New!
articles • book quests • news • library
reviews • podcast • gifts • archives
Crew manifest Faith statement FAQs
All author resources Lorehaven Guild Subscribe for free

A Crown of Chains
Reviews, Jan 27, 2023

The Magician’s Nephew Taught Me Christ’s Compassion in the Midst of Grief
Elijah David in Articles, Jan 26, 2023

Rose Petals and Snowflakes
Book Quests, Jan 25, 2023

Library

Find fantastical Christian novels

fantasy · sci-fi · and beyond
middle grade · young adult · grown-ups
All novels Search Add a novel
Silver Bounty, Victoria McCombs
A Sword for the Immerland King, F. W. Faller
Calor, J. J. Fisher
Once Upon A Ren Faire, A. C. Castillo
Exile, Loren G. Warnemuende
Aberration, Cathy McCrumb
The Truth Beyond the Lies, Kathleen Bird
Frost, Winter's Lonely Guardian, E. E. Rawls
Dream of Kings, Sharon Hinck
The Change, Bradley Caffee
Quest of Fire: Desperation, Brett Armstrong
Wishtress, Nadine Brandes
Flight, Kristen Young
The Deliverer, Jason William Karpf
Podcast

Get the Fantastical Truth podcast

Podcast sponsors | Subscribe links
Archives Feedback

146. How Did Animators Adapt The Wingfeather Saga For Streaming TV? | with Keith Lango
Fantastical Truth, Jan 24, 2023

145. How Did Edmund Spenser’s ‘The Faerie Queene’ Shape Christian Fantasy? | with Rebecca K. Reynolds
Fantastical Truth, Jan 17, 2023

144. Which Top Six Fantasy Franchises Gave Fans Grief in 2022?
Fantastical Truth, Jan 10, 2023

143. Which Top Ten Lorehaven Stories Proved Most Popular in 2022?
Fantastical Truth, Jan 6, 2023

142. What Christmas Gift ‘Tools, Not Toys’ Helped You Grow As a Person?
Fantastical Truth, Dec 20, 2022

141. Ten Years After ‘An Unexpected Journey,’ Must We Really Hate The Hobbit Films? | with Rilian of NarniaWeb
Fantastical Truth, Dec 13, 2022

Quests

Join our monthly digital book quests.

Lorehaven Guild Faith statement FAQs

Rose Petals and Snowflakes
Book Quests, January 2023

Prince Caspian
Book Quests, January 2023

Dream of Kings
Book Quests, December 2022

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness
Book Quests, November 2022

Reviews

Find fantastical Christian reviews

All reviews Request review

A Crown of Chains
“A Crown of Chains creatively retells a biblical tale to explore themes of providence, racism, faith, and fidelity.”
—Lorehaven on Jan 27, 2023

Lander’s Legacy
“Lander’s Legacy stacks modern thrills and complex characters on a foundation of biblical what-ifs.”
—Lorehaven on Jan 20, 2023

Prince Caspian
“Pacing starts slow but creature lore grows in C. S. Lewis’s sequel, introducing practical tyrants and talking-beast politics into a Narnian resistance.”
—Lorehaven on Jan 13, 2023

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
“New and returning readers of all ages would do well to seek deeper magic within C. S. Lewis’s faithful classic.”
—Lorehaven on Jan 13, 2023

Gifts

Find new gifts for Christian fans

Archives

The original SpecFaith: est. 2006

Speculative Faith | archives

Lorehaven issues (2018–2020)

Order back issues online!
About
Library
Reviews
Podcast
Gifts
Guild
Archives
SpecFaith
Lorehaven helps Christian fans explore fantastical stories for Christ’s glory: fantasy, science fiction, and beyond. Articles, the library, reviews, podcasts, gifts, and the Lorehaven Guild community help fans discern and enjoy the best Christian-made fantastical stories, applying their meanings to the real world Jesus Christ calls us to serve. Subscribe free to get any updates you choose and to access the Lorehaven Guild.
Subscribe free to Lorehaven
/ SpecFaith /

Dongeng: An Exploration of My Malaysian Identity

For her fantasy novel Dongeng, Anna Tan knew she wanted to explore uniquely Malaysian myths and legends.
Anna Tan on May 29, 2018
3 comments

In recent years, we’ve seen a big push for diversity and representation in publishing and media.

It’s a complex conversation with many conflicting opinions—most of which I’m not qualified to opine on, living as far as I am from the tension.

On my end of the world, Malaysia is still very much trying to form a national identity, a cohesive Malaysian worldview that encompasses a nation made up of Malays, Chinese, Indians, Ibans, Dayaks, Orang Asli, Kadazan, and Dan Lain-Lain (“others”). We are diverse enough; it’s unity we’re looking for at this point in our history.

I grew up as whitewashed as an Asian person can get whilst still living in an Asian country: in an English-speaking family, attending a missionary school, reading English fantasy books that were usually set in Britain or some form of medieval Europe.

This week we feature Anna Tan and her novel Dongeng in Lorehaven Book Clubs. Stop by the flagship book club on Facebook to learn more about this fantasy novel.

Cultural identity is something I have been struggling with for a long time. Am I Chinese (my ethnic roots) or Malaysian (my nationality) or am I somehow to be coded English (my linguistic base)?

Or is “Christian” a culture, in the way that it is seen as a “white” religion that makes you leave your cultural roots behind once you’ve converted?1

My first novella, Coexist, focused mostly on European/Western fairy tales, drawing on widely-known creatures such as dragons, elves, fairies, imps, trolls, and dryads. I’d even gone to some lengths to chase down several more obscure ones—to fit my original “mythical creatures from snowy places” theme—which led me to the adlet, Baba Yaga, and the Ghillie Dhu. I loved it.

But personally, I wasn’t satisfied. Where were my people? Who was writing Malaysians with their ridiculous expressions and fantastic beliefs? This was something I was growing increasingly passionate about—seeing Malaysia and Malaysians on the literary map, not just for the standard World War II or colonial era sob stories, but in the genre I love the most—fantasy.

So when I started writing Dongeng,2 the only thing I knew about it was that I wanted to touch on Malaysian myths and legends.

As I said before, I’m rather culturally conflicted so writing local culture into Dongeng was very much a calculated risk. What if it was too unfamiliar to readers? (Some of it was unfamiliar to me and I live here!) What if I totally misrepresented the myths (and culture) because of how disconnected I was personally to them? What if the strange bubble I live in isn’t the real Malaysia and everything I know is a lie?! (Okay, that’s a little extreme.) And yet, what if… these were the kinds of stories people were now looking for? What if these fantastical tales resonated with people outside South East Asia?

In Dongeng, you’ll find Sang Kancil the wise mousedeer from children’s stories alongside the pontianak and toyol from scary tales, Orang Bunian shyly make their appearance whilst Garuda and Jentayu fly across the skies, and the legendary Hang Tuah and his warriors once again seek adventure. It’s a little piece of Malaysia, a little piece of my heart—and also a little drop of diversity in a world that’s fighting for it.





Subscribe to Lorehaven

“Anna Tan creates a beautiful multicultural world for Dongeng. . . . Danger and hope, fear and joy all come to life in this thoroughly fun adventure.”
— Lorehaven Magazine

Explore Anna Tan’s newest novel Dongeng in the Lorehaven Library.

Read our full review exclusively from the spring 2018 issue of Lorehaven Magazine!

  1. My father, as a second-generation Christian, has no concept of Chinese culture and tradition; my mother, who converted in her teens, still sometimes does a specific dance of deciding which practices were cultural and traditional and could be maintained (so as not to offend relatives), and which ones had spiritual/religious meanings that should be avoided (so said relatives wouldn’t be offended as it was Against Her Beliefs). ↩
  2.  “Dongeng” really just means fairy tale. ↩
Anna Tan
Anna Tan grew up in Malaysia, the country that is not Singapore. She runs regular write-ins in her hometown of Penang with the Malaysian Writers Society (MYWriters) and LUMA to foster a greater sense of community amongst writers. Anna is the author of Coexist and Dongeng, as well as the North short story series. She can be found tweeting as @natzers. Find her website at AnnaTSP.com.
Website · Facebook · Twitter
  1. Travis Perry says:
    May 29, 2018 at 8:48 am

    Sounds interesting!

  2. Dona says:
    May 29, 2018 at 9:07 am

    I hope there’s a glossary helping with the name pronunciations and characters. It’s hard when we know nothing about the characters, the mythological ones.

  3. Laura A. Grace says:
    May 29, 2018 at 9:25 am

    How interesting, Anna! I know I’m curious about your story! 😉

Lorehaven magazine, spring 2020

Wear the wonder:
Get exclusive shirts and beyond

Listen to Lorehaven’s podcast

Authors and publishers:
Reach new fans with Lorehaven

Lorehaven helps Christian fans explore fantastical stories for Christ’s glory: fantasy, science fiction, and beyond. Articles, the library, reviews, podcasts, gifts, and the Lorehaven Guild community help fans discern and enjoy the best Christian-made fantastical stories, applying their meanings to the real world Jesus Christ calls us to serve. Subscribe free to get any updates you choose and to access the Lorehaven Guild.
Website · Facebook · Instagram · Twitter