Set against the tumultous backdrop of Japanese-occupied Malaya, at the end of the British colonial era, this novel follows the escapades of the irrepressible young Ah Kiew, a Chinatown boy from Kuala Lumpur, whose cosy and predictable world of school and church is turned upside down by the war.
Along the way, accompanied by a motley cast of characters—his father the bookish sinseh, his brother the dour communist guerrilla, the lecherous pharmacist Loh Chan, the worrywart towkay Tan and others—Ah Kiew dodges the conjugal machinations of twice-widowed Madam Tuck and the cupidity of matriarch Howe, falls in and out of love, finds employment in a Japanese army depot with the pacifist Captain Tanaka, becomes conspirator in a black-market smuggling ring, and ultimately finds his place in the world.
This absorbing tale is an entertaining account of everyday life during the Japanese Occupation, a tart commentary on the social mores of post-colonial Malaya, and a piquant comedy of manners.