Odds&Ends | The Harmony Money Factory

These are no normal yarns; they're elastic yarns. No fine socks are made without them. Any elastic-wearables (your fancy Victoria's Secret included) for that matter. I was at a elastic yarn and plastic manufacturing plant yesterday for a tour.

Tash Aw's debut novel, The Harmony Silk Factory, tells the story of Johnny Lim (no relation), a Chinese immigrant to Malaya who eventually rose to the rank of the rich and (in)famous. However, it's not so much a classic rags to riches story as a tale on love, hatred, jealousy and betrayal; all told in three parts. Here's a short review:

We're given the impression from the outset (in the first part narrated by Johnny's son) that Johnny was not a very nice man; he was a murderer, liar and a traitor. But, is that truly the case? The second part of the novel, in the form of Snow's (Johnny's wife) diary, offers little insight as Snow herself knew little about her taciturn husband. By the end of the third part, in which Peter Wormwood, Johnny's friend, gave his side of the story, nothing is crystal clear. Did Johnny do all the evil deeds his son tells us about? Even if he did, were they done merely for personal gain?

As is the hallmark of all good storyteller, Tash Aw keeps you on tenterhooks. I like the fact that nothing is clear cut and a lot is left to the speculation of readers. The Harmony Silk Factory certainly makes for good talking piece among book lovers.

I had actually picked up the book thinking it was a how-people-made-their-fortune book. I've always been fascinated by that kind of stories, never fully acknowledging the fact that they're around me. You see, in my not-so-little-anymore hometown, there live people with considerable amount of moolah. Their networth might not match that of Bill Gates' or Lakshmi Mittal's, but they're filthy rich nontheless.

Most of them had humble roots. How they reversed their fortune, I do not know for sure. I heard one of them won lottery and had the financial smarts to buy estates and properties and started his ascend from there. Some started small businesses (textile, confectionery, furniture and such) which grew and became public listed companies (HupSeng, HwaTai and so on). Others are most probably on the way. There are also the not too glorious few who started on the dark side of the law only to move to "perfectly" legal and extremely profitable operations later on.

I'm sure the full account -the juicy nitty-gritty- of how they make it big will make for a compelling read. If you happen to be a rich tycoon, I'm more than happy to accept your largesse and come up with a sexed-up version of such a recount about your life.