Overview

The story is set in a traditional Malay village in the state of Kelantan, which is located
on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia.

Among the Malays, weddings are usually

celebrated on an elaborate scale. Although the story takes place in contemporary times,
matchmaking is still practiced.

The older folks, usually the women, take the responsibility of choosing a bride /
bridegroom for their children. This is often followed by the elders
taking full charge of the wedding preparations.

Amongst the Malays, the 'bunga telur'

is a must. The 'bunga telur' is a hard-boiled egg that is presented in a special case to
guests who come for the wedding.
Synopsis


This short story is about Jamal, a young
Kelantanese man who decides to get
married. His mother chooses a bride for
him - a beautiful, educated, rich and
cultured girl. Soon, Jamal gets involved
with the wedding preparations and
discovers
that expenses will be very high. Therefore,
he works out a more reasonable budget.
However, he still has to raise funds to pay
for the expenses. Jamal tries to get a bank
loan of RM5000 but rejects it when he
finds the loan repayment to be too steep.
He is happy to get a small loan of RM1500
from his mother. Finally, on the eve of
his wedding, Jamal has no good shoes for
his wedding. He had sold his Bally shoes
to his Cousin Lan to raise funds for the
wedding.
Setting
Setting
There are two main settings - the physical setting
and the social setting.

The following are some of the physical settings in

the story :

* The state of Kelantan

* Jamal's house
* The bride's house
* The bank
* Cousin Lan's house
* A few shops in Kelantan

The social settings show the following :

* A matriarchal setting society, where women are the

dominant force and
men are weak and have lost their masculinity.
* A traditional 20th century society where traditional
unwritten roles of
behaviour for men and women prevail.
* There are no good means of public transportation.
Character& Characteristics
Main Character
Character
Jamal
 A weak character
 He is easily bullied and ordered around by the womenfolk. He cannot make decisions by himself.
 Rather irresponsible and a spendthrift
 He does not save even though he only has a small salary. He does not consider the fact that he may
not be able to support a wife on his small salary.
 Rather foolish, naïve, ignorant and simple-minded
 He sells his Bally shoes to his cousin Lan for a low price. The actual cost is RM800. He does not
think before he acts. The Bally shoes would have been perfect for the wedding!
He also does not manage to get back the RM500 loan from his cousin.
 Obedient son
 He accepts his mother’s choice of a bride for him.
He accepts his mother’s reprimands gracefully and even his elder sister’s sarcasm.
 Soft-hearted
 Jamal cries when he is not able to take his relatives’ comments. He does not insist that the other
cousin return his money. He apologizes to the cow that is to be slaughtered for the wedding.
 Honest
 He sells Cousin Lan the shoes cheaply, although it could have fetched a much higher price. He does
not take any wanton advantage of his future bride.
 Patient
 Jamal is not fussy. He is capable of making sacrifices when required. He goes through all the
wedding preparations, the fitting sessions and lunches with his future bride with many of his
relatives looking on.
MinorCharacter
Jamal’s mother

Status - conscious
He ensures that her daughter-in-law is from a rich and
cultured family, educated, fair and pretty.
Generous
She gives Jamal RM1500 for the wedding, knowing that
he may not be able to return her the money.
Patient
She is especially patient with her son, Jamal, in
explaining the many preparations needed for a wedding.
Dominant and demanding
She insists that Jamal pay for certain items for the
wedding.
Fierce
Like many Kelantanese women, she has a good heart but
scolds and lectures Jamal because he needs to be more
responsible especially regards with finances. She is
rather unreasonable to demand so much money from him
since he has very little savings. She is very pushy and
determined that everything will work out according to
her plans.
She and her daughter excite him with stories of the
bridal chamber and then threaten to call off the
wedding, leaving Jamal teary and frustrated.
Jamal’s sister
 Short-tempered
She tells Jamal off when he
suggests that they cut cost on
the ‘bunga telur’ by distributing
Hacks sweets instead.
 Traditional
She insists on the ‘bunga telur’
although it is expensive.
 Dominant and bossy
Like most Kelantanese women,
her husband has no say in
anything.
 Unreasonable
She insists that Jamal pay for
the ‘bunga telur’ even though
she knows that he has no
money.
Cousin Lan
 Status-conscious
 He insists on wearing only
designer labels even though the
items come from Golok, Thailand,
are imitations!
 Shrewd, conniving and miserly
 He tries to strike a hard bargain
with Jamal about the sale of his
Bally shoes, even though he
covets it and knows that they are
genuine.
 Decisive and accommodating at
the right moment
 When Jamal threatens to go
elsewhere to sell his Bally shoes,
he quickly agrees to buy it at the
asking price
Themes
 The Need for Moderation
 Being Responsible
* Jamal decides to get married without
considering whether he can support
a wife and children.
* Jamal sells his Bally shoes to his cousin
for immediate cash, but fails to
consider the fact that he might need them
for his wedding. He is not
ambitious, and has not considered getting a
better-paying job.
* Jamal's mother insists that Jamal give
her a huge sum for the wedding
even though he has so little savings - this is
mean and irresponsible.
* Jamal's sister threatens to call off the
wedding just because Jamal
suggested that the 'bunga telur' be
replaced with Hacks sweets.
The Importance of Custom and Tradition
* Custom and tradition must be followed in a
traditional society like Kelantan -
for example, the choice of bride is the
responsibility of the elders. Jamal
can only view his bride in the presence of
relatives. Jamal must follow and go
through all the wedding preparations.
* Women are the dominant force in Kelantan
society - the men have to listen!
* It is important to keep to traditions -
'bunga telur' is given as a gift for
every wedding guest.
* Jamal is not very mature, and is not earning
much. Thus, his decision
to get married seems a little hasty. He is also
quite a spendthrift,
and does not save much. He has to learn to
budget and be moderate,
especially with regards to his future wife.
* Jamal's mother and sister are dominant and
impatient with him. They also
threaten to call off the wedding. They are
unkind to raise his hopes about
the wedding and then threaten to call if off.
* Both his mother and sister have short
tempers and exaggerate matters often.
* Jamal learns to exercise good judgement and
practice moderation when
he turns down the bank loan.
Status Consciousness
* Jamal's mother makes sure that her
daughter-in-law has looks, status and
a good education.
* Jamal's mother wants a grand wedding for
Jamal, even though it means
sacrifice, making wrong decisions and, perhaps,
borrowing.
* Jamal's sister insists on the 'bunga telur'
even though it will cost an
absurd RM1.20 for each egg! The outward
show was to maintain their status.
Moral Values
Thrift
This is seen in the case of Jamal. He is a
spendthrift, but with the approaching
wedding, he learns to cut his expenditures.

Patience
Human beings must learn to be patient.
Jamal learns to exercise
patience and tolerance wwith his mother
and sister. Both have
threatened to cancel the wedding.

Generosity
We must be generous. Generosity is shown
by Jamal's mother. She is
willing to give him RM1500 for his upcoming
wedding.

Self-Control
We should respect chastity. Jamal's
exercise of moderation and
self-control are important in a modern era
of sexual permissiveness.
Point of View
The story is written from the omniscient
point of view. The narrator knows
everything.
He knows all the thoughts, emotions and
actions of all the characters.
Language and Style
The following are the main literary
devices used in the story :
* diction / suitable choice of words
page 11 - 'hands folded neatly on her lap';
'langsat-yellow skin'
page 13 - 'suicidal budget'
page 15 - Jamal's 'heart leapt skyhigh'
page 16 - 'lick his wounds'
page 17 - 'crooned to the shoes'
* Symbols
* Idiomatic expressions
Tone and Mood
The story is told with some
humour and has an ironic
twist at the end. The writer
has a detached tone
throughout the story.
Therefore, the reader does
not
get emotionally involved
with the characters but
watches in amusement at
Jamal's
attempts to raise funds and
the ironic ending of the
story.