Shih Li Kow's Ripples: A Departure from Earlier Malaysian Literature in English Texts

An analysis of contemporary Malaysian literature in English would, I argue, illustrates how ethnic communities in Malaysia have interpreted, interpolated and reworked the concept of multiculturalism and cultural nationalism so that these becomes less rhetorical and more appropriating the layperson‘s attempts at understanding and forming his or her identity as a series of negotiations with those sanctioned by the state. On the other hand, a key feature of the development of Malay culture has been its exposure to and its assimilation of foreign elements. Mohd.Zariat Abdul Rani on eof the recent Graduates of university Putra Malaysia addes that Malay society was rooted in ancestor worship and animism, before being exposed to the influence of Hinduism-Buddhism. But the hold of this culture waned after the adoption of Islam, the influence of which reached its zenith in the 16th and 17th centuries. Subsequently, in the 18th and 19th centuries, Malays had to contend with the arrival of Western colonial powers whose priorities were initially economic in nature. The ongoing paper aims to analyse Shih Li Kow’s Ripples from this perspective that it has been one of the pioneers in creating a new gate for Malaysian Literature in English. In order to obtain this goal this novel is going to be compared with earlier ones written by some famed Malaysian writers in English like Mohammad Quayum, Lee Kok Liang and Tan TwanEng from various aspects like religious, modernity, identity and unity as very strong tool to form a country and show it to the world.