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Muhammad Haji Salleh is National Laureate (Sasterawan Negara) of Malaysia, an Emeritus Professor , a well known poet, critic and translator.
A
further illustration of this individualism comes from the works of a woman
poet, Zurinah Hassan. Her poems not only show that she is a different woman
from other woman writers but also a person who finds in poetry the opportunity
to speak out her inner most soul without
the decorum of the past literary practices.
Although
Malaysian literature does not discriminate against women poets, because of
certain attitudes of propriety and femininity, the really vocal and individual
woman poet is a rare person. Zurinah Hassan is a poet who does not shy away
from the personal problems in poetry. Unlike traditional poets, her style is
direct and she is her own theme. The woman alone, through Zurinah, has never before been dealt with in
such terms or put in her uncompromising reality.
Let us
look at a short poem as a start to see how the poet sees herself
Now I am a mad actress
on an empty stage
The curtain has
fallen
And the audience have
all gone
But I am still acting
uttering my favourite
lines
“God, thank you god
O, thank you god
For giving me
everything
Except the one I
desired most”
I see
this poem as a statement of a lonely young woman facing a loveless life- a
topic that is shied away from in Malaysia, and discussed done so only very
indirectly. Zurinah includes no self pity
or sentiments for effects. On the contrary it is stated in the staccato sounds
of the brutal absurdity of her existence, she allows herself to judge
objectively. This she does by comparing herself to a mad actress who acts out a
life on an empty stage without an audience. In a very intense moments of
absurdity. Absurdity in this form is very novel to Malaysia and in its
freshness strikes hard at the old
world-views.
Like Latiff
Mohidin and Baha Zain, Zurinah Hassan too illustrated these aspects of this new
individualism that perhaps come from a university education, a changed
environment, new personal and moral values. Zurinah as a contemporary woman finds that she
must hear her own inner voice and a poet must record it as truthfully as possible.
Even though times have changed, to be this truthful is to be a courageous
woman, both intellectually and morally. She needs freedom in order to be this
courageous.
While the air is for
one moment light
at another moment heavy
Space is for one moment
laden
And another moment
empty
A bird in the mud lifts
its trapped wings
Trying to be free.
The
poem is called “Dalam Mencari kebebasan (To Be Free). It parallels the
predicament of a woman to be herself in a society that is not ready for her.
SASTERAWAN
NEGARA, LITERATURE LAUREATE USMAN AWING, IN AN INTERVIEW WITH THE STAR, THE
STAR, THURSDAY JUN 30, 1988.
Zurinah
Hassan has made a significant contribution to Malay literary development. She
brings meaning to the Malay language, breathes life into her words. Her use of
language is captivating, poetic and harmonious. Some of her poems I’ve
noticed are cynical, satires
about men based on her experience.
One of
her poems in particular had large impact on Usman . He remembers that it was a
message to children which read, “Do not forget there is always god. For you
will need him one day particularly when you are born a woman. I will always
remember that poignant line. It reveals
the problem and sufferings of a woman trying to survive in a man’s world”
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