Usually have a lot of things to say. Just no mood to blog. =x
25 years old.
NUS graduate.
Now earning a living as someone who has to speak properly, spell properly, write properly.
No I'm not working for Sesame street!
moon phases |
ARCHIVE ARCHIVE ARCHIVE ARCHIVE
CLICK THESE:
é£å¤©å¨é©¬è·¯ä¸
å°±æ¯æ们幸ç¦çå¼å§
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
The Super Casual Book Review by Trent.
Mammon Inc by Hwee Hwee Tan
Published 2001
I first got news of this book on the internet last year. It was prominent because the author was a local, and I thought the book won a prize or something (Found out the book was adapted for stage and won the 2004 Singapore Literature Prize http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hwee_Hwee_Tan)
. I read a review which slammed the author for tainting the image of the Chinese, but I didn’t read much, and I totally forgot about it until I found a copy in the school bookshop. Bought it. Started reading at least 2-3weeks ago, and I’ve FINALLY finished this book. It’s a normal small sized paperback book with 274pages, but it took me ages because of school. These couple of days I finished the remaining half of the book.
Because I’m such a lazy pig, I’ll simply type out what the summary is on the back cover of the book. Oh yeah, book review Trent-style alright.
Would you sell your soul for the dream job?
That’s the question that confronts Chiah Deng when she’s offered the chance join the twenty-something jet-setting elite, to enter the world of Hollywood stars, rock idols and fashion mavens.
Mammon Inc., the largest company in the world, is looking for a new Adaptor: someone who can teach their executives how to cross cultures.Born in Singapore and educated in Oxford, Chiah Deng thinks she’s the ideal candidate.But before they make her a globo-boss, Mammon demand that Chiah Deng pass three tests: first, she has to go to New Tork, to the ultra-hip Gen Ven party, and convince everyone that she is a member of the hipster-rati. Next, she has to teach her Chinese sister how to be white. Finally, she has to turn her white flat-mate, Steve, into a Chinese geek.
Professor Ad-oy, Chiah Deng’s mentor at Oxford, warns that Mammon Inc. is out to seduce her. Their symbol – the Red Dragon – is a sign of Satan. But Chiah Deng’s parents tell that the Chinese Red Dragon is a divine creature that will shower down blessings from heaven to her.
Who should she believe? Caught between her Christian guru and Taoist parents, Chiah Deng struggles to straddle the gap between East and West, chopsticks and credit cards.
Witty and unique, Mammon Inc. is the perfect allegorical satire for our e-everything world.
--
家灯。Yup that’s her Chinese name. Anyway, the first few chapters are quite slow and not so appealing, but it does set the backdrop of Chiah Deng’s mentality and family values, and allows the reader to infer the relationship between Chiah Deng and Steve. (Fortunately or unfortunately, there are no raunchy bits. No, the book did not talk about them having sex.)
Huh? Not interested liao? Eh wait lah read further..
The Oxford culture takes half the stage in this book, presumably because the author was a graduate from that college. She takes constant digs at Oxford, from racism to elitism. The other half of the stage is reserved for Singapore, where in her book she uses certain typical Singlish terms but explains them in context.
Like the plot synopsis above, the book highlights the seemingly world of differences between the British (especially people in Oxford) and Singaporeans. Hwee Hwee uses Chiah Deng’s sister – the typical Ah Lian wannabe – to exemplify the significant gulf in class and culture. In the book, the author also explores certain religious and philosophical issues. Throughout the story, Chiah Deng grapples with her own conscience, faiths and beliefs. Does she want Steve to become a Singlish-speaking, shopping crazy guy? Does she think her sister Chiah Deng has what it takes to be sophisticated and talk profound stuff instead of toys from Macdonalds? Is Christianity for her?
Hwee Hwee’s vocabulary is simply teh power. Damn cheem. But I enjoyed it. Another reason why I read books so slowly is because I tend to read every single word, and I try to understand words that I don’t understand from contextual clues (OMG that’s one technique out of my EL reading/writing lesson). Then I click on the dictionary (home internet) and find out the meaning and pronunciation. She also made references to many things, from Carrie Fisher’s haircut (Star wars Princess Leia) to Whistler’s paintings. Lots of arty farty, culture vulture stuff. I like. =x
The Singaporean dialogues are definitely authentic, but at some points Hwee Hwee explained the cultures differently from what I had learnt, and so I disagree. She criticised Singaporeans at some points, but the British weren’t let off either.
I am thinking I could actually recommend this book to secondary-JC students. It would totally benefit them, and the story has a little tingle to our hearts at home. Only pitfall is there are some (just some, not a lot) vulgarities and uncouth terms and phrases.
Overall:
4/5 stars!!
Read it if you like: Witty dialogue, impressive display of vocab, exposure to different cultures, criticism of Singaporeans, discussion of religion.
Don’t read it if you dislike: Slow pace story, plethora of descriptive words, anything in the above.
Borrow the book from me. Anytime.
triggering Mr Ng HS |
Mammon Inc by Hwee Hwee Tan
Published 2001
I first got news of this book on the internet last year. It was prominent because the author was a local, and I thought the book won a prize or something (Found out the book was adapted for stage and won the 2004 Singapore Literature Prize http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hwee_Hwee_Tan)
. I read a review which slammed the author for tainting the image of the Chinese, but I didn’t read much, and I totally forgot about it until I found a copy in the school bookshop. Bought it. Started reading at least 2-3weeks ago, and I’ve FINALLY finished this book. It’s a normal small sized paperback book with 274pages, but it took me ages because of school. These couple of days I finished the remaining half of the book.
Because I’m such a lazy pig, I’ll simply type out what the summary is on the back cover of the book. Oh yeah, book review Trent-style alright.
Would you sell your soul for the dream job?
That’s the question that confronts Chiah Deng when she’s offered the chance join the twenty-something jet-setting elite, to enter the world of Hollywood stars, rock idols and fashion mavens.
Mammon Inc., the largest company in the world, is looking for a new Adaptor: someone who can teach their executives how to cross cultures.Born in Singapore and educated in Oxford, Chiah Deng thinks she’s the ideal candidate.But before they make her a globo-boss, Mammon demand that Chiah Deng pass three tests: first, she has to go to New Tork, to the ultra-hip Gen Ven party, and convince everyone that she is a member of the hipster-rati. Next, she has to teach her Chinese sister how to be white. Finally, she has to turn her white flat-mate, Steve, into a Chinese geek.
Professor Ad-oy, Chiah Deng’s mentor at Oxford, warns that Mammon Inc. is out to seduce her. Their symbol – the Red Dragon – is a sign of Satan. But Chiah Deng’s parents tell that the Chinese Red Dragon is a divine creature that will shower down blessings from heaven to her.
Who should she believe? Caught between her Christian guru and Taoist parents, Chiah Deng struggles to straddle the gap between East and West, chopsticks and credit cards.
Witty and unique, Mammon Inc. is the perfect allegorical satire for our e-everything world.
--
家灯。Yup that’s her Chinese name. Anyway, the first few chapters are quite slow and not so appealing, but it does set the backdrop of Chiah Deng’s mentality and family values, and allows the reader to infer the relationship between Chiah Deng and Steve. (Fortunately or unfortunately, there are no raunchy bits. No, the book did not talk about them having sex.)
Huh? Not interested liao? Eh wait lah read further..
The Oxford culture takes half the stage in this book, presumably because the author was a graduate from that college. She takes constant digs at Oxford, from racism to elitism. The other half of the stage is reserved for Singapore, where in her book she uses certain typical Singlish terms but explains them in context.
Like the plot synopsis above, the book highlights the seemingly world of differences between the British (especially people in Oxford) and Singaporeans. Hwee Hwee uses Chiah Deng’s sister – the typical Ah Lian wannabe – to exemplify the significant gulf in class and culture. In the book, the author also explores certain religious and philosophical issues. Throughout the story, Chiah Deng grapples with her own conscience, faiths and beliefs. Does she want Steve to become a Singlish-speaking, shopping crazy guy? Does she think her sister Chiah Deng has what it takes to be sophisticated and talk profound stuff instead of toys from Macdonalds? Is Christianity for her?
Hwee Hwee’s vocabulary is simply teh power. Damn cheem. But I enjoyed it. Another reason why I read books so slowly is because I tend to read every single word, and I try to understand words that I don’t understand from contextual clues (OMG that’s one technique out of my EL reading/writing lesson). Then I click on the dictionary (home internet) and find out the meaning and pronunciation. She also made references to many things, from Carrie Fisher’s haircut (Star wars Princess Leia) to Whistler’s paintings. Lots of arty farty, culture vulture stuff. I like. =x
The Singaporean dialogues are definitely authentic, but at some points Hwee Hwee explained the cultures differently from what I had learnt, and so I disagree. She criticised Singaporeans at some points, but the British weren’t let off either.
I am thinking I could actually recommend this book to secondary-JC students. It would totally benefit them, and the story has a little tingle to our hearts at home. Only pitfall is there are some (just some, not a lot) vulgarities and uncouth terms and phrases.
Overall:
4/5 stars!!
Read it if you like: Witty dialogue, impressive display of vocab, exposure to different cultures, criticism of Singaporeans, discussion of religion.
Don’t read it if you dislike: Slow pace story, plethora of descriptive words, anything in the above.
Borrow the book from me. Anytime.
triggering Mr Ng HS |