Biography of Latiff Mohidin

Latiff Mohidin is a poet-painter, born on Aug 20, 1938 in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan. Called ‘Boy Wonder’ since age 11, he received his art education at Hochschule fur Bildende Kunste, Berlin, Germany in 1960. In 1969, Latiff furthered his studies in printmaking at Atelier La Courriere in Paris, France and Pratt Graphic Centre in New York, USA. He started writing poetry in the early sixties. Since then, his work has been published in various magazines and translated into English and Chinese. Today, Latiff Mohidin is one of Malaysia’s most celebrated living artist and poet and is considered a national treasure.

 

Solo Exhibitions (selected)

1963 – Frankfurter Kunstkabinett, Frankfurt – am – Main, Germany
1964 – Ladengalerie, Berlin, Germany
1971 – British Council, Kuala Lumpur
1972 – Commonwealth Institute Art Gallery, London
1973 – Retrospective Exhibition, National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur
1988 – Maybank Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur
1989 – MAS Building, Kuala Lumpur
1994 – Singapore Art Museum, Singapore
1998 – Galeri Petronas, Kuala Lumpur

 

Awards

1953 – 1st prize and special prize in oil painting, Malaysian AgriHorticulture Association, Kuala Lumpur
1960 – DAAD, German Academy Student Exchange Scholarship, Bonn
1968 – 2nd prize Graphic, Honourable Mention in other Media, Salon Malaysia, National Art Gallery, Kuala Lumpur
1969 – French Ministry of Culture Scholarship, Paris
1984 – S.E.A. Write Award, Bangkok Thailand
1988 – Guest Writer, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kuala Lumpur Literature
1988 – Garis Latiff Mohidin dari Titik ketitik, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, Kuala Lumpur
1994 – T.K. Sabapathy, (editor), Pago – Pago to Gelombang, 40 years of Latiff Mohidin, Singapore Art Museum
1998 – T.K. Sabapathy, Latiff Mohidin Rimba Series, Galeri Petronas, Kuala Lumpur

 

Latiff Mohidin Blog : http://catatan-latiffmohidin.blogspot.com

Latiff Mohidin Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/catatan.latiffmohidin

Activities & Quizzes – In The Midst of Hardship

Feel free to try out this exercises for your better understanding on the poem.

• Multiple-choice questions
• Crossword puzzle
• Cloze Test
• Subjective questions
• Multi-answer test

Setting, Themes, Etc

SETTING

The setting of the poem is in the house.

THEMES

• Being resilience when facing hardship
• Family love
• Acceptance of way of life

MORAL VALUES

1. We should learn to accept problems in life with a positive outlook.
2. We must attempt to face and solve problem.
3. Facing hardship is part and parcel of life.
4. If we face a problem, do not feel despair.

TONE, MOOD, ATMOSPHERE

• Understanding and sympathetic
• Acceptance of situation

POINT OF VIEW

• Third person pint of view.

LANGUAGE & STYLE

• Language is simple and easy to understand.
• The style is simple with no rhyming scheme.

POETIC DEVICES

• Imagery – Gives picture of poet’s thoughts e.g ‘soaky clothes torn’ and ‘legs full of wounds’
• Alliteration – e.g. ‘but on their brows’
• Symbols – e.g. ‘horrendous flood’ and ‘bloating carcasses’
• Diction – e.g. ‘stove’ and ‘brows‘

Dalam Kesusahan oleh Latiff Mohidin

Dalam Kesusahan (the original version of “In The Midst of Hardship”) oleh Latiff Mohidin

 

Pada waktu senja mereka pulang ke rumah,
baju basah mereka telah koyak,
mereka berjalan ke arah dapur,
tangan mereka penuh dengan calar,
kaki mereka penuh dengan luka,
tetapi pada muka mereka,
langsung tidak ada perasaan kecewa.

 

Satu hari dan satu malam baru berlepas,
mereka perlu menghadapi banjir besar ini dengan berani,
sepanjang masa berada dalam air,
berada di antara barangan yang terapung di permukaan air,
serta bahan-bahan pecahan yang kecil,
asyik mencari kerbau kepunyaan anak mereka,
yang akhirnya tidak dapat dijumpa juga.

 

Mereka dilahirkan dalam kesusahan,
dan membesar tanpa mengadu atau mengeluh,
sekarang mereka berada di dapur,
sambil bergurau sambil menggulungkan daun tembakau.

1978

[Synopsis] In The Midst of Hardship

In The Midst of Hardship by Latiff Mohidin

SYNOPSIS (OVERALL)

This poem is about a family who faces  hardship whereby their son’s albino buffalo is nowhere to be found. A flood occurs and they go out to find the buffalo. They reach home early in the morning without the buffalo and yet there is no  sign of despair in them. Meanwhile, they can still crack jokes and roll the cigarettes.

 

SYNOPSIS (ACCORDING TO STANZA)

 

STANZA 1

They returned home at day break and headed for the stove. Their clothes were soaking wet and tattered. Their bodies were covered with scratches and wounds. Yet, they did not display any signs of being worried.

 

STANZA 2

They were out in the flood the whole day and night. They were surrounded by dead animals and parts of trees that had been destroyed by the flood. They searched desperately for their son’s albino buffalo but were unable to find it.

 

STANZA 3

They were born into poverty and difficulty, but they do not complain about their suffer. Instead, they sit in the kitchen, cracking jokes while smoking cigarettes.