Lenggok Rembulan

sebentar lagi matahari akan tenggelam
malam akan tiba
cicak - cicak berbunyi di tembok
dan rembulan berlayar
tetapi pertanyaan kita tidak akan mereda
akan hidup di dalam mimpi
akan tumbuh di kebun belakang

WS Rendra (1935-2009)

(With thanks to AbdullahJones )

When it comes to sheer artistry and poetry, Bahasa Melayu is pretty hard to beat.

I believe truly that it is made for the informal writing that reading a well written prose and sentence is akin to being in a theatrical play or even an opera.

You might not understand whatever the heck the whole episode means, but all the same, you stand, tears welling in your eyes and start clapping your hands in full bravado in an emotional job well done.

Written informally, Bahasa Melayu loses its inherent “clunkiness” (for want of a better word), the sort that made me stop reading the vernacular newspapers.

It has been a while since I last read a good novel in Bahasa Melayu, but those that I did tended to leave a much longer impression that anything in English.

Unlike French (which, in my humble opinion, is beautiful only when spoken), Bahasa Melayu can be beautiful spoken as well as read.

Do note the word “can be” as there are but a few who are capable in pulling off such mastery in the language’s use.

It doesn’t even need to be the full blown artistic rendition ala the late WS Rendra’s poetry above.

Take Lat’s Mat Som.

It’s one work that is as simple as it could be, and I believe it does because it was written and conceived in Bahasa Melayu.

The translated version missed by miles cultural nuances that Lat had strewn within the Bahasa Melayu version.

Then again, Lat’s artwork works well enough to convey some of these without even the need for words.

But in Mat Som, the words completes the art.

Rhyme and rhythm in a beautiful sonata.

(And NO, this posting has nothing to do with the recent U-Turn in the teaching of Maths and Science in English policy.

Notwithstanding the perplexing ding dong by the education Supremo himself in an apparent stand of assuaging concerns from parents who seemed dead set in pushing their sons and daughters to persist with the policy anyway.

Makes you wonder why Referendum didn’t feature as a decision making apparatus, eh?)

Dear Tan Sri

My humble thoughts are that there is no need to make a pass in English compulsory to obtain the SPM certificate.

Not because English is not important. Far from it, really.

In an age where the children are forever drilled that it is the outcome that matters and not the journey itself, a “must pass” condition seems at odds with this reality and disconcertingly political (with much apologies) in its connotations.

You are already talking about limiting subjects: well and good as it would make learning not a race of how many 1As and 2As instead of the actual gathering of knowledge.

(I would however propose that the limit is set only on what is counted in aggregate for the Certification and NOT in the actual subjects which students can opt to take.

Many – especially those in the secondary levels – are expose to a diverse range of interest and might just want to learn about something other than the core subjects.

Why stop them from doing so if the resources are available for these subjects to be taught?)

Back to the suggestion of making a pass in English compulsory: my thoughts would be that if something likewise is imposed, you shouldn’t stop at a mere pass.

Make it instead at a certain level of competency reflective in the number of years that went into learning the language.

Say, a C. (For competency?)

After all, if one does not even get a pass after learning the language for a good 11 years of their young lives, it is a sign that they have been going through the motions of learning, without getting anything out of the hours of being in the classroom.

Unless the standards are at such high levels, getting a Pass is the least a learning student should obtain.

An argument is that these students might be interested in something else than English.

Well and true, but how one can sit through the hours of classes and not gain anything is a sure sign of a failure in the system.

Perhaps, the “Must Pass” should be on our Education System instead.

I sincerely believe that the learning and teaching of languages (any language, for that matter – even mother tongues) is something of a passion.

Those who have it often go on to become the artisans of the society, adding flair to the hum drum of daily living.

Teaching these students must be a delightful exercise if my former teachers (including informal ones at home, workplace and elsewhere) are of any examples.

They display a willingness to indulge in Q&A’s that could sometimes verge on the nonsensical on the whys and hows and what nots in language usage.

Anyway, with the teaching of Science and Mathematics being in English, passing the actual English language papers must surely be scientifically mathematical.

You can’t learn them without some competency in the language they are being taught in, isn't it?.

Why is there a need for a “Must Pass” then?

Alas, these are only my humble opinions.

There might be other considerations that my myopic mind could not discern, but I do hope these are for the best of our future generations and nothing else.

Best regards,
A Keen Parent

Nuggets on classes from Bill Watterson

Sugary Sweet

Finally, it has come down to seven options.

“It” being the teaching and learning of Maths and Science in English in schools.

I wonder what would be going through the minds of our Cabinet Ministers when the matter comes to a head and needs resolving.

Hopefully no one is thinking about scoring any political brownie points, despite the obvious popularity of such a move.

On my part as a parent whose eldest daughter would be amongst the ten of thousands of children making their first step into formal education, I fail to see the benefit of taking a retrogressive step by going back to the mother tongue in both subjects.

The way forward is always fraught with the need to push and step up in efforts.

It’s really no different here.

While it may be true that the usage of English seems to give an undue advantage to the urban and suburban students over those in the rural areas, this is a matter that could be resolved with the appropriate human resources policing.

(I say seems because personal experience shows that the so-called advantaged group has equally atrocious grasps of the language. Perhaps a different set, then..)

A particular advantage in pushing for the continued teaching in English for the two subjects is – in my mind, at least – that it would “force” students into practical usage of the globally accepted language.

Students (except for some select few) generally do not put too much stock into learning a language, as it seems to be something learnable at home and elsewhere.

In other words: they are taken simply for granted.

It’s the same for any language, be it English, Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin or Tamil.

Perhaps it is this deterioration that is prompting champions of the mother tongue to push the discontinuation of English as the teaching medium.

Could it be that the case of a fear that the language would eventually die a natural death for a lack of impetus in their continued use as a commercial language?

Like I said, there’s a good deal of brownie points to be made.

My hope is that current sweet needs are tampered with the realization that too much would lead to the future risk of diabetes.

Wordy Eloquence

A scene from Cyrano de Bergerac

At their most eloquent, languages are amongst the most beautiful of creations.

There are many examples, surely, and amongst the gems would undoubtedly be Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac in its many interpretations. (Steve Martin’s Roxanne might be the odd one out, though, but that’s only my opinion.)

I saw the 1990 movie version by Jean-Paul Rappeneau and starring Gérard Depardieu and Anne Brochet, and it left an indelible mark in me as to how something so utterly unintelligible can yet be so beautiful.

The movie was entirely in French and since the only words I know are Merci, Mademoiselle and Monsieur, I had to depend on the English subtitles throughout the two hour and 15 minutes' duration.

In truth, it mattered little, as the triple transition of hearing, reading and translating the poetic renditions didn’t jar.

French flowed smoothly to English and on to comprehension. In fact, the only other time I experienced a similar repeat was in Japan .

Cyrano de Bergerac is a tragicomedy about a Parisian poet/swordsman/soldier who fell in love with his beautiful cousin but held back by his grotesquely exaggerated big nose.

He found a way to express his feelings after becoming an inadvertent intermediary between a dashing soldier in Christian de Neuvillette and Roxane.

Of course the story does not end in typical fairy tale endings which the Americans are so fond of churning.

The movie depicted Cyrano as very adept in using his eloquence and rapier sharp wit in battles as well as romance. The scene where he sparred – using words and a sword - with an aristrocrat who challenged him by insulting his large nose was an early highlight in the level of poetry that would follow.

Don’t take my word for it. Try to get a copy and judge it yourselves.

In the meantime, I leave you snippets of what you could expect. They are either said by Monsieur Cryano or Mademoiselle Roxane. (Quotes courtesy of Bookrags.com with thanks.)

~~~
Cyrano: And what is a kiss, specifically? A pledge properly sealed, a promise seasoned to taste, a vow stamped with the immediacy of a lip, a rosy circle drawn around the verb "to love."
A kiss is a message too intimate for the ear, infinity captured in the bee's brief visit to a flower, secular communication with an aftertaste of heaven, the pulse rising from the heart to utter its name on a lover's lip: 'Forever.'

~~~
Roxane: Why else would you concoct such a delicious revenge? It must be a gesture of love.

~~~
Cyrano (Speaking in the shadows on behalf of Christian)
Your white gown swathed in the blue-black mantle of night. I am only a voice, and you are a point of light. I may have spoken Beautifully to you in the past-
Roxane (thinking its Christian who is speaking): You know you have-
Cyrano: Because I have been forced to speak through-
Roxane: Through what?
Cyrano: Through the whirlwind which your eyes stir up inside me. But now, in this blessed darkness, I feel I am speaking to you for the first time.
(This is a particularly heart rending scene as at the end of the “session” Christian is welcomed into the lady’s chamber leaving Cyrano behind.)

~~~
Cyrano (in a battlefield): There. There is our soul. The same reed, the same fingers which have piped us into combat, call us softly home, in our thoughts. This is no longer the shrill call to attack, it is every shepherd who ever inhabited our land, whispering his sheep to fold. Listen. It is your hillside, your earth, your forest - your younger brother, suntanned under his red woolen cap. It is the green solitude of nights you spent beside the Sordogne. Listen my countrymen. It is our country calling.

~~~
Roxane: Every woman needs a little madness in her life..

~~~
Cyrano to Roxane: You're as casual about death as if it were the theatre.

All quotes are from the original play as translated by English novelist John Anthony Burgess Wilson who managed to brilliantly maintain its symphonic and lyrical rhythm.

Note: Rostand based his playwright on Parisian poet Hector Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac (1619 to 1655) and the play also introduced the word panache to the English language.