The Empire's Edge (Commentary): The Touchy Theme of Imperialism and Colonialism

When I wrote the short gamebook The Empire's Edge, I pictured an adventure in a land seldom explored by literature; my own homeland. I could have just wrote a story about a mighty whitey saving a native princess or a native hero who defeats the evil colonialists. However that would have made the story very typical. I chose to bite directly at the subject of imperialism for it spices the story suitably. It was a sensitive topic so massive research and planning ensued.

In the course of it, I realised that the modern perception of imperialism is very odious. This is especially true if you are coming from European countries. A mere mention of the word 'colonies' would afflict a westerner with an uncomfortable silence. Understandable. After World War II, the once noble notion of empire building had by then tasted poorly in everyone's mouth. So predictably, when people read it, comments came back asking 'why are you glorifying something so distasteful?'

The answer is simple; imperialism and colonialism was not all bad.

It's an action story of a fictional native hero who killed the evil colonialist. Would have been fun if I did not know where Sarawak is.

I may have reached that personal conclusion philosophically. I wanted to portray truthfully how the people were back in the days and truthfully, the colonised did not all loath the idea of being governed by a foreign power. The image of the native colonies giving the British Empire the middle finger and rejoicing to be finally rid of their evil overlords as the empire crumbled was not all true. Case in point, a passage from the first prime minister of Malaysia's independence speech:

 "For many years past our fortunes have been linked with those of Great Britain and we recall in particular the comradeship of two world wars. We remember too the products of our association; justice before the law, the legacy of an efficient public service and the highest standard of living in Asia. We shall therefore always remember with gratitude the assistance which we have received from Great Britain down our long path to nationhood; an assistance which culminated today with the proclamation of Malaya’s Independence."

-Tunku Abdul Rahman

Even from old manuscripts and journals in Penang during 1800s, the voices of old did not seem disgruntled to be ruled by a foreign power. To make it easier to explain, I will list out common perceptions of how would the colonised react to being colonised and then provide some of my input.

1) The people would have been very unhappy that their ruler is foreign.

True, but only in the later time period. In the 1800s, nationalism was unheard of. The natives' understanding of politics was very simple, the king protects and the people serve. It did not matter what colour the king's skin was and the East India Company was a fair king. True, the laws were unfair but it installed order; their laws were clearer and they had the manpower and money to enforce it.

2) The colonialists brought slavery and indentured labour. The people suffered.

Yes, slavery was bad and it was older than feudalism. Even before Europeans set foot in the East Indies, slavery was a common practice; imperialism just expanded the market. Ironically, it was the British Empire who brought a empire-wide abolishment of slavery. We have Wilberforce to thank for it.

Indentured labour however was a morally grey area. But to put it into a native's perspective, a choice between starving to death and working for low wages in a far away land was not a hard choice to make for most.

3) The people were poor, because the colonialists sucked all the wealth.

It would seem that taxes and the conspiring to keep native's labour pay low damages a nation's wealth. However, being a colony means the people had access to technology, capital, and a law system conducive to business. One could still be wealthy beyond what they could have achieved before colonialism if they worked really hard and the people knew it.

4) The people resented being bullied by the colonialists and their cannons and ships.

If you were a local ruler, yes you would. But to the common lay man, it was either being bullied by European muskets or the local ruler's home-grown spears.

It may sound like I am praising colonialism but I assure you the opposite; colonialism is grey. Colonialism has its bad sides, though to discuss it is to beat an already dead horse. Thus my characters all had differing view points of colonialism to show readers that in those days, the people had a love-hate relationship with the British Empire.

Windhammer Results!

Sorry for my pause in postings. I was a little swarmed by work from my day job.

Anyways, the results from the 2014 Windhammer Prize for Short Gamebook Fiction is out and I got a Merit Award. Yay!

Just like last year, being able to see other fellow gamebook writers' work and in turn offer and receive criticisms has been and still is a very valuable experience to me. I think the ideas put forward and suggestions for improvement will help us all grow as writers.

To be winning the merit prize with Philip Armstrong was (oh, whats that Asiatic word for it) a great honor. His entry was made of pure awesomeness and to have my work regarded equally made me all giddy inside.

Applause for Paul Struth for winning the competition. His abilities as a writer was immensely impressive, I could not have thought of a better winner.

So thank you, and thank you, and see you all next year! Hopefully.

Windhammer 2014 Review: Tales Of A Captain: To Recruit A Daemon

When I started reading the entry, I was pumped up. The introduction was humorous, the game system was very creative and fresh, and the powers that I get to use sounded very powerful. But sadly, I felt really disappointed once I was done.

Tales Of A Captain: To Recruit A Daemon is a game where I got to play as a Captain... of something, and I had to recruit a daemon... for some reason. There was actually not much background in this entry. All I knew was I had awesome powers but am unsure how they worked.

As I pressed on, I had a really hard time following what was happening. Judging by the words used, I think there were lots of explosions, cosmic radiations, and forceful impacts. The story was so confusing, it got to the point where I gave up and just randomly picked a choice and hopefully don't die. Or, in short, I felt like I was reading a Micheal Bay movie.

The game system had potential. To make a choice, I select the power I want to use. Each power has a number next to it. I add the number to the entry I am currently in and flip to that passage. Simple. However, it failed to impress. The game was science fiction, but the author did not explain how physics works in this setting and in extension the author also did not state how my powers actually worked. To make matters worse, make a wrong choice of powers, you may just stumble upon instant death!

To better illustrate, here is an example:

Pulating VoidBalls, hundreds, denser, and are glowing, you move forward and they veer towards you attracted to matter. How are you going to get past them?
Me: "What are VoidBalls? It has got the word Void so er spherical Voids? But you said in the beginning Void is absence so how does it have density? Well gonna use PosiArts then." *Flip*
The power attracts the VoidBalls. Game Over
Me: "What? But says in the intro void is absence, absence is negative, and opposite of negative is positive. So my PosiArts which were positive energy should have cancelled out the VoidBalls! Fine, maybe that is not how it works. So lets try Dimension Well. says in the intro it could potentially punch through void energy kinda cancelling each other out." *Flip*
The attack swarms from every side and your well cannot stop it. Game Over.

This is an entry with a lot of potential. Perhaps with better narration and explanation of the in-world physics. This can be a solid entry.

Windhammer 2014 Review: The Puttbuster Initiative: Spacetime Golfcrush

This has got to be the most hilarious entry this year. The characters, the game system, the setting were all whimsical and all added to the entry's appeal. Or to summarise it in one word, Awesome!

The Puttbuster Initiative: Spacetime Golfcrush is an entry which puts readers to play golf, not regular golf but inter-dimensional future space golf! The story was that I am an a newcomer to the pro tournament, and must win to get enough prize money to repay my debt. Silly plan? yes, and honestly just a plot to explain why my character is risking his life to play golf with no upgrades unlike my competitors.

The game was played with very well illustrated er... golf-fields? (apologies, I am not very good with golf terminologies) that were cut into different sections. Where will your ball land on depends on your upgrades and your die's mood. But each time you land on any of the squares, there will be challenges such as a monsters to fight, acid splashing onto you, or your ball zapped into oblivion all of which can be negated with the correct upgrades.

How I imagine the 3-platinum drive looks like

The writing was fantastic and adds to the whole silliness of the entry. The commentators were hilarious and I always look forward to what they had to say after a swing. However, I feel they seem to get less and less funny as the game progresses, a slight downer.

However I do have some nit-picks though:
1) After you finish a hole you get money to buy upgrades, the better you perform the more money. However, the holes will get harder so upgrades become even more important. So how well I perform in this game is dependent on how well I did in the 1st hole which is dependent on the mood of my die which I felt is a bit unfair.

2) The commentators were awesome, however I felt the they could be made funnier. Their characteristics were great but I think there is an untapped potential in there.


All in all, this in a very enjoyable entry, hugely recommended. I can totally see it in an phone app someday.