The Night Tiger

Kamunting, Malaya. May 1931

Ten-year-old Chinese houseboy Ren tends to dying, elderly Dr. MacFarlane. He asks Ren to find his missing finger within 49 days of his death and bury it. Ren begins to cry.

Ipoh, Malaya. Wednesday, June 3

Twenty-year-old Ji Lin has been working at her secret side job at the May Flower Dance Hall, located in the city of Ipoh, for precisely 44 days, which is an unlucky number. Although she only dances with men there, the job is socially disgraceful. 

Ji Lin took the job to cover a debt of 40 Malayan dollars that her mother has incurred by playing mahjongg. Her day job as a dressmaker won’t cover the cost, and she doesn’t feel confident in her mother’s ability to pay it off: “my poor foolish mother couldn’t possibly come up with it by herself: she’d no luck at gambling” (3).

When Ji Lin began working at the Dance Hall, the madam (Mama), cut Ji Lin’s hair in the popular Western style. Mama promptly christens her “Louise,” after the American silent film star Louise Brooks.

On the evening of June 3, Ji Lin is dancing as Louise.