AUTHORS BACKGROUND Kassim Ahmad was born on 9 September 1933 in Kedah, Malaysia.

He took his Bachelor of Arts degree in Malay Language and Literature, but also read widely in political science and Islamic philosophy. He taught Malay language and Literature for a time in the London school of Oriental and African Studies and then in a secondary school in Penang where he has been staying with his family since 1966. Kassim Ahmad is Malaysias foremost thinker and philosopher. He grabbed national headlines in the 1950s with his dissertation on the characters of hang Tuah, the Malay Literary Classic. In it he challenged the traditional interpretation and made the hitherto hero Hang Tuah as nothing more than a palace hack, and elevated the anti-hero hang Jebat as the true hero, willing to kill even the sultan in defence of honour and principles. Kassim was jailed for nearly five years under the ISA for daring to express openly his political views, an experience which he recounted in his book, Universiti Kedua (Second University) Kassim again shook the Malay world with his Hadith: A Re-examination in which he challenges the infallibility of the purported Muhammad s.a.w. Except for an honorary doctorate in Letters conferred by the National University of Malaysia, the country has not seen fit to honour this great public intellectual SYNOPSIS A Common Story is about Yusuf, a kampong boy in Malaya who goes to Singapore to get a university education. After graduation he returns to his hometown. He dashes the hopes of his padi-planter parents who hoped his return would promise a better life for them and the community. His mother, however hears rumours that he has become a communist and she casually advises him not to get involved in politics. The writer comments that it is a fashionable thing to be a revolutionary during the university days. However, Yusuf has been very much influenced by the ideology of Marx and Lenin. He later returns to Singapore and gets imprisoned with the modern lifestyle and here too he falls in love with a Chinese girl but their relationship does not last long. So he decides to return to his village - to look for his soul. CHARACTERS Yusuf Kampong boy in his early twenties A graduate from a university in Singapore Influenced by Western culture but deep inside he has traditional values Eg. Probably that is why he did not even kiss the woman he loved Labelled as a communist as he was influenced by the ideology Faces inner conflict Faces a dilemma of fulfilling his parents expectations Yusufs parents Poor padi planters Worked very hard, toiled, Yusufs father had high expectations

Minor Characters - Yusufs girlfriend - Yusufs friend

POINT OF VIEW Third person point of view. SETTING 1. Malaya before independence - traditional Malay kampong 2. Singapore THEMES Discovering ones self Finding ones path in life Political Ideologies Holding on to ones ideology Education and Change Poverty and Hardship Mental/Intellectual Conditioning ISSUES Educational influence Cultural shock Inter-racial relationship Revolutionary ideas Change in mind-set A search for ones identity Family expectations ACTIVITIES 1. Group discussion - Imagine you are Yusuf and had gone to study in a university. What would you plan to do when you come back? 2. Internet Search on lives and times of people during the period of Malayan Communist Party in 1950s. 3. Discussion questions Does education guarantee a better life? Does foreign education bring harm or good? Was Yusufs decision for not wanting to serve the government a rational one? What do you think are expectations of Yusufs parents? 4. Draw a speech bubble and write out what Yusufs parents expectations would be. 5. Draw out a flow chart A Journey of Yusufs Life

QUESTIONS a. And the mother, poor woman, did not understand could feed and clothe him. Based on the extract above,describe Yusufs mothers feelings. (5m) He only knew that it was hard. It was hard wage their daily struggle for survival. Based on the extract above, describe Yusufs feelings. (5m) b. Describe what Yusufs fathers expectations of him were and why was he (Yusufs father) disappointed? (8m) c. Change and challenges are inevitable in life. With close reference to the text, discuss the statement.

(12m)