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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.
“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
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
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
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
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
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
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,.