Malaysia boleh

I’m teaching English to Form 1’s at St. Xavier’s Institution. I was looking through their literature component. This is what I came across.

A poem by William Shakespeare. His life and works need no introduction. One of his poems is in the Form 1 syllabus:

Life’s Brief Candle

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more; it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

On the very next page, we have another poem by a local author. He is the 1st Malay author to unite craft with art in his writing. According to the National Literary Award Committee 1985, he pioneered a new style of writing, simultaneously continuing the idealism of the Generation of the Fifties and renewing its approach to literature. Born in Malacca in 1935, he has been honored with the title of Sasterawan Negara (National Laureate). The English translation of his novel, Salina (1975), achieved international recognition. He was awarded national recognition as a Literary Pioneer in 1976 and received the Anugerah Sastera Negara (National Literary Award) in 1985.

Presenting, Abdul Samad Muhammad Said’s “The Dead Crow”:

The Dead Crow

He saw a dead crow
in a drain
near the post office.
He saw an old man
gasping for air
and a baby barely able to breathe
in a crowded morning clinic.
This land is so rich.
Why should we suffer like this?

I want clean air
for my grandchildren.
I want the damned fools
to leave the forest alone.
I want the trees to grow,
the rivers run free,
and the earth covered with grass.
Let the politicians plan how we may live with dignity,
now and always.

Haha. Hahahaha. Hahahahahahahahaha. Enough said.