Taikor (PDF)

A historical saga that brings back the past for those who could still remember and for the young who may wish to know how things used to be in the years between 1922 and 1982. From the beginning in pre-war British-ruled Malaya, the story revolves around the life of a boy as he grows to manhood. It traces the migration of his family from Southern Thailand to Penang after his father passes away, his brief childhood living with his young widowed mother who subsequently remarried and thereafter his banishment as a youngster by his stepfather to war-torn Shanghai. On his return, he had to find a way to earn a living and there after, to survive the bloody days of the Japanese Occupation. Even after the surrender of the Japanese, there was the lawless post-war period, in which he saw opportunities to eventually emerge as a taikor (big brother) in Penang's chaotic underworld. Apart from opportunities, the post-war years also saw dangers, like the Emergency period when Communist insurgents tried to destabilise the country. Finally, a nation was born when Malaya became an independent sovereign state. And just as the new nation strived to build a future from its historical legacy, the taikor sought to break away from his past involvement in triad activities to build a new life for himself and his family.