Response to Kampung Boy

I was first introduced to Kampung Boy in a Graphic Novel course I took Spring quarter of 2013. It was not an assigned text that we read; however, I had a classmate who did one of their presentations on it. From that presentation, I was provided with some of the central themes of the graphic novel: rural life in Malaysia, culture, coming of age, family, and the outside world. I kept these themes in mind while reading this graphic novel and each was very apparent. The religious aspect was the thing I noticed most because of the research I did on Malaysia.

Before reading this text, I had the idea that religion would play a large role in this story and in the life of the main character. The reason why I suspected this was because of the research I had previously done on Malaysia. In my research, I discovered that the state religion of Malaysia is Islam and that the majority of the population practices it as their religion. As I read the story, it was confirmed that the main character, as well as the other occupants of Kampung, practiced Islam as their religion. This also confirmed my suspicion that the Islamic religion would play a large role in this story and the character’s life. I first saw that my conception was confirmed within the first few pages of the book. For example, a few days after the main character is born, his family and friends of the family hold a “hair-shaving ceremony” for him and then afterwards, they sing a religious song about the prophet as he swings in a hammock. I looked up “hair-shaving ceremony” because I have very little background knowledge of Malaysia and the Islamic religion. I discovered that the “hair-shaving ceremony” is actually a part of the Malayan culture, not particularly of the Islamic religion. It is believed that shaving and bathing the newborn purifies the child. This was interesting to me because, to my knowledge, in American, we don’t really have a similar tradition. That is, unless you count baptism, but either way, we don’t typically shave an infant’s head to purify them.

Another theme that I paid close attention to while reading this graphic novel was coming of age. This story is very much about the main character's coming of age. In the beginning, the main character is young and naïve to the world around him. As he grows older he is given responsibilities and becomes aware that there are expectations placed upon him. For example, when he turns six, he is enrolled in school where he is expected to learn the Koran. His father also expects him to thrive in school and graduate so that he may attend a boarding school in Ipoh for higher education. It is also revealed that after he completes his higher education, he will inherit and run his father’s rubber plantation.  These expectations prove to be a heavy burden on the main character because it dictates his whole life. In addition, it's obvious that the main character respects his parents and does not want to disappoint his father. In turn, he does focus in school, he passes his test, graduates, and in the end, he leaves Kampung to attend the boarding school his father had planned for him to go to. As he leaves, he comes to the realization that he may never return to Kampung, and even if he does, it may never be the same as it was when he left it. I believe this to be the moment that the main character truly becomes an adult.

This book was enjoyable to read and it taught me a lot about growing up in Malaysia, the Malaysian culture, and the Islamic religion. It opened my eyes to the importance of religion and education within the Kampung community. It also allowed me to see some similarities between our culture and the Malaysian culture. For example, respect for your elders is a huge similarity that I noticed between the Malaysian culture and my own. Another similarity was the coming of age aspect, because everyone, no matter where they are from, eventually has expectations thrust upon them and has to fulfill their responsibilities. I didn’t expect to find so many similarities between the Malaysian culture and my own, but I’m glad I did. Doing so opened my eyes to the knowledge that we are not so different and it also allowed me to relate to and sympathize with the main character as I read the book.