Kampung Boy

First off, I have never really picked up a graphic novel to read before. I’m more into the traditional chapter books obviously without pictures. As I was reading, I was surprised at how entertained I was thinking of the black and white illustrations coming to life in my head. I really enjoyed the fact that these illustrations were mostly of what the Kampung boy thought of, like the monster of a tin factory on page 65. “Then we passed through a dredging area. It was the first time I saw a tin dredge up close. I told the boys that when I was younger I was scared of the dredge because I thought it was a monster. The fellows laughed.”

Before reading this text, I was pretty unaware of how families in Malaysia functioned, especially with the way they raise their children. I would never think of a little boy getting circumcised anywhere the age he was. In my way of thinking, that really opened my eyes into knowing how sheltered my life had been! There are various culture differences that were hit on in this book that I kind of just thought were very different from the culture I was raised in. I knew that countries still participated in and had a functional payment process, but I thought it was just for marriage, not for actually having children. Also, the giving of food to the grandparents as a formality was something I thought was unique as well. And let me just add, if I ever have a child and that man isn’t in the room with me and just waits till it’s all over, we’re going to have problems. Of course I am joking, but it truly makes me think about different cultures and how they deal with different scenarios. Another thing I could think of from this story is the wedding. I thought it was really out of the ordinary for just the man to be needed for the ceremony, and the woman doesn’t even need to show up until the reception. I got married a year and a half ago, and I think that’s the way to go. I would have loved to just show up for the party and not had to deal with the “boring” stuff! (Once again, I am joking…sort of.)

I could really appreciate the way that the father raised his children, and wanted them to value education higher than anything else. I believe no matter what country you are in, education is important and having access to learning is rather a huge deal, especially in impoverished countries. What I was confused about was did the father in the story sell the land to help the family get a house closer to him and to get to the boarding school? I know the mother speaks of the house in Ipoh they would be able to purchase if the land was bought, but then Kampung boy would not have any land to come home to after his education. This may be the last thing this family is worried about, but it just gives insight of the way I think of things. Incentives are a great deal of how I live and I’m not embarrassed to say so. I was really delighted to see that his father was able to ride the bus into Ipoh with him seeing as I don’t think a child would have the mental capacity to leave every single one of his family members to go off to boarding school.

Overall, this story opened my eyes to what different cultures value, and how they practice different monumental moments in each other’s lives. This was a very great starting point for opening my eyes to different areas of the world and I am bracing myself, because I know this is just the beginning of what is to come for this quarter.