COW DUNG

In the wake of the brouhaha over the introduction of teaching Khat or Jawi calligraphy as part of the BM curriculum for Year Four pupils,  I decided it's a good time to think and talk about a key aspect of the Malay Peninsula's culture, heritage and literary legacy which had been marginalised as a result of the policies and practices of our  previous "masters of our fate" during nearly 450 years of foreign colonisation and overlordship.

In introducing Khat, there is hardly any overtone of  pursuing a policy of  language exclusiveness and triumphalism like Singapore's  Mandarin language campaign.

To those who protest so adamantly about Khat and Jawi, people like .......

1.   Dong Zong and Jiao Zong ....

They do teach Chinese calligraphy in Chinese vernacular schools, don't they??

2.  DAP rabble rousers

DAP foot-soldiers

3.  Orang berkuasa baru

Teresa Kok is DAP's MP for Seputeh and Minister for Primary Industries.   What opinion does she hold today?  

4.  Si Bangsa/Anak Malaysia 

Apologies for this fuzzy image of  Lim Lip Eng, DAP MP for Kepong.  I find his purple Mandarin jacket very becoming.  For a moment I thought he was a rakyat of Taiwan or the PRC or Singapore(?).

When I was in Secondary School in Singapore during the late fifties/early sixties, we did not have a permanent Malay Language teacher although Malays made up nearly a quarter of Students for my Grade Level.  The school provided a Mandarin Language teacher and we Malay girls had to sit in during each Mandarin lesson after firstly standing up and making a greeting of  Sen sen chau an when Madam X entered the classroom.  Of course we (as most teenagers do) would natter out of sheer boredom.  Although the four of us were quite subdued in our chatter, Madam X would yell at us "Malay girl sitting at the back, listen to your book!".  Yez Ma'm, Yez Boss, Yez Guv!

In 1961, about a month or two before we sat for our Senior Cambridge School Certificate Examination and the  Federation of Malaya Certificate (FMC) Malay Language Paper, we were directed to Gan Eng Seng School for our Malay Language lessons on a Saturday afternoon.   What was my Grade ye may ask??  I did not fail but I did get an S7 - something I am not proud of.  BUT, the Singapore Government reckoned that was good enough for me to teach in Malay in Sekolah Menengah Yusof  Ishak when I graduated in Geography and Political Science in 1967!!!  Yes Sir, Yes Boss, Yes Guv!

 As I went through my twenties and thirties; and through the trauma of Singapore in and out of Malaysia, of the Race Riots in Singapore and the 1969 May 13 tragedy in Malaya, of watching the rising serpent of  racism-cum-discrimination which affected both myself and my pupils;  I had to do a re-think of who and what I am.

That was the beginning of my regret and shame in knowing and learning so little of my language (especially in Jawi), my Malay Literature and the history of the Malays from way before 1511 when Catholic Portugal subjugated the land of my forefathers (and foremothers).

I did try to make a beginning with teaching myself Jawi.  I bought several do-it-yourself books.  This is my most precious  and I shall extract parts from it to illustrate why Jawi is such a significant aspect of the identity of the Malay, an expression that has been so neglected for the past 60 years or more (unlike the Chinese and the Indians who are supported to maintain and foster the calligraphy of their mother tongue).


Here is that book.

What follows is extracted entirely from M. B. Lewis' book. I have learned a lot about Jawi calligraphy and somewhat unexpectedly, about a wide tapestry of Malay culture, literature, history, socio-economics and homely domestic settings.

1.  The Portuguese reach Malacca - from Sejarah Melayu

2.  Pantun

3.  A Trading Permit

4.  From a Newspaper

5.  Newspaper Titles

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Finally, a word of caution when showing one's indignation.

When DAP MP  Lim Lip Eng wrote this in his Facebook  ------

------  is he aware of the implications of the term "cow manure"?

When he used the words 'cow manure', he is of course referring to cow dung which all Malaysians know is a good organic fertilizer, just like horse dung/horse manure.

Do read this :
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatnews/7398029/Cow-dung-and-urine-healthy.html

Hidup di dunia biar beradat,
Bahasa tidak berjual beli.   Please.

Rainy Days and Mondays

It's been a funny old day - pelting rain followed by the gentle drip, drip drip of a a smoochy lazy morning.

We ponteng  (played truant) our usual Monday appointment at Tung Shin Hospital because we could not bear to face KL traffic on a morning like this and it seemed like a better idea to go to Diva Restaurant up the hill for breakfast and watch the rain falling while scoffing our roti canai, roti telur, teh tarik and kopi susu.

Even our three cats chose to stay at home on this melancholy day.

A melancholy cat, TC (That Cat) passing the time of day on a melancholy morning

As kids, we used to hate rainy Monday mornings.  The bed says 'stay!' while Mak is yelling "Bangun, pegi sekolah!"    It's such a palaver getting to school - you have to keep your spanking clean and white Monday shoes in the school bag and trudge in squelching slippers for about half a mile to get to Pasir Panjang Primary School from Kampung Abu Kassim.

No rucksacks  during our school days! I do believe our right arms grew to be longer than the left because of the weight we carried.

On rainy days, - other than our reluctant selves - our shoes and schoolbag, have to be kept dry.  It was quite an acrobatic feat to tuck your schoolbag under your raincoat and carry on walking to school.  And so, your mind wanders to all the other wonderful fun you could have on such a rainy day.

.... you could play in it, if you wanted to, from morning to night.

No,we're both too old to play in the rain.  We could do it I suppose.  But we have just got over our infection and we'll be courting trouble if  we misbehave in this wonderful rain.

So we decided to do something daring.  We bought a newspaper!!  This news of a JOHOR HOUSING SCAM was on the front page.

However I would not describe this as simply a scam.  'SCAM' is such a lightweight word to describe  fraud, thievery, deceit , robbery, rapacity, swindle, dishonesty, cheating and larceny.   As a Malay, I would label the  participation of  the Malays in this crime as  treachery, betrayal, treason and downright DOSA.   Perhaps I should delete the last noun as I am just a former teacher and cannot claim sufficient knowledge of the definition and delineations of  DOSA ,  or PAHALA  - for that matter

Other than despairing at the fate of my Abah's Tanah Pusaka ;

..... perhaps I can contribute these little gems to illustrate the Malays' (some)  shameless Ways and Purpose  with the hope that in the future. the PAGAR will not MAKAN  the PADI.

Raffles had no doubt about the predicament of the Malays.  Being the "kind and urbane" man that he was, he made the Malays - who were like possums transfixed in the glare of a headlight - sign an affidavit validating the occupation of Singapura,  with their consent.  (Extract from Raffles of Singapore by Reginald  Coupland)

The consequence is this : -
Kata sahibu 'lhikayat, Singapura/Tumasik  menjadi Singapore.  And the anak Nusantara were re- categorised as immigrants.  Compare the spouse's England:it's the equivalent of labelling the English in Northumberland ( whose ancestors were Vikings) as immigrants - and no different from the Asian and the East European latecomers....

However, today's modern Malays are more sophisticated - just look at their spoils of treachery - fat bank accounts, Mercedes Benz, Bentleys, Porsches, property at home and overseas, luxury handbags and gold watches.  What can you get with an annual income of 5,000 Spanish dollars, at today's prices?  (Extract from Raffles of Singapore by Reginald Coupland) 

But no matter what shape it takes, this is still pork barrel for their benefit and their clients'.

At this present rate, it won't take too long ....

Spoilt for choice.  (From Punch Diary 1973)

.... for our elites, professionals, and ruling class to bleed this country dry and  turn the Malays into a bunch of Putras without the Bumi!

Drip, drip. drip.  It is a melancholy old day.

The Second " R "

Reading, 'Riting and  'Rithmetic  - they make up the basic three " Rs "  which form the foundation of modern education.  That was the makeup of my English language colonial education in the 1950s as well as the beginning of my training as a school teacher during the latter half of the 1960s.

Just the other day, the spouse and I were ruminating about the approaching demise of one signifier of our self as an individual :  writing - our handwriting!

This one .............

...... belongs to her.

This quaint handwriting  ........

.... was done by this quaint little nerd.

Oh dear, I am noticing signs of rebellion.


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Nowadays we appreciate and take pride in all things that are hand made and we are willing to dig deep into our pockets for items made by human hands!

But more and more we are losing the one art that can be created only by us - our handwriting. Just think, there are millions of us (those who were lucky enough to go to school) able to scribble and identify themselves by their handwriting - each one distinct and unique, just like our fingerprints.
However, we now take to the keyboard and indicate ourselves less and less by our handwriting ( and signature) - but by passwords, codes and pin numbers.  Welcome to the digitised world!

We don't write letters anymore.  We do not keep envelopes in the house and neither do we buy stamps.  We only send e-mails!

Part of my primary school education included subjects like "Writing" and that was included as an examination subject.

A 'Writing' Examination - 1957, PPES.

'Letter Writing' was always part of the English Language Examination.

'Letter Writing' for a Primary Six examination, 1957, PPES

A few days ago, I received a comment - a very touching note - from Kalsom Taib -  from my cohort group, so to speak.

Kalsom, I hope the above images will bring a big smile to your face - and to remind you of our good (and at that time it seemed horrible), old days.

So, I thought I'd like to sit down and write you a letter - to overlay an electronic page with a letter written with a fountain pen  -  to thank you for the content and kindness in your message.

We, Kalsom and I,  are blessed to be able to observe and live the present life we have.  Materially and technically we have gained so much.  But the price we pay is too awful - at times - to bear.

Here's my 'Dictation' Examination - ideas still as valid - if not even more today - as  58 years ago.

The greatest honour is the honour which men give to you in their hearts. 

A song we heard on the radio in our kampung house in 1954/1955.

Moonstruck

Looking around me, I do not see a state-of-the-art world.  That's to be expected when one is (for the moment) residing in and looking at the world from behind the eyeballs of the West.  But it's no better when I read the news and views from my tanah air  and all I can see is this.

I think it's time for a a little pick-me-up.

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It will be a full moon tonight on 8 October at 11.50am BST.  Also on this day the eclipse of the moon will be visible from countries around the Pacific Ocean including Malaysia.

Down here , this is all the moon I can get.  I think it's just as spectacular because I love the moon and moonlight in whatever shape and colour it comes.

Here are my feeble attempts at capturing the full moon, using my not-the-state-of-the-art camera (for dummies) from the vantage point of our not-the-state-of -the-art abode in a middling midland city.

Image 1.  The full moon playing hide-and-seek behind the clouds, taken from the front of our abode at 8.10pm.

Image 2.  Same place, same moon, a few minutes later - the moon  (like The Truth) is veiled from our eyes

Image 3. The moon has shifted,  clockwise to the rear of the house at 11.25pm.

The moon has always been a symbol of romance and childhood (and witchcraft and lunacy as well!).  I have often been described as loopy, loony and a right old wicked witch of the east.  But my love of the lure of the moon comes from schooldays, the beginning of a fascination which I picked up from Malay and English school textbooks.

In Malay: from my Primary School textbook Beneh Akal.

In English: from a poem by Mathias Barr (1831 - ?)

Moon, so round and yellow,
Looking from on high, 
How I love to see you,
Shining in the sky.

Oft and oft I wonder, 
When I see you there, 
How they get to light you,
Hanging in the air.

Where you go at morning,
When the night is past,
And the sun comes peeping,
O'er the hills at last.

Sometimes I will watch you,

Slyly overhead,
When you think I'm sleeping,
Snugly in my bed.


Nevertheless, I still hope to see 'Hey diddle, diddle's'  The cow jumped over the moon!

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Murni sungguh ciptaan Tuhan,
Bulan bintang lampu alam.
Andai kata bintang menyepi,
Bulan tidak berseri.
Malam menjadi sunyi.
Tidak berseri lagi.

We still have  the moon and the stars over Malaysia but there is very little light - it has been obscured by the heat of hypocrisy, greed, deceit and opportunism.