RETIRED judge Tan Sri V.C. George has just about seen it all. The 90-year-old, a veteran of the legal fraternity who rose to the highest courts in the land, looks back at his life with his trademark humour in ‘Some stories I have told and some that I haven’t’.
The self-published title largely avoids telling his story in a dry and predictable biographical style. As becomes obvious very early in the reading of the book, V.C.’s style leans more towards wit and a more conversational style. According to him, he has been telling some of these stories for decades and has honed them to a fine edge.
Early on he lays out the point of the book: “Anecdotes… told tongue-in-cheek and without malice… written down to provide some amusement to the reader, that could raise a chuckle or two, if not a guffaw.”
In that regard, the stories are not meant to be taken entirely seriously. Their point is to entertain.
Despite the book being broken into short chapters – some less than a page in length – they often times flow into one another, either directly in terms of narrative or by way of thematic connection. This makes the book easy to digest, almost putting us in the author’s presence as he regales us with his life’s story.
A major throughline in the book is V.C.’s pride in his Malayalee heritage (the foreword even goes into that culture’s whole history). Coming from what is now called Kerala, Malayalees make up a small percentage of Indian Malaysians – who are already a small minority to begin. However, that has not stopped many from rising to positions of prominence in Malaysian society.
At one point he notes that when Pakatan Harapan took power on May 9, 2018, for their short-lived rule, the Attorney-General, MACC chief, and Prime Minister (Tun Dr Mahathir himself), were of Malayalee descent.
Those with a fondness for inter-Indian jokes from past generations will find a lot to enjoy as V.C. pokes fun at Punjabis, Sikhs, Tamils and his own Malayalee lineage. Implicit in this is a warm recollection of a multi-racial Malaysia of yesteryear.
The gleeful use of racial and religious stereotypes is quite common in the book, with just about every culture being the butt of a joke at one point or another. Some of the humour will probably raise hackles among the more sensitive among society, be they progressive or conservative.
The prolific alcohol consumption would similarly raise complaints from some quarters. There really is no downplaying the amount of drinking enjoyed by V.C. and his illustrious compatriots. For many of these stories, drinking is the central activity around which much of social life revolves around – with many happening at the Long Bar of the Royal Selangor Club.
After a certain point, as you’ve come to know V.C. you can almost predict where the story in question is going – though there always remains the room for surprise. In many ways this puts the reader at ease, after all this is a storyteller who has told this story countless times over the decades.
There are a total of 100 tales, stretching from the 1950s during the waning days of British rule, up to the present.
Some of the stories are poignant, but many more are comical in nature, culminating in what the youths would call “dad jokes.” Though in this case they are more like “grandad jokes.”
Close calls are often resolved in comical happenstance. It can’t be argued that the good judge led anything other than a charmed life. There are, after all, benefits to being a respected judge with friends in high places.
Generally speaking, he avoids hot button political issues – this is not that kind of book. Instead V.C. is most appreciative of the friends he’s made along the way and the family he’s been able to build and support.
Because of V.C.’s age his life story is intertwined with that of the history of Malaysia. So in effect, his story is Malaysia’s story – the specificity of his experience is in some ways representative of a generation whose time has faded into the mists of history.
Tan Sri V.C. George’s book is available at all BookXcess book stores nationwide. Online purchase can be made via bookxcessonline.com. – The Vibes, April 8, 2021
