11 Mar 2011

Review: Cat

A fair number of Readings From Readings stories are surreal fables. The best is “Cat”, by prolific BM writer Uthaya Sankar SB. In it, a cat named Cat, with impressive credentials, attends a job interview for a civil-servant managerial position:
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Anehnya keputusan temuduga menunjukkan Cat gagal. Kononnya semasa Cat bercakap bahasa Itali, Jerman, Perancis, Jepun dan Hindi, bunyinya sama sahaja: miew-miew-miew.

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Bodoh betul penemuduga itu. Bukankah kucing Itali berbunyi miew-miew-miew?

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Cat soon learns. He is dipped into a can of cat (paint), changing the colour of his fur; at the second interview he keeps quiet. He immediately gets the job.

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Heh. We all know that’s how things work in Malaysia.

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(Zedeck Siew, Selangor Times, 4 March 2011)