Kata Suara : Greetings of Peace / Salam Damai : Videos

5:05:00 PM

Salam Seni. Salam Sejahtera. Salam Puisi.

So I was invited to read, recite and sing a poem for “Kata Suara : Puisi, Suara suara Alternatif Dunia” on 16^th March 2014 in conjunction with World Poetry Day (Hari Puisi Sedunia). The World Poetry Day actually falls on 21^st March 2014. The event, Kata Suara was held at R A Fine Arts the Gallery, Publika and I was invited alongside more than 40 other distinguished and very talented poets new and senior including two National Laureates (Sasterawan Negara). I felt humbled and excited to share the same platform with them. Extremely honoured and lucky.

I managed to take some pictures and 4 videos of other performances at the event to share with my lovely readers.

Enjoy!

I chose my dad’s poem called Salam Damai (A Message of Peace). I first performed this poem together with my best friends Ruzana Ibrahim and Siti Muyassarah Rusli in 2003 at Rumah Yayasan Kesenian Perak for an event called “Anti-Perang” (Anti-War) where they launched a book, a collection of poems by poets, writers and film-makers from all over Malaysia, including Baha Zain (Sasterawan Negara), Muhammad Hj. Salleh (Sasterawan Negara), Siti Zainon, U-Wei, A Samad Ismail, A Samad Said (Sasterawan Negara), Zakaria Ali, etc as well as sketches from artists including Tan Sei Hon, the late Syed Ahmad Jamal, Mansor Ghazali and others.

Below is the video of me singing the poem recorded by my husband Abdullah Khubayb.

I began my reading with,

“Assalamu’alaikum… Salam Seni. Salam Puisi. Salam Sejahtera. Hari ini sempena Hari Puisi Sedunia saya akan mendeklamasikan (stutter) atau melagukan sebuah puisi yang ditulis oleh ayah saya sendiri Raja Ahmad Aminullah pada 4 April 2003.”

“Peace be upon all of you… Today in conjunction with World Poetry Day I am going to recite or sing a poem written by my dad on 4^th April 2003.”

*Now, how do I translate salam seni, salam puisi and salam sejahtera?* Wonder why my hands were at the back throughout the whole performance? I was so nervous and did not want to let my shaky & trembling hands show!

Anyway, below is the poem I sung which was written in Bahasa Malaysia and translated into English.

Message of Peace

we come

with a whisper

delivering a greeting of concern

shaking and knocking

the door of your heart

we come

without the roar of a missile

the blast of a bomb

amidst

the screams of children and the grief of their parents

we come

without the ring of the bullets

without the spray of the agent orange chemicals

that rained down in Vietnam

all those years ago

we come

with the quiet voice of the artists

to wake you up

to your senses

we know

these words

will not change the world

like bullets, bombs, sermons and lectures

and your cruelty and violence

but we believe

these voices

will sip in

to transform the cultures of the world

but we also believe

ruthlessness

injustice

and cruelty

will be buried

in the dustbins of history

and carved

in the passage of memory

Salam damai

kami datang

dengan bisikan lembut

membisikkan salam prihatin

menerjah-ngetuk

pintu hati dan batinmu

kami datang

tanpa ngauman peluru berpandu

ledakan bom

yang disusuli

jeritan bayi dan ratapan ayah ibunya <------- a="" me="" meaning="" new="" now="" o:p="" to="">

kami datang

tanpa dentuman peluru

simbahan asid agent orange

yang menghujani Vietnam

sekian tahun yang lalu

kami datang

dengan suara lembut seniman

untuk menggetar

rasa dan deriamu

kami tahu

kata-kata ini

tak akan mengubah dunia

seperti peluru – bom – khutbah – ceramah

serta kezaliman dan keganasanmu

tapi kami yakin

suara-suara ini

akan menyelinap masuk

merubah mentransformasi citra budaya dunia

tapi kami yakin

kebiadaban

ketidakadilan

dan kezaliman ini

akan terbenam

dalam kantung sampah

dan terpahat

dalam memori zaman

4 april 2003

The poem is available in Soulship / Menyarung Jiwa by Raja Ahmad Aminullah and also in the book "Sajak-sajak 3 Seniman Kata Dan Rupa" (page 112) the launching of which I attended at Sheraton Hotel. (Will blog about that too) Both books are available in major bookstores. If you are in Publika you can also get the books from R A Fine Arts, the Gallery Publika. (See my previous post on an event there, Game On for the address of the gallery)

Victor Pogadaev reading poetry in Malay Language and Russian language recorded by Abdullah Khubayb.

Glad I recorded the performance of a poem titled "Kita Semua Masih Disini" by Fazleena Hishamuddin expressing herself through poetry with beautiful background music.

I remember I bought her book of poetry titled Seksi Ovari some time during my confinement last year early 2013 and enjoyed reading her thoughts and poetry.