Malaysian Millennial Voices

Malaysian Millennial Voices was edited by Malachi Edwin Vethamani. He is a poet, writer, editor, academic, critic, and bibliographer. He is Professor of Modern English Literature at the School of English, University of Nottingham, Malaysia. His publications include Coitus Interruptus and Other Stories, Life Happens, and Complicated Lives. He has edited two volumes of Malaysian writers' work that cover a period of over 60 years: Malchin Testament: Malaysian Poems and Ronggeng-Ronggeng: Malaysian Short Stories. He edited a volume of Malaysian poems for young adults, In-Sights: Malaysian Poems. He is the founding editor of the recently launched Men Matters Online Journal.

Malaysian Millennial Voices has 117 pages and will be published by Vivar Printing Sendirian Berhad in 2021. It touches on themes that range from everyday concerns to identity, growing up, dealing with the loss of parents and grandparents, and political satire. Among the poets in this collection are a few who stand out and might be the future voices we can look forward to reading. These are confident emerging Malaysian voices. Poetry is a genre where verses may or may not rhyme. Normally, poems are written to evoke a feeling from the reader and express the emotion of the poet at a special moment.

Hong Jinghann's MCO Food Diary, on page 38, describes the difficulties and obstacles that Malaysian residents faced during the widespread implementation of COVID-19.The government had announced the Movement Control Order unexpectedly, and we could not get used to the New Norm and obey it easily in the shortest period of time. We suffered from the pandemic day after day and tried to overcome these unforeseen circumstances. For example, the author mentions in the writing about her meals after the outbreak of COVID-19 that she is not dependent on food for a living. We yearned for the awe-inspiring atmosphere of the grand event. Therefore, all Malaysians should hold their hearts together in order to go to great lengths in the future.

On the other hand, the most attractive poem for me is The Essential Oil Inventor by Farah Nadhirah binti Chairil Anwar. Her beloved mother is portrayed in the poem as an architect who contributes her knowledge and abilities to society. She is the person who "toils" with aromatherapy and also takes good care of her family by giving them a shoulder to cry on. Moreover, what sets her apart from others is her perseverance and determination in this field. Consequently, it would "illuminate" the writer's and reader's minds with "peaceful memories."

In conclusion, this book is very useful in polishing my English language and also inspires us to pursue our dreams throughout our lives. I will highly recommend it to my friends, and it calls out especially to potential readers who have not previously picked up a book of poetry.

#Manuscript for competition.