The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion
The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion |
| Comics defeated by politicians in comedy battle Posted: 31 Mar 2013 05:27 PM PDT
APRIL 1 — Politicians have for years now been saying the darndest things, as attested to in resident loyar burok Amir Muhammad's series of books first published in 2007 called Malaysian Politicians Say The Darndest Things. But little did Amir realise he was compiling the political strategy playbook of the new millennia, post-modern Malaysia's equivalent of The Malay Dilemma, the weapon of mass bellyaches itself. After fruitless decades of censoring, suing, jailing and throwing the kitchen sink at cartoonists, satirists and comedians in general, politicians finally have the last laugh — by beating their nemeses at their own game. Across Malaysia, funnymen are out of work and collecting their BR1M with tails between their legs as they are left without an audience or any new material. A despondent political cartoonist was seen trying to hawk copies of his political cartoons to others in the queue but only managed to sell to those who still hadn't used their Baucar Buku 1 Malaysia vouchers. "At first, sales were good. Then they went down, but still a few copies were selling. I put it down to hard times. But when I saw my old fans driving Mercedeses but still not wanting to buy my book, I knew something was wrong. "Then, one day, as I sat at my desk trying to draw, the penny finally fell," he said, without irony. "I couldn't write! I had total writer's block. I couldn't think of anything funny to draw because... because... the politicians are already too funny themselves!" he yelled before bursting into tears. When met by reporters later, another cartoonist, who had become a household name in the country for his insightful jibes at the news of the day, also confessed to having "not been as funny as our politicians for decades now" and merely surviving because "the idiots at the local newspaper were too scared to cut my strip." "Heck, I mean, have you seen my annual calendars with that daily? They're all recycled stuff!" the legendary cartoonist said, before taking a sip of orange juice bought for him by this writer. "I actually saw this happening even from zaman Tun. It's just gotten worse and nothing has been done to stop it. So now, our politicians are too powerful, too funny," he added. Nowadays, he said, he could still make a living because a certain budget airline would still pay him to draw on their aircraft and the only thing funny about that was watching his short frame trying to find a ladder tall enough to reach the top of the plane. A quick check on recent news articles found politicians handing out laugh-out-loud quotes by the dozen and ridiculous rubbish as if they were going out of style. Just this week, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng tried to write off an extra RM2 billion due to a "typo" and Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said he'd have called elections last year after repeatedly telling Datuk Seri Najib Razak to delay polls. But the top pick, from a very strong field, was Datuk Zulkifli Noordin, who already sports a hilarious moustache, after he poked fun at some Hindus when their gods apparently failed to save them from flooding. "Seriously, what kind of idiot says that? Surely he knew what he was doing. We always knew he was a pawn of Umno, like all other Perkasa leaders, but he was clearly doing that to troll all of us," said a veteran humorist. "I thought I was good with my baiting of DAP supporters. But clearly, these politicians have been taking lessons. Soon, I'll actually have to lecture properly because I'm gonna lose my writing gig," he added. Some politicians have even resorted to physical humour. A certain minister's now viral photo with his binoculars in east Malaysia has left the interwebs ROFLing and struggling to control their bladders out of being tickled. "This here is top-notch comedy. I can't say I've ever come up with anything better," said one of the country's funniest writers, Awang Selamat. "I've been writing my weekly column for years now. But nothing, nothing I've come up with can beat that photo. I mean, the guy's a genius! No wonder Umno are going great guns and will win the election by a two-thirds majority. "Sigh, even that statement is not that funny any more." Independent research house Merdeka Center also revealed this week that a survey showed that a whopping 69 per cent of Malaysians thought politicians were the funniest people around. This was followed by activists, then the LGBT community and then people who eat in Bangsar restaurants. "Comedians actually had only 4.1 per cent of the vote!" said the center's executive director. * This is the personal opinion of the columnist. | |
| Posted: 31 Mar 2013 04:28 PM PDT
1 APRIL — "Saudara membaca cerpen di pentas dengan gaya membaca berita. Terlalu formal." Demikian antara komen ikhlas yang saya terima daripada rakan-rakan dan kenalan semenjak saya mula membuat "bacaan" (persembahan) teks cerpen di pentas selewat-lewatnya pada tahun 1996. Saya menerima komen dan teguran itu secara positif, lalu sentiasa berusaha untuk membaiki persembahan saya. Perlu diakui bahawa kecintaan saya terhadap penggunaan bahasa — khususnya Bahasa Malaysia — yang betul dan baku mungkin membuatkan gaya pembacaan dan persembahan cerpen di pentas kedengaran sedikit kaku dan terlalu formal. Pada zaman sekolah rendah di SRK Convent Aulong, Taiping, saya terlibat dalam deklamasi sajak Bahasa Malaysia dan Bahasa Inggeris. Sepanjang belajar di SM Darul Ridwan dan SM King Edward VII, Taiping pula, saya terlibat dalam pidato/syarahan, deklamasi sajak, debat, drama pentas dan sebagainya. Pengalaman itu serta asuhan guru-guru sekolah rendah dan menengah digunakan untuk membaiki mutu persembahan — hingga kini.
Terdahulu, pada 28 Ogos 1999, sempena "Malam Penghayatan Sastera" di Dewan MPSJ, Subang Jaya, saya mempersembahkan petikan bahagian awal cerpen "Yang Aneh-aneh". Cerpen berkenaan yang menggunakan latar masa tahun 1996 menang Hadiah Cerpen Maybank-BP (1996) dan Hadiah Sastera Perdana Malaysia (1996/97). Versi Bahasa Inggeris dimuatkan dalam antologi "In the Shadow of the Palm" (2009) manakala versi asal boleh dibaca dalam buku "Kisah dari Siru Kambam" (2013). Sebuah lagi cerpen yang mendapat sambutan hangat setiap kali dipersembahkan di pentas adalah "Datuk Datang ke Kampung Kami" yang kini juga termuat dalam "Kisah dari Siru Kambam". Saya pernah (antara lain) mempersembahkan cerpen berkenaan di British Council (22 Oktober 1999), Malaysian Association for the Blind (3 November 1999), Shah's Village (1 Mac 2003), Galeri Shah Alam (15 Mac 2003) dan Merdekarya (23 Februari 2013). Berdasarkan pengalaman saya sejak usia kanak-kanak, salah satu cara mudah untuk membaiki bahasa — mana-mana bahasa — adalah dengan membaca teks dengan suara yang lantang; berbanding membaca dalam hati/minda. Semasa saya menjadi pensyarah mata pelajaran Bahasa Malaysia (serta Moral Education dan Malaysian Studies) di beberapa kolej swasta (1999-2007), saya menggunakan kaedah "baca cerpen" untuk menilai serta membaiki penguasaan bahasa, kesantunan berbahasa, keyakinan diri dan gaya pengucapan awam dalam kalangan pelajar. Meneruskan tradisi nenek-moyang Dengan kerjasama Kavyan, sesi membaca cerpen melibatkan pelajar-pelajar ini menjadi suatu acara yang turut dilaporkan di akhbar dan majalah; khususnya Utusan Malaysia, Tunas Cipta dan Dewan Siswa. Untuk memudahkan pelajar membaca cerpen dengan baik di pentas, saya merangka suatu kriteria pemarkahan berbentuk "Panduan Membaca Cerpen" yang boleh juga dijadikan panduan membuat persembahan cerpen di pentas oleh sesiapa sahaja yang berminat. Panduan itu boleh dirujuk di blog Kavyan.
Cerpen saya berjudul "Cat" (Rudra Avatara, 2008) sebenarnya sudah diterjemah ke Bahasa Inggeris dengan judul "The Painted Cat" (Selangor Times, 21-23 Januari 2011). Bagaimanapun, Bernice Chauly dan Sharon Bakar yang menyelenggarakan antologi Readings from Readings (2011) tetap memilih versi asal untuk disiarkan kembali. Cerpen "Cat" mendapat sambutan hangat — termasuk daripada khalayak yang tidak faham Bahasa Malaysia — apabila dipersembahkan di pelbagai lokasi di Malaysia dan Indonesia pada 2011 dan 2012. Misalnya sempena Writers Unlimited Tour (Jun 2011), Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (Oktober 2011) dan Makassar International Writers Festival (Jun 2012). Sebenarnya, amalan mempersembahkan cerpen bukanlah sesuatu yang baru. Dalam tradisi masyarakat Malaysia — tanpa mengira etnik dan kaum — memang ada amalan bercerita. Kisah-kisah disampaikan dengan penuh gaya, penghayatan dan intonasi suara yang menjadikan "persembahan" oleh nenek, datuk, ibu, bapa, abang dan kakak begitu mengujakan. Ini belum lagi mengambil kira penyampaian cerita oleh penglipur lara dan tukang cerita profesional dalam kalangan masyarakat tradisional. Maka, siri "baca cerpen" dan "baca novel" yang dipelopori dan diusahakan secara berterusan oleh Kavyan sejak 1999 sebenarnya adalah sebagai meneruskan tradisi bercerita yang sudah sebati dalam jiwa masyarakat kita. Malah, dalam budaya barat ada amalan "bedtime story" di mana buku cerita dibacakan oleh ibu atau bapa dengan penuh gaya. Pada waktu-waktu lain — dalam kalangan masyarakat di Malaysia juga — ibu bapa akan menyampaikan cerita secara lisan sebelum anak-anak tidur.
Bengkel untuk memantapkan persembahan Cerpen "Saya Sebatang Pensel" ditulis khusus bagi tujuan persembahan di pentas sempena Story Fest di PJ Live Arts, Petaling Jaya (18 Mac 2012). Faksyen itu kini dimuatkan dalam buku "Kisah dari Siru Kambam" dan turut menjadi pilihan teks bacaan di pentas oleh saya dan beberapa rakan. Kavyan pernah juga mengadakan sesi latihan baca cerpen beberapa kali di beberapa lokasi. Malah, program penghayatan sastera serta kempen galakan membaca anjuran Kavyan di sekolah rendah, sekolah menengah dan kolej swasta di seluruh negara sejak 1999 juga diselitkan panduan membaca teks di pentas. Selepas acara "Baca Cerpen Siru Kambam II" di Merdekarya, Taman Petaling pada 23 Mac 2013, saya mendapat idea untuk mengadakan Bengkel Baca Cerpen Kavyan di mana sekumpulan rakan-rakan boleh duduk berbincang dan berlatih untuk membaca teks cerpen dengan gaya yang sesuai bagi persembahan di pentas. Seperti yang sudah saya nyatakan, saya sedang dan mahu terus belajar untuk membaiki persembahan saya. Maka, Bengkel Baca Cerpen Kavyan akan membuka ruang dan peluang untuk mengumpulkan sekumpulan kecil — sekitar 10 orang sahaja — individu yang berminat untuk sama-sama berbincang, berlatih, belajar, membimbing serta membaiki mutu persembahan.
Bengkel Baca Cerpen Kavyan akan diadakan dalam suasana santai; mungkin di taman tasik atau di restoran atau di taman permainan kanak-kanak atau di mana-mana lokasi yang sesuai. Tentulah sambil makan-minum yang ditanggung sendiri oleh masing-masing peserta. Kavyan bercadang memulakan bengkel ini pada April 2013. Lokasi yang dipilih bagi permulaan adalah di sekitar pusat bandar Shah Alam supaya peserta dari luar boleh datang dengan mudah menaiki Komuter dari mana-mana arah dan berkumpul di Stesen Komuter Shah Alam. Kenderaan pula akan diatur oleh Jawatankuasa Kavyan dari stesen Komuter ke lokasi bengkel. Brian Gomez, pemilik Merdekarya juga sudah tampil menawarkan tempatnya digunakan bagi tujuan bengkel ini pada masa hadapan. Nampaknya siri baca cerpen anjuran Kavyan akan lebih mantap dengan gaya persembahan yang bertambah hebat selepas orang ramai berpeluang berkongsi idea dan pengalaman menerusi bengkel membaca cerpen. Tentu sahaja ini berita gembira sempena sedekad Baca Cerpen Kavyan (2003). * Maklumat lanjut mengenai aktiviti ini boleh dirujuk di www.kavyan.blogspot.com atau hubungi infokavyan@yahoo.com.my. * Ini adalah pandangan peribadi penulis. |
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