Different Voices: The Singaporean/Malaysian Novel

1. FLOWERS IN THE SKY (1981)

35 FLOWERS IN THE SKY (1981) In Lee Kok Liang’s Flowers in the Sky (1981), the voice that the reader hears is one that remembers and reflects. It is through the search for spiritual solace while trapped in isolation, unable to communicate this profound longing that the two main characters in the novel — one a Jaffna Tamil, and the other a Chinese — both immigrants settled in Penang, are linked. The theme of sexuality and the quest for spirituality slowly emerge from the thoughts and reminiscences of these two characters, as Lee uses a non-linear construction to alternate between the two consciousness, one a monk’s and the other a surgeon’s. The narrative starts at 3 p.m. on a Wednesday and ends the following Monday at 10 a.m., when Hung, the monk, is discharged from a private hospital after Mr K., the surgeon, operates on him for a hernia.Within the space of six days, the reader hears a multiplicity of social voices which orchestrates the parallel themes of spirituality and sexuality with the theme of communication. CHAPTER I 01 SMNovel.indd 35 10/5/09 2:04:19 PM 36 Different Voices Allusions to the Buddhist sutras and Tantra play a significant role in creating a background for dramatizing these parallel themes. The epigraph that opens the novel, the Lotus Sutra, touches on a central Buddhist belief that the sin of fornication is subject to karmic retribution: The Bhiksuni ‘fragrance of the precious lotus’, after receiving the rules of Bodhisattiva discipline, fornicated and pretended it was neither killing nor stealing and was, therefore, not subject to Karmic retribution. As a result, after her genital organ had been slowly scorched by the flame of passion, she fell into unintermittent hell. (p. 1) Although this English translation from Sanskrit signals one of the concerns in the narrative, by juxtaposing the above epigraph with the following sutra, Matangi (a low caste woman) succeeded, by means of Kapila magic, in drawing him close to her sensual body on the mat. (p. 1) the writer conveys the complex nature of human desire. The reader feels it is influenced by factors beyond human control. This internal “dialogue”, between the two sutras enhances the dialogic quality in the novel. The search for spiritual satisfaction is complicated by human sexuality. The intertextuality that surrounds Venerable Hung, the main interiorized character whose thoughts are represented through vernacular transcription, relates to Buddhist scriptures. His daily recitation of the Diamond Sutra, Surangama Sutra, and Heart Sutra, with his chants of Sanskrit mantras such as “Namo Tass Nam Mo Mi” (p. 8) “Om” and “Om Na Mo” (p. 9), establishes Hung’s search for spirituality. 01 SMNovel.indd 36 10/5/09 2:04:19 PM Flowers in the Sky (1981) 37 Hung’s quest for spiritual satisfaction stands in contrast to the quest by a minor character, Gopal, who finds fulfilment. The path taken by this character is the very opposite to the one pursued by Hung. Inspector Gopal, who is asked to disperse the crowd that gathers at the appearance of a wooden idol Ganesh, which is washed on to the beach fronting the surgeon Mr K.’s garden, seeks spirituality through the tantra. Allusions to the tantra which are overtly expressed by the lexical borrowings of Sanskrit words such as Shakti, lingam, and yoni implicitly link the sutras with the tantra. Gopal is in search for the feminine energy Shakti, for he wants someone to “share with him the discovery and joy of Krishna and Radha” (p. 48). This reference to the Indian epic, the Mahabharata, is further highlighted by the fact that Gopal is called Arjuna by his mother. This alludes to the discourse between Krishna and Arjuna in Gita, a section in the Mahabharata. Unlike the Buddhist belief that fornication is subject to Karmic retribution, the Tantra, the writings based on the Indian sect, formed by groups of Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains, is based on different beliefs. The Tantra positively cultivates and bases itself on what most people dismiss as the pleasures of life. “It does not say solemnly ‘You must abstain from all enjoyment, mortify your flesh, obey the commands of a jealous Father God.’ Instead, it says ‘Raise your enjoyment to its highest power and then use it as a spiritual rocket-fuel.” (Rawson 1973, p. 9). By juxtaposing Gopal’s search for Shakti...