Environmental ethics in KS Maniam’s Between Lives and Yang-May Ooi’s The Flame Tree
Criticism on Malaysian literature in English rarely addresses environmental concerns and in this article I attempt to redress this by examining two contemporary Malaysian novels in English, KS Maniam’s (2003) Between Lives and Yang-May Ooi’s (1998) The Flame Tree. This article investigates some of t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publications
2017
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| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/61746/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/61746/1/Environmental%20ethics%20in%20KS%20Maniam%E2%80%99s%20Between%20Lives%20and%20Yang-May%20Ooi%E2%80%99s%20The%20Flame%20Tree.pdf |
| _version_ | 1848854480507895808 |
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| author | Zainal, Zainor Izat |
| author_facet | Zainal, Zainor Izat |
| author_sort | Zainal, Zainor Izat |
| building | UPM Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Criticism on Malaysian literature in English rarely addresses environmental concerns and in this article I attempt to redress this by examining two contemporary Malaysian novels in English, KS Maniam’s (2003) Between Lives and Yang-May Ooi’s (1998) The Flame Tree. This article investigates some of the environmental ethics suggested by these Malaysian writers, based on four important arguments for “doing” environmental ethics: duty, character, relationships and rights. Analyses of the novels reveal an environmental ethics that seems to revolve around the profound ideas that we are part of the environment, that the future of the environment hinges on actions and knowledge to ensure its sustainability and that action is derived from a sense of shared duty and activism and having good character and relationships. Also revealed in these texts is the commendable influence of religious beliefs and traditions and how these are interwoven with current ethical concerns about the environment and its sustainability. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-15T11:10:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | upm-61746 |
| institution | Universiti Putra Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-15T11:10:32Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | SAGE Publications |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | upm-617462019-01-22T09:00:23Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/61746/ Environmental ethics in KS Maniam’s Between Lives and Yang-May Ooi’s The Flame Tree Zainal, Zainor Izat Criticism on Malaysian literature in English rarely addresses environmental concerns and in this article I attempt to redress this by examining two contemporary Malaysian novels in English, KS Maniam’s (2003) Between Lives and Yang-May Ooi’s (1998) The Flame Tree. This article investigates some of the environmental ethics suggested by these Malaysian writers, based on four important arguments for “doing” environmental ethics: duty, character, relationships and rights. Analyses of the novels reveal an environmental ethics that seems to revolve around the profound ideas that we are part of the environment, that the future of the environment hinges on actions and knowledge to ensure its sustainability and that action is derived from a sense of shared duty and activism and having good character and relationships. Also revealed in these texts is the commendable influence of religious beliefs and traditions and how these are interwoven with current ethical concerns about the environment and its sustainability. SAGE Publications 2017 Article PeerReviewed text en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/61746/1/Environmental%20ethics%20in%20KS%20Maniam%E2%80%99s%20Between%20Lives%20and%20Yang-May%20Ooi%E2%80%99s%20The%20Flame%20Tree.pdf Zainal, Zainor Izat (2017) Environmental ethics in KS Maniam’s Between Lives and Yang-May Ooi’s The Flame Tree. South East Asia Research, 25 (4). pp. 342-358. ISSN 0967-828X; ESSN: 2043-6874 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0967828X17739496?journalCode=sera 10.1177/0967828X17739496 |
| spellingShingle | Zainal, Zainor Izat Environmental ethics in KS Maniam’s Between Lives and Yang-May Ooi’s The Flame Tree |
| title | Environmental ethics in KS Maniam’s Between Lives and Yang-May Ooi’s The Flame Tree |
| title_full | Environmental ethics in KS Maniam’s Between Lives and Yang-May Ooi’s The Flame Tree |
| title_fullStr | Environmental ethics in KS Maniam’s Between Lives and Yang-May Ooi’s The Flame Tree |
| title_full_unstemmed | Environmental ethics in KS Maniam’s Between Lives and Yang-May Ooi’s The Flame Tree |
| title_short | Environmental ethics in KS Maniam’s Between Lives and Yang-May Ooi’s The Flame Tree |
| title_sort | environmental ethics in ks maniam’s between lives and yang-may ooi’s the flame tree |
| url | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/61746/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/61746/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/61746/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/61746/1/Environmental%20ethics%20in%20KS%20Maniam%E2%80%99s%20Between%20Lives%20and%20Yang-May%20Ooi%E2%80%99s%20The%20Flame%20Tree.pdf |