budaya

As usual, the issue of Malay identity continues to be a hot topic here in Malaysia. Just thought I'd share with you guys a couple of videos I found of YouTube that make for interesting observations.

In this clip from 1952, we hear R. Azmi singing in a jazzy, big band style identical to what was in vogue in Hollywood.
A couple of years later, we see a shift. Though male characters continued to dress like they were in Harlem, you could hear a starkly different sound. In this clip, not only do you not hear anything remotely jazzy (despite the jazz band depicted), the musical style was, if not almost like ramvong. Ramvong is a musical genre popular till today in the Indochinese region (Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia), with whole channels devoted to it. Just in case you missed it, the female voice also grew a lot shriller.

For the modern Malaysian, the joget sequence, with the strange music and dance style, will likely appear very odd. You could even say that by today's standards, it is not very 'Malay'.
p/s the word budaya itself came from the sanskrit 'buddhi' meaning 'of intelligence'

just my ducking luck

what do you call a duck that refuses to be called a duck?

I here refer to that popular line, if it sounds/walks/looks like a duck to end.

Real ducks don’t talk back (at least not in a language we humans can comprehend) so it really doesn’t matter what they think.

But what if said duck finds the term ‘duck’ offensive, and reacts violently to its use?

Placating terms like ‘waterborne fowl’ or ‘creature rendered yellow in popular culture’ are too weak and take too much time to get to the point.

I suppose silence is an option. We could all pretend nothing’s quacking

make your own way

if you want to do something new, stay away from the shiny lights.

Glamour is stale, a dead stump layered with extreme amounts of perfume and paint to make it appealing, but ultimately meaningless and uninteresting.

Status does not disrupt to make things better. It’d rather things get worse, so its value grows higher.

And that little trickled-down wealth that you get? That comes with complacency, docility, and dread

sebab Melayu semua bodoh kan?

sebab your identity starts and stops at the colour of your skin.

sebab you're only a cog in the system.

sebab all you are is skima.

Ini baru post panas, kalau kau cari.





Identiti sebagai seorang Melayu tidak patut dibentuk secara reaktif.
Kemiskinan, lemah, malas dan lain-lain idea yang biasa dikaitkan dengan identiti Melayu Moden bukan hanya negatif, tetapi juga sonsangan ciri-ciri 'Other-other' domestik Melayu yang dianggap antagonis.

Ini dunia global beb. Malaysia, sama ada sedar atau tidak hanya pak pacak di pentas dunia.
Jika kita sedar akan hal ini, kita perlu hentikan kekeliruan identiti Melayu yang timbul dari pandangan dunia yang berbataskan Laut Cina Selatan dan Selat Melaka dan sebaliknya raikan nilai-nilai Melayu yang akan membenarkan orang Melayu menjadi lebih dari jaguh kampung. Nilai-nilai seperti kreativiti, diplomasi pertuturan yang berkesan, dan sebagainya.

Dengan harapan keyakinan yang terbina terbit dari dalam dan mampu bertahan.