Marriage and Mutton Curry (2018)
M Shanmughalingam
The JTs, like many struggling minorities in the world, had their own set of quirky rules to live by. Their aim in life is a better life for their children. They are disciplined and being religious made it easier to instil order in the lives of the younger ones. They look at a job in the civil service of the ultimate joy in life. Education played a prominent place in society, and a young girl's biggest catch for matrimony is a doctor! The Ceylonese community is said to be very class-conscious, and success in education is looked upon as the avenue to escape their clutches of poverty and social class.
Shan, a seasoned writer who wears many hats, has managed to rekindle the memories of an old Malaysia that many of Babyboomers and Gen-X generation remember. It narrates of a time when life was simpler, people were generally nice to each other, and the biggest worry about nagged Malaysian was that our country would not be able to retain the Thomas Cup or that South Korea would defeat Malaysia in the Merdeka Tournament. How things have changed?
Growing, watching and absorbing all the idiosyncrasies of habits amongst many of old ladies and uncles (Mamees and Mamas), Shan has succeeded to put words a collection of short stories that illustrates life in a Ceylonese household and community. If one were to read in between the lines, one would realise that the writing is filled with puns, wit and sarcasm leaving readers with a contented smile. Many of the comedic scenes are situational and nicely executed wordplay of the language
The master storyteller adds elements of male chauvinism, women empowerment, sibling rivalry and keeping up with the Joneses in many of his stories. He laughs, not in a mocking way, with the readers at many of the quirky habits of people in the community. JT government employees are said to be exemplary workers, working diligently by the book and sometimes mimicking their masters, mainly the British. Sometimes, they try to be more English than the British. Many of them try to master the Queen's English and be proud of anything British. JTs like to build personal connections and apple-polishing of people in power. They know that these may come in handy in the possibility of career promotions. The favourite pastime of the JTs, it seems, is that frequent name dropping and bragging of the children's (over)achievements. In a comical situation in this book, a JT mother was bragging about her son to a lady she met at the post office. Embarrassingly, she came to know much later that the lady was indeed her son's boss' wife! As most JTs have similar names, most of them have titles associated with their profession, place of residence or appearances to identify one from another.
Being a doctor is a big deal in the JT community. He is infallible and is a good catch for their daughters. Even though giving of a dowry is supposed to be non-existent, it still takes place on the sly. As far as I know, their dowry system is friendly to the fairer sex.
Their history in this land goes as far back as anyone who claims their stake in this country. The first wave of JTs came to Malaya at the end of the 19th century as clerical assistance to the British. These people were mostly moving with the aristocratic crowd. Their offsprings were mostly English educated and occupied professional positions, albeit playing second fiddle to the ruling class. The second tide and the bulk of Ceylonese migration happened in the early 20th century. Servicing various nation-building ventures, they too underwent the perils of the World War and the brutality of the bicycle-riding sword-yielding fearsome Japanese soldiers and the Kempetei.
Interspersed liberally within all stories, living true to the Malaysian spirit, spread upon spreads of food not only specific to the Ceylonese community but of all other races too, e.g. dodol.
Many successful communities have their own peculiar practices that appear odd to another. Nevertheless, these systems seem to have worked well for many of them, the world over. An interesting read that would tickle many a funny bone in those who have lived or spent time in the JT community.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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