Year Without A Summer

Recently I went back to my hometown, Sungai Ular, a Malay fishing village in Kuantan, bordering Terengganu.

My family was the only Chinese family in the village. Like how things work in the South East Asian countries, we were the economy of the village. Almost the whole village worked with my family, in the fishing business.

There were always job for everyone.

Sometimes there were men who came from outside, who were total strangers in the village. They always come to my father. He would give them job, and a place to stay.

Some of them I remember.

There was one we called "Teacher". He had secondary school education, and he could speak English, but he was extremely quiet. He was very good at carpentry; there was one we called "Pirate", he said he used to be one; there was also Laud, he made drawings in his room. Drawings of a woman. His wall was covered by all the drawings; there was also a "Tiger-man", who would turn into a tiger when he was angry.

Some of them left after a while, some of them stayed longer.

My father always slept with a machete next to him. These people he sheltered might not be who they claimed they were. They could be criminals on the run, or anything. And mostly, they were people who wanted to start a new life. Whatever they left behind, might come back to chase them.

The Year Without A Summer is a story about a man who wants to end his life, in order to start a new life.