A Chance Encounter at Sungai Chiling and Other Stories: Award Winning Stories from the Malaysian Short Story Writing Competition 2022 by Malachi Edwin Vethamani

A Chance Encounter at Sungai Chiling and Other Stories: Award Winning Stories from the Malaysian Short Story Writing Competition 2022 Reviews

• 
  Arthur

  It is not often that one gets a short story collection where all the stories stand out, but this is one of those rare few that do. Each story will accomplish something, whether to inspire, to make one laugh, to sadden, to surprise, etc. But the main takeaway, I feel, is that they will affect something in you. They will make you see something of the protagonist's perspective.
  That's what it did to me. I have truly enjoyed reading each and every story, for its unique content as well as its technical marvel.
  My personal favourite (please bear in mind though that I can only write what I know, and there are many wonderful stories which I don't know how to describe enough of, so I will just write what little I know): The Festival (I thought it was very inventive); Such a Pretty Girl (I think it's written in such an unbiased manner, matter-of-fact viewpoint of the girl that I just embodied the girl, and felt so much); The First, The Washerwoman (I felt like I was taken on a car-ride with unexpected twist and turn); Generation Game Night (incredibly interesting and arresting, pleasantly inventive); Four (such a distinctive writing style, so much packed in such a sleek and lean manner); An Afternoon at the Bank (I can't remember reading something which amused me so much in a long time, what a gem; I think it probably has to do with the ending); Threshold (I felt so much, right down to the ending where I was left wanting, and thinking of the power of the unsaid); Red Eye Flight (I felt I was there itself in the story, and I enjoyed it very much); Just a Cat (I am not a cat person, but it made me feel her perspective, and the other storyline running parallel was done tastefully; it felt right); The Gambling Man (it tugged at my heart in all the right way, and so wonderfully as well, the pacing felt just right, and I remember reading the first section again to find out more).
  The ones that I did not write about, perhaps I felt afraid of being wrong, or perhaps because the subject matter was serious, or sad, or unsettling, and made me feel uncomfortable, which is a good thing. Or perhaps describing them was like describing the pyramid or the sphinx. I lack the words to describe them. I could say the same for the other stories as well; there are many more wonderful things left unsaid.
  All the stories have affected me in more ways than one, and I am grateful for having read them.
  There are judges' report, which is a very useful thing for aspiring writers.
  One of the judges mentioned that there were 174 entries, and I couldn't help but think that with 14 stories making the cut, there must be more good stories that didn't, and it left me wanting to read them as well.
  Thank you for compiling this wonderful short story collection!