An Analysis of the Important Elements of “Fortune from Eight” by Kris Jitab

The novella that I chose for analysis is "Fortune from Eight" by Kris Jatib. This is a novella that
was written by Malaysian-born, world-famous author Kris. Basically, this novella will talk about
the people who immigrated from other countries like China and India. One of the elements the
reader can find in the novella is Chinese lifestyle and culture. Furthermore, the number eight is
considered a lucky number in Chinese culture since the pronunciations of the numerals are
comparable to auspicious meanings. Kris Jitab, the author of this brilliantly written tale, is from
Sarawak and belongs to the Orang Bidayuh community. has published numerous novels about
Sarawak, including Tales from a Headhunter, Victor's Last Wish, and More Yarns, as well as
Sarawak Awakens: Taib Mahmud's Politics of Development. Before he began writing books, he
was said to be a former public relations executive. This book's main thesis statement is about a
young man who wanted to change his lifestyle and also believes that the number eight will bring
him luck.

Essentially, Chin Hon Pun is a Chinese guy who is a local citizen of China. He is an ordinary 22-
year-old boy from a poor family background, and his family is Hakka. He has three sisters and
five brothers who are living a harder life with his old parents. Ah Pun (Chin's family name) had
always imagined a comfortable, healthy, and prosperous life for himself and his family. Thus, he
had a plan to travel to Poni Island, which is located in Sarlauyiah (Sarawak). Ah Pun's parents
spent money to pay for his passage to Poni. After some weeks, Chin Hon Pun was able to reach
Sarawak, and he was looking for a job all around, but he could not find one for himself. He became
weak after he spent all his leftover money, and he has nothing to wear or eat. By the grace of God,
he managed to get a dishwasher job at a Chinese restaurant with an offer of three meals per day.
Slowly but surely, Ah Pun worked harder and mastered Hokkien, which is a different Chinese
dialect. After prolonged work in the restaurant, Chin Hon was planning to own a rickshaw to earn
more, and he managed to pay the rent for a house and buy a rickshaw.

On a fine day, he met Chee Boi when he went to drop off the big white man at his bungalow.
Following that, they both looked for each other and planned to marry. However, there was a snag.
Mr. Teo is the father of Chee Boi, who expected Ah Pun to pay $1000 for the dowry and wedding
feast. Thus, he bet on the lottery to earn money quickly, and he won the lottery. Finally, he
managed to get married, and they had eight children, all of whom are female. Nevertheless, Chin
Hon was so disappointed because he was praying so hard and burning a dozen joss sticks to get a
boy as his eighth baby after having seven girl children. That's why he named his eighth child
"Moi," which translates to "don't want" in Hakka. His debt to the collector has increased to $13,000
since his pepper plantation had a fungal attack. He also took a shortcut to make money and began
playing Mahjong. He has no choice, so he borrows some money from Mr. Teo to replant the
pepper, and he receives advice from Mr. Teo to sell one of Chin's daughters to any wealthy family
to get money. Moi is a girl and the prettiest girl among her siblings, who have flat faces, so Chin
considered the idea, and he planned to sell Ah Moi for $31,000 to a rich family. However, she has
refused to leave her family, and she has started to spend her own time alone at a nearby bunker.
Finally, Ah Moi brought wealth to her family. That was the place (the bunker) where she found
eleven boxes of gold and some cash, and he led her parents to that place to get them all. They all
lived happily ever after, and Ah Moi escaped.

Besides, the next part will focus on the main theme and issue of the novella. First and foremost,
the novella contains two major themes: "work hard to achieve life goals instead of finding
shortcuts" and "respect and love towards women are musts." The first theme demonstrated Chin
Hon's hard work as a dishwasher until he was able to rent a house and buy a new rickshaw. Ah
Pun, on the other hand, is praised as a man who believes in taking shortcuts to make money rather
than working hard to make a lot. To give an instance, he used to bet on the lottery and play Mahjong
to earn money to solve his problem; however, he lost in play and his debt increased until he could
not manage to pay it back to the collector, plus he tried to kill himself to escape the complications.
Furthermore, the second theme is an important one that is addressed in the novella. The author
figured Ah Pun is a guy who does not like his last child, which is Ah Moi, because she was the
baby her father was expecting to be a boy. Despite his disappointment, he knew he should treat
Ah Moi well, but he failed to be a good father when he planned to sell Ah Moi to a wealthy family
for $31,000 in order to pay off all his debt. He did not respect his own daughter, and without guilt,
he is about to sell her like a toy in a bazaar.

In addition, the author of the novella addressed the issue in this novella. He emphasised society's
belief in earning or achieving something quickly by betting on the lottery, gambling, and selling
young girls as if they were toys or property. While reading the novella, we can get a sense of these
issues. These three actions involved the three phases of Chin Hon's life. For example, he bet the
lottery to get money for his wedding feast, and Mr. Teo asked money from Ah Pun as dowry in
order to marry his daughter. Furthermore, after the fungal attack in the pepper garden, Chin Hon
gambled (Mahjong) because he had no income from his business. This was the reason his debt
increased, and in consideration of the advice of Mr. Teo, he planned to sell Ah Moi to pay off all
his debt.

Character is always an important aspect to consider when deriving moral lessons from a story.
There are two main characters that can be discussed in this novella. Essentially, Chin Hon Pun is
an ordinary man with lofty ambitions. He comes from a poor family and has worked hard to save
money for a house and a rickshaw. He turned out to be a guy who started to bet on the lottery
because he had no other choice to get money for his wedding feast and dowry for his marriage
with Chee Boi. Furthermore, he is a man who is dissatisfied because he has eight girl children and
expected the eighth baby to be a boy, but he did not get one. The most heartbreaking part is how
he treated his last child, Ah Moi; he has not even looked at her since she was born. Chin Hon Pun
is a man who can do anything to solve his problem, such as figure out how to sell Ah Moi to a
wealthy family for $31,000. He also always prayed to God to get good health and wealth, as he
figured in the novella by the author.

Moi, also known as Ah Moi, is the polar opposite of her father. She is the prettiest girl among her
siblings and has very fair skin, like Cinderella. She is a hardworking girl who strives to achieve
her life goals; for example, she enrolled in an English-medium school and excelled academically,
as all of her teachers praised her. She will also do all of her housework after she gets home from
school. Moreover, Ah Moi is a kind-hearted soul who always respects her family, especially her
father, despite the fact that he has hated him since she was born. Last but not least, she is the true
character that everyone should admire and be inspired by. And we can learn a very important
lesson from her: no matter what, we should love and respect our parents.

As a reader of this novella, I would say that I felt the reflection of a corrupted society and the
determination of a person to achieve their life goal. This novella has two different views on the
lessons we should and should not follow in our lives. First and foremost, I learned from this novella
that hard work always pays off and brightens someone's future. Furthermore, fighting for our rights
is a very important thing we should practise in our lives, like Ah Moi did against her father's
foolishness. Besides, we can learn that we should not involve ourselves in gambling or any illegal
bet on the lottery. The practise of paying dowry for a wedding should be considered a crime that
should be stopped, and it is wrong to practise in today's reality because the practise is figured like
a man buying a woman with money or property in the name of marriage. According to a quote
from the legend Mahatma Gandi, "Any young man who makes dowry a condition of marriage
discredits his education and his country and dishonours womanhood." In order to respect
women, our society must place a high value on avoiding dowry payments.

From my perspective, the topics on which I personally focus are those that I believe are critical for
the rest of the world to be aware of because "practising gender equality is a must." The
distasteful thought of having female infants still exists in our corrupt and immature society, for
both individuals and communities. According to Nelson Mandela, "Freedom cannot be achieved
unless women have been emancipated from all kinds of oppression." Thus, people should not be
ashamed of having female infants; instead, they should treat them nicely and prepare their basic
needs for them. Another point I would like to emphasise from the novella is that, no matter how
difficult life is, parents, especially, must provide adequate education for their children and not
allow them to work at an age when they should be learning life lessons. Last but not least, we must
work hard to achieve our life goals rather than taking shortcuts because we may lose the chance to
live a happy life in the end.

In summary, this novella fully emphasises the culture, an unpleasingly behaved society, the
immaturity of a father, and lastly, the determination of a girl. Those are things we should learn and
apply in our daily lives to grow a wealthy and healthy society. The author figured out the corruption
that is still being practised by some people among us, despite the fact that we live in the twenty-
first century. Thus, I would say I get more moral values and life lessons from this novella.