NEIGHBOURS by Robert Raymer

Response to the Main Character(January)- Lim Kong Sun

     The story I have read is 'Neighbours' by Robert Raymer. This short story is a rough idea of a daily multicultural Malaysian neighbourhood life. It gives a glimpse of how Malaysian people are. Some can be caring, while some can be just plain kaypoh (busybody).  In this short story, several neighbours are having a chat (or gossip?) about a recent happening in their neighbourhood, which is Johnny Leong's suicide attempt by drinking Paraquat but failing to do so.

     In the short story, the main character is Mrs. Koh. She is a housewife. Mrs. Koh is an insensitive person. In the story, her neighbour, Johnny Leong tries commiting suicide but ends up hospitalized. Her husband, Mr. Koh offers help by volunteering to drive Johnny Leong to the hospital to be saved. Instead of praising her husband's actions, she goes on nagging and complaining about how "there's a mess in the back seat" and "you had to put him in our BRAND NEW CAR" and how the car is "ruined" because of the "bad luck" it'll bring as written in the short story.  This shows that she's also a superstitious woman who is a bit self-centered. 

     

     Mrs. Koh also goes on spreading the news to the fellow neighbours which sparked an interesting conversation as she is also a woman who is loud-mouthed. She even brings in rumours about how Johnny Leong's family is in debt from gambling and about familial problems. She also comments on other neighbours' children about how they "Race here, race there" and how she would never let her own daughter do that. In a way, she is boasting about how she teaches her own daughter by simply reprimanding others without investigating first.

     The main character of this story also easily jumps to the conclusion without finding out the real story first. She is unsure about the whole incident, yet she assumes that the suicide attempt is related to the familial problems of Johnny Leong. She also judges Johnny Leong's son, Danny who works at a bank as a "big shot at a bank" who "wastes money paying rent' who should be staying at home and helping Johnny Leong pay his bills and also sarcastically saying "Good boy, ha!". This proves that Mrs. Koh is a sarcastic person who ridicule others up to the extent of blurting out Johnny Leong as a person who likes "Gambling,drinking, womanizing". 

      Mrs. Koh is an egoistic person who thinks she is right. At the end of the neighbours' conversation, they see Veronica, Johnny Leong's wife and her daughter who had just returned from shopping carrying several plastic bags. Mr. Koh turned to his wife to explain to Mrs. Koh that they weren't gambling after all, but she still wouldn't believe it. She was defiant and even peered around to get a better look, only to find out that she was assuming all along.  

     At the end of the story, we also see that Mrs. Koh is a person who is unwilling to take up responsibilities. When the neighbours saw Veronica and her daughter, each and everyone of them did not want to break the news of Johnny Leong's suicide attempt even though they were gossiping about the Leongs all along. When they finally asked Mrs. Koh to tell Veronica about Johnny, she simply replied, "Not me, it's none of my business". Thus, giving evidence to her selfish but still a "busybody" nature.

      Drawing a conclusion, despite Mrs. Koh "ugly nature", perhaps you would agree that these type of people give colour to a typical neighbourhood scene. 

Lim Kong Sun

4 Cergas

7-1-2014