OF BUNGA TELUR AND THE

BALLY SHOES

PREPARED BY:
S.GOMALA
 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 caseto
guests who come for the wedding.
 PLOT
In this story, all the key events are woven into a pattern. It comprises the following

Exposition
Jamal decides to get married. A bride is chosen for him.

Rising Action
Jamal finds that he lacks funds for the wedding. He thinks of ways to reduce
expenses.

Climax
Jamal suggests using Hacks sweets instead of 'bunga telur'. His traditional sister
threatens to call off the wedding.

Falling action
He sells his Bally shoes to his cousin, Cousin Lan.

Resolution
At the dress rehearsal, Jamal discovers that he has no good shoes for his 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
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.
  

CHARACTERS (MAJOR)
Character Character Traits Textual Evidence
He is easily bullied and ordered around by the
A weak character womenfolk. He cannot make decisions by
himself.
He does not save even though he only has a
small salary. He does not consider the fact
Rather irresponsible and a spendthrift
that he may not be able to support a wife on
his small salary.
He sells his Bally shoes to his cousin Lan for a
low price. The actual cost is RM800. He does
Rather foolish, naïve, ignorant and simple- not think before he acts. The Bally shoes
minded would have been perfect for the wedding!
He also does not manage to get back the
RM500 loan from his cousin.
He accepts his mother’s choice of a bride for
him.
Obedient son
Jamal He accepts his mother’s reprimands gracefully
and even his elder sister’s sarcasm.
Jamal cries when he is not able to take his
relatives’ comments. He does not insist that
Soft-hearted the other cousin return his money. He
apologizes to the cow that is to be
slaughtered for the wedding.
He sells Cousin Lan the shoes cheaply,
although it could have fetched a much higher
Honest
price. He does not take any wanton
advantage of his future bride.
Jamal is not fussy. He is capable of making
sacrifices when required. He goes through all
Patient the wedding preparations, the fitting sessions
and lunches with his future bride with many
of his relatives looking on.
 CHARACTERS (MINOR)
Character Character Traits Textual Evidence
He ensures that her daughter-in-law is from a rich
Status - conscious and cultured family, educated, fair and pretty.

She gives Jamal RM1500 for the wedding, knowing

Generous that he may not be able to return her the money.

She is especially patient with her son, Jamal, in

Patient explaining the many preparations needed for a
wedding.
She insists that Jamal pay for certain items for the
Dominant and demanding
wedding.
Jamal’s mother
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
Fierce 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.

She tells Jamal off when he suggests that they cut

Short-tempered cost on the ‘bunga telur’ by distributing Hacks sweets
instead.
She insists on the ‘bunga telur’ although it is
Traditional
Jamal’s sister expensive.
Like most Kelantanese women, her husband has no
Dominant and bossy
say in anything.
She insists that Jamal pay for the ‘bunga telur’ even
Unreasonable
though she knows that he has no money.
He insists on wearing only designer labels even
Status-conscious though the items come from Golok, Thailand, are
imitations!
He tries to strike a hard bargain with Jamal about the
Cousin Lan Shrewd, conniving and miserly sale of his Bally shoes, even though he covets it and
knows that they are genuine.
When Jamal threatens to go elsewhere to sell his
Decisive and accommodating at the right moment Bally shoes, he quickly agrees to buy it at the asking
price.
 THEMES
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.
The Need for Moderation
* 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.
Thrift
MORAL VALUES
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 with 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.
 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.
 QUESTION 1
• What is the moral value of this short story?
A. self-control
B. Be polite
C. Be positive
D. Don’t be greedy
 Question 2
• What did they gave to the visitor as that came
to their wedding?
A. Hack sweets
B. A bunga telur
C. Hack sweets and bunga telur
D. Bally shoes
 Question 3
• What will happen if Jamal did not exchange
the bunga telur to hack sweets?
A. Eat cucumber every day
B. Have a happy life
C. Will get bankrub
D. Be came poor