SYNOPSIS
This is a melodrama about a villain, Lord Septic who is greedy for more power, money and fame. He is even capable of committing murder to get what he wants. He owns the railways and is after the Gatsby gold. Crouch, Lord Septic’s manservant is a big bully. Rose is a damsel in distress who meets Percy, the hero. They fall in love and he rescues her from a bloody death at the railway tracks. Later, Percy learns he is the heir to the Gatsby gold and is known as Sir Percy. Lord Septic loses everything.
CHARACTERS
MORAL VALUES
SETTING
PLOT
LANGUAGE AND STYLE
And lots of Slide of The Fruitcake Special here >> http://dev2.slideshare.com/search/slideshow?searchfrom=header&q=The+fruitcake+special
A chemist woman who works at the Amos cosmetics factory in New Jersey, USA trying to discover a new perfume. One day she threw her fruitcake which was her lunch in to the mix with all the other things. It smells wonderful so she tried it on her. Not too long, her boss who is a handsome English guy never saying nice thing to ordinary girl like her asked her to have a dinner with him. That would be because of fruitcake. Her boss always lost control of himself when he smelt that perfume. If does not put it on her, she will not be attractive anymore.
The original version for Are You Still Playing Your Flute by Zurinah Hassan
Masihkah kau bermain seruling
walau waktu telah terlewat untuk kita bercinta
aku semakin terasa bersalah
melayani godaan irama
lagu yang tersimpan pada lorong halus buluh
dikeluarkan oleh nafas seniman
diukir oleh bibir
diatur oleh jari
dilayangkan oleh alun angin
menolak ke dasar rasa.
Masihkah kau bermain seruling
ketika kampung semakin sunyi
sawah telah uzur
waktu jadi terlalu mahal
untuk memerhatikan hujan turun
merenung jalur senja
mengutip manik embun
menghidu harum bunga.
Masihkah kau bermain seruling
ketika aku terasa mata bersalah
untuk melayani rasa rindu padamu
di kota yang semakin kusut dan tenat
adik-adikku menganggur dan sakit jiwa
bangsaku dipecahkan oleh politik
saudara diserang bom-bom ganas
dunia sudah terlalu tua dan parah.
Di sinilah berakhirnya percintaan kita
kerana zaman sedang menuntut para seniman
hidup di luar dirinya.
(Zurinah Hassan)
Are you still playing your flute?
When there is hardly time for our love
I am feeling guilty
To be longing for your song
The melody concealed in the slim hollow of the bamboo
Uncovered by the breath of an artist
Composed by his fingers
Blown by the wind
To the depth of my heart
Are you still playing your flute?
In the village so quiet and deserted
Amidst the sick rice field
While here it has become a luxury
To spend time watching the rain
Gazing at the evening rays
Collecting dew drops
Or enjoying the fragrance of flowers
Are you still playing your flute?
The more it disturbs my conscience
to be thinking of you
in the hazard of you
my younger brothers unemployed and desperate
my people disunited by politics
my friend slaughtered mercilessly
this world is too old and bleeding
Is this the end of our love
time is forcing us, as artists
to live outside ourselves
translated by Zurinah Hassan
Synopsis of the poem
The poem is about a persona, a lady who fell for the wrong man. She was fascinated with his ‘quiet eyes’ and believed that his eyes showed his true emotion and feelings for her. The man’s eyes had the power to charm her and made her believe him and be nice to him.
However, the man was actually a ‘pleasure seeking man’, a flirt. As the lady was truly fascinated and charmed by the man, she did not listen or did not want to listen to any advice concerning the man’s true behaviour. In the end, she realized her error and was broken hearted.
THEME
MORAL VALUES
TONE, MOOD, ATMOSPHERE
POINT OF VIEW
LANGUAGE & STYLE
MEANING OF WORDS
About The Poet
Bibsy Soenharjo was born in Jakarta on 22 November 1928. Bibsy and her siblings were homeschooled and each was encouraged to pursue their own interests. She had a particular fondness for literature and, after returning home from a four-year stay in Japan, Bibsy began writing her first prose in 1957, and then poetry in the 60s.
The Literary Review, an international quarterly published by Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, USA, published her first four literary pieces in their Autumn and Spring Editions in 1967 and 1968 respectively. In 1967 also, her poem, “Jakarta, March 1967” was published in the Australian magazine Hemisphere, while ”Setelah Gerhana Bulan” (After the Eclipse of the Moon) was published in Gelanggang, an Indonesian cultural magazine now defunct.
Her poems have appeared in bilingual anthologies, with her Indonesian works translated into English, Dutch and Japanese and her English poems into Indonesian and Dutch. She continued to write prose pieces in Indonesian that appeared in Jakarta dailies under the pen name Nuspati.
Bibsy Soenharjo now lives in Jakarta with the youngest of her three sons, Haryo, his wife Sutji and their children.
He had such quiet eyes
She did not realise
They were two pools of lies
Layered with thinnest ice
To her, those quiet eyes
Were breathing desolate sighs
Imploring her to be nice
And to render him paradise
If only she’d been wise
And had listened to the advice
Never to compromise
With pleasure-seeking guys
She’d be free from ‘the hows and whys’
Now here’s a bit of advice
Be sure that nice really nice
Then you’ll never be losing at dice
Though you lose your heart once or twice
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
SETTING
The setting of the poem is in the house.
THEMES
MORAL VALUES
TONE, MOOD, ATMOSPHERE
POINT OF VIEW
LANGUAGE & STYLE
POETIC DEVICES
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
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.
In The Midst of Hardship by Latiff Mohidin
At dawn they returned home
their soaky clothes torn
and approached the stove
their limbs marked by scratches
their legs full of wounds
but on their brows
there was not a sign of despair
The whole day and night just passed
they had to brave the horrendous flood
in the water all the time
between bloated carcasses
and tiny chips of tree barks
desperately looking for their son’s
albino buffalo that was never found
They were born amidst hardship
and grew up without a sigh or a complaint
now they are in the kitchen, making
jokes while rolling their cigarette leaves
Translated by : Salleh bin Joned
