The “phenomenal” Rahmat Haron, one of our Malaysian contributors, is almost impossible to translate. So much of his poetry is rooted in his innovations with the Malay language. But we like to challenge ourselves. We already have a few up our sleeves. And we’re putting this up on the blog, so there’s escape now.
You can see his (more conventional?) performance of “Keranamu Malaysia” (“Because of you, Malaysia”) on Youtube.
[Above photo © Yee I-lann, 2004]
On 30 November 2007, four Philippine National Artists join forces in a concert to remember the work and words of the extraordinary Amado V. Hernandez. Reposted below is a recent Sunday Inquirer Magazine article on this event written by Eric S. Caruncho. Caruncho’s most known for his music reportage, particularly with Punks, Poets, Poseurs. The title of this article is taken from the infamous Jean Cocteau film of the same name.
By Eric S. Caruncho
MANILA, Philippines – “Poets, too, must know how to fight.” Uncle Ho Chi Minh might have had Amado V. Hernandez in mind when he penned that line. While Ho was rallying his countrymen to drive the French out of their homeland, Hernandez—a poet who knew how to fight—was languishing in the New Bilibid Prison on a subversion charge. This, however, did not stop him from composing his greatest masterpieces.The grateful Vietnamese named their capital after Ho, but how many Filipinos remember Ka Amado, our first National Artist for Literature? How many are still stirred on first reading “Panata sa Kalayaan” or “Isang Dipang Langit”? Or have their conscience awakened upon reading “Mga Ibong Mandaragit”? All too few. Yet Hernandez’s work is as relevant today as when he first wrote them half a century ago: the social injustices that he railed and fought against are still here, and so are the forces that put him in jail. The more things change…
On Nov. 30, a much-deserved tribute will be paid to Ka Amado’s legacy as the Cultural Center of the Philippines, in cooperation with the Amado V. Hernandez Resource Center, stages “Amado, Minamahal…,” a concert featuring the poet’s works. No ordinary concert, “Amado, Minamahal…” brings together the collective talents of National Artists Bienvenido Lumbera (Literature, 2006), Napoleon V. Abueva (Sculpture, 1976), Ben Cabrera (Painting, 2006), and Salvador Bernal (Theater and Design, 2003), who collaborated on the script, stage design, posters and visuals, and costumes, respectively.
The concert will also feature the music of the late National Artist Lucio San Pedro (Music, 1991), which will be performed by a hundred-voice choir composed of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philippine Madrigal Singers and the Bonifacio Choir, and accompanied by a pure dance performance by the Ballet Philippines. Set to be staged at the CCP main theater, “Amado, Minamahal…” will be directed by Chris Millado.
Says scriptwriter Bien Lumbera: “The script for ‘Amado, Minamahal…’ has been structured according to the three dominant themes of his poetry, namely, freedom, justice and human rights.” He adds, “The three themes are the pressing concerns of our society today as the present administration has allowed the military to exercise unwarranted power to enforce compliance with its political designs.” Lumbera believes that Hernandez’s works, though written in the 1950s, still have a message for contemporary Filipinos.
Explains this National Artist for Literature: “After he was released, Ka Amado was simply transported from the repressive confines of a prison cell to the repressive world outside where an anti-subversion law hang like a sword of Damocles over the heads of writers whose ideas could be interpreted as bearing traces of socialist or communist ideologies.” But Hernandez, says Lumbera, continued to think and write as a free individual. His works have much to say to Filipinos today. “His ’Panata sa Kalayaan’ is a message to the post-EDSA and post-9/11 Philippine society under the Arroyo regime, where the Human Security Act hangs over the heads of men and women who vigilantly struggle for freedom, justice and human rights.” Hernandez was the epitome of the engaged artist, a man of action who nevertheless still had the sensitivity to give voice to the inchoate cries of the suffering masses. The need for men like him hasn’t diminished, says Lumbera.
Hernandez was born in 1903 in Hagonoy, Bulacan but grew up in Tondo, Manila. He was only 19 when he joined Aklatang Bayan, a literary group which included established Tagalog writers such as Lope K. Santos and Jose Corazon de Jesus. In 1932, he married stage actress Atang de la Rama, who would also become a National Artist. When the Japanese invaded the Philippines, Hernandez became a guerrilla. It is believed that he first encountered the ideas of socialism through the Hukbalahap movement. After the war, Hernandez became a Manila councilor and a labor leader, organizing the biggest strike ever in Manila in 1947, and coming to the attention of the military. In 1951, during a crackdown on the Huk rebellion then raging in Central Luzon, Hernandez was arrested and eventually charged with rebellion with murder, arson and robbery—a complex crime unheard of in Philippine legal history. The case became a celebrated civil rights issue, drawing the support of such legal luminaries as Claro M. Recto, Jose P. Laurel and Claudio Teehankee. Nevertheless, Hernandez wasn’t released until 1956, and he wasn’t acquitted until 1964 in a landmark decision that is still invoked to this day.
By that time, Hernandez had already written the works that he would be remembered for. He died in 1970, but his words live on: “Pilipino akong sa pambubusabos ay hindi susuko! (I am a Filipino who will never, ever give in to oppression).”
[Above article published in Sunday Inquirer Magazine, 18 November 2007. Photo from TINIG.com]
Along with several exciting young Southeast Asian artists, we are also considering works by Tao artists for the cover and interior art of the anthology. One of the Tao artists on our list is Flying Fish (born 1970). Some of his work can be viewed on his Xuite webpage, Flying Fish Cafe.
[Above image originally posted on Flying Fish Cafe. Artwork © Flying Fish, the artist. Flying fish, the fish, are revered by the Tao and form an important staple food.]
Some time ago one of our Paiwan friends, musician and aboriginal culture activist Red-I, emailed us news of a very exciting project by the Tao. Below is an excerpt from his email:
[Tao] tribesmen constructed a traditional boat (ipanga na; they haven’t built one in over 100 yrs) and made a voyage from Lanyu (Orchid Island) to [Taitung] … in preparation for their voyage back to Batanes [the northernmost and the smallest province of the Philippines] in order to keep [a] tradition from completely dying. … [No] one alive has ever made the trip, but some of the elders still have the oceanic knowledge of the “black current” that runs between Taiwan and [the Philippines] (which is how them used to travel between the 2 islands!) So this journey is very important for them in order to keep the connections alive!
In an interview with the Taipei Times, one of the rowers, Maraos (瑪拉歐斯), relates how he was weened on stories of a great seafaring nation of islands that shared the same language and culture as his own—the Tao. The project is known as Keep Rowing (繼續划船), an effort by the Tao people to relive an ancient voyage and reconnect with the Ivatan, the people of the Batanes. For this project, the Tao built Ipanga na 1001. Ipanga na in Tao means moving, crossing over, navigation, from here to there and further. They started construction on November 2006 and finished in May 2007. Ipanga na 1001 is the largest Tao wooden boat ever built in a century and the first to reach Taiwan in living memory. Batanes, 100 km south of Lanyu, formed part of the legendary nation spoken of by Maraos’s ancestors. The journey to Batanes next year will be one of the most important events in the history of the Tao and Ivatan. Maraos in the Taipei Times: “These are our people. We speak the same language and we share the same culture … This is my … and Lanyu people’s dreams.”
[Photo on right by casyc23. Reposted from I-fan Lin's Global Voices post. The red and black circle at the head of the boat is "mata-no-tarara," (eye and sun) traditional Tao symbols believed to expel evil spirits and evoke good fortunes.]
Related links:
Keep Rowing (繼續划船) blog (only in traditional Chinese text)
I-fan Lin’s Keep Rowing posts and translations at Global Voices Online
Austronesian adventurer revives Aboriginal traditions
Tao tribesmen get hero’s welcome at Tamsui Wharf
Tao aborigines paddle fishing canoe to Taipei
Patagaw Blogspot
Red-I’s Myspace
Marie Angeline Liquigan’s short introductory write-up on the Ivatan
We would like to acknowledge Jay Koh of Artstream Myanmar / NICA (Networking + Initiatives for Culture and the Arts) and IFIMA (International Forum for InterMedia Art) for his continued support for this project. Jay’s now back in Yangon and currently helping us look for translators and artwork we can use for the anthology. Kudos, Jay!
The Autumn issue of Art Journal is featuring some of Jay’s photos of Burma, including those done by his partner and principal collaborator, Malaysian-born artist Chu Yuan.
[Photo on right, from Art Journal. Chu Yuan and Myanmar/Burmese collaborators, Offering of Mind:Indian Young Professional) preformed photography in front of Swedagon temple and park grounds, Yangon/Rangoon, 2005, (artwork © Chu Yuan, photograph by Chu Yuan)]
For those interested in Burmese literature, there are profiles of some contemporary writers and sample writing on the Artstream site, as well as other interesting stuff. Below is an excerpt:
Khet Mar (born 1969) started writing professionally at the age of twenty. So far she has published a novel, a collection of essays and a collections of short stories with three other women writers. Of her works, over a hundred short stories, thirteen novels and three serialised novels had been featured in various magazines. (Photo from University of Iowa’s list of 2007 IWP Participants.)
She washed out her brush and regarded her painting critically: definitely a lot of blues. Blue-gray monsoon clouds over the rippling waters of a river; on the far bank, dark green mountain ranges; a blur of red sky just at the top right edge.
That last ray of fading sun fell on the lone boatman rowing against the current, the muscles of his arms standing out in relief in the light.
A gloomy and dark painting overall, but she had wanted exactly that. It might storm, it might rain, and one might have to row against the current, but then, all one needs is the strength to row. …
[Translated from the Burmese by Ma Thanegi. To read more of Overture, click here.]
On the eve of BERSIH’s massive street demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur last Saturday, November 10, 2007, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah declared: “Saya pantang dicabar!” (fig. “Don’t challenge me!”)
Malaysian novelist and Off The Edge fiction editor Beth Yahp takes him up and posts an open letter on The Other Malaysia.
[You can download the PDF of the letter here. Also visit these posts by Amir Muhammad, Sharon Bakar and Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew. Above image from BBC.]
One of our Indonesian contributors would rather not have his stuff (re)posted on this blog.
But for all you curious types: i, shatter and thetruthaboutjakarta
—pay these blogs a visit and he will love you forever.
[Above photo from "old flagfall, new triptych" on thetruthaboutjakarta.]
The debut issue of Hong Kong-based Cha: An Asian Literary Journal has just been launched. It features creative works by 22 writers/artists. This online literary journal is dedicated to publishing quality poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, photography, graphic fiction and reviews from and about Asia. If you are interested in submitting creative works to Cha, please read their submission guidelines for more details.
Chamaiporn Bangkombang of the Thai Writers Association has been instrumental in connecting us with a lot of young Thai writers. Several works are now in the process of translation by our trusty volunteer Thai translators Vipavinee Artpradid and Kate Pattamanivat.
Courtesy of Typhoon Books, we also have a short story written and translated by Prabda Yoon and a manga by Wisut Ponnimit. Among many other talents, Wisut is also a self-taught animator. Here’s his music video for インストバンド by Japanese instrumental band SAKEROCK:
A selection of Vietnamese poetry translated by Wikivietlit Editor Linh Đinh will be appearing in the forthcoming anthology. These poems will also be in The Deluge: New Vietnamese Poetry, tentatively scheduled for publication by Chax Press in 2008.
Meanwhile, here’s a sample:
Phan Bá Thọ was born in Da Nang in 1972, and now lives in Ho Chi Minh City. “A faded, empty organism,” he once described himself. After being unemployed for 60 months, 8 days and 4 hours, he’s now working as a lawyer. The author of the samizdats, “Vertical Movement” (2001) and “Endless Trash Pile,” his poems appear regularly in many print and web journals.
Nude Self Portrait
to thuy hang & kim hoa
if only I could slip into the ground [or] run disappearing
into something, it’d be fantastic
yesterday I was stripped naked in the middle of a highway, 80,000 people
like metaphors and are unclear about motives
pity only to the small children who were present
very difficult, lecturing on how to mix a cocktail
with a handful of crooked bones / wrinkled lines
convoluted and sad + plus
the natural rudeness of the curious mob
people inspected my body / up down and sideway randomly
they saw in my armpit… yes, nothing but a forest with trees
straight, chopped down, completely burnt
with two eyes yellowed by beer froth & unbelievably horny, yesterday
I – was – stripped – naked – on – a – mat – torn
ragged & reeking a foul smell
(too many people glorify this filth)
they touched my hair / cheek nose & beckoned others
I saw a group of american soldiers, toying with their mouths
saddam’s hair gleefully
I became jealous of him / I thought, he’s truly happy
those in white coats liked to confirm the dna / because they’ve heard
to be that mad, one must eat horses’ balls
what could they read on my body
they could become wiser than that, a little… yes, if
they’d pry my mouth open
they’d probably see a prick I’ve been sucking for a long time, big and tall, inside
Wei Hui said: this object can spin 360 degrees & should be used
once and thrown away
but I prefer Mian Mian*
[both sort of crazy and sane]
but, very importantly / the marvelous quality in her:
fuck first, pay later / love – being in debt, also good
*Wei Hui and Mian Mian are contemporary Chinese writers
Translated from the Vietnamese by Linh Dinh
[The above poem also appeared in the Brazilian poetry journal SIBILA. So if that whets your appetite, click here for more. Horse balls...yummmm...]
The open call for submissions to the Southeast Asian anthology is closed as of today.
(But we can’t stop you from sending more entries to our inbox now can we? Pray, the brave souls. Maybe, just maybe, you’d make the cut despite the tardiness.)
Call for Submissions
MPH GROUP PUBLISHING is pleased to announce an open call for submissions of short fiction and creative non-fiction for an anthology tentatively entitled Urban Odysseys: Stories About Kuala Lumpur. We aim to publish the anthology in 2008, depending on the number of submissions that we receive.
The theme of the anthology will focus on life in the city, specifically Kuala Lumpur, with writings that show images of the new juxtaposed against the old, urban living with contrasting bright lights and shadowy realities and other short fiction or creative non-fiction which best encapsulate the spirit of the national capital. This is not a travel book but an anthology of literary writings about the city.
Stories must be original, between 3,000 and 5,000 words, and must not have been previously published. We invite submissions from both emerging and established writers. Stories for children are not eligible for this compilation. Manuscripts must be edited, typed double-spaced with 12pt font and e-mailed to mphpublishing@mph.com.my. Please include your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address. You may submit as many pieces as you wish. Faxed or handwritten submissions will not be entertained and manuscripts will not be returned. We will contact you only if your piece has been selected for inclusion in the compilation. Writers whose submissions are selected will be expected to work with the editors to fine tune their stories.
Deadline: 31 January 2008
Payment: A small flat fee and two copies of the anthology
[NOTE: The editors (Janet Tay and MPH Publishing senior editor Eric Forbes) will take stories from all nationalities, but the stories have to be about Kuala Lumpur and should "encapsulate the spirit of the city."]
