Sebelas
Green Days in Brunei
Sterling, Bruce (1989) Crystal Express. Ace Books.
Here we have a short story by sci-fi author Bruce Sterling which appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine some two decades ago (1985). It depicts Brunei in an eerie future (my guess is 2020 although it doesn't specify) where the Green party comes into power and decides to revert the country back to the good old days, rejecting the modern technological advancements and futurisitc hoo-hahs of the time. There are no longer any hover cars, no worker robots and the video telephone booths are out of operation, and so the people have adapted a much simpler life of fishery, long houses and cinema and not suprisingly, are very content. All because of an unexpected oil crash that created a crisis throughout Borneo 20 years earlier. It wasn't a dreadful place though from the description, more like a surreal ecological haven for anybody who's had enough of the outside world.
The story is about a Chinese-Canadian engineer worker in Brunei named Turner who monitors the country's activity. It all changes when he meets and falls in love with Seria, the beautiful daughter of the current monarch. There was no way they could ever be together and so convinces her to run away from the comatosed paradise that was her country. Together with Seria's Englishman rock star uncle Brooke, the three embark in a series of crazy antics to try and escape the close bordered land safely. As you may have guessed, the story is not specifically about Brunei at all, but instead is filled with ethical questions looking at how romanticized western views can often clash with orientalist and traditionalist thinking especially in this modern era. On a more serious note, it also highlights the dangers of ideology filled governments that although tries its best to keep a population content is bound to be witness to its own downfall.
Interesting story for anyone interested in what ifs but I doubt you can find a copy of Crystal Express in Brunei, not because this particular short story has any offensive or controversial elements in it, which even if it does are purely light hearted, but the book itself is quite old. I amazoned my copy. 'Green Days in Brunei' is just one of the dozens of Sterling's short stories included in the Crystal Express collection. Others include 'Swarm', which is a satirical accout of human confrontation with Aliens, 'Flowers of Edo', set in Japan about an author who writes Geisha love stories, and 'The Beautiful and the Sublime', an anonymous letter written on May 30, 2070.
Sterling, Bruce (1989) Crystal Express. Ace Books.
Here we have a short story by sci-fi author Bruce Sterling which appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine some two decades ago (1985). It depicts Brunei in an eerie future (my guess is 2020 although it doesn't specify) where the Green party comes into power and decides to revert the country back to the good old days, rejecting the modern technological advancements and futurisitc hoo-hahs of the time. There are no longer any hover cars, no worker robots and the video telephone booths are out of operation, and so the people have adapted a much simpler life of fishery, long houses and cinema and not suprisingly, are very content. All because of an unexpected oil crash that created a crisis throughout Borneo 20 years earlier. It wasn't a dreadful place though from the description, more like a surreal ecological haven for anybody who's had enough of the outside world.
The story is about a Chinese-Canadian engineer worker in Brunei named Turner who monitors the country's activity. It all changes when he meets and falls in love with Seria, the beautiful daughter of the current monarch. There was no way they could ever be together and so convinces her to run away from the comatosed paradise that was her country. Together with Seria's Englishman rock star uncle Brooke, the three embark in a series of crazy antics to try and escape the close bordered land safely. As you may have guessed, the story is not specifically about Brunei at all, but instead is filled with ethical questions looking at how romanticized western views can often clash with orientalist and traditionalist thinking especially in this modern era. On a more serious note, it also highlights the dangers of ideology filled governments that although tries its best to keep a population content is bound to be witness to its own downfall.
Interesting story for anyone interested in what ifs but I doubt you can find a copy of Crystal Express in Brunei, not because this particular short story has any offensive or controversial elements in it, which even if it does are purely light hearted, but the book itself is quite old. I amazoned my copy. 'Green Days in Brunei' is just one of the dozens of Sterling's short stories included in the Crystal Express collection. Others include 'Swarm', which is a satirical accout of human confrontation with Aliens, 'Flowers of Edo', set in Japan about an author who writes Geisha love stories, and 'The Beautiful and the Sublime', an anonymous letter written on May 30, 2070.
posted by Zed Peace
on 01 June 2008
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