Heir Conditioning

Grand dad did you breathe

before air cons were invented?
was it hard staying
alive without modern inventions?
Grandma weren't you flustered
as you fluttered with paper fans?
could you communicate before
faxes and long distance calls
became basic necessities?

Grandchild we lived
before your age. Because
of our ignorance,
we did not know
pollution, stress, traffic jams
destruction of forests, streams and
hills
we feared God and nature
now nature fears you and
money is your new God.

The Poet: M SHANmughalingam

 Studied at the Victoria Institute School, Malaysia from 1952-58.

 Holds an Honours degree from University Malaya, a Masters from Harvard and a
Doctorate from Oxford University.
 Literary publications include short stories and poems in Commonwealth Anthologies,
International anthologies, universities and in national literary journals.
 He is the co-editor of an anthology of Malaysian poetry.
 Has always been active in the debating, literary and drama fields.

Summary

 The poem talks about the differences on the ways of living of two different
generations.
 The poet uses an interesting way of a question and answer session between a
grandchild and his/her grandparents.
 The child questions his/her grandparents on how they could live without all the
necessities they today’s generation could not live without such as air cons, fans,
faxes and telephones.
 The grandparents replay one after another that even though the necessities were not
yet invented to comfort them, they could live in comfort as their life were free from
‘pollution, stress, traffic jams, destruction of forests, streams and hills’.
  They warn their child that there is a price to pay when they do not fear God and
appreciate nature. They have made money as their God and nature fears them
because of the rapid pace of development and the destruction of the beautiful
environment.

Theme

1. Technology Brings More Harm

 It may seem that we are living in comfort with all the technology that keeps on
improving, but we do not realize the harms that the technology has brought us.
 The grandchild thinks that it is impossible for their grandparents to live in comfort
with the help of technology. The child does not realise that because of the
technology itself, the world becomes hotter and that is the reason why some
technologies are created to blind humans with the fake comfort that the
technologies bring them. For example, electric fans and air cons.
 Technological advancements have other setbacks such us pollution, stress,
traffic jams, and destruction of forests, rivers and hills.

2. Fear

 The older generations were God-fearing people and respected His creation –
nature.
 However, today’s generation does not fear God. On the contrary the poet says
that ‘now nature fears you and money is your new God’.
 This indicates that the younger generation has become more materialistic.
 They do not care for nature but gives priority to riches and money rather than
practicing good values such as preserving God’s creation.

3. Importance of Preserving Nature

 God created nature to preserve life.

 In stanza 2, the poet gives the consequences of not preserving nature
-‘pollution, stress, traffic jams, destruction of forest, streams and hills’.
 Humans seem not to aware that the more pollution they make, the more they
need to preserve the nature.
 In paving the way for development, forest and hills have been destroyed and
streams have been polluted. This has destroyed the natural habitat of many
species of animals and plants which help to retain balance in our ecosystem.

Moral Values

1. Appreciate Nature
 Stanza 2 in the poem conveys a strong message regarding appreciating nature.
  The poet reminds us that during our grandparents’ time, they believed ‘what goes
around comes around’ they took care of nature.
 They believed that everything in nature was created by God. Therefore, if one
appreciated and respected God’s gifts to mankind, the returns would be bountiful.
 However, since the dawn of modern inventions, lifestyles and priorities have
changed. As the poet points out, ‘now nature fears you and money is your God’.
This shows that the present generation does not care and appreciate nature. In
fact, they have become more materialistic and believe that money and riches are
more important.
 In turn, nature has suffered due to their lackadaisical (unconcerned/ laid back)
attitude. Today, the destruction of forest, streams and hills have shaken the
balance in living cycles. As a result, we are faced with problems such as
pollution, stress, and traffic jams.

2. Respect and Love

 Through the question and answer session, we know that there is mutual respect
and love in this family. The grandparents show patience to their grandchild by
answering his questions.
 At the same time they also make attempts to educate and warn him of the
dangers of modern inventions to the environment and about having good values
and lifestyle.

3. Believe in God
 The poet reminds us that today’s younger generation is too preoccupied with
making money and maintaining a certain standard of lifestyle and status.
 They tend to be extravagant. Such emphasis on material things has made them
forget God.
 Thus, they do not fear God. Their need to believe in God is slowly waning
(fading/weakening) as other objects and material things become more important.

Tone and Mood

 This poem interestingly conveys two tones and moods.

 In the first stanza, the tone is curiosity where the grandchild inquisitively seeks answers
to his questions.
 In the second stanza, the tone and mood is more serious. Here the poet uses this tone
and mood because he wants to show the impact of Man’s actions on the environment as
a result of using modern inventions.

Structure and Style

 The poet uses a free verse style of writing.

 The poem is written in two stanzas. There are 9 lines in Stanza 1 and Stanza 2 has 10
lines.
  The poet does not use any rhyming words or couplets. Generally, the poet has
employed a light and easy conventional style in writing Heir Conditioning.
 In Stanza 1, the poet uses many questions to portray a child’s inquisitiveness about his
surroundings. In stanza 2, the responses given by his grandfather cast gravity and imply
the seriousness of modern inventions to the environment.

Literary Devices

1. ‘Heir’ or ‘Air’
 The most striking literary device in this poem is the use of a pun. A pun refers to
a word or phrase that has been used in an amusing way to convey meaning.
 They usually have the same sound but convey different meanings. In this poem,
the word ‘heir’ which also sounds like ‘air’ shows the poet’s ingenuity in playing
with words.
 By using this word, the poet reminds us that by using modern inventions such as
‘air conditioners’, we are leaving our ‘heirs’, the future generation, a world that
will be plagued with environmental problems.

2. Life’s Irony
 The poem shows us an example of life’s irony.
 We wish that the modern inventions mentioned in the poem such as fans, air
conditioners, faxes, and telephones would make life easy. However, modern
inventions have also brought with it new problems such as stress, traffic jams
and pollution.

3. Contrast
 Contrast in this poem refers to showing the differences between ideas, situations
and people of different generations.
 The poet makes a comparison between the past and present. The first contrast is
in Man’s beliefs. The poet points out that our forefathers ‘feared God and nature’.
In contrast, the younger generation has turned things around so much that now
‘nature fears you and money is your new god’.
 The second contrast is with regards to basic necessities. In the past, our elders
used simple things such as paper fans. Today, modern inventions, through
considered basic necessities, have brought about many changes.
 More significant is the negative effects of these inventions on the environments
such as ‘pollutions, stress, traffic jams, destruction of forests, stream and hills’.

4. Alliteration
 In this poem, there is at least one example of alliteration. Stanza 1 (Lines 5 – 6)
shows the consonant ‘f’ being mentioned three times.
 Example: Grandma weren’t you flustered as you fluttered with paper fans?