Life: Welcome to the jungle

2009/10/28

Rizal Solomon

Author Steve Oh takes us deep into the Golden Jungle, where a climactic battle for its treasures is about to begin. RIZAL SOLOMON writes.

MALAYSIAN author Steve Oh has a lot going on right now.

He’s been involved in property development in Australia since 1995 and is currently planning a multi-function centre, including a small auditorium and retreat, for creators.

Also on the cards is a homestay for families visiting Perth on a two-hectare block and 15 minutes drive from Perth.

Coupled with being a devoted husband and father, that alone should have bled his time dry.

Not quite, apparently. In his spare time, he’s managed to wrap up his long-gestating novel Tiger — King of the Golden Jungle as well as pen roughly 40 songs that he hopes to draw upon for a proposed musical based on his novel.

Oh and his Malaysian fable.

He’s a colourful character. At his book launch in Kuala Lumpur, he was decked out in a tiger-striped jacket and pants. With his striking golden mane, you can’t miss him.

Taking to the stage on the guitar for a performance with local diva Elaine Kang, he came off more like a Cantopop star than an author.

Born in Penang, Oh has had an interesting life. He’s had a long love of music. He won two out of four prizes in a Penang-state wide talent competition in 1969 and even sang on over radio.

“At university in Wellington, New Zealand, I played with bands. David Chin of Dave’s Deli played with me and he was really a good singer. I must get him back to singing because it is a talent wasted,” he mused.

Penang still factors a lot in his life, even though he now lives in Perth. He still keeps in touch with his old crew from the island.

“I invited Datuk David Arumugam of the Alleycats to my launch but because of prior commitments, he could not make it. David is also from Penang.

“He used to ride with us once or twice in my car when he was a young boy. His neighbour Jimmy Tan was a singer in my band. David (Arumugam) also started to sing publicly shortly after.”

While Oh was in Malaysia, he balanced work in the corporate sector with his passion for social work.

He did some social rehabilitation work in Kampung Sungai Kayu Ara and the Philippines, where he says he “turned drunkards and misfits into responsible citizens”.

He did it for four years before emigrating to Perth in 1987.

At the book launch, Oh took to the stage with Elaine Kang for a song he wrote.

There, he excelled in the corporate world. He was a top, award-winning insurance and investment salesman for AMP, Australia’s largest insurance and investment company for four years.

He comes back to Malaysia several times a year.

“About six to eight times a year, on average. Sometimes I stay for three weeks or so. My dad is 90 years old and I try to see him often.”

But when it comes to being an author, all that matters in the end is that he tells a good story.

Tiger — King of the Golden Jungle is a fable. It alternates between the point of view of the humans and the animals as both sides rollercoaster down towards a seemingly inevitable confrontation over the resources of the jungle.

When Oh goes to the point of view of the animals, he goes all the way. The animals talk to each other, but not to the humans.

They’ve got their own social structure and the enroachment of the humans eventually splits them into two warring camps.

On the human side, we’ve got greedy developers and poachers but the book really takes off when Oh switches to the animals’ side of things.

It is surprising, and refreshing, at how far Oh is willing to go in terms of telling the story.

Sure, the animals talk, but this isn’t a Disney movie. He doesn’t flinch when it comes to depicting action.

“There is animal-speak but unlike other novels, I don’t let the animals talk to the humans ... that is why there are two books in one. The animal story and the human story and they juxtapose at certain junctures in the main plot,” he explained.

It can get pretty brutal, but all that heightens the story which is nothing less than the survival of all the animals in the jungle.

Interestingly, when asked which character was his favourite, he went with one of the book’s main antagonists, the gaur Oxxo.

“Definitely, Oxxo. He is like the prodigal son if you like, and we all can identify with him, though not with his extreme evil streak.”

The book took 12 years to write. When asked why it took so long, Oh said: “I think it took me something like four to five years; maybe less to finish the book but it was at 190,000 words, and was much longer. I had to cull the worlds and bits and pieces, sometimes quite viciously, to bring the book down to size.”

“The rest of the time was spent re-doing certain chapters and just the practical business of getting a publisher and making sure the book is of a high standard,” he added.

When asked why is the book told as a fable, he explained that: “I like to give a voice to the voiceless. Animals cannot complain, so someone has to complain for them, someone has to give their points of view because humans are so anthropocentric, often selfish. They have no respect for animals that God created.”

With juggling so many things in his daily life, writing a narrative was definitely a challenge.

“One of the challenges was remembering what I wrote earlier and trying to keep the story coherent and logical. I wrote while doing a myriad of other things. Sometimes I would forget what I had written when I resumed writing,” he said.

Oh was not spared personal tragedy during the years writing the book, but continuing with the story proved to be something of a catharthic experience.

“I lost our fourth child, Jonathan, while I was writing the novel. But his death added to the emotion of the writing process.”

Ultimately, all that he has experienced in his life, has one way or the other, been infused into the book. The novel has a raw, honest and personal feel to it. In a market filled with works that dilute themselves to pander to the masses, this is a rare thing indeed.