Awang Goneng ... Growing Up in Trengganu (Monsoon Press, 2007)

I ENJOY READING MEMOIRS, especially childhood memoirs, stories of days gone by, and Awang Goneng’s Growing Up in Trengganu (Monsoon Press, 2007) had me gripped with his wonderful stories growing up in the northern state of the Malay peninsula. Awang Goneng is of course the nom de plume of Malaysian journalist Wan A. Hulaimi who lives in the United Kingdom, but his heart and soul is obviously still in Trengganu.

Through a collection of memories retold in glorious colour, Awang Goneng evokes the pleasures of a kampung childhood in Trengganu. Sultans, sweetmeat sellers and shopkeepers all act as springboards as you meander through the state’s colourful history, and by the end of this memoir you will have painlessly mastered the ‘Trengganuspeak’ that foils even fellow Malaysians.