gobbledigook.

[ a morbid fascination that borders on obsession. ]

Sunday, February 26, 2006

Once i mentioned that i was proud to be part chinese. I apologise. I am proud to be a malay too, i absent-mindedly forgot to add. NJC's 'Citra Hati' play-cum-drama brought that realisation to me. Cause that is what i am, or perceive myself to be. I'm a true blue malay. Born, bred, nurtured. Malay is the race on my identification card. I have a malay father and half chinese mother. Even so, i do not consider myself any less malay than those pure-bred malay. In fact, i'm a proud advocate of the malay language, culture and heritage. I can attest for that. But i condescend(now, but later elaborated).

Sadly i must admit, i am ashamed with the current tatters and shambles of the present malay community. So appaling. So decadent. Although the main theme for the night is the different forms of love, its the underlying theme of the last segment that struck a chord with me. I find it undeniably true. Malays who denounce their own heritage. You dismiss the lingua franca of the south east asia archipelago, the blood and tears of your forefathers with the simple wave of a hand. As if it is all in vain.

Do you know, that malay was highly valued back in pre-colonial and colonial past? That Ferdinand Magellan, the legendary maritime explorer had a translator who was fluent on malay? That malay comes from the Austronesian language family, which is one of the largest language families in the world?

However, i believe there are many characters out there similar to those in the fourth play. Forgetting their roots. Once they get moderately successful, or find english more comfortable, they brush off malay as if it was a speck of dust. Then there are those who admit to being malay, but do nothing about it. Their vocabulary is peppered with slangs, self-penned connotations and vulgarities with the particular lingo and colloquialism all jumbled into one: a broken language. It stings my ears when people speak malay without paying due respect to the proper pronunciation, enunciation, intonation and accentuation of the words. And it has grown in reputation idiosyncrasied as 'mat-and-minah talk'.

I say, a confession. Even since i graduated from secondary school with the highest credit in higher malay and a higher distinction in malay(not so condescending huh), i need not take AO mother tongue in JC and since, then i felt like i have lost touch with malay. Like really lost all contact. How i wish that the malay syllabus would be continuous with even higher malay which i know many would dread and moan in genuine disbelief. I would grab it with glee. And only when i'm in year 2 that Ij decided to offer the malay enrichment thingy. If only i was born a year later.

I contemplated taking Malay A, but after being disillusioned by Mymoon's hard tatics and poor question spotting back then, i didn't want to take the same risk like i did in sec 3. Once bitten twice shy? I wouldn't put it that way. Maybe i'm generalising, but malay lit in secondary school gave me the impression that it was inflexible, monotonous, all stuffing-and-regugitating. There was no room for freedom of expression and creativity. I remember Zufar relating to me their literature lessons where sex was discussed openly. Yes it was one of their themes but even when they went overboard, their teacher didn't have a problem with that. Imagine blurting out the malay equivalance during malay literature lessons. The consequences would have been dire.

We're all to blame. Sometimes its the teachers. Sometimes the parents. Sometimes just the recalcitrant child who refuses to acknowledge the malay languages as theirs'. I am blessed with teachers like Cikgu Maiza and Cikgu K who brought tarian, dikir barat, kompang, gamelan and drama to my doorstep. The sec 3 malay project on malay language further strengthened my love for the language. There was Anuar Othman who gave me the opportunity to publish a short story in a short stories compilation by BPGHS(you can find in at local libraries entitled Setitis Kasih, Segunung Harapan). I also literally tried my hands out at acting for the sayembara theater, of whom the director of that drama is the co-director of the NJC drama.

I thought i could continue pursuing it in JC, or so i thought. Unfortunately, the state of MCS in a pathetic. A big disappointment. Brackish. Static. I shan't elaborate more.

I digress too far.

There is a saying, 'Takkan Melayu Hilang di Dunia'- Never shall malay be lost/forgotten in this world. We must not let that happen. We must fight, heart and soul to preserve our rich and glorious language.

Later.

I've got soul
But I'm not a soldier

Adeel
Ahmad
Aisyah
Amin
Cikgu K
Dinie
Eisha
Emel
Evon
Fadilah
Innova Soccer
Juice
Khairiana
Khairul
Maisarah
Michelle
PeiYi
Philmon
Ramizah
Shahira
Sufie
Syafiq
Tracy
Venetia
Yamin
Zaliza
Zawiyah