22/02/2026

ON SUNDAY February 22, 2026 X theSunday Special

Novels that take you back to the 1940s-1960s BY ASHRAF WAHAB 6KOG VTCXGN VJTQWIJ ƓEVKQP ECRVWTGU QWT RCUV

I F you’ve ever wondered what life in Malaya was like before the highways, high-rises and TikTok trends, Malaysian literature of fers some of the richest windows into that past. The years between the 1940s and 1960s were among the most turbulent in our history – spanning the Japanese Occupation, the Emergency DQG WKH ¿UVW IUDJLOH \HDUV RI LQGHSHQ dence. They were decades that shaped not only the nation’s politics but also the daily lives of ordinary people. Thankfully, several Malaysian nov elists have captured this period in all its rawness and beauty. Whether written in Malay or English, their stories echo the hunger, heartbreak and hope of WKRVH WLPHV +HUH DUH ¿YH ZRUNV \RX can dive into if you’d like to revisit those decades, not through the pages of a history textbook but through the voices of characters who lived them.

Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan by Shahnon Ahmad First published: 1966 (Malay); translated into English as No Harvest but a Thorn in 1986 While Salina is urban, Ranjau Sepanjang Jalan brings us to the paddy fields of Kedah in the 1950s. Shahnon Ahmad tells the story of Lahuma and his wife Jeha, a poor farming couple struggling against endless misfortune. Their days DUH ¿OOHG ZLWK ÀRRGV SHVWV DQG VLFNQHVV – a reminder of how harsh life was for rural communities even as the nation celebrated Merdeka. The novel is not just about hardship but also about human perseverance in the face RI QDWXUH¶V LQGL̆ HUHQFH 0DQ\ 0DOD\VLDQV with kampung roots will find parts of WKHLU IDPLO\ KLVWRU\ UHÀHFWHG KHUH 7KH English translation makes it accessible to non-Malay readers, though the original Malay prose has a raw poetic quality. Did you know? Shahnon Ahmad went on to become a Member of Parliament for Sik, Kedah and later National Laureate. His writing often carried strong political undertones. R S F in in W J K te J a D – r c a R w WK E n M

Did you know? A. Samad Said, affectionately known as Pak Samad, is also a National Laureate and co-chair of Bersih 2.0, showing how his life has straddled both literature and activism. nown as Laureate wing how tureand the novel paints a gritty picture of survival in a society scarred by the Japanese Occupation. At the heart of it all is Salina , a woman who becomes a prosti tute to support herself and those around her. What makes Salina remark able isn’t just its subject matter but the way it humanises a woman society typically condemns. Samad Said doesn’t glorify her choices but instead situates them within a reality of poverty and WUDXPD 5HDGLQJ LW WRGD\ \RX¶OO ¿QG echoes of questions we still wrestle with – about dignity, morality and resilience in hard times. For readers curious about how 0DOD\ OLWHUDWXUH ¿UVW EHJDQ WR JUDSSOH with urban struggles, Salina is a must-read. a - e k er an ns. her hem and ¿QG estle y and t how UDSSOH a

Salina by A. Samad Said First published: 1961 (Malay)

A. Samad Said’s Salina is often called one of the great Malaysian literary classics, and for good reason. Set in post-war Singapore in the late 1940s,