aku takde mood nak berceloteh malam nih. but i'd like to share something with you. hope you enjoy it. i wish i'd be okay soon. :) bosan gak kalau asyik cut and paste nih. hark hark hark!!!
There is space for Usman Awang
COUNTER CULTURE
by Amir Muhammad
The tributes to Usman Awang, who died recently at the age of 72, continue to pour in. Many have noted the supple way in which this beloved National Laureate used the Malay language. Many more paid homage to his personal generosity, humility and expansive humanism. It is to Usman's credit that his works could cut across cultural barriers and settle comfortably in the collective imaginations of generations of Malaysians.
Although I have long admired his work, I only met him once for an interview in late 1998. The apartment in which he was then staying contained framed pictures of the time Anwar Ibrahim and his wife had paid a visit a few daysafter being sacked from the government.
Although I had gone to see Usman to do a piece on his career (the year had marked the 50th anniversary of his life as a published writer) I couldn't help asking what he thought of the way in which our media were treating Anwar.
Usman was pretty frail then and couldn't speak for long stretches at a time. But he became quite animated as he said, "In 1961 we went on strike to prevent Umno from interfering with the editorial policy of Utusan Melayu. We lost. But I still believe that journalists should answer to the rakyat rather than to their political masters. Otherwise, journalists are just pawns in a political chess game. There's no integrity. When Anwar was in power, the media would all angkat him. Now that he's got no power, the situation is reverse. This is what happens when you allow this kind of system to continue."
I couldn't resist including his comments in the article, which was duly published by the New Straits Times on Dec 2. Shortly afterwards, his wife died, his own health became even worse, and I never saw him again, although I would occasionally hear reports from friends who paid him visits.
When he passed away on Thursday, I was asked by the associate editor of a paper to write his obituary. I saw this as a chance to say what I thought Usman meant to us.
The piece was published but with a few paragraphs cut. I called up the editor who had commissioned me, and he assured me that the cuts were purely due to space constraints. This of course is a valid reason; I don't own the paper and have no right to take up huge amounts of precious newsprint with my ruminations. But I do feel that some of the cuts were a shame, especially this paragraph towards the end:
"Although ill health reduced his creative output to a trickle in the last decade of his life, he remained an important icon frequently consulted or visited by younger writers. Rather than be bought over by the comforts of the establishment, he preferred to be autonomous and remained a champion of the underdog: Two of his last poems, written in 1999, were called Jentayu yang Luka (untuk Wan Azizah) and Saudara Anwar Ibrahim. They are collected in Dari Derita Bangsa (2001), a book of protest and humanitarian poems that he helped to compile."
Although I agree that this paragraph takes up some space, I wish it had been included all the same. Its inclusion would have shown that Usman hadn't exactly done nothing in the last years of his life. It would have proved that he still wanted to play his role in society.
Dari derita bangsa can be seen as his third protest anthology after Teluk Gong and Keranda 152, which had commemorated, respectively, the plight of farmers and the plight of Bahasa Malaysia. Dari Derita Bangsa, then, is about the issues that were brought up by the spirit of reformasi.
His response to the political crisis of 1998 was not as vociferous as Shahnon Ahmad's. Then again, an impassioned screed on excreta wouldn't exactly have been Usman's style. Usman was a far gentler writer - but this didn't mean that he was incapable of being sharp and pithy when the situation demanded. His two last poems are a testament to this innate poetic grace.
Jentayu yang Luka (untuk Wan Azizah) begins:
Tiba-tiba dia bangkit
Dengan kelembutan yang tetap sopan...
It goes on to describe Wan Azizah's years standing behind her husband, while spying the smiles of two-faced, lily-livered sycophants. The poem ends when the image of the mythical jentayu bird is used to show her soaring out:
Mencakar menjeritkan kebebasan dan keadilan
Mencabar dunia yang semakin kejam.
The other poem, Saudara Anwar Ibrahim, begins:
Palu telah dijatuhkan
Lama sebelum tanganmu terikat ke belakang.
Kau gegar aras kayangan
Kekuasaan yang mula tergoncang
There are those who would say that Anwar isn't quite as worthy of such a heroic portrait, as compared with some of the other people whom Usman had paid tribute to in the past, such as Ahmad Boestamam or the striking Utusan Melayu journalists. But Usman must have had his own reasons for writing what he did, and we should respect or at least acknowledge that this was the stand he took in the end. It is also entirely consistent with his earlier works that sided with the underdogs rather than those in power.
Given all this, readers might wonder how Usman came to accept an award by the Prime Minister in 1999. In his last interview with Faisal Tehrani, Usman said that he was "tricked" (terpedaya ) by the organiser of the function, the Utusan group, into going. He was not happy when he found out the purpose of the ceremony. Ironic, then, that the picture of Dr Mahathir Mohamad giving out the award has been prominently used in several publications recently. I can't help feeling that it's not the way Usman would have liked to be remembered.
The best way to commemorate a writer is to go back to his works. I am not sure if copies of Dari Derita Bangsa (Pustaka RBHI; ISBN: 983-40691-0-3) are still available, but I recommend it if you can get hold of it. Aside from Usman, there are also poems by Dinsman, Sabri Zain, Kemala, Muhammad Haji Salleh, Siti Zainon Ismail and many more. Happy reading and don't worry - there's plenty of space.
THE END.
There is space for Usman Awang
COUNTER CULTURE
by Amir Muhammad
The tributes to Usman Awang, who died recently at the age of 72, continue to pour in. Many have noted the supple way in which this beloved National Laureate used the Malay language. Many more paid homage to his personal generosity, humility and expansive humanism. It is to Usman's credit that his works could cut across cultural barriers and settle comfortably in the collective imaginations of generations of Malaysians.
Although I have long admired his work, I only met him once for an interview in late 1998. The apartment in which he was then staying contained framed pictures of the time Anwar Ibrahim and his wife had paid a visit a few daysafter being sacked from the government.
Although I had gone to see Usman to do a piece on his career (the year had marked the 50th anniversary of his life as a published writer) I couldn't help asking what he thought of the way in which our media were treating Anwar.
Usman was pretty frail then and couldn't speak for long stretches at a time. But he became quite animated as he said, "In 1961 we went on strike to prevent Umno from interfering with the editorial policy of Utusan Melayu. We lost. But I still believe that journalists should answer to the rakyat rather than to their political masters. Otherwise, journalists are just pawns in a political chess game. There's no integrity. When Anwar was in power, the media would all angkat him. Now that he's got no power, the situation is reverse. This is what happens when you allow this kind of system to continue."
I couldn't resist including his comments in the article, which was duly published by the New Straits Times on Dec 2. Shortly afterwards, his wife died, his own health became even worse, and I never saw him again, although I would occasionally hear reports from friends who paid him visits.
When he passed away on Thursday, I was asked by the associate editor of a paper to write his obituary. I saw this as a chance to say what I thought Usman meant to us.
The piece was published but with a few paragraphs cut. I called up the editor who had commissioned me, and he assured me that the cuts were purely due to space constraints. This of course is a valid reason; I don't own the paper and have no right to take up huge amounts of precious newsprint with my ruminations. But I do feel that some of the cuts were a shame, especially this paragraph towards the end:
"Although ill health reduced his creative output to a trickle in the last decade of his life, he remained an important icon frequently consulted or visited by younger writers. Rather than be bought over by the comforts of the establishment, he preferred to be autonomous and remained a champion of the underdog: Two of his last poems, written in 1999, were called Jentayu yang Luka (untuk Wan Azizah) and Saudara Anwar Ibrahim. They are collected in Dari Derita Bangsa (2001), a book of protest and humanitarian poems that he helped to compile."
Although I agree that this paragraph takes up some space, I wish it had been included all the same. Its inclusion would have shown that Usman hadn't exactly done nothing in the last years of his life. It would have proved that he still wanted to play his role in society.
Dari derita bangsa can be seen as his third protest anthology after Teluk Gong and Keranda 152, which had commemorated, respectively, the plight of farmers and the plight of Bahasa Malaysia. Dari Derita Bangsa, then, is about the issues that were brought up by the spirit of reformasi.
His response to the political crisis of 1998 was not as vociferous as Shahnon Ahmad's. Then again, an impassioned screed on excreta wouldn't exactly have been Usman's style. Usman was a far gentler writer - but this didn't mean that he was incapable of being sharp and pithy when the situation demanded. His two last poems are a testament to this innate poetic grace.
Jentayu yang Luka (untuk Wan Azizah) begins:
Tiba-tiba dia bangkit
Dengan kelembutan yang tetap sopan...
It goes on to describe Wan Azizah's years standing behind her husband, while spying the smiles of two-faced, lily-livered sycophants. The poem ends when the image of the mythical jentayu bird is used to show her soaring out:
Mencakar menjeritkan kebebasan dan keadilan
Mencabar dunia yang semakin kejam.
The other poem, Saudara Anwar Ibrahim, begins:
Palu telah dijatuhkan
Lama sebelum tanganmu terikat ke belakang.
Kau gegar aras kayangan
Kekuasaan yang mula tergoncang
There are those who would say that Anwar isn't quite as worthy of such a heroic portrait, as compared with some of the other people whom Usman had paid tribute to in the past, such as Ahmad Boestamam or the striking Utusan Melayu journalists. But Usman must have had his own reasons for writing what he did, and we should respect or at least acknowledge that this was the stand he took in the end. It is also entirely consistent with his earlier works that sided with the underdogs rather than those in power.
Given all this, readers might wonder how Usman came to accept an award by the Prime Minister in 1999. In his last interview with Faisal Tehrani, Usman said that he was "tricked" (terpedaya ) by the organiser of the function, the Utusan group, into going. He was not happy when he found out the purpose of the ceremony. Ironic, then, that the picture of Dr Mahathir Mohamad giving out the award has been prominently used in several publications recently. I can't help feeling that it's not the way Usman would have liked to be remembered.
The best way to commemorate a writer is to go back to his works. I am not sure if copies of Dari Derita Bangsa (Pustaka RBHI; ISBN: 983-40691-0-3) are still available, but I recommend it if you can get hold of it. Aside from Usman, there are also poems by Dinsman, Sabri Zain, Kemala, Muhammad Haji Salleh, Siti Zainon Ismail and many more. Happy reading and don't worry - there's plenty of space.
THE END.
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