Monday, November 24, 2008
KAMPUNG FATIMAH
That’s the title of the book written by my brother-in-law, Iain. Before going into the book itself, let’s look at the background of the author. You may well ask why a ‘ma’salleh’ would/should write a book on matters related specifically to a Malaysian environment! Two answers to that:
he is very familiar and has been in this region and part of our life for a long long time
No one else (at least not that I know of ) has ever or even bothered to write about it.
You can almost say that Iain has a passion for our way of life. He has a full set of all records by P. Ramlee in 78, 45 and 33 rpm format. (I believe he has even donated a complete set to the UPM library). He has a collection of hundreds of old Malay and Indonesian songs some dating back to the early 50s .In addition he has shocked many with his Malay and Hokkien – something not many of us can claim credit for.
Let’s go back to the book. Sometimes I do not know what excites me most about this book – the story or the ‘technical’ aspects in producing it. The story itself is simple enough. It’s about a young girl’s family who had to give up their home in a kampung to some developers. It tells about the changes it does to families, life and environment before and after the forced migration when they had to move to their new residence in blocks of apartments.
To me, the technical aspect is more intriguing. Let me put the process that this man used in producing this book WITHOUT the help of the computers. Everything is done in the good old fashion way – by hand that is.
1. The first copy of the drawings was done on papers of the following sizes before they were shrunk: single spreads of 1.4m. x 0.9m and double spreads of 2.8m x 1.25m
he is very familiar and has been in this region and part of our life for a long long time
No one else (at least not that I know of ) has ever or even bothered to write about it.
You can almost say that Iain has a passion for our way of life. He has a full set of all records by P. Ramlee in 78, 45 and 33 rpm format. (I believe he has even donated a complete set to the UPM library). He has a collection of hundreds of old Malay and Indonesian songs some dating back to the early 50s .In addition he has shocked many with his Malay and Hokkien – something not many of us can claim credit for.
Let’s go back to the book. Sometimes I do not know what excites me most about this book – the story or the ‘technical’ aspects in producing it. The story itself is simple enough. It’s about a young girl’s family who had to give up their home in a kampung to some developers. It tells about the changes it does to families, life and environment before and after the forced migration when they had to move to their new residence in blocks of apartments.
To me, the technical aspect is more intriguing. Let me put the process that this man used in producing this book WITHOUT the help of the computers. Everything is done in the good old fashion way – by hand that is.
1. The first copy of the drawings was done on papers of the following sizes before they were shrunk: single spreads of 1.4m. x 0.9m and double spreads of 2.8m x 1.25m
2.Each printed picture is actually drawn 20 to 30 times larger than the final product
3.The drawings of the inside of the house , showing the posts and beams are actually based on architectural books and unofficially endorsed by a local architect as ‘correct’
4.Every drawing of house-hold product actually existed at that time e.g., the cooking oil, the biscuit tins, the bar of soap etc. ( look for it in the book !)
5.Every drawing is manually water-colored.
6.The drawing of the weaved mat is actually drawn with a proper pattern and could be duplicated if anyone wants to weave an actual mat
7.The drawing of the bamboo plants is not just a mess of bamboo stem. If you follw a stem, you can actually follow it from the top to the bottom. ( check this out at the above reproduction)
8.In 1998, my family was in England. One night, all of us were presented with some of the drawings which Iain sellotaped on the wall. We sat in the middle of the room and each of us gave our opinion which was duly noted by Iain. Even my youngest daughter (she was about 8 then ) gave her opinion on a flood scene which was based on her personal experience when we were staying at Jalan Gurney. Every minute detail was thought of.
9. The only technology used is the photostating machine even the text is typed on a typw-writer ( some of you may well ask "What is that ?" )
10. Some characters are actually based on our family personalities.
11.Every tree and plant in the book do exist. To get the 'feel' of it, Iain used to hold a sample of the leaf in his left hand while drawing .
There are more interesting aspects but suffice to say that I have never come across a book such as this - and its not because the author is my brother-in-law.
Personally, to me , its an amazing book, made more so when its written by someone from a different background. Sometimes I wonder whether we are less sensitive to the issue in the book, or lack the ability to produce such a book or just couldn't care less about the whole thing.
Anyway, basically if and when you read the book, its really up to you how you would want to interpret it. One thing is for sure – IT IS ABOUT SOMETHING REAL!
ps.. I understand the book will be in the market very soon and may be officially launched in December 2008.
There are more interesting aspects but suffice to say that I have never come across a book such as this - and its not because the author is my brother-in-law.
Personally, to me , its an amazing book, made more so when its written by someone from a different background. Sometimes I wonder whether we are less sensitive to the issue in the book, or lack the ability to produce such a book or just couldn't care less about the whole thing.
Anyway, basically if and when you read the book, its really up to you how you would want to interpret it. One thing is for sure – IT IS ABOUT SOMETHING REAL!
ps.. I understand the book will be in the market very soon and may be officially launched in December 2008.
.
# posted by sunnyside up @ 10:13 AM 
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Re: Angel.
It's a good observation - that Malays and/or Malaysians want to be like the Mat Salleh or as what I also observe, like Arabs. The current racial and racist politics in this country started with the Malays and their rulers surrendering their heritage and resources to the highest bidder; be it the British or the Chinese taukeh or the Indian and Arab trader.
Young Malays in both Malaysia and Singapore have no knowledge of and no interest in their history, their culture and heritage. They are smugly contented in being copycats :of the Mcdonals's or the Arabs' ulama culture. Beneath all this facade is is a fear and embarrassment of being a Malay especially when they're in the minority. And when they are in the majority they become arrogant and lazy, (a very destructive combination)about preserving their Malayness - very unlike the Chinese and Indians in Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Canada, Britain or anywhere else they go to seek their fortune.
I'm a Malay ex-teacher of 64 who have lived abroad for many years. Each time I come back to my Malay world, I see more and more erosion of the Malay of my forefathers. I used to take solace in the saying "tak akan Melayu hilang dari dunia". Yes, there will always exist the Malay race - but what kind of Malays? Only the Melayu Celup: sad and broken and quite disenfranchised from their heritage. And this was not inflicted by outsiders like what happened to the native Indians in North and South America, or the Maoris in New Zealand. THE MALAYS DID IT ALL BY THEMSELVES - SYABAS. Our capacity for self destruction is quite unique!!
That is why it takes a Mat Salleh in his book 'Fatimah's Kampung' to remind us about what we are losing or have already lost.
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It's a good observation - that Malays and/or Malaysians want to be like the Mat Salleh or as what I also observe, like Arabs. The current racial and racist politics in this country started with the Malays and their rulers surrendering their heritage and resources to the highest bidder; be it the British or the Chinese taukeh or the Indian and Arab trader.
Young Malays in both Malaysia and Singapore have no knowledge of and no interest in their history, their culture and heritage. They are smugly contented in being copycats :of the Mcdonals's or the Arabs' ulama culture. Beneath all this facade is is a fear and embarrassment of being a Malay especially when they're in the minority. And when they are in the majority they become arrogant and lazy, (a very destructive combination)about preserving their Malayness - very unlike the Chinese and Indians in Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Canada, Britain or anywhere else they go to seek their fortune.
I'm a Malay ex-teacher of 64 who have lived abroad for many years. Each time I come back to my Malay world, I see more and more erosion of the Malay of my forefathers. I used to take solace in the saying "tak akan Melayu hilang dari dunia". Yes, there will always exist the Malay race - but what kind of Malays? Only the Melayu Celup: sad and broken and quite disenfranchised from their heritage. And this was not inflicted by outsiders like what happened to the native Indians in North and South America, or the Maoris in New Zealand. THE MALAYS DID IT ALL BY THEMSELVES - SYABAS. Our capacity for self destruction is quite unique!!
That is why it takes a Mat Salleh in his book 'Fatimah's Kampung' to remind us about what we are losing or have already lost.
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