Ode to Broken Things (25 page)

May that peace, real peace, be mine.

This book had a long gestation period, and I have too many people in too many countries to thank. My deepest gratitude goes to the Man Asian Literary Prize judges who long-listed the unpublished manuscript for the prize in 2009, and to Divya Dubey (Gyaana Books), publisher extraordinaire, for first believing in this book and treating it with so much love and respect. My gratitude also to Anna Sathiah and Julia Gardner, who read very early drafts in Singapore with both encouragement and interest, and to my writing group in Amsterdam (Maria, Kai, Laura, David, Ute, Lisa, Tim… thanks!), as well as Lisa Lau in the UK and Jim Phillips in the US. A significant portion of the first draft was completed while I was at the Centrum Foundation in Washington State as a writer-in-residence from February to March 2003, and I am deeply grateful to the Centrum staff. Preeta Samarasan and Alfian Sa’at provided some valuable insights into the historical-political landscape of Malaysia at the editing stage; Mishi Saran gave valuable editing tips; Mita Kapur gave so generously of her time and the Siyahi expertise that whatever I say in thanks will seem inadequate.

To my Shanghai cheerleaders, Riva Ganguly Das, Trista Baldwin, Tan Zheng, Peoy Leng, Kunal Sinha, and Indira Ravindran; I am so very grateful.

Fellow Malaysian writers who urged me beyond self-censorship to write this story include Bernice Chauly, Amir Muhammad, Kee Thuan Chye, Dain Said, Uthaya Sankar, Chuah Guat Eng, and always, Sharon Bakar.

Details about life in Malaya during the war and emergency years were adapted from:
War and Memory in Malaysia and Singapore
edited by P. Lim Pui Huen and Diana Wong; Andrew Herbert’s
Who won the Malayan Emergency?
; and
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: A Malaysian Perspective
published by the Netaji Centre, Kuala Lumpur. The following books shed some light on the complexities of Malaysian society and politics: Goh Cheng Teik’s
Malaysia: Beyond Communal Politics;
Richard Clutter-buck’s
Conflict and violence in Singapore and Malaysia 1945–1983
; Wazir Jahan Karim’ edited work
Emotions of Culture: A Malay Perspective
;
Myths of the Malay ruling class
by Sharifah Maznah Syed Omar; and Mohtar bin H Md Dom’s
Malay Superstitions and Beliefs
.

For the historical background of Indians in Malaysia and Singapore, the following works were invaluable: Sinnappah Arasaratnam’s
Indians in Malaysia and Singapore;
Rajeswary Ampalavanar’s
The Indian Minority and Political Change in Malaya 1945–1957
; Kernial Singh Sandhu’s
Indians in Malaya: Some Aspects of their Immigration and Settlement
; Amarjit Kaur’s,
North Indians in Malaya: A Study of their Economic, Social and Political Activities, with Special Reference to Selangor, 1870s–1940s
;
Recollections: People and Places,
published by the Oral History Department, Singapore;
Singapore’s Little India: Past, Present and Future
by Sharon Siddique & Nirmala Puru Shottam; and Gretchen Liu’s
Singapore: A Pictorial History 1819–2000.

The following poems have been adapted from these sources: “I am utterly enchanted” from Kenneth Rexroth’s
Sacramental Acts: Love Poems
; “I use the charm of love, my love for you” from Wazir Jahan Karim’s
Emotions of Culture.

Despite all the research into this book, this is ultimately a work of fiction and does not pretend to be otherwise; as such, it aims for verisimilitude rather than any strict historical accuracy.

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A Repeater Books paperback original 2016
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Copyright © Dipika Mukherjee 2016

Dipika Mukherjee asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

Cover design: Johnny Bull
Typography and typesetting: Jan Middendorp
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ISBN
: 978-1-910924-14-3
Ebook
ISBN
: 978-1-910924-15-0

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