ON MALAYSIAN LITERATURE

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

POEMS FROM MALAYSIA

zurinahhassan 7:34 AM 0 Comments

THIS ORATION, BRUTUS

Was Ceasar wrong in his judgment, Marcus Julius Brutus

But whatever your words about Caesar be

He was a just and loyal friend to me

You did see your defeat in the battle of Pharsalus

Did Caesar not forgive you then

And lifted you to the circle of respected statesman

When the politics in Caesar’s bones strengthen

And the power in his blood thicken

You joined them to dilute Caesar’s crown

Sending the hands that lifted you to the burial ground

Do you not hear their words, Brutus

You were never a great thinker

For trivial reason you detest Caesar.

You argued to be torn between the power of devotion
what is right for Rome and your conviction
your feeling for Caesar and his fatherly affection.

I shall sow the seed of confusion in my funeral oration

Your honesty and Cassius’s be doubted by every Roman

I shall stir their hearts with agitations

with rhetoric and questions

you detested Caesar for having ambitions

So let me bend the feeling of our countryman

Towards the essence of my oration

And from the essence a fire will burn.

(II)

Yes me too, Markus Antonius

Who spill the blood of noble Caesar

And you call me a traitor

While my belief in truth
is tearing the character of my youth.
this is a cross road of doubts a terrible dilemma

it is not easy to be young and rebellious
in the waves of political surges. .

Forgive me Markus Antonius

I have to decide and choose my side.

_______________________________________

RAIHANI MOHD SAAID

original tittle: Pidato Ini Brutus

Apakah Caesar telah silap menghakimimu, Marcus Junius Brutus?
Apa-apa pun yang kalian bicarakan tentang Caesar
dia sahabat yang setia dan adil bagiku
ketika kau kecundang dalam pertempuran Pharsalus
Caesar memaafkanmu
dan mengangkatmu ke dalam lingkaran negarawan terhormat.

Ketika tulang siasah Caesar makin mengejap
dan darah kuasanya makin belikat
kau berganding mencairkan mahkota Caesar
tangan yang mengangkatmu telah kau kirim ke pusara.
tidakkah kau dengar bicara mereka, Brutus
kau hanyalah pemikir kerdil
yang membenci Caesar atas alasan kecil.
Hujahmu, kau terjepit antara teguhnya sebuah kepercayaan
tentang apa-apa yang benar bagimu dan Romawi
dengan setia kasih kepada watak kebapaan Caesar.

Aku akan menanam benih ragu dalam pidato pemakaman ini
kejujuranmu dan Cassius akan dipersoal warga Romawi
akan kugugah nuraga mereka
dengan soalan dan retorik.
Kaumurka kerana Caesar terlalu bercita-cita
laluku bentur pucuk nubari warga
ke arah zat pidatoku
zat ini akan menjadi api.

(II)
Ya, aku juga Markus Antonius!
yang telah mengucurkan darah Caesar Agung.
kau akan memanggilku pengkhianat
sedang kepercayaanku kepada kebenaran
sering mengoyak watak muda.
ini persimpangan maha keliru, dilema maha dahsyat
sungguh sukar menjadi muda dan pemberontak
dalam goncangan siasah yang berombak.

Maaf, Markus Antonius
aku harus bersikap dan berpihak.

A poem by Raihani Mohd.Saaid translated by Zurinah Hassan

The poet RAIHANI MOHD SAAID.

POEMS FROM MALAYSIA: WOMEN ISSUE

zurinahhassan 7:15 AM 0 Comments

Women issue . Several scholars have analysed what they called the feminist voices in my poems. One such paper is written by Dr Suzana Muhammad (Universiti Sains Malaysia), “The Development of Woman Identity: Feminist Approaches to Selected Poems of Zurinah Hassan.”. A poem often quoted is “Pesanan Puteri gunung Ledang Kepada Sultan Mahmud” (The Message From Princess of Mount Ledang To Sultan Mahmud) The Princess of Mount Ledang was a mythical character, unearthly, magical, mysterious, and of course described as exceptionally beautiful. She dwelt at Mount Ledang in the southern area of Peninsular Malaysia visible from the palace of the Malacca Sultan. As the story goes, the sultan was looking for a queen after the demise of his consort. This time around, the sultan was determined to marry someone or something different from an ordinary human princess as he wanted to be different and far above anyone else. That was how he got the idea of asking for the hand of the Princess of Mount Ledang.

The Sultan sent his men up the mountain to ask for her hand in marriage. He summoned almost every able bodied man, causing much hardship and unnecessary death to his subjects. It was a perilous journey. Many men fell off into the deep ravine or fell prey to the wild animals. Even Hang Tuah, the famous Malay warrior, failed to reach the top. Only Tun Mamat succeeded to the summit and entered the garden of the Princess. But he could not see the Princess, and only conveyed the Sultan’s proposal through Dang Raya Rani who was the princess’s chief lady in waiting. The beautiful princess sent her famous message to the Sultan through Tun Mamat.

The Message from Princess of Mount Ledang to Sultan Mahmud

Tun Mamat

Convey this message to the Sultan

Bring these as my dowry

If he wishes to marry me.

Build me a bridge of gold and another of silver

Bring me germs and mosquitoes seven trays of their hearts

Vessels full of tears and juice of young beetle nuts

From the king and his prince a bowl each of their blood.

Honestly

I knew from the start

That he is willing to construct the bridge of misery

Let the people carry the trays of agony

And bear the burden of heavy vessels of tears

Rack their life with flame of his own desire

Provided he could escape the fire.

Tun Mamat,

These conditions only show my rejection

As his queen I refuse to be

Seeing my life a murky reflection

I am not Tun Fatimah

With the skill to forgive cruelty

I am not Tun Kudu

Who could be forced to agree

It’s enough with Hang Li Po

Wrapped up as a gift, a commodity

Or Tun Teja who tripped and fell

The lover she followed was only a shadow.

Let Mount Ledang stand tall, a reminder to all

Of a flower that survived and remained free

Untouched by the royal fancy

Even a woman can choose to disagree

Even a king has his turn

to admit being beaten.

(Menghadap ke Pelabuhan/Facing the Harbour. 2013:20-21)

This proposal is an episode in the Sejarah Melayu (Malay Annals). The story may not have been historically true. The princess may not have existed. But the writer of the Sejarah Melayu has constructed the episode as a medium to criticize the Sultan for his unjust rule of the country and his cruelty especially to women, treating them as if they have no heart and soul. The Princess of Mount Ledang proposed these conditions of the dowry as a way of refusing to marry him. As for the Sultan, this was the first time anyone said no to him. The princess was the first woman to succeed in showing the Sultan that he too must be able to accept rejection. The important point in “Message of the Princess of Mount Ledang to Sultan Mahmud” is the exertion of a woman’s right to decide and take control of herself and her life. That the princess was able to speak her mind showed that women have freedom of expression. As I put in my poem:

Let Mount Ledang stand tall, a reminder to all

Of a flower that survived and remained free

Untouched by the royal fancy

Even a woman can choose to disagree

Even a king has his turn

to admit being beaten.

Besides the “Princess of Mount Ledang,” there are more legendary figures in the Malay Annals, one of which is Princess Hang Li Po.

Princess Hang Li Po was the princess of China betrothed to the Sultan of Melaka as the show of support and protection from the much feared Empire of China to the newly founded nation of Melaka. The Princess was taken away at a tender age when she still playing around at home, cuddled by her mother. I imagined Hang Li Po’s tears dropping into the ocean, crying for the people she loved and missed so much. Her mother must have also cried in agony, but they both were women facing patriarchal oppression. As a mother I was very much disturbed and saddened by this mother-daughter separation. It would be heart-breaking for any mother to have her daughter taken away and sent to a place so far away. Given the condition of travel at that time, there was no guarantee of seeing each other again. More than that, Hang Li Po as a female, was being treated as a commodity shipped to Melaka. Marriage for queens and princesses was not a personal decision but a political mission. Her father, as a man and a king, thought and talked less about family happiness but more about his kingdoms.

Hang Li Po was not the only one sacrificed for the sake of the Malacca Sultanate. There have been others. There were famous beautiful suffering ladies of Malay Annals including Tun Teja, Tun Kudu dan Tun Fatimah. Tun Teja was the daughter of a statesman of Pahang, who felled in love with Hang Tuah and agreed to run away with him to Melaka. Later in the boat she found out that she had been deceived by Hang Tuah with all his talks of love. Hang Tuah at the time was sent to exile by the Sultan and abducting Tun Teja for a present was his mean of getting back into the Sultan’s favour.

Another pitiful woman in the Malay Annals was Tun Kudu. She was the consort of Sultan Muzaffar and a sister of Tun Perak, the man who saved Malacca from foreign attacks. Tun Perak rose up for his bravery that strengthened Melaka and it was rumoured that he was eyeing the position of Bendahara much to the dismay of the existing Bendahara, Tun Ali. Subsequently rivalry broke up between supporters of Tun Ali and Tun Perak. This threatened the stability of Melaka and the position of the Sultan. Someone came up with a solution that the widowed Tun Ali should be married into Tun Perak’s family. When offered to pick his choice, Tun Ali was adamant about desiring none other than Tun Kudu, the queen. The Sultan agreed supposedly for the sake of peace and stability. Tun Kudu was divorced and she became another woman who was asked to sacrifice for the sake of Melaka. Indeed Melaka was built on the sorrow and tears of women, but it eventually fell due to the greed and misdeed of men, as has been the case with so many other nationsI have written poems about women in the legends, but I am also concerned about the present situation. What happened to the legendry ladies is happening to many women in our time, though in different ways. Even today, marriages are not necessarily a matter of the heart. There are marriages of convenience, marriages for family honour, business arrangements, social commitments, and more often to save a woman and her family from the social stigma. A girl is brought up to preserve a good name so that she will be married into a good family. It is believed that no woman would remain unmarried by choice . There is a high and often unaffordable price of living alone and remaining true to one’s identity and carving one’s own destiny. My point is what I put in the line, “A woman has to be less herself, in order to be more a woman”. This is delivered in a poem entitled “Marriage”:

Marriage

-one woman’s opinion

Marriage is the difficulty

Of changing routines and priorities

That make you less yourself

And a woman has to be less her self

In order to be more a woman.

Marriage to a woman

Is a protection

For her who dares not live

On her own identity

It is too costly and too risky.

(Menghadap ke Pelabuhan/Facing the Harbour: 82-83)

Even up to the present time some young girls sacrifice advancement in career for a marriage prospect much to the loss of their nations. In a poem “Salam Perempuan Dari Penjara,” (A Woman’s Greeting From Prison, 2010) [S1] , I looked at a woman’s journey through life as a procession which no one dares to divert from. It is a procession where everyone walked to a fixed destiny:

She and her sisters

in a procession to their day

while within this wall

they have not lived at all.

(Menghadap ke Pelabuhan/Facing the Harbour: 60-61)

[S1]Please specify if these numbers indicate verses or pages.

A POEM READ IN SEA WRITE SHOWCASE

zurinahhassan 7:08 AM 0 Comments

READ IN THE NAME OF GOD

A book is a vehicle to ride

to places far and wide

a guide for all seasons

a freedom from ignorance

A library is an open sea

once you set your sail

the further you want to be

with rows books

where men have recorded

their knowledge

experience and stories

the more you read

the more you will agree

that men is full of creativity

and life is full of mysteries.

A book reminds us

that we are the only God’s creation

with the gift of language

to build up a civilization
- Zurinah Hassan

Poems by Zurinah Hassan

zurinahhassan 7:03 AM 0 Comments

Poems by Zurinah Hassan Malaysia national laureate

Friday, September 27, 2019

zurinahhassan 12:38 AM 0 Comments

Zurinah Hassan is Malaysia literary laureate (SASTERAWAN NEGARA), and the first female writer to be awarded the title. She had also received Southeast Asia Write Award in 2004 and the Sunthorn Phu Poetry Prize in 2013 (an award of recognition for outstanding poets in the ASEAN country). She reads syair at cultural events and has performed this traditional poetry in India, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and Brunei.

Zurinah had published collection of poems, short stories, literary studies, a novel, and a memoir. Although better known as a poet but Zurinah also won the Premier Literary Award, Hadiah Sastera Utusan (Utusan Literature Prize), National Library Book Prize for short stories and memoirs. Her work has been translated into several languages. Her book Facing The Harbor has been published in English, Spanish, Russian and French translation.

Zurinah Hassan was born on June 13, 1949 in Alor Setar, Kedah, received her early education in a Malay school in Tikam Batu, Sungai Petani Convent School and Sultanah Asma School , Alor Setar before studying at Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang (Penang) . She had served as a Senior Information Officer in Ministry of Information Malaysia, a lecturer at the University of Malaya and Universiti Sains Malaysia in addition to Guest Writer at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Zurinah obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from USM, Master of Arts degree from UPM and a Ph.D from the University of Malaya.

Monday, September 23, 2019

POEMS BY ZURINAH HASSAN

zurinahhassan 7:28 PM 0 Comments

translated by Zurinah Hassan.

translated by Patricia Vazquez Marin

Both poems above were originally written in Bahasa Melayu. The first poem is Berdiri di Pengkalan, translated by the poet into Standing On the Jetty. The second poem is Perkahwinan translated into Spanish as Matrimonio by Patricia Vazquez Marin

Thursday, June 20, 2019

BIODATA 3 ORANG PENULIS WANITA

zurinahhassan 4:56 PM 0 Comments

ANIS SABIRIN ( A.B.S Nil, Nuraini )

Anis Sabirin dilahirkan pada 1 Mac 1936 di Johor Bharu, Johor Darul Takzim. Merupakan salah seorang penyair/penulis wanita yang cukup menonjol di dalam bidang penulisan kreatif terutama puisi dan cerpen sekitar era 1960-an. Selain itu dikenali juga sebagai seorang yang sangat lantang di dalam forum-forum atau ceramah membabitkan persoalan dunia wanita.

Anis Sabirin mendapat pendidikan awal di sekolah Melayu dan agama. Beliau melanjutkan pelajarannya di Sekolah Perempuan ( Inggeris ) Sultan Ibrahim, Johor Bharu sebelum berjaya melanjutkan pelajaran ke Universiti Malaya, Singapura dan kemudiannya berjaya memperolehi ijazah Sarjana Muda Sastera dengan kepujian pada tahun 1959.

Pernah bertugas dengan Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka selaku pegawai penyelidik dari Mei 1960 hingga Februari 1967. Beliau pernah menetap di Amarika Syarikat untuk memperolehi ijazah M.A dalam bidang Sains Politik dan dalam tahun 1976 lulus Ph.D dalam bidang Ekonomi. Walaubagaimanapun, kegiatan sasteranya pernah terhenti sekitar akhir tahun 1960-an hingga tahun 1970-an. Namun di awal 1980-an ia mulai muncul kembali dengan ditandai kemunculan puisi-puisinya dalam Dewan Sastera dan Dewan Budaya.

Antara karya-karyanya ialah antalogi bersama Puisi-Puisi Nusantara (Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 1981), antalogi bersama, Kembang Melati ( Kuala Lumpur, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 1982), Antalogi bersama, Puisi Melayu Baharu ( DBP:1961-1986) dan lain-lain lagi.

Sementara di dalam bidang cerpen pula, antara yang sempat dihasilkan ialah antalogi bersama, Angin Retak ( Melaka: Abbas Bandung 1966), Dari Bayang Ke Bayang ( Singapura: Pustaka Nasional 1966 ), antalogi bersama, Hawa ( Kuala Lumpur: DBP 1984) dan banyak lagi.

Anis Sabirin juga menghasilkan esei/kritikan berjudul Drama Melayu Moden dalam Esei ( antalogi bersama) Kuala Lumpur, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka:1981. Sementara buku kajiannya Mengenal Puisi telah diterbitkan oleh Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka pada tahun 1972.

KHADIJAH HASHIM, lahir pada 20 April 1942 di Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia merupakan novelis, penulis cerpen, pengarang pantun dan penyajak. Beliau pernah bekerja sebagai guru dan juga sebagai penulis dengan akhbar tempatan Utusan Melayu (1974–1976) dan Berita Harian (1976–1985). Beliau lebih dikenali sebagai penulis novel, dan telah menghasilkan 19 novel. Beliau turut mengembangkan daya kreatifnya dalam bidang cerpen, skrip drama radio, buku kanak-kanak, puisi dan rima. Buku lagu kanak-kanak “Sayang Sayang” telah dipilih sebagai Daftar Kehormat ("Honour List") oleh ("International Board on Books for Young People - IBBY") di Basel, Switzerland (2002) dan “Semerbak Poetry” di Macau, China (2006). Khadijah meneruskan minatnya dalam penulisan rima, yang mendorong kepada karya terbarunya “Putera-puteri Malaysia”.

Beberapa cerpen dan novel Khadijah telah dijadikan drama televisen. Antaranya adalah novel "Mawar Merah di Jambangan", "Sekapur Sirih Segeluk Air", "Ditepi Pagar”, dan “Badai Semalam” dan “Dekat Disayang Jauh Dikenang”. Novel “Laila Azwa Gadisku” telah dijadikan filem televisen. Sementara novel “Mira Edora" dan "Pelangi Pagi” turut dijadikan filem dengan judul "Mira Edora" dan "Bicara Hati".[2]

Novel pertama dan paling terkenal hasil karyanya adalah novel “Badai Semalam” (1968) yang digunakan sebagai buku teks di Singapore dan Malaysia[3]. Novel ini telah diterjemah ke bahasa Inggeris, “Storms of Yesterday”, oleh Mahani Abdul Hamid pada 1991 dan bahasa Sepanyol, "Tormentos del ayer", oleh Alberto Balanza dan Yahia pada 2010. “Badai Semalam” diterbitkan beberapa kali dan terkini adalah pada 2006 oleh Alaf21 dalam siri novel nostalgik. Versi Inggeris turut diterbitkan semula pada 2009 oleh Institut Terjemahan Negara Malaysia di bawah Siri Penulisan Malaysia ("Malaysian Literature Series")[4].

Novel “Merpati Putih Terbang Lagi” memenangi hadiah sagu hati dalam peraduan menulis sepuluh tahun kemerdekaan Malaysia. Novel ini turut diterjemahkan ke bahasa Jepun oleh Tatsun Hoshino. Novel “Exiled” telah dicalonkan bagi Anugerah Penulisan Dublin IMPAC Antarabangsa ("International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award") pada 1997. Khadijah merupakan penerima Anugerah Penulis Asia Tenggara pada 1999 dan menamatkan Program Penulisan Antarabangsa di Universiti Iowa pada tahun 1994. Siri buku kanak-kanaknya, “Siri Lagenda”, “Siri Aura dan Fauna” dan “Siri Teladan dari Rimba” telah diterjemah ke bahasa Inggeris oleh Institut Terjemahan Negara Malaysia (2009). Kumpulan Puisi beliau
Semerbak Puisi, Kuala Lumpur: ‘K’ Publishing & Distributors Sdn. Bhd., 2004. Dua Dimensi Khadijah Hashim (sajak dan lukisan berus Cina), Kuala Lumpur: ‘K’ Publishing & Distributors Sdn. Bhd.,2008. Puisi Tunas Bangsa, Kuala Lumpur: ‘K’ Publishing & Distributors Sdn. Bhd., 2008. Putera-puteri Malaysia, ‘K’ Publishing & Distributors Sdn. Bhd., 2010

NOR AINI MUHAMMAD

Dilahirkan pada 30 Januari 1949 di Pulau Duyong, Kuala Terengganu.Tokoh Terkemuka Penyair Moden Wanita di Terengganu. Nor Aini berkelulusan Sijil Thanawi (Sembilan) & SPM Sekolah Agama Menengah Sultan Zainal Abidin (1968). Sebelumnya Nor Aini lulus di Sekolah Agama Ibtidai (Lima) Madrasah al-Khairiah, Gong Kapas, Kuala Terengganu.

Menulis sejak di Sekolah Menengah dan mengikuti kegiatan Persatuan Sasterawan Terengganu (PELITA) yang antaranya mendapat bimbingan T.Alias Taib yang pernah turut menganggotai AJK Pelita. Puisi pertamanya yang mendapat tempat dalam penerbitan (Mastika, Disember 1967) berjudul `Kepada Gadis Yang Tempang`. Nor Aini seorang penyair yang cepat tersentuh dengan suasana dan kehidupan masyarakat di sekeliling. Dia mempuisikan tentang masyarakat di kampungnya `Nadi Kampungku (hlm. 5-6, 1968), kehidupan petani `Senyum Padi` (10, 1969), tentang penyu di Rantau Abang `Episod Penyu B. 6274 (20, 1971), tentang musim Tengkujuh `Disember Telah Datang` (22-23, 1973), tentang laut (24-25, 1973), Perempuan Dengan Ombak (75, 1972.).

Dekad 1970an adalah zaman prolifik Noraini. Beliau pernah memenangi Hadiah Sastera Malaysia pada tahun 1971.

Saturday, June 15, 2019

BIODATA ZURINAH HASSAN THE FIRST MALAYSIAN FEMALE NATIONAL LAUREATE

zurinahhassan 2:51 PM 0 Comments

BIODATA

ZURINAH HASSAN ialah Sasterawan Negara Malaysia yang ke 13 dan sasterawan wanita pertama yang dianugerahi gelaran tersebut. Selain itu beliau menerima Hadiah Penulisan Asia Tenggara (SEA Write Award ) pada 2004 dan Hadiah Puisi Sunthorn Phu (Hadiah Puisi Negara ASEAN) pada 2013. Selain menulis, Zurinah giat dalam aktiviti membaca syair dan pernah mempersembahkan syair di India, Jepun, Thailand, Indonesia dan Brunei.

Zurinah menulis dalam pelbagai genre dan hingga kini menghasilkan kumpulan puisi, kumpulan cerpen, novel, kajian sastera dan memoir. Walaupun lebih dikenali sebagai Penyair, Zurinah juga pernah memenangi Hadiah Sastera Perdana, Hadiah Sastera Utusan, Hadiah Buku Perpustakaan Negara untuk cerpen dan memoir. Karyanya telah diterjemahkan ke beberapa bahasa, misalnya bukunya Menghadap ke Pelabuhan telah terbit dengan terjemahan Bahasa Inggeris, Bahasa Spanish, Bahasa Russia dan Peranchis.

Zurinah Hassan dilahirkan pada 13 Jun 1949 di Alor Setar, Kedah, mendapat pendidikan awal di sekolah Melayu Tikam Batu, Sekolah Convent Sungai Petani dan Sekolah Sultanah Asma Alor Setar sebelum melanjutkan pelajaran di Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang. Zurinah memperolehi ijazah Sarjana dari UPM dan Ph.D dari Universiti Malaya. Beliau dianugerahi Bintang Kebesaran Darjah Setia Diraja Kedah pada 2013 membawa gelaran Dato’.

Sunday, May 19, 2019

MALAY POEMS TRANSLATED INTO FRENCH

zurinahhassan 4:43 PM 0 Comments

BY ZURINAH HASSAN

En regardant le port

Comme cela me dérange

Chaque fois que je regarde les lumières du port

Ce sont les lumières de nos limites

Qui nous rappellent que personne ne peut vivre sans nom

Ni sans loyauté à un pays.

Mais personne ne peut choisir son propre nom

Ou le pays où l’on va naître.

Menghadap ke Pelabuhan

Alangkah sukarnya berdepan

dengan lampu-lampu pelabuhan

lampu-lampu sempadan yang mengingatkan

hidup ini mustahil tanpa nama

dan kesetiaan kepada negara.

Tapi tak siapa memilih namanya sendiri

dan negara untuk dilahirkan

Le monde est un centre commercial

Shakespeare a dit un jour

Que le monde est une scène

Les hommes ne sont que des acteurs

Se partageant de nombreux rôles.

Dans les mains de Beckett

Les comédiens deviennent des esclaves

Emprisonnés sur l’estrade

Dans une scène sur l’attente

Dans une pièce sans fin.

Que se passe-t-il si aujourd‘hui nous disons

Que le monde est un grand marché

Nous sommes sans exception des commerçants ou des acheteurs

Prononçant le dialogue des transactions commerciales.

C’est un centre commercial pour tout le monde

Ainsi qu’un hall d’exposition

Avec des promoteurs sournois

S’emparant de ceux dont la conscience sociale

Est à la recherche

Pour l’acquérir, d’un statut.

Qu’il s’agisse d’une pièce de Shakespeare

D’acteurs aux nombreux rôles

Et aux nombreux visages

Ou dans la pièce de Beckett

De comédiens pris au piège dans une salle d’attente

Nous ne différons pas d’eux

Nous sommes des acteurs dirigés par le matérialisme.

Dunia Sebuah Pasar Raya

Kata Shakespeare

dunia adalah sebuah pentas

manusia hanyalah berlakon

dengan pelbagai peranannya.

Di tangan Beckett

manusia adalah pelakon

yang terperangkap di pentasnya

di dalam satu babak penantian

yang tidak ada kesudahan.

Hari ini bagaimana kalau kita berkata

dunia adalah sebuah pasar raya

manusia menjadi pembeli dan penjual

berdialogkan transisi urus niaga.

Ini adalah medan berjual beli

ini juga gedung peragaan

si mahir menebar ikan

menjala si egois

yang tidak putus-putus

membeli status.

Adakah ini pentas Shakespeare

pelakon dengan pelbagai peranan

harus pandai bermuka-muka

atau seperti pentas Beckett

yang memerangkap di babak penantian

apakah bezanya

kita yang diarah oleh kebendaan.

Le message de la Princesse du Mont Ledang au Sultan Mahmoud

Tun Mamat

Fait part du message suivant au sultan

Qu’il fournisse ceci pour ma dot

S’il souhaite m’épouser.

Qu’il me construise un pont en or et un autre en argent

Qu’il m’apporte sept plateaux de coeurs de moustiques et de germes

Des coupes pleines de larmes et de jus de jeunes noix de bétel

Et du roi et du prince un bol de leur sang chacun.

Franchement

Je savais dès le départ

Qu’il était prêt à construire ce pont de misère

À laisser le peuple porter les plateaux de l’agonie

Et supporter le fardeau des lourdes coupes de larmes

À brûler leur vie avec la flamme de son désir charnel

À condition qu’il pût échapper à l’incendie.

Tun Mamat,

Ces conditions ne montrent que mon refus

Je refuse d’être sa reine

Voyant ma vie comme un trouble reflet

Je ne suis pas Tun Fatimah

Capable de pardonner la cruauté

Je ne suis pas Tun Kudu

Que l’on put forcer de consentir

Hang Li Po suffit

Enveloppée comme un présent, un héritage

Ou Tun Teja qui trébucha et tomba

L’amant qu’elle suivit n’étant qu’une ombre.

Laissons le Mont Ledang se dresser fièrement, comme un rappel à

tous

D’une fleur qui survécut et resta libre

Ayant échappé au caprice royal

Même une femme peut choisir de ne pas être d’accord

Même un roi doit à son tour

Admettre qu’il est battu.

Note: le Sultan Mahmoud, le dernier empereur de Malacca, tomba amoureux de la princesse

du Mont Ledang qui lui était apparue en rêve. Il envoya ses hommes sur la montagne pour

la demander en mariage, causant beaucoup de détresse et des morts inutiles. La princesse fit parvenir son célèbre et éloquent message au sultan par l’intermédiaire de Tun Mamat, le seul homme qui parvint au sommet de la montagne.

Pesanan Puteri Gunung Ledang kepada Sultan Mahmud

Tun Mamat

sampaikan pesanku kepada Sultan

jika aku ingin diperisterikan.

Perbuatkan aku jambatan emas jambatan perak

bawakan tujuh dulang hati kuman, hati nyamuk

air mata dan air pinang muda setempayan

darah raja dan anak raja semangkuk.

Sebenarnya

aku telah menduga

dia akan sanggup merentang jambatan derita

dia merelai negeri menjadi dulang sengsara

membiarkan rakyat memikul tempayan air mata

kehidupan terbakar dalam api berahi

selagi kepanasan tidak terpercik ke tubuhnya.

Tun Mamat,

sebenarnya aku memberi syarat ini

kerana aku tidak sudi menjadi permaisuri Sultan

dan hidup bercerminkan kekeruhan

aku bukan Tun Fatimah

yang pandai memaafkan kezaliman

aku bukan Tun Kudu

yang tahu merelakan paksaan

cukuplah dengan Puteri Hang Li Po

yang terbungkus menjadi persembahan

dan tersungkurnya Tun Teja

ketika menangkap bayang-bayang cinta.

Biarlah Gunung Ledang berdiri mengingatkan

ada bunga yang tidak dapat digubah

sesedap titah

seorang perempuan pun ada kalanya

berhak memiliki kebebasan

seorang Sultan pun ada kalanya

harus tunduk kepada kekalahan.