Simple Book Review: "Letters to Home: Young Malaysians Write Back!" (2016)

Letters to Home: Young Malaysians Write Back! (2016)
edited by Ooi Kok Hin, Aish Kumar & Nik Mohamed Rashid Nik Zurin

I seldom read books by local writers. I plead guilty. It turned out I’m very impressed by this book. 24 universities, 7 countries and 1 hope, hope for Malaysia. “The voices and issues discussed reflect the diversity you’d expect to encounter in any modern and plural society such as Malaysia,” writes Ooi Kok Hin, one of editors. “You will find stories and essays about nasi lemak and the brain drain, JPA scholarship and Malaysia Airlines, politics and economics, welfare and ideology, immigration and refugees, cynical Malaysian and idealist Malaysian, interracial marriage and financial literacy, and even heaven and hell.”

0) Introduction

1) Sakuras Are Beautiful, But Nasi Lemak Is Better (by Azalia Zaharuddin)

2) Separating Ketuanan Melayu and Affirmative Action (by Fikri Fisal)

3) Investing Without Returns (by Ng Jung Kian)

4) The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (by Aish Kumar)

5) Semantics and the Voters Psyche (by Zaryff Razali)

6) Pendatang (by Tan Heang Lee)

7) The Global Competition for Talent Between the United States and Malaysia (by Billy Hoo)

8) I’d Love to Get to Know You Better. Wanna Go Out and Have a Chat? (by Nurul Ismawi)

9) To All Malaysians, Welcome Home (by Ooi Kok Hin)

10) Do Not Ignore the National Language (by David Lim)

11) Are We Doing Enough to Protect Our Environment? (by Rexy Prakash)

12) Chasing Heaven, Finding Hell (by Tharmelinggem Pillai)

13) One Teh Tarik, One Nasi Lemak (by Abdul Rahman Shah)

14) The Change From Within: A Kelab UMNO with Non-Malays (by Shamil Norshidi)

15) Our Disabling Attitude Towards Malaysian with Disabilities (by Shahir Shukor)

16) To Intermarry Or Not to Intermarry? (by Benedict Weerasena)

17) Imperialist Linguistics: Why My Language is Better than Yours (by Nik Mohamed Rashid Nik Zurin)

18) Of Reading Books and Money (by Achmad Bakhtiar M Yuni)

19) Dear Typical Malaysian (by Justin Lim Jia Tian)

20) Us Rude Malaysians! (by Sarah Syahirah binti Abdullah)

21) Curbing the Mahasiswa, Creating the Pelajar (Fikri Fisal)

22) The Great White North: Things You Might Not Know About America’s 52nd State (by Nizhan Faraz Risal and Eddy Arief Zulkifly)

23) A Walk In Kelantan (by Asyraf Muiz Roslan)

24) I Work Hard but Still Get Less (by Hasbullah Faudzi)

25) I Can Only Hope (by Ian Chew)

26) A Letter to My Students (by Izzat Adha)

27) Leaving the Orphanage: An Adventure Upon the Coming of Age (by Puteri Eleni Megat Osman)

28) Nasi Goreng Kampung vs. Nasi Goreng USA (by Mohamad Syazwan Abdul Rahman)

29) It Takes All Kinds to Make a Nasi Kerabu: Celebrating Diversity in Harmony (by Mohd Izzuddin Ramli)

By favourites are chapters #1, #2, #5, #6, #8, #9 (most dear to Sarawakians, especially), #10, #11, #12, #16, #20 and #26. I recommend this book for students, staff worker, politicians, and for those who care about Malaysia – and what others think about it :) [P.s: Kamu boleh jumpa buku ini di Popular dan MPH Bookstores. Berharga RM20.00 je]

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.