Breathing in Nostalgia with Awang Goneng’s ‘Growing Up in Trengganu’
ORIGINATING online through entries on popular long-running blog Kecek-Kecek, Awang Goneng’s chunks of nostalgia proved too good to exist only in cyberspace.
UK-based Malaysian writer Wan Hulaimi first started sharing the seeds of his 2007 novel over eleven years ago. Through the persona of Awang Goneng, lessons were delivered on Trengganuspeak, humour, news and even poetry.
After gaining a number of followers on his blog, Awang was approached by a Singaporean publishing house also based in the UK, Monsoon Books Pte Ltd. The rest, as they say, is history: his signing resulted in debut novel Growing Up In Trengganu.
The start of it all. The first post of Kecek-kecek.
Growing Up In Trengganu is filled with recollections from his humble childhood in which he introduces us to the townsfolk of Kuala Trengganu.
Roti paung expert Pök Mat, Rökök Arab connoisseur Mök Nöh, and air serbat businessman Ku Awang each reminded readers of people they knew. Awang’s characters lingered in the brain; one can’t help but relate to his stories.
There’s a bit of everything in his book, even stories of the unseen, paranormal world. Pelesits and hantu kangkang, for example. Creepy!
In Growing Up In Trengganu‘s vivid 336 pages, Awang also delves into Ramadhan and Syawal (months in the Muslim Hijrah calendar) at the quaint, coastal state.
His style of writing summons festive spirit and brings readers to exact moments in his mind. Imagine hard enough and prepare to hear the sounds of mercun and children laughing, smell the burning wicks of pelita, and listen to hefty cries of people who’ve lost loved ones with whom they’d celebrate.
Pelita burning. Image via Terengganu Permata Hati.
The book’s final 47 pages meanwhile help those illiterate in Trengganuspeak to learn about the dialect through a glossary courtesy of its writer.
Reading Awang’s words is akin to inhaling the salty sea breeze of the Terengganu coastline. One can’t help but feel an aggressive wave of nostalgia gushing onto their shores. These feel-good stories deliver a sense of home and organically awakens patriotism in readers.
Growing Up In Trengganu makes one wonder about the luxuries we have today — people then and now are exposed as having different perception of entertainment or fun. Though it’s a positive thing to look towards the future, the book makes it clear that one musn’t forget the past: a recurring issue endemic to today’s youth.
As an author, Awang Goneng taught this writer how to distinguish between things that should or shouldn’t matter. Like an uncle recalling stories of his past, Awang Goneng incites laughter with all the mischief undertaken by his band of kampong boys while rekindling gratitude in today’s generation of modern Malaysian readers.
An absolute role model and a must-read.
Get a copy of Awang Goneng’s Growing Up In Trengganu via MPH Online. For more reviews and opinion on the book, visit Goodreads.
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