maniniwei says she has two mothers: one is her mother back home in Malaysia and
the other is A-Mei, a cat in Taipei.
maniniwei came to Taiwan during university to study fine arts and settled in Taipei. The
differences in climate and culture make her acutely aware of her longing for sunshine,
her yearning for her mother – who works tirelessly at household duties without scheming
or calculation, and the comfort and strength that comes from caring for cats.
Time and again, when faced with the hardships and gloom of life in a foreign land,
maniniwei turns to painting and poetry to gather the warmth necessary to fight off the
cold and dejection. This book records the vibrant colors of tropical life: the verdant
palm oil forests of her Malaysian hometown, flocks of large and robust black crows,
her resilient mother, confident Malay youths who bathe in rivers to dissipate fever, and
countless other brilliant manifestations of the tropics. She hopes to bring to readers of
this book an abundant, fiery energy.