Kampung Boy

I felt that Kampung Boy was a very interesting read. I had never read a graphic novel before, it was almost as if it was taking me back to elementary school days with picture books. This book was a little different though. I actually got a message out of it, and learned much more about their culture. 

So many aspects throughout the book really showed the differences in lifestyle they have, and what it was like to grow up in the 1950’s in Malaysia. I was glad to have done research about Malaysia previously as well, because I was able to go into reading the book knowing a little background on their country. Still however, I did not research much about the people there, so I did not know what sort of story to expect.

The thing that was the most interesting for me in the start was him talking about the birthing process for the first born child. From that alone, it shows how much different their culture is. With both the mom and child not leaving the house for 45 days, and how then his head was shaved at that point as well. After reading that though I remembered getting into groups in class and discussing our research on Malaysia, and a girl in the group said that is what she read within her research.

The education system was the next part that was different, but interesting to read as well. It seemed like his whole education surrounded being able to properly speak Arab, but it made me wonder if they were taught anything else. As well as that, the way the kids all had to pay the teacher after each lesson surprised me. I would have thought that when the dad first went to ask the teacher to take in his son and gave him rice and the $1, that that would have been payment enough. It proposed questions for me: Is the money/other forms of payment going only to the teacher, as his salary? Or is the money going towards the school? It made me want to research education in Malaysia further.

The next thing that really took me by surprise is when the boy said he felt like he was full grown when he was 9 years old. Personally, when I was 9, I was most worried about what I was going to do that weekend, and making it to dance practice on time. Reading this book really showed me that kids grow up and take on adult responsibilities much sooner than other countries.

What I wish I got more clarification on however was his dads business, and the land the boy was going to take over when he was older. I felt like understanding that more would then make more sense when his mom mentioned the tin people coming to inspect his land. I would have liked to read more about that because I think it could have played an important role in the story for me. Overall though, I felt I got a good understanding of the story, more of the Malaysian culture, and the message he was trying to get across about loving his home town.