Malaysian novelists

Malaysia has some well acclaimed novelists who write in English but the subject matter is rooted in a historical past of Malaysia. The latest is Vanessa Chan but we have produced creative writers like Tash Aw,Tan Twan Eng,Preeta Samarasan and Rani Manicka. Invariably the works of these novelists will somehow touch on a poignant recollection of the world war 2 years under the Japanese occupation as Tash Aws novel the Harmony Silk Factory or Rani Manickas The Rice Mother. These novelists were educated in western universities but their inspiration is close to their home country.so its sad to see the appalling drop in English proficiency of our Malaysian students who can barely read and appreciate English literature but these younger generation is glued instead to video games or visual texts of manga.