Joshua Kam is a Chinese living in Malaysia. In his country, he had learned the Malay language, as was the policy in elementary, middle and high schools. That explains why he could include Malay words with ease into his narrative. To fully enjoy this book and savour the many local delights, the reader should have a working knowledge of the Malay language.
I encountered liberal sprinkling of Malay and Hokkien words in the narrative. Hokkien is a Chinese dominant dialect spoken by Chinese in that ethnic dialect group.
J. Kam’s creative writing is witty, fun and refreshing. You have to read slowly to savor the local flair. His style stood out to win a book publisher’s Fiction Prize, which was how his first novel got published. Joshua Kam was the winner of the 2020 Epigram Books Fiction Prize.
There are two stories in the same book, running in parallel worlds. I haven’t finished reading this book but it has been interesting so far.
reference
How the Man in Green Saved Pahang and Possibly the World by Joshua Kam.
