final assignment: emotional tour

Basically, this story I am about to relate does not really collide with any of our critical point of historical occurrence, but it took place around certain period. That moment of time is what flashbacks vividly by all of us when we talk about that particular period which was during the end of Japanese occupation. On the other hand, this story does not begin its journey here in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, or rather to say, Tanah Melayu back then, but it all started in India, in a small, humble state called Kerala, located on the southwestern side. My side of the emotional tour tells a tale of a lady, who hails from India, single and fresh, who was new to the Tanah Melayu back then. The cliché would have the story told that she came in search of fame, wealth and fortune, but the truth is, she did not plan what to achieve here, rather she came when fate brought her here to meet life.

She goes by the name of Vilasini Menon, The first time she stepped foot here was after her wedding to Achuthan Nair, a civilian officer for the British Army force. How they met did not begin in India. In fact, both of them were like from two worlds apart, separated by the physical landscape but brought together by a knot of fate. Achuthan Nair was placed Port Dickson to serve the British there. It was during the 1950s when all these turns of events took place. Achuthan met Vilasini’s brother-in-law through an Indian-muslim person who served in the same army. It was then that the Indian-muslim entity told Vilasini’s brother-in-law about Achuthan, and he found Achuthan a really honorable person, someone with great character and stature.

Therefore, Vilasini’s brother-in-law relayed the news to her when he returned to India. I am really sure, given any Tom, Dick and Harry, they would not even bother. Yet, there came a chance then Vilasini gave it a shot, and she accepted what her brother-in-law told her. In her stead, the brother-in-law revealed the news to Achuthan, and he was happy, so he began this chronicle and wrote the first ever, eye-catching, heart-moving letter to Vilasini. As she accepted the letter, she knew that this was what fate wanted them to do. Without a second thought, the replied the letter while it was still fresh when it came. After exchanging letters for a couple of times, they decided to be transparent about their relationship. Achuthan told her about his plan to inform her dad as well. Hence, he wrote a letter to her dad, explaining to him about their letter-exchange that took place and what they felt for each other. Of course, if only Achuthan does this alone, it would not be meaningful, but more weight was put on it when Vilasini herself wrote a letter to her dad as well, clarifying and agreeing to all Achuthan said, and not a moiety of it left out.

For me, what they did there was a real challenge, for Vilasini’s dad may disapprove of their relationship. People are smart, and educated that time, as much as we are now. Vilasini’s dad could have objected easily with the reason being that long distance relationship does not work out perfectly. Instead, he agreed to their decision and blessed them by granting them the green light. They continued to exchange letters from then on, but not only letters were being exchanged in the process. It was not only the piece of paper that goes from India to Malaya and vice versa, but more likely, it was the feeling that was amassed by both individuals and the emotions and sharing that accumulated in the process. It was in 1953, on the first month, in January when Achuthan decided to go back and present himself to get wedlock to Vilasini. Their exchange of letters became an exchange of vows when they were pronounced husband and wife. As a happily married couple, Vilasini obviously had to make journey to Malaya with Achuthan. Within fifteen days after their marriage, Achuthan managed to get her visa done and ready to leave.

They came to Malaya as two individuals with one purpose, to stay here in Malaya. It was not Independence yet at that time. On the other hand, it can be considered a better place after the Japanese occupation. Their means of transport was through a huge massive ship called ‘Ranjula’, not as well known as ‘The Dwaka’, both respectively came from India. The cute thing was that their honeymoon was celebrated on that ship itself. It was so sweet and vivid as she retold this story to us. Even though the ship was not really as superior or amazing as ‘The Dwarka’, but still her memory made ‘Ranjula’ the more special one.

As they arrived here in Malaya, immediately they made their journey to Port Dickson whereby it became the first ever residence for Vilasini. She stayed there for quite some time before shifting around different states in Malaya. From Port Dickson, they travelled to Mentakab in Pahang, whereby the British office was located. Again, they reside there for quite some time. In the course of time, they spent quality moments together. Vilasini discovered more to her husband’s nature. He possessed green hands. He was really good with gardening. In fact, while in Port Dickson, he managed a lot of plants and greens over there. That is why, every single day after Achuthan returns from his work in the office, he would spend his evening toiling the ground and growing the plants, caring for them without fail.

Travelling from Pahang, they were shifted to Kepong. Then from Kepong, they were finally shifted to Ampang as there was one particular territory that became the ground for all the British army to reside. During the Japanese occupation, their house was rented out to other people. After they came to Ampang, they resided in that house up until this time. To them, the house held many memories, most of them are dear to Vilasini. As I looked into the house, I was surprised by the structure and condition of the house. It looks as if it was just built months ago. Unlike current Malaysian houses, you see cracks and pits in the walls, but not in Vilasini’s house.

Talking about sweet memories, she still keeps in touch with her siblings from India up until now. They will be updated on every news that appears to be the latest. Hearing as how she reminisce on her memories, it reminds me of my mom and aunts as well. Truth is, I do not believe in peace without war. I do not believe in comfort without pain. Well, simply because, without war, will we really appreciate peace? Without pain, will we really appreciate comfort? The same concept applies to sweet memories. There must be something that feeds the memory, that makes it sweet, sweeter than honey from the honeycomb. That which fed the memories to be sweet derives from your childhood experience, when you share this unbreakable bond with your siblings. Relating Vilasini’s memories to my mom, my mom has five siblings altogether in her family. They were four sisters and a brother. In everything that they do, they always consider each other into their activity, every single one of it. Thus, their bonds were built and enhanced through the things they do together, through the good and bad times.

The fruit from their many years of bond was evident as few years back, as my grandmother came back from Penang, she was struck by severe fever. She was so ill that we had to call ambulance to bring her to the hospital. From that fateful day, we were told that she had food poisoning, and as a result, from her waist down to the end of her feet, is weak. For the meantime, she needed to stay in the hospital. It was around six years ago when it happened. I can still recall as every Sunday, my cousins and aunties will go over to my uncle’s house to meet up and keep in touch with each other’s undertakings. At that time, I was naïve and ignorant at what took place when my mom and her siblings would discuss in the dining hall when my cousins and I will be playing away outside of the house or in the living room. As time passed, I began to understand that the issue of my grandmother being in the hospital was a burden to bear. Medical fees and accommodation were not free. Even if you say that the duty of nurses and doctors is to take care of patients, they need income as well, especially if they are the sole breadwinner in their family. Where else will they get their income if not from us?

I was old enough to listen to their discussion as I eavesdrop sometimes on my mom talking over the phone with my aunts. They would hang on the phone for an hour or so, before putting it down. Each time after hanging up on the phone, she will tell me everything she talked over the phone and explain it to me. I was in my secondary four at that time. To me, of course all these sounded like grandmother story and gossip to me, something which I need not care about as all I had to focus on was study, which I was not really good at anyway. Then after quite some time, the doctor gave consent that my grandmother is allowed to be granted permission to go home under the care of my mom and aunts. However, my grandmother being in her frail and weak situation, she could not summon the strength to be walking and about doing things and that leads to bedsore if she lies on the same spot for a long period of time. Since that day, everyone helped out to take care of my grandmother, making sure she stays healthy and her hygiene to the cleanest. Adding to that, my mom and her siblings were in good communication with each other; therefore, things were systematic as they handled my grandmother’s issue.

Up until now, I can testify and say that my grandmother has been taken care of very well by her children, whom she had put so much effort into taking care of them since they were young. The result of her integrity and life is now projected by her children: my mom and her siblings. A malay saying remains true, that if you want to inculcate a good nature in someone, it must begin when the person is young. Everything that starts well, ends well if you keep it consistent and aligned the way how it is supposed to be. Just like how sweet memories come to be, it all depends on how you lived it when you did, and because of that those memories serve people well.

Coming back to the emotional tour I went, my main topic is actually about the house that Vilasini is currently living in. It becomes part of her lifetime story when she tells people of her experience. Just like the house, her memories remain true and solid in her mind, and the house she now lives in becomes the container, the bearer of all her memories. Just like the house, it kept her memories concrete and the more we hold dearly to it, the more it will remain true in our mind.

Our Burmese Days

Alright, first things first, let me confess that i have totally no idea... Wait.. Or rather, i didn't have the big picture of what this documentation is all about, so, i'll just share what i know... Haha...

This documentary revolves around Sally(the origin-self-denying mother), Lindsey(the daughter) and Billy(brother to Sally/Lindsey’s uncle). Sally is an Anglo-Burmese, but in that particular period of her life, she does not embrace her side of the Burmese blood as she strongly believes that she is truly an European. Lindsey, insistent that her mom should embrace her Burmese descent, roped her into a trip back to Myanmar, to the core of where their genealogy began. Billy tailed along as he was brought along by Sally. As the adventure began, so this documentary was made for us to learn from it.

The point of my focus-point diversion began when I could not link as to why Sally would deny her Burmese side of the story. She seemed to be totally engrossed and proud of her thick English accent she adapted to in Europe, but not her Burmese descent. I mean, how hard can it be for her to actually utter a simple “Yes, I was from Myanmar before” sentence? However, she denied and rejected all the questions posted by her daughter. It would be hard to imagine why a mother would keep her descent a secret from her daughter.

As the documentary went on, Sally seems to be enjoying herself among the denizens over there. She joined the villagers in their daily norms, she visited various places, in fact, she tried speaking Burmese as a few of the ladies in the same truck taught her a few Burmese words. She looked as if she was a total stranger, but yet the scent of irony surfaces as she tells them that she was in Myanmar once upon a time. Through all these times, she still did not subject herself to be vulnerable to open up her Burmese side of the story. Knowing all these, Lindsey still put her feet down that she should burrow deeper into her mother’s history in Burma.

With multitude flashes of questions that reiterate the same inquiry, Sally still did not want to talk about her past. Though freedom of speech is given to every individual and it is up to them to speak up for themselves, but I do believe there is something Sally is holding back so much so that she clings unswervingly to it as it serves to her as her identity, not to admit herself as being Anglo-Burmese, but to call herself a purebred European makes it all the more confusing to viewers, as we already know that she is what she does not claim to be. However, she still remains steadfast in her belief that she was never from Burmese. At the end of the documentary, the shadowy silhouette that appeared from the beginning of the documentary that acts as a shield for Sally remained true to her as it was evident that not a single hint of her letting her guard off as being a Burmese stayed sturdy.

Persepolis: My view

Persepolis: Marjane Satrapi
This movie is a documentation of a girl who is also the author who outlived the Islamic Revolution back. The author is none other than Marjane Satrapi, who was a bright child who indulged in the knowledge of politics of her surrounding when she was young. She has a very confident attitude, one that accompanied and enhanced other elements of her behavior to mold who she is today. In the 1970s, during the reign of the Shah, a supreme ruler in Iran, the revolution took place. It was during that period of time that when the revolution was taking place, everything was in shambles. Therefore, Iraq took this opportunity to poise a strike on Iran. That is when the Iran-Iraq war occurred in 1980, following the Islamic Revolution. During the Islamic Revolution, there was a demonstration against the present Shah at that period of time. It was to overthrow the monarchy ruling system of Iran under the leadership of the Shah. Therefore, the Shah had to abdicate its title and was exiled. Thereafter, Khomeini came in to power and took over the Shah’s position.

During this period of time, every Islam girl had to wear a scarf over their head; a rule to follow. Seeing how it was necessary, or rather to be imposed upon the women of that time that wearing a scarf to cover their head so that it would not be deemed ‘obscene’ to other people sounds like Kelantan at first hearing. Then again, does it really make any difference whether you are wearing a headscarf or not?

As a Christian, going to church every Sunday is a solitary time taken to appreciate the things God blessed us with. During these Sunday mornings, the ladies in the church will wear headscarf as a sign of respect to adhere and obey the proper instructions during worship. However, after the morning service, the ladies can remove them there and then. Compared to the Islam, Christian ladies are allowed to take it off when the service ends whereas for Islam ladies, it is a 24/7 kind of decree. Sometimes, it gets me thinking whether when Islam ladies put on their headscarf, do they see the significance of doing so, or is it just to oblige to the laws? Given the chance, if this decree never existed, will they have put it on? In Persepolis, even when Marjane Satrapi was in a foreign land, the locals somehow created a barrier of prejudice that surrounds them to estrange Marjane. It was because she hailed from Iran, and people do not really welcome such visitors to their country. On the other hand, there were her classmates that welcomed her into their crowd and accepted her for who she is. In fact, having a boyfriend from a different country made it all the more clearer that barriers should not exist between people from different races. Having said all these, there is no real conclusion as to whether we should obey rules which are forced upon us or to stand up for ourselves. The more we resist, the more power-craving the government becomes. Already as it is, there is not real peace, but the one thing that remains is compromise.

Liew Kung Yu/Anthony Milner

Hi peeps! Feel free to critic if you find anything to tell me... Thanks!

The prominent issue derived from this article, at least for me, is the sole purpose of understanding our Malaysian history. This article has mainly touched on the essence of nation-building, of how foreign influence came into our Tanah Melayu during the British control, and of how Malaysia came to be under the guidance of our very first prime minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman. I was very much intrigued at how much effort Anthony Milner has put in into researching materials from other writers concerning nationalists of yesteryears. To quote from his article, he mentioned this towards the closing of chapter six, “The narrators need to be able to refine or modify their formulations to account for the often changing data at hand(the “social realities”). Their ideological work must be sensitive to context – especially, to the different types of alternative and competing projects that are specific to the would-be “national” community.” (page 156). From this statement alone, he encourages authors not only to put effort into discovering truths about the history, but also to be able to link it to our ever-growing society evolving many areas. His article does not just reveal history, but is intended to relate it to our existing community. Chapters in the article which illuminate this fact includes ‘Building Ethnic Understanding’ in which he discussed on the issue of British’s role to play in our nation building during the late 80’s and early 90’s, ‘A Malay Nationalist Version’ that touches on the issue of how our nation was formed by different races, yet the irony of the name Tanah Melayu being used as a reference to this country, and also ‘Accommodating Monarchy’ which explains how monarchy was brought as a ruling system in Malaya back then.

Therefore, after having said all those above, the matter of racial integration in this new Malaysia can be linked to Liew Kung Yu’s work of art titled ‘Cadangan-cadangan Untuk Negaraku’, (Proposals for My Country) as it touches a little on how our community is tied up by many notes represented by various races into a single thread of life. A little bit of introduction to his recent work, he did a photomontage of several elements of Malaysia, to be exact four areas. The similarity between all four of these collages is that it shares the same measurement of a photo frame-like border with red flowers covering the outer layer of the border as well. Moving on from there, one of the four photo collages is ‘Bandar Sri Tiang Kolom’ which arranges vary of building and houses into a pentagonal arrangement. However, despite the separation between these buildings, they are still connected by a bridge that interlinks with one another. Finally, the third cluster of buildings on the right links to the two foreigners gesturing as tourists in our country. Somehow, when I view this picture, it looks common as we see foreigners about and everywhere as not a single Malaysian couple would go around in the street talking openly about foreigners visiting our country. It appears to be something which is part of our everyday life. Just like in our history, how British became the prominent figure in bringing our country to independence as well, our ancestors are already used to being with British influence. Now it applies to us of when we used to view our history, most of the things that exist now, was influenced by our history. Second collage is ‘Konkrit Jungle’. Really, this work of high kitsch sparks a tiny thought in my mind as how he used various animals to form buildings and humans live in harmony with them. As I was looking at this piece of work, building represents something which is the foundation to our daily life. Without a place to stay, it is very detrimental. This collage also reveals the common truth that our country is multi-ethnic.

This country does not belong only to one race, but various races. That is why, in the chapter of ‘Hearing Malay Radicalism’, Anthony Milner says that, “In later years Tunku Abdul Rahman wrote memoirs, seeking to restore his own reputation as a player in the gaining of Independence. In the tradition of “the bargain”, when he described the “men who helped to shape the nation” he took pains to include Chinese and Indian leaders as well as Malay ones” (page 147). This goes on to tell that without each other, there would not be a country to call our own today; Malaysia. Without the work of these ideologues for fought for their ideals during the olden times, we would not be viewing what is present here in our sight. History indeed plays an important role in character building and nation shaping. If not, why would there be a saying that goes, “If you don’t know history, it’s as if you were born yesterday. If you were born yesterday, then any leader can tell you anything.” by Howard Zinn, an American historian, political scientist and activist.

Durian Besar... Big Durian!

This is the reflection questions given based on 'The Big Durian' documentary, and below are my thoughts of it...

1. What scene in “The Big Durian” made an impression on you, and why?
I was very much attracted to the scene in the beginning when the narrator made a joke about the twin tower. He mentioned and pointed out that the first tower was on the right side and the second tower on the other. After that he motioned to the mosque in Kuala Lumpur, Masjid Jamek. Then forwarding to tell the audience about the two famous rivers, Sungai Kelang and Sungai Gombak or the other way around was really a joke. However, it goes on to show how much do we really know about the history of our city and country. If I were to be made a tour guide, would I really know the history of that particular area? That goes on to show that the famous quote or proverb by George Santayana, a Spanish philosopher remains true, “Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it”.

2. What was rumored to be Private Adam’s grouse(pain)/reason which lead to him running amuck(amok)?
On one fateful day, the Sultan was angry over some issue. He relinquished his anger on the caddy with a golf club. Later did he realize that the caddy died, and he happened to be Private Adam’s brother. Upon receiving the news, he was disheartened and broke down and in so, running amuck. It could also possible be because in our country, the Sultan is not trialed equally as a normal citizen, meaning to say they have their own special royal court whereby they will be trialed there with special judges. Therefore, Private Adam being helpless of the situation, has no other choice but to run amuck as he lost control of himself.

3. A character from Sabah ends her narrative by noting the look on Private Adam’s face. What was it that she saw and how does it contrast with her feelings?
It was a total opposite of what she experienced when she first arrived in Kuala Lumpur with her uncle. When she wanted freedom, she was not granted any. Until she saw the face of Private Adam, she knew his looks resembled an animal that was just released from its cage.

4. From what historical vantage point is the director viewing the events of 1987? What is the “present” of the documentary and what is it’s mood?
From my perspective, when I look at the director and the reason why he wanted to look back at Private Adam’s era, I can only think it was due to the political situation that Malaysia is currently in. Every Tom, Dick and Harry who has followed our country’s political situation will agree that a lot of hanky-panky, dirty-tricky play has been going around with our politicians, either while they are fighting for their right to win a seat in the parliament, or getting things done their way, while appealing to higher authority which is the government. Looking at how Private Adam’s suffering was excruciating to him, as it seemed helpless for him to avenge his brother’s death, as the reach between him and the Sultan is like heaven and earth apart, so is our reach as citizens to the politicians who practice illegal practices. Therefore, from the director’s viewing on the 1987 incident of Private Adam, he merely expresses his dissatisfaction over the political situation that goes nowhere when the politicians argue over small issues that passes like a fading gas.