The Reader

Kira Bicara #001

Apa ada pada nama?

Apa ada pada bunga?

Apa ada pada warna?

Semuanya fana.

Apa ada pada makna?

Makna ada makna.

Jika hijau-muda.

Jika muda-hijau.

Jika  puteh-bersih.

Jika  bersih-puteh.

Makna tetap bermakna.

Hening..

Hening...

Poem: To my students

This morning I received this poetic wisdom from my teacher Prof Dr Wan Mohd Nor bin Wan Daud, a Fellow of ISTAC. Immediately,I got his permission to post it here so that my fellow readers can enjoy and benefit from reading and contemplating its meanings.By the way, he asked me to qualify himself that he is not a professional poet,only a teacher.Talking about my teachers, Prof Dr Wan Mohd Nor is one of my best teachers that had enlightened my understanding of Islam.Thank you,Sir for your kindness.Jazakallahu Khairan

To My Students
By
Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud

You have drained your mother’s tears
And denied your spouse’s warm embrace
For months and years
With cold sweat and silent prayers
Seeking neither reward nor praise
Except God’s pleasure and grace

Scaling the summit of the academic prize
Is full of slippery ravines and tricky slopes
So pardon me for this unsolicited advice
A tonic of grave warnings and great hopes:
On your shoulders lies the ummah’s adventure
In your hearts springs Islam’s future

So strive hard, get your doctorate
But never ever be a hypocrite
Master your courses, finish your thesis
Betray not trust nor break a solemn promise

And strive even harder to be a professor
Publish your findings and contemplation
But never ever be a traitor
Just to secure a promotion
To colleagues of greater ability
And works of higher validity
And usher an era of spiraling mediocrity:
Committees and meetings can’t hide
The emptiness inside

Be true to true teachers
Who build schools and characters
Whose thoughts and ideas are Heaven’s gift
To souls floating adrift

Let not your vain desires conspire
And destroy a noble empire

A garden of the learned and virtuous
Now an altar of the greedy, the ambitious

This religion
Spreads its sweet fruits and soft fragrance
From the souls of Mustapha’s real heirs
This nation
Manifests God’s Love, Omnipresence
With happy masses and wise leaders.

Just reading a poem..

Do you read poems or sajak? I do but never in public before this photo was taken by Hanny,an active member of KL Flickr group. I did not know what came over me, but on that day at a cafe next to Central Market I did that.One is about getting old written by my uncle and another  about the death of my wife's uncle Allahyarham Dato' Ustaz Yusof Zaky Yaakub,a muslim scholar and a prolific writer.
For my own record,I just completed reading(alone) antoloji puisi bertajuk Mutiara Taman Abadi written by Prof Dr Wan Mohd Nor Wan Daud-a fellow of ISTAC.This sajak is about  Religion,Philosophy and Society- a very heavy content. Another collection of sajak from the same author is entitled Dalam Terang.Thank you Prof Dr Wan Mohd Nor for giving me your books full of knowledge and wisdom.

NB: My thanks to Hanny for your kind permission to use the above photo in my blog.To fellow owners of moleskine notebook,I was reading from my pocket moleskine notebook;-) If you notice,I am left-handed.

Poetry In Motion

Tonight,I took LRT to attend a farewell dinner to a friend at a hotel in the city.To avoid driving at night,I took LRT.When seated,right staring at me is Sonnet 29 by Wiliam Shakespeare. I am quite impressed by the effort of  the management of LRT to expose literature to ordinary folks  like me while we are travelling on the train.

On second thought, it would be better if local poetry written by local poets like Usman Awang be given an equal space for public to read and enjoy...

Likewise, when I was on the ERL to KLIA,I heard only European classical songs being played on the TV screen.I think our local songs should also be given air time.

Salleh Ben Joned-Reading

I love to attend reading by writers and below is an invitation from my friend to his bookshop.Thank you Raman.I hope more bookshops will organise this kind of event to promote not just the books and their authors but also a reading culture for Malaysians. InsyaAllah, I will attend this literary event.

http://www.silverfishbooks.com

Adib

Hi,

1. As I Please by Salleh ben Joned. Re-Issue of As I Please from 4.30 - 6.30 pm on Saturday, 13th of December 2003, at Silverfish Books, 67-1 Jalan Telawi Tiga, Bangsar Baru, 59100 KL. Tel: 228 448 37. HE Mr James Wise, High Commissioner for Australia, has agreed to grace the event and say a few words.Salleh needs no introduction. His first book, Poems Sacred and Profane in 1994, was described as 'the most traumatic experience for the Malay literary scene'. His book of peoms 'Sajak sajak Saleh' and his recent 'Nothing is Sacred' are amongst the best selling books at Silverfish this year.

Readings by Jo Kukatas, Ramli Ibrahim and Salleh himself.

Admission is free. All welcome.

Raman

ABC

ABC stands for many acronyms-it all depends who and where you are.
In schools or kindergartens, it means alphabets. In the restaurants, it means Air Batu Campur and on the golf courses, it means Alligator,Buaya and Crocodiles!

Nobody likes to be called A,B,C as understood at the golf course; but some of human sapiens behave like ones.But if you insist calling someone or people Alligator,Buaya or Crocodile,please read this poem first:

Don't Call Alligator Long-Mouth till You crossed River

Call alligator long-mouth
call alligator saw-mouth
call alligator pushy-mouth
call alligator raggedy-mouth
call alligator bumby-bum
call alligator all dem rude word

but better wait
till you cross river.

By John Agard(b . 1949)
Note: Buaya is a Malay word for crocodile.

Sekuntum Mawar Merah

Two years ago(Aug.,2001), I wrote this poem after I listened to the song by Alleycats.Thanks to all those who have commented on the beauty of the rose.Most agreed that it is a beautiful rose-that is the beauty of the beauty!:-

Sekuntum Mawar Merah,
Sebuah puisi,
Dibulan Febuari.

Sekuntum Mawar Merah,
Sebuah puisi,
Mekar kembang dinahari.

Sekuntum Mawar Merah,
Sebuah puisi,
Sesyahdu embun pagi.

Sekuntum Mawar Merah,
Sebuah puisi,
Bermandian cahaya mentari.

Sekuntum Mawar Merah,
Sebuah puisi,
Menari-nari ditasik hati.

Sekuntum Mawar Merah,
Sebuah puisi,
Memanas salur nadi.

Sekuntum Mawar Merah,
Sebuah puisi,
Mercutanda Budi.

Sekuntum Mawar Merah,
Sebuah puisi,
Tercari-cari Erti.