with, I carefully selected language that enabled me to tiptoe around the subject so as not to offend,” she said.
It is a skill that Fung wields pretty well in Second Chinese Daughter, and it complements the circumstances the characters find themselves in, and the expectations that are bestowed upon them by society in those times.
For the local audience, Fung’s setting of the book in Penang will no doubt make those fiercely proud of their heritage take note and sit up a little straighter in their seats.
As a woman from Penang I know commented, “People who are from Penang will get it, it is everything we knew growing up here”.
All the things they know, but perhaps do not put into words. Well, Fung has done it with Second Chinese Daughter – and now it can be shared with the world.