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Best Malaysian books to read before your visit to Malaysia

Kim — Wed, 01 Apr 2020 12:00:00 +0000

What are the most popular Malaysian books? Check out these books about Malaysia to start immersing yourself in the culture before your visit to Malaysia.

When I’m planning a trip I like to read books originating from that country to start getting immersed and learn more about the culture. If you feel the same then look at the list below for inspiration.

For this list I’ll limit myself to books with English translations and I will only rate what I have read myself (I hardly ever give five stars by the way). So this list will be updated regularly when I come across interesting reads. Below I’ll also give an overview of other books by Malaysian authors that I still want to read.

If you have read any good books about Malaysia or by an author from Malaysia, please recommend them to me in the comment section below.

Best Malaysian books

1) Tan Twan Eng - The Gift of Rain

 5/5

Not only my favorite Malaysian book, but also one of my favorite books in general. The way the author lets me feel both the main character’s pain and strength, the helplessness and the anger (making even me angry) at the oppressors is impressive.

Set in Penang, 1939, this book presents a story of betrayal, barbaric cruelty, steadfast courage and enduring love.

The recipient of extraordinary acclaim from critics and the bookselling community, Tan Twan Eng’s debut novel casts a powerful spell. Set during the tumult of World War II, on the lush Malayan island of Penang, The Gift of Rain tells a riveting and poignant tale about a young man caught in the tangle of wartime loyalties and deceits.

Buy from Amazon.

2) Tan Twan Eng - The Garden of Evening Mists

 5/5

Whereas The Gift of Rain showed me pain, The Garden of Evening Mists showed me beauty. There is beauty in the world and in people even though it is not always easy to see.

It’s Malaya, 1949. After studying law at Cambridge and time spent helping to prosecute Japanese war criminals, Yun Ling Teoh, herself the scarred lone survivor of a brutal Japanese wartime camp, seeks solace among the jungle-fringed plantations of Northern Malaya where she grew up as a child. There she discovers Yugiri, the only Japanese garden in Malaya, and its owner and creator, the enigmatic Aritomo, exiled former gardener of the Emperor of Japan.

Despite her hatred of the Japanese, Yun Ling seeks to engage Aritomo to create a garden in Kuala Lumpur, in memory of her sister who died in the camp. Aritomo refuses, but agrees to accept Yun Ling as his apprentice ‘until the monsoon comes’. Then she can design a garden for herself.

As the months pass, Yun Ling finds herself intimately drawn to her sensei and his art while, outside the garden, the threat of murder and kidnapping from the guerrillas of the jungle hinterland increases with each passing day. But the Garden of Evening Mists is also a place of mystery. Who is Aritomo and how did he come to leave Japan? Why is it that Yun Ling’s friend and host, Magnus Praetorius, seems almost immune from the depredations of the Communists? What is the legend of ‘Yamashita’s Gold’ and does it have any basis in fact? And is the real story of how Yun Ling managed to survive the war perhaps the darkest secret of all?

Buy from Amazon.

3) Rani Manicka - The Rice Mother

 4/5

This novel is all about power and strength. A strength that manifests itself in different people in different ways. There is strength in kindness but also in letting go. All would have been well if not for that one cruel thing that changed the future of everyone in Lakshmi’s family.

Nothing in Lakshmi’s childhood, running carefree and barefoot on the sun-baked earth amid the coconut and mango trees of Ceylon, could have prepared her for what life was to bring her. At fourteen, she finds herself traded in marriage to a stranger across the ocean in the fascinating land of Malaysia.

Duped into thinking her new husband is wealthy, she instead finds herself struggling to raise a family with a man too impractical to face reality and a world that is, by turns, unyielding and amazing, brutal and beautiful.

Giving birth to a child every year until she is nineteen, Lakshmi becomes a formidable matriarch, determined to wrest from the world a better life for her daughters and sons and to face every new challenge with almost mythic strength.

By sheer willpower Lakshmi survives the nightmare of World War II and the Japanese occupation — but not unscathed. The family bears deep scars on its back and in turn inflicts those wounds on the next generation. But it is not until Lakshmi’s great-granddaughter, Nisha, pieces together the mosaic of her family history that the legacy of the Rice Mother bears fruit.

Buy from Amazon.

4) Yangsze Choo - The Night Tiger

 4/5

A Young Adult novel set in the 1930s in Malaysia. A light and fun read.

When 11-year-old Ren’s master dies, he makes one last request of his Chinese houseboy: that Ren find his severed finger, lost years ago in an accident, and reunite it with his body. Ren has 49 days, or else his master’s soul will roam the earth, unable to rest in peace.

Ji Lin always wanted to be a doctor, but as a girl in 1930s Malaysia, apprentice dressmaker is a more suitable occupation. Secretly, though, Ji Lin also moonlights as a dancehall girl to help pay off her beloved mother’s Mahjong debts. One night, Ji Lin’s dance partner leaves her with a gruesome souvenir: a severed finger. Convinced the finger is bad luck, Ji Lin enlists the help of her erstwhile stepbrother to return it to its rightful owner.

As the 49 days tick down, and a prowling tiger wreaks havoc on the town, Ji Lin and Ren’s lives intertwine in ways they could never have imagined. Propulsive and lushly written, The Night Tiger explores colonialism and independence, ancient superstition and modern ambition, sibling rivalry and first love. Braided through with Chinese folklore and a tantalizing mystery, this novel is a page-turner of the highest order.

Buy from Amazon.

5) Zen Cho - Sorcerer to the Crown

 3/5

Recency fantasy book set in England featuring a witch from Malaysia!

Magic and mayhem collide with the British elite in this whimsical and sparkling debut.

At his wit’s end, Zacharias Wythe, freed slave, eminently proficient magician, and Sorcerer Royal of the Unnatural Philosophers—one of the most respected organizations throughout all of Britain—ventures to the border of Fairyland to discover why England’s magical stocks are drying up.

But when his adventure brings him in contact with a most unusual comrade, a woman with immense power and an unfathomable gift, he sets on a path which will alter the nature of sorcery in all of Britain—and the world at large…

Buy from Amazon. The sequel The True Queen has also been published.

Also by Zen Cho: The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water

6) Yangsze Choo - The Ghost Bride

 3/5

I liked the story and enjoyed reading about the Malayan culture. The characters fell flat though so the execution could have been better.

Though ruled by British overlords, the Chinese of colonial Malaya still cling to ancient customs. And in the sleepy port town of Malacca, ghosts and superstitions abound.

Li Lan, the daughter of a genteel but bankrupt family, has few prospects. But fate intervenes when she receives an unusual proposal from the wealthy and powerful Lim family. They want her to become a ghost bride for the family’s only son, who recently died under mysterious circumstances. Rarely practiced, a traditional ghost marriage is used to placate a restless spirit. Such a union would guarantee Li Lan a home for the rest of her days, but at a terrible price.

After an ominous visit to the opulent Lim mansion, Li Lan finds herself haunted not only by her ghostly would-be suitor, but also by her desire for the Lim’s handsome new heir, Tian Bai. Night after night, she is drawn into the shadowy parallel world of the Chinese afterlife, with its ghost cities, paper funeral offerings, vengeful spirits and monstrous bureaucracy—including the mysterious Er Lang, a charming but unpredictable guardian spirit. Li Lan must uncover the Lim family’s darkest secrets—and the truth about her own family—before she is trapped in this ghostly world forever.

Buy from Amazon.

7) Shamini Flint - A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder

 3/5

Learn about the tension, the common ground and the differences between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.

Inspector Singh is in a bad mood. He’s been sent from his home in Singapore to Kuala Lumpur to solve a murder that has him stumped. Chelsea Liew – the famous Singaporean model – is on death row for the murder of her ex-husband. She swears she didn’t do it, he thinks she didn’t do it, but no matter how hard he tries to get to the bottom of things, he still arrives back at the same place – that Chelsea’s husband was shot at point blank range, and that Chelsea had the best motivation to pull the trigger: he was taking her kids away from her. Now Inspector Singh must pull out all the stops to crack a crime that could potentially free a beautiful and innocent woman and reunite a mother with her children. There’s just one problem – the Malaysian police refuse to play ball…

Buy from Amazon. The sequels A Bali Conspiracy Most Foul and A Singapore School of Villainy are also available.

8) Preeta Samarasan - Evening Is the Whole Day

 3/5

Culture heavy novel that shows the hardships of those without means but also of the rich. A non-linear story that seems confusing at first but ends up telling you everything you want to know.

Set in Malaysia, this spellbinding and already internationally acclaimed debut introduces us to the prosperous Rajasekharan family as its closely guarded secrets are slowly peeled away.

When Chellam, the family’s rubber-plantation-bred servant girl, is dismissed for unnamed crimes, her banishment is the latest in a series of recent, precipitous losses that have shaken six-year-old Aasha’s life. A few short weeks before, Aasha’s grandmother Paati passed away under mysterious circumstances and her older sister, Uma, departed for Columbia University–leaving Aasha alone to cope with her mostly absent father, her bitter mother, and her imperturbable older brother.

Beginning with Aasha’s grandfather’s ascension from Indian coolie to illustrious resident of the Big House on Kingfisher Lane, and going on to tell the story of how Appa, the family’s Oxford-educated patriarch, courted Amma, the humble girl next door, Evening Is the Whole Day moves gracefully backward and forward in time to answer the many questions that haunt the family: What was Chellam’s unforgivable crime? Why was Uma so intent on leaving? How and why did Paati die? What did Aasha see? And, underscoring all of these mysteries: What ultimately became of Appa’s once-grand dreams for his family and his country?

Buy from Amazon.

9) Tash Aw - The Harmony Silk Factory

 3/5

We follow the life of Johnny through the eyes of three different narrators. Even though Johnny’s story is complete, the stories of the narrators feel unfinished, ending abruptly, leaving the reader wanting more. I’d hoped to read about Jasper’s struggles, but I guess I will never know.

The Harmony Silk Factory traces the story of textile merchant Johnny Lim, a Chinese peasant living in British Malaya in the first half of the twentieth century. Johnny’s factory is the most impressive structure in the region, and to the inhabitants of the Kinta Valley Johnny is a hero—a Communist who fought the Japanese when they invaded, ready to sacrifice his life for the welfare of his people. But to his son, Jasper, Johnny is a crook and a collaborator who betrayed the very people he pretended to serve, and the Harmony Silk Factory is merely a front for his father’s illegal businesses. This debut novel from Tash Aw gives us an exquisitely written look into another culture at a moment of crisis.

Buy from Amazon. Other books set in Malaysia by Tash Aw: We, The Survivors and Map of the Invisible World. Another book, Five Star Billionaire is set in China.

10) YZ Chin - Though I Get Home

 3/5

Short stories showing more about political and familial struggles in Malaysia and abroad. It was interesting because of the cultural aspects but forgettable otherwise.

In these stories, characters navigate fate via deft sleights of hand: a grandfather gambles on the monsoon rains, a consort finds herself a new assignment, and a religious man struggles to keep his demons at bay. Central to the book is Isabella Sin, a small-town girland frustrated writer transformed into a prisoner of conscience in Malaysias most notorious detention camp.

Buy from Amazon.

Book lists

Find out about the best books set in:

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Tea plantations in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia

Kim — Wed, 11 Mar 2020 15:00:00 +0000

Watch the tea plantations while enjoying a cup of tea in a cafe overlooking the valley in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia.

Cameron Highlands is a popular retreat in Malaysia because of its moderate weather. With temperatures between 25 degrees Celsius during the day and 18 at night, this area offers a nice break from the 30+ temperatures the rest of the country often has. This makes the highlands a very good place for growing fruit, vegetables and of course tea.

There are two big tea plantations in the Cameron Highlands in Malaysia.

Boh Tea Plantation

While the plantation itself looks more like wild bushes on irregular hills with trees, the real highlight here is the cafe overlooking the tea plantation. And with that I mean the view of the cafe from the outside with the tea fields in the background. I’m not saying the panoramic view from the cafe while you’re enjoying a cup of tea should be dismissed but rather that the building was very well designed to fit the landscape.

At the tea plantation you can visit the processing factory and learn more about the tea making process. Boh Tea is the largest producer of tea in Malaysia. The company was founded by Archibald Russell, who, though born in England, spent most of his life in Malaysia.

Location: GC88+9F Brinchang, Pahang, Malaysia

Opening hours: Tuesday – Sunday: 9:00 – 16:30.

Bharat Tea Plantation

This is the most beautiful tea plantation I have seen so far. If you can, plan your visit around sunset because the tea fields are simply stunning with the shadows thrown over them by the setting sun.

Bharat is the second largest tea producer in the Cameron Highlands. They have their roots in Malaysia and after initially being a tea supplier for other brands they now grow their own brand called ‘Cameron Valley’. From the outdoor cafe you have a fantastic view of the plantation in this highland valley. This tea is less inspired by the British and takes its inspiration from Sri Lanka and South India. Think of Chai tea.

You can go on a Plantation Walk to watch the tea picking process from up close.

Location: 15-16, Jalan Besar, Cameron Highlands, Pahang, 39000 Tanah Rata, Malaysia

Opening hours: Monday – Thursday: 8:30 – 18:00; Friday – Sunday: 8:00 – 19:00.

Buying tea in Malaysia

The teas I tried in Malaysia taste very much like English Breakfast teas, which is not very surprising as the Boh Tea plantation was created by a British person.

Most teas they sell are blends. As a tea lover I just had to buy all different loose tea leaf boxes on offer at the Boh Plantation. Plus a black tea blend with passion fruit. None of these are ‘light’ teas and because of that I mainly drink them on colder and rainy days.

One of the biggest differences with tea I bought in China, South Korea and Japan is that you need to keep track of the brewing time: if you leave the leaves in the water too long the tea starts to get stronger and bitter. With tea from the other countries the taste hardly changes, even if you leave it in all day.

Other farms in the Cameron Highlands

Ee Feng Gu Bee Farm

A small garden with honey bees. In the shop you can buy wild honey from the mountains and from the farm itself. They taste very good.

Location: GC55+GF Brinchang, Pahang, Malaysia

Cameron Highland Butterfly Farm

A greenhouse with beautiful butterflies, at least when I visited in January 2017. The reviews on Google Maps seem to be quite negative right now though.

Location: GC54+2X Brinchang, Pahang, Malaysia

Big Red Strawberry Farm

Go strawberry picking and eat fresh strawberries.

Location: F9WP+6M Brinchang, Pahang, Malaysia

Where to stay in the Cameron Highlands

I stayed at the Strawberry Park Resort near the tea plantations. This resort offers spacious rooms in a quiet area. The food stalls of Brinchang are within walking distance, though you can choose to stay in and eat at the very good Thai restaurant inside the resort. I also liked that I could eat Nasi Lemak for breakfast.

How to get to the Cameron Highlands

You can drive to the Cameron Highlands in about 3 hours from Kuala Lumpur.

If you don’t have a car then you can also choose to join a day tour via Klook from Kuala Lumpur or Penang. On this day tour you will visit both tea plantations and a waterfall, honey bee farm, butterfly park, cactus garden, strawberry farm and Aborigines village. You do have to get up early!

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