A Novel of New Village Life in Malaya 1950 – 1960
I published an ebook
Hello!
I am back on Medium to share that i recently published a fiction e-book on Amazon!
The House with the Rambutan Tree is a historical fiction novel set in Malaya, present day Malaysia, between 1950 and 1960, centred around a Chinese family navigating life in a New Village.
Malaya was a British colony in the 1950s and the New Villages, which were essentially fenced settlements, were introduced under the Briggs Plan during the Malayan Emergency. They were designed to curb communist influences by forcefully relocating families, mainly Chinese families living in squatters, from the jungle fringes into more controlled environments.
The book details the experiences of the residents who were affected by the Briggs policy.
The main character is a young girl named Haiyan. Haiyan’s family relocates to a New Village in the Perak State of Malaya, where daily life is shaped by curfews, spot checks, and an atmosphere of suspicion. Despite these challenges, Haiyan experiences a childhood filled with close family ties, friendships, cultural traditions, school life, mysterious letters and adventures. As she grows up, she grapples with questions of morality and the blurred lines between right and wrong, set against the backdrop of a nation striving for independence.
In parallel, Liang, a young communist, endures the harsh conditions of jungle life while clinging to hope for a better future. Yet, as time passes, he begins to question the convictions that brought him to the jungles and whether the choices he made were right.
Their stories intertwine in unexpected ways, offering a glimpse of both sides of a turbulent era.
If you are interested in learning more about the New Villages, there are three ways you can get your hands on the Ebook.
1. On Amazon, It cost 2.99 USD a copy.
2. I have published the chapters to a Medium publication https://medium.com/the-house-with-the-rambutan-tree. However, it will only be available for Medium subscribers.
3. Email me at huang.writes@gmail.com. I will email you a free copy in exchange for your feedback on my writing and storyline.
For more information about this topic, you can check out an article which i wrote a few years ago.
I hope that this book will help the world understand more about the lives of a section of the Chinese community in Malaya.
