Sweet Offerings – Chan Ling Yap

Sweet Offerings – Chan Ling Yap

Sweet Offerings is ostensibly the story of a family but actually provides a good window to a Malaysia in the throes of major change and war. From the colonial period in the 1930s to the modern Malaysia in the 1960s the author traces the changes through the story of Mei Yin. Mei Yin is a young Chinese girl sent to live with her tyrannical aunt Su Hei in Kuala Lumpur. The story then follows the travails, the life, the joys and sorrows of Mei Yin and her family.

The writing is not linear, it must be noted. Nor is it based on a single character. Instead we see the triumph of quiet strength and love in times that are tumultuous to say the least. In an era when women have no voice and are subject to all sorts of things in the name of tradition, Mei Yin’s strength manages to garner our appreciation and admiration. Yap does a good job of melding the larger picture of an evolving Malaysia with the smaller one of a family torn apart.

Hán Sī Jiā