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Born in Bedong, Kedah, in 1942, K. S. Maniam has been a
writer for as long as he can remember.
He trained as a teacher at Brinsford Lodge,
Wolverhampton, UK (1963-64), and taught for several
years in Kedah before going to the University of Malaya,
where he graduated in 1973 in English. He gained his
M.A. in 1979. He has been a lecturer (1980-1986) and
Associate Professor (1987-1997) in the English
Department, University of Malaya.
He wrote poetry in the 60's and in the 70's and his
short stories have been widely published. His first
novel, The Return, was published in 1981, and his
second, In a Far Country, in 1993.
His short story collections are: Plot, The Aborting,
Parablames and Other Stories, Arriving and Other Stories
and Haunting The Tiger: Contemporary Stories from
Malaysia. His plays, The Cord and The Sandpit were
staged in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore in 1984 and 1991,
respectively, and were restaged in Kuala Lumpur in 1994,
under the banner, "A Festival of K. S. Maniam's Plays".
His Skin Trilogy was staged at the National Art Gallery
of Kuala Lumpur in 1995.
He won the first prizes for The Loved Flaw in The New
Straits Times-McDonald (1987), and Haunting the Tiger in
The New Straits Times-Shell (1990) short story
competitions.
He is a full time writer now, and makes occasional
academic appearances.
The Loved Flaw: Stories from Malaysia
The Loved Flaw is a collection of ten short stories,
which probe into the deepest recesses of the
individual's psyche. They transcend nationality in order
to seek out the universal man. The stories try to
unearth the hidden resources of the man or woman
beleaguered by unacceptable social, political, and
cultural visions and practices. They see beyond the
prevailing understanding of life.
While a boy attempts to break out from the dominating
influence of a moneyed class of people, and in his
attempts to do so, is whipped into a frenzied state of
recognition, another story landscapes the interface
between dominant and a migrant culture. What is the
relationship between these two cultures? How does it
feel to give up on one's own cultural heritage for the
sake of being assimilated into the society of the
adopted country? .... The migrant consciousness
registers a loss: the dominant cultural consciousness
celebrates its sense of supremacy.
K. S. Maniam distorts the familiar worldly affairs that
withholds the complete expression of the self to reveal
ignored realities, which would have remained so had he
not probed deep into the cultures of a multi-racial
country.
While the larger, more fully developed, image of the man
has been the quest in these stories, the circumstances
and social conditions that prevent him attaining it have
also been closely examined.
A must read for all who strive to comprehend human
psyche. |
