I have just finished this book. Maka Bermadahlah Masa. It is given and signed by the author. Who is actually a cousin of mine.
Do you know him? Muhammad Haji Salleh. He was the 6th Sasterawan Negara and has written since 1963 - almost 50 years! He's a busy man; living in KL but working in Penang and travels all over the globe for talks, teachings and everything else. Occasionally he will show up at family weddings. The photo below is him with Ilyas at my nephew's wedding.
The boys read sastera in school written by Abang Mat (as we call him) called Perjalanan Si Tenggang. They were surprised and pretty excited when I told them the author of the book they read is their Pak Penakan (bapa saudara lah tu if you arent familiar with the Northern slang).
Anyway. I am never a sastera person. I do not understand the old Malay speak; I dont 'get' pretty phrases written in rhythmic lines. I dont understand them. But I was curious to see how, what Abang Mat writes. He must be good if his books are selected to be read in school. Some of the puisi in the book are modern, which sounded quite biasa although some words he uses are so luar biasa. I like his puisi on Sajak2 Sejarah Melayu and si Tenggang; they are different, distinctive, and have got quality. And sort of reminds me of the old b&w Malay movies.
I myself have written one or two poems - like this dumb one here. Yes, I agree with you - no sastera candidate at all!
I googled a bit on this Sasterawan Negara and found this written about him. To us he is just Abang Mat, our cousin.
*****
1 comment:
I remember that poem - I had a good laugh reading it! It was good!
Post a Comment