Catherine Lim is a Singaporean contemporary writer who has dedicated her life to the world of literature. Her second collection of short stories, Or Else, the Lightning God & Other Stories was first published in 1980. Since then it has been reprinted twelve times, the last time by Heinemann Asia in 2002, a fact which stands as proof that Catherine Lim’s early works are still of interest to the public.
Catherine Lim grew up in Malaysia but resides and works in Singapore where she pursued an academic career before turning to writing full time. Among her published works are eleven collections of short stories, four novels, a book of poems, and countless articles. The second collection of short stories, following her highly successful Little Ironies – Stories of Singapore, presents another succession of vignettes brilliantly observed and meticulously executed against the ever-changing Singapore scene. Once again with her touch of irony and pathos, the author provides fascinating insights into aspects of everyday life.
In her plot lines, she writes about mundane, everyday situations and creates stories out of seemingly normal scenarios only to create a greater impact. Her main characters are both female (Big Sister) and male (Kevin), usually coming from poor backgrounds (A.P. Velloo), or found in distress over an unfortunate event (The Visit). Sometimes she uses the supernatural in her stories, probably due to the place of her upbringing where such beliefs are not an uncommon event (The Bondmaid). Whether she is just fascinated by the unknown or she actually believes in superstitions one cannot tell.
Catherine Lim uses her short stories to get certain social themes across to the reader, such as the acceptance of homosexuals in society (Father and Son), outdated beliefs about marriage (Unseeing), the rejection of Indian immigrants in Singaporean society (A.P. Velloo), the cruel realities of divorce (The Visit) and the hardships of life (Kenneth Jerome Rozario). She also explores family relationships like the generation gap between the old and the young (Or Else, the Lightning God) and the lack of communication between different generations (Kevin). In all the short stories collected in this volume, the author traces the progress of society from the conservative, sexist society of the past to the hungry, money minded world of today.
Most of the stories are focused on certain topics of interest to the Singaporean society. Each short story is clearly the result of thorough investigations and tedious observations which the writer has taken time to make. The book deals with issues close to any human being’s heart and each story has a moral of its own.
Lim has a very peculiar writing style, characterized by long sentences, littered once in a while with Malay words that give the text a special and unique flavor. The reader notices the author’s skill in the use of dialogue followed by descriptions of the character’s actions. This is highly effective and increases the realism of the story as the reader imagines the scene unfolding. She likes describing things in detail in order to alarm people that the world is not as brilliant and graceful as we might think.
Catherine Lim does not just write about things on the surface but tries to penetrate into the world of each individual character. She is actually quite young at heart, writing about young people and, despite her age, showing understanding towards the problems that they face. She has a generally pessimistic outlook on life, but that does not stop her from feeling that we should make the most of our lives.
In Or Else, the Lightning God & Other Stories, Catherine Lim presents gripping, well-written short stories that not only pleased me but also made me think of my own life in comparison to the life lived by the Singaporeans. Being aware of what other cultures think is part of everyone’s development into a full human being, concerned with the problems that the world faces today. It is this kind of cruel reality that Or Else, the Lightning God & Other Stories offers us. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the old and new ways that people lived and are living in Southeast Asia.
