MATI hidup dan susah senang dipegang oleh ALLAH S.W.T. Ini pegangan Lahuma sekarang. Malah, telah menjadi pegangan yang kukuh sejak zaman datuknya, Haji Debasa. Namun, Lahuma tetap meneruskan pegangan itu walaupun datuknya telah lama pulang ke rahmatullah. Jeha juga serupa pegangannya. Dia cuma ikut suaminya saja. Ikutan itu bukan sekadar ikutan buta tuli semata-mata, tetapi Jeha pun ada pegang-an juga. Dia percaya sungguh bahawa mati hidup dan susah senang dipegang oleh ALLAH S.W.T. Kesenangan dan kebahagiaan diterima de-ngan penuh kesyukuran. Diterima dengan ucapan alhamdulillah seribu kali. Penderitaan serta malapetaka yang menimpa pun diterima dengan ucapan alhamdulillah seribu kali juga. Demikian pegangan Lahuma dan isterinya, Jeha.

Writing a New Society is the first extended study of the novel in Malay and is a groundbreaking study of the relationship between social change and literary practice. The book traces the emergence of the genre from the 1920s and, drawing on 26 of Malaysia's best-known novels, argues that the form was developed as a vehicle for transforming Malay ideas about themselves and their society. Virginia Hooker focuses on the underlying anxiety about racial identity, which underpins much of Malay writing and examines how ethnic identity is constructed and expressed. In a radical break with the traditional notion of Malay society as being totally dependent on the Sultan, the book shows how the novelists centre their writings on descriptions of 'ordinary' Malays, and present the household as the primary site of change. Here the novels develop and describe a 'private' sphere where Malays who previously had no rights begin to exercise their initiative. The concept of social equality which inspires the novelists subverts many of the themes of modern Malay politics.

The literary canon is one of the most lively areas of debate in contemporary literary studies. This set of essays is both timely and original in its focus on the canon in South-East Asian literatures, covering Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. They vary in focus, from the broad panoramic survey of trends in a national literature to very specific discussions of the role of individuals in shaping a canon or the place of a particular text within a tradition, and from contemporary to traditional literature. They include discussions of the development of prose fiction, censorship and artistic freedom, the role of westerners in codifying indigenous literatures, the writing of literary history, the development of literary criticism and indigenous aesthetics.

Contributions examine the idea of the literary canon in Southeast Asia as a list of famous authors and works which have stood the test of time and reflect a country's cultural unity.