MALAYSIA - 1957

MALAYSIA - TODAY

HEIR CONDITIONING

Heir ConditioningGrand dad did you breatheBefore air cons were inventedWasn't it hard stayingAlive without modern inventionsGrandma weren't you flusteredAs you fluttered with paper fansCould you communicate beforeFaxes and long distance callsBecame basic necessities?

Grand child we livedBefore your age becauseOf our ignorance,We did not knowPollution, stress, traffic jamsDestruction of forests, streams and hillsWe feared God and natureNow nature fears you andMoney is your new God

HEIR??

CONDITIONING???

HeirA descendant, grandchild or great-grandchild.

The younger generation.

ConditionThe situation in which people live.

ConditioningMaking a person or an animal think or behave in the certain way.

Deciding or controlling the way in which something can happen.

Word bank:

Invented: createdInventions: creationsFlustered: frustrated/ angryFluttered: fannedCommunicate: talkNecessities: daily needs

Ignorance: lack of knowledgePollution: dirty environmentStress: mental pressure or tension

Grand dad did you breatheBefore air cons were inventedWasn't it hard stayingAlive without modern inventionsGrandma weren't you flusteredAs you fluttered with paper fansCould you communicate beforeFaxes and long distance callsBecame basic necessities?

Grand child we livedBefore your age becauseOf our ignorance,We did not knowPollution, stress, traffic jamsDestruction of forests, streams and hillsWe feared God and natureNow nature fears you andMoney is your new God

The Poet - Dato' M. SHANmughalingam

• Poet, novelist.• Studied at University

of Malaya, Harvard and Oxford University.

The Meaning

In Stanza 1, the grandchild/persona inquiring

In Stanza 1, the grandchild/persona inquiring

Grand dad did you breathebefore air cons were invented

Meaning: The grandchild asks his grandfather if he was able to breathe before air conditioners were made.

Meaning: The grandchild asks whether his/her grandfather found it difficult to live without modern gadgets.

was it hard stayingalive without modern inventions?

Meaning: The grandchild asks his grandmother whether she was angry when she had to cool herself with paper fans.

Grandma weren't you flusteredas you fluttered with paper fans?

Meaning: The grandchild wonders how his/her grandparents communicated before there were no facsimile machines and telephones. These are considered basic needs in our lives.

Could you communicate beforefaxes and long distance callsbecame basic necessities?

In Stanza 2, the grandfather/grandmother responds to the questions posed by his grandchild/

persona in Stanza 1.

In Stanza 2, the grandfather/grandmother responds to the questions posed by his grandchild/

persona in Stanza 1.

Meaning: •The grandparent says that they lived at an earlier time than the grandchild. •However, since they were not educated, they didn’t have to deal with pollution, stress, traffic jams and the damage of the natural environment.

Grand child we livedbefore your age. Becauseof our ignorance,we did not knowpollution, stress, traffic jamsdestruction of forests, streams and hills

Meaning: We were afraid of God and respected nature.

We feared God and nature

Meaning: Now, nature is being threatened by you and money has become your main focus.

Now nature fears you andMoney is your new God

Grand dad did you1 breatheBefore air cons were inventedWasn't it hard stayingAlive without modern inventionsGrandma weren't you2 flusteredAs you fluttered with paper fansCould you communicate beforeFaxes and long distance callsBecame basic necessities?

Grand child we3 livedBefore your age becauseOf our ignorance,We did not knowPollution, stress, traffic jamsDestruction of forests, streams and hillsWe feared God and natureNow nature fears you4 andMoney is your new God

Who do the following pronouns refer to?

Their numbers correspond to those in the poem:

1.You

2.You

3.We

4.You

Answer the following questions:

1.How many voices are there in the poem?

2.Who are the voices?

3.What are the three voices talking about?

4.Who is answering the questions?

How does the grandchild think of his/her grandparents’ world?

How does the grandparents think of their grandchild’s world?

Setting• Time: present time with referenced to the past

• Place: not mentioned

Structure

•Two stanzas

•No fixed rhyme

Point of View

• First person point of view

•Persona in stanza one: Grandchild

•Persona in stanza two: Grandparents

Tone

• Overall, serious tone

• Stanza one is inquiring

• Stanza two is reflective

Language and Style

• Language: simple yet indirect language is used

•Style: a dialogue in which a grandchild questions his/her grandparents about life in the past.

1. Imagery Images such as pollution, traffic jams Grandma fanning herself: temperature.

2. Symbols Grandparents represent people who lived better life before development

spoiled the environment.

3. Irony The child sympathizing with his/ her grandparents for having struggle in a

world without modern inventions. Ignorance is a negative thing but it has brought positive effects for people of

grandpa and grandma’s time.

4. Personification

1. Imagery Images such as pollution, traffic jams Grandma fanning herself: temperature.

2. Symbols Grandparents represent people who lived better life before development

spoiled the environment.

3. Irony The child sympathizing with his/ her grandparents for having struggle in a

world without modern inventions. Ignorance is a negative thing but it has brought positive effects for people of

grandpa and grandma’s time.

4. Personification

Literary Devices

Theme• Love for money and material things•No fear of God•No love for the environment•Development versus destruction of the environment•Issue of modern inventions that gives us convenience but destroy the environment

Moral Value

•We must love our environment•We must not be materialistic•We must use knowledge wisely

The End