My copy of SANDOKAN from the Institut Terjemahan & Buku Malaysia (ITBM) has arrived—I’ve read the book and enjoyed it. I’m usually not fond of pirates but this time I'm seeing things from another point of view and that is from the pirates’.

In this story, the fearful Sandokan, known as Harimau Malaysia (Tiger of Malaysia) is a famous and powerful pirate. He is the leader of the Mompracem pack. Together with his good friend, a Portuguese man named Yanez de Gomera, they set out to rescue the ill-fated Tremal-Naik.

My heartfelt thanks to a very dear friend, Maristella Tagliaferro, for bringing SANDOKAN to my attention. The legendary author Emilio Salgari never set foot in Malaysia, but he’s written an awesome series about the fictional character Sandokan through sheer research that became very famous in Italy.

Mak Buruk yang tua dan uzur, Tuminah janda muda, Dalim adik Tuminah, Zainab gadis belasan tahun yang dipaksa berkahwin dengan seorang lelaki tiga kali usianya, Tompang yang buta, Basir yang membawa makanan kepada Tuminah dan menidurinya sebagai balasan, merupakan beberapa watak yang terpaut dalam fikiran walaupun telah lama saya habis membaca buku ini.

Air mata turut membasahi pipi apabila terkenang penderitaan sekumpulan orang ini akibat peperangan. […]