Heart of Glass: Day 10 AKA Final day of serialisation on The Pigeonhole
Yoohoo! ‘Tis the final instalment day. Is there any hope for Li-an after the trouble she’s caused? Is she damned? Be damned, but read it! Sign up to read for free.
The Reading Life
Heart of Glass: Day 9 of serialisation on The Pigeonhole!
Oh yussssss, my boy, we are on the PENULTIMATE day. In which Li-an has to discover for herself what exactly is Hotel Central besides being a 9-storey brothel. No, really. Ya gotta live it to believe it and believe it to live it.
Heart of Glass: Day 6 of being serialised on The Pigeonhole!
What has gone wrong and why does Li-an hear sirens on New Year’s Day 1981?
Heart of Glass: Day 5 of being serialized on The Pigeonhole!
Li-an is on Cloud 9. She is high, she is dizzy. What she has discovered just before the New Year’s Eve party, 1980, might change her luck. Read Heart of Glass for free for 10 days. We are on Day 5. Half way guys!
Heart of Glass: Day 4 of being serialized on The Pigeonhole!
Read Heart of Glass for free for 10 days. We are on Day 4, 6 to go: in which the protagonist Li-an is now feeling reticent about the ‘jawb’ she has come to do.
Heart of Glass: Day 3 of being serialized on The Pigeonhole!
Read Heart of Glass for free for 10 days. We are on Day 3, 7 to go: in which the protagonist is awakening to the beat of Macau.
GUEST POST: “Who will win when the lore of the Borneo jungle takes on the law of the white man?” by Bill Colegrave
A warm welcome to my guest, the legendary Bill Colegrave,
who has collected and been inspired by travel books for more than four decades. He was the owner and publisher of the Cadogan Guides travel series.
And now over to Bill…
The unforeseen complications of a one-night stand
are the foundations of this tale and the adventure that ensues. Benjie, a Chinese Malaysian Doctor is quickly diverted by his new assistant, a tattooed Iban, an indigenous Bornean; once hooked, he remains on the line. The more he discovers of her history, the deeper he becomes embroiled.
Children tattoo children to ensure the art never dies.
Debut novelist, Ivy Ngeow is Malaysian and international and she uses all her multicultural skills to explore the interaction of her character cast of Chinese, Malay, Scottish and Iban. The latter are the catalysts for the drama.
“A man or a woman without tattoos is invisible to the gods.” – Iban proverb
Elderly Sea Dayak woman of Borneo with thigh, feet and hands tattoo
Everyone has heard of Borneo, but most can’t place it on the map.
That is because Borneo is the name of an island, which is not a country; 75% of it is the Indonesian province of Kalimantan, the rest is the Malaysian outposts of Sabah and Sarawak plus the tiny but powerfully oil-rich Kingdom of Brunei. The Borneo of Cry is Sarawak, the home of the Iban.
The story engaged my attention but I was also learning about the Iban,
and learning to admire the Iban. Marriage, we learn, should be considered in practical terms:
“Every boy should look to marry a girl that is top class at weaving…..Boys want girls that are good at weaving, because it is a tough, tough life in the jungle. The girls, they weave to make clothes for war and for every day. They weave pua and the blankets make you dream well. In Iban, dreams are the most important gift from the Gods.”
Traditional Sarawak weaving of Pua Kumbu
A traditional Borneo longhouse
Central to the tale are the two Iban boys, Minos and Watan, who are taken under the wing of a English pastor, who has not understood that the 19th century ended a few years ago and that he is not helping anyone by trying to convert Iban to Christianity. But what he can offer is attractive to the eager Iban. Minos complains that there is no TV.
“Ingland says no. If plentymoney says No, it means No. But Pastor says Yes. Someone from the church give a TV. It is only the size of a chicken.”
I hope I remember to use that splendid simile when I am next buying a TV. Let me also remember Minos’ advice about mushroom gathering:
“….if all rotten and covered in worms, means OK to eat. If fresh and untouched, means poisonous.”
Ex-convicts pray.
Cry of the Flying Rhino is charming as well as compelling
as a story, partly because the author creates her own moral code, as a result of which almost all crimes committed by her characters can be forgiven, so long as they can be held to be avenging a greater wrong.
The charm of the book and its insights into the ways of the jungle people of Borneo have drawn me to the island.
When I get there I will be thanking Ivy and two other writers:
- My friend Robin Hanbury Tenison, whose Finding Eden – A Journey into the Heart of Borneo, has just been published. It tells the story of his time leading the Royal Geographical Society expedition to the same area in 1977 and starts with his chance meeting with Nayapun, a Penan tribesman:
“The Penan have a quality of stillness….They melt into the shadows and that is their life”.
2. and the American, CS Godshalk, whose novel Kalimantaan, brought back to vivid but fictional life the time of Rajah Brooke, the Briton who became an effective Rajah of Sarawak in the mid 19th Century.
2018 All Rights Reserved © Bill Colegrave
“When we affect to condemn savages, we should remember that by doing so we asperse our own progenitors; for they were savages also. Who can swear that among the naked British barbarians sent to Rome to be stared at more than 1500 years ago, the ancestor of Bacon might not have been found?–Why, among the very Thugs of India, or the bloody Dyaks of Borneo, exists the germ of all that is intellectually elevated and grand. We are all of us–Anglo-Saxons, Dyaks and Indians–sprung from one head and made in one image.” – Herman Melville
Have you been to Borneo and have you met an Iban before? If you have enjoyed this blog post, please share, join my mailing list or email me with your comments and feedback. We would love to hear from you.
Ivy Ngeow lives in London. Cry of the Flying Rhino is a debut award-winning novel set in Malaysia and Borneo. Her second novel Heart of Glass is published by Unbound in 2018. Find me at www.writengeow.com, tweet me @ivyngeow, or write to me here: ivy_ngeow at yahoo dot com
Bill Colegrave is a travel writer and explorer. He was publisher of Cadogan Guides, which he bought in 1989, and also a Director of Everyman’s Library. His book Halfway House to Heaven (Benefactum, 2011) tells the story of his expedition to find the source of the River Oxus in the Wakhan Corridor and Pamir Mountains of Afghanistan. He is also co-creator of Not The Times, a parody of The Times during its year-long strike. He has an extensive travel book library and has travelled to 110 countries and counting. He has three grown children and one grandchild, and lives in London. Scraps of Wool was published by Unbound on 16 November 2017. Write to him here: scrapsofwool at gmail dot com
PHOTO CREDITS:
Map of Borneo: drawn by © Ivy Ngeow 2018 All Rights Reserved
Sarawak weaver: photo credit: papayatreelimited 7 Nancy Ngali at her loom, Rumah Garie, Sarawak via photopin (license)
Rainforest mushrooms: photo credit: The eclectic Oneironaut dry rainforests via photopin (license)
Desperate prayer: photo credit: mathieujarryphoto desperate.prayer via photopin (license)
Sarawak rainforest: photo credit: LukePricePhotography Jungle. Sarawak, Borneo. Malaysia via photopin (license)
The Renaissance Woman: Truth or Lie?
Ren′aissance wom′an
n.
awomanwhohasacquiredprofoundknowledgeorproficiencyinmore thanonefield.
I dreaded forcing myself and my eyes to look up the term Renaissance woman and read the definition because although I suspect I already knew what it meant I wanted it confirmed, like bad news.Being proficient at many things was something I saw as a negative aspect to my character especially as I am only greeted with shock and fear: “I didn’t know you are a …” insert whatever. “Is there anything you can’t do?” “What else are you doing?” “Why do you do all these things?” “When do you do all these things?” It is because of that terrible saying Jack of All Trades and Master of None. Also, that ridiculous term ‘juggling’ is often bandied about. I have no reply to these kind of questions because they are rhetorical questions and leave me speechless.
So really, I have to face the music. It’s time to give you the facts.
1/ Renaissance Woman does not like to be asked ‘Is there anything you can’t or don’t do’
Of course there are my dear. How can I do more than 4 things at once? I really only do architecture, writing, sewing and play musical instruments. I don’t do pole dancing, sports, any sports, plastering, electrical work, plumbing, maintenance or fixing of any mechanical or electrical item such as motors, anything involving a solenoid or AC supply, valves, anything medical, ice skating, skiing, did I already mention sports, spreadsheets, databases, accounts. There are too many. Do you really think that all skills belong to all?
2/ Renaissance woman always tries her best
Doesn’t matter what it is or if she is terrible at it. “If you want something done, ask a busy person.” (have you heard this saying?) This is actually the motto of the Renaissance woman. Giving it your best shot. You have one life. Make every moment count. This is the moment. This is the day. etc. You have heard it all before. They are all cliches. Even things I am terrible at: housework, cooking, baking, ballet – I do a thorough job of it, or not at all.
3/ Renaissance woman is not a Wonder Woman, Superhuman or any fantasy character
She fights colds, craves sugar and feels fed up like everybody else. And one day when she is dead she hopes some admin staff will still be running this page or at least a page that says Error 404 Page Not Found, so that you will know that everybody eventually dies, even the Renaissance woman, because after all she is not a superhuman nor immortal. The house is always dirty or messy because one cannot do it all. Something’s gotta give and it’s not Hollywood.
4/ Renaissance woman is hardworking
There is no question about it. You have do do time.
Architecture – 30,000 to 60,000 hours as I have only been doing it since Uni, and I say only but because of how long ago since I qualified in it and practised in it, it has clocked up that number of hours. I can’t understand people who (obviously don’t know me) ask me ‘How do/did you do it?’ I am a professional! Time is how you do it.
Piano – 40,000 hours. I have been playing since early childhood, was also in a band which involved severe serious practising all the time, every day for many years.
Writing – 25,000 hours. I have been writing since I could write.
Sewing – 10,000 hours. I have been sewing with my grandmother and aunts since I was a child. The moment I could hold a needle without stabbing myself or someone else, I was given tasks.
If you spent at least 10,000 hours playing tennis since childhood you would be a tennis champion.
There is no magic. If people think you are born with God-given talent and then suddenly you’re a whizz at everything at an adult age, they must be crazy and must be subjected themselves to 10,000 hours’ training in something.
5/ Renaissance woman must have hobbies
Naturally, being a busy, hardworking person, mother, wife, worker, writer, architect, seamstress and musician and having spent 10,000 hours on the main things, one cannot be expected to not enjoy one’s downtime with hobbies. The Renaissance woman has lesser activities in order to relax. These usually have nothing to do with the main courses. These are just snacks or desserts for example ballet, makeup art, decluttering, re-organization of rooms, cardio exercises and the aforementioned items in 2/ which she is not so good at. For example I only very recently started cardio, guitar and ballet, therefore I am still terrible at them and totally not proficient.
Cardio: 240 hours
Ballet: 100 hours
Guitar: 800 hours
Conclusion
You may have multiple streams of income, you may not. You may have professions, hobbies, sidelines, main courses, snacks. Whatever your flow, go forth and multiply your interests. You will not regret it. The worst that can happen is you spent 10 hours on it not 10,000. Even so it is not a failure. Learning does not exhaust the mind, it grows the mind. Anyway, so what if I fail, I have failed and I will fail and fail again, I will fail better each time!
We all have so many talents and gifts, we may have just suppressed them because of the way we have been conditioned and brought up. You have no idea of the power of the human mind and humanity. You have time. We all do. In fact, time is all we have on earth.
This beautiful and inspirational quote from the maestro of the Renaissance himself reminds us:
“Time abides long enough for those who make use of it.” – Leonardo da Vinci
Are you a Renaissance Woman or Man? What do you think of multiple interests and multi-tasking? If you have enjoyed this blog post, please share, join my mailing list or email me with your comments and feedback. As usual I would love to hear from you.
2018 All Rights Reserved © Ivy Ngeow