Title : Monsoon History

Writer : Shirley Geok-lin Lim

Born in 1944, Shirley Geok-lin Lim was brought to this world in Malaysia.

Deprivation and poverty that happened at that era of time restricted women to pursue

equal education as men. Girls were hardly being recognized by the society. As she had a

pretty unhappy childhood, reading had become a huge solace, retreat and escape for her.

She loved English Language really much that she was being scorned by her teachers for

her love of English over her “native” tongue. Therefore, she was very much looked down

upon her pursuit of English literature. Her first poem was published in the Malacca Times

when she was ten. By the age of eleven, she had already known that she wanted to

become a poet one day. Her primary education was at Infant Jesus Convent under the

then British colonial education system. Later she earned a B.A. first class honours degree

in English in University of Malaya. After that, she pursued her Ph.D in English and

American Literature in 1973. Having great interest in English literature made her to

become a person who would put her thoughts and ideas on papers. She loved voicing out

her mind through writings. That was why she had now become one of the most

successful and famous poets in Malaysia. Undeniably, her fame now has expanded to

even bigger region, which is the western countries – more and more people come to

know her.

One of the greatest masterpieces of Shirley Lim is of course, the poem

“Monsoon History”. The theme for this poem is the harmony of the Baba-Nyonya lifestyle.

As a Malacca-born child, she has seen the uniqueness of Baba-Nyonya lifestyle in her

own state. Therefore, it is not uncommon for her to infuse the special Baba-Nyonya

culture in her work, especially poems. Shirley Lim writes down what she feels about Baba

and Nyonya which can only be seen in Malaysia, most apparently, in Malacca. The
readers can easily see the injection of nature in “Monsoon History”. Looking at the title

itself, gives the readers the sense of nature and environment. Monsoon is referred to the

monsoon season that Malaysia has for the Peninsular Malaysia. To make the readers

clearly understand the dampness and humidity of Malaysia, Shirley Lim has injected a lot

of literary devices in her poem.

First of all, it is the usage images. Images are the languages used to

describe something in detail, using words to substitute for and create the sensory

stimulation, including visual imagery and sound imagery. The poem “Monsoon History” is

rich with imageries in which the readers can recognize and identify the images of

monsoon through various phrases and sentences such as “the water vapour soaks into

the mattresses causing them to be damp”. The image of damp air is seen in the water

vapour which looks like circles of smoke. Besides, another image of droplets of water

vapour is that of “fat white slugs” crawling along the pieces of wood. Words like “slugs,

silver fish, centipeded, snails, gnats, spiders and moth help the readers to understand

that these harmless insects are associated with the monsoon season and are very much

part of the nature of Malaysia’s tropical weather.

Secondly, simile, an indirect relationship where one thing or idea is

described as being similar to another, is also used in Shirley Lim’s poem. For instance,

“The air is wet… like fat white slugs furled” and “The air still silent Like sleepers rocked in

the pantun.” The incorporation of simile helps the readers to get a better idea or picture of

what the poet is trying to convey. Through of usage of concrete examples such as slugs

and sleepers, it deepens the readers’ understanding and knowledge.

Apart from images and simile, another literary device is greatly used in the

poem. It is the repetition. Repetition is done where a specific word, phrase or structures is

being repeated several times, usually in close proximity, to emphasize a particular idea.

Obviously the word “the air” is repeated many times in the poem. The readers can find
repetition in the following lines: The air is wet, soaks… (Stanza 1, Line 1) The air is

walking everywhere… (Stanza 1, Line 10) The air is still silent… (Stanza 5, Line 1).

Besides, the words “Nyonya and Baba” are also repeated and foregrounded in the two

stanzas in the poem, which are “Drinking milo, Nyonya and baba sit at home” and “This

was forty years ago, when nyonya married baba”. The repetition of Nyonya and Baba is

to emphasise the unique culture of Baba and Nyonya which can only be seen in

Malaysia.

Shirley Lim has also projected her poem through the usage of metaphor.

Metaphor is a direct relationship where one thing or idea substitutes for another. For

example, the poem talks about the “air” in the first stanza as if it is a human walking. This

can be found in “The air walking everywhere On its hundred feet Is filled with glare Of

tropical water.” (Stanza 1). In the second stanza, the “horns” of snails was described as if

there are timid men. The evidence of metaphor is “Small snails appear Clashing their

timid horns Among the morning glory Vines.”

As in style and language, the poet aptly captures the essence of the Baba-

Nyonya way of life and then places this side by side with the monsoon rains. The readers

can experience the culture and custom of the Malaccan Peranakan; Baba and Nyonya

through the accurate choice of words by Shirley Lim. For instance, the mother’s sarong

comes with a silver belt, the long hair of the nyonya, which is usually worn in a bun, the

silver paper money that is burnt in Taoist funeral and also the portraits of ancestors in the

sitting room. By using these, the readers can focus on the interplay and also the

interrelationships between the various structural units of the poem to better understand

the messages of the poet.

In “Monsoon History”, flashback can be found where the narrator of the

poem goes back in time in the third and fifth stanzas to talk about something that

happened forty years ago. “Monsoon History” is all about the poet’s reminisces about the
monsoon season in the past and compares it with the present. The lines “sheltered by

Malacca” and also “This was forty years ago” clearly reinforces the setting and the

nostalgic tone in the poem. Shirley Lim has indeed creates an atmosphere of peace,

harmony and security within her past. Therefore, she proudly infuses this familiarity into

her piece of work.

In conclusion, Shirley has indeed successful brings the readers the idea of

harmonious culture of Baba and Nyonya in Malaysia. Baba and Nyonya has now become

a trademark of one of the Malaysia culture for the foreigners. There are a lot of

uniqueness that the readers of “Monsoon History” can see and know Malaysia better. As

this is part of Malaysian’s culture, everyone should take their own part and role in

practising and preserving this fabulous and fantastic culture and not let it disappear from

Malaysia,.