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About Author
Muhammad Haji Salleh (1942- ) is a well-known Malaysian poet, critic, translator, editor and researcher. He is the sixth Malaysian Laureate. He was born on 26th March 1942 in Taping, Perak. Muhammad had most of his education in Malaysia; he received his early education at Bukit Mertajam High School and Malay College Kuala Kangsar. However, he did his teacher training at Lodge Teacher Training College in England. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Malaya (Singapore), Masters of Arts from the University of Malaya in 1970 and a Ph.D from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States of America in 1973. In 1977, he was a Professor under the Fullbright-Hays programme and taught at the North Carolina State University, Raleigh, USA. He is a professor at the Department of Malay Letters in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and was once appointed as the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Social Science and Humanities as well as Head of Institute of Malay Language and Literature. Muhammad Haji Salleh is the only Malaysian poet who is studied in the Literature English programme.
Summary
The poem “Do Not Say’ was composed by Mohammed Bin Haji Salleh. He is a famous post-colonial Malaysian poet.. This poem shows the respect of the people to the nation. This poem shows the example of Malaysian variety of English as we can find many Malaysian words such as ladang, keris, kampong, etc.
The speaker of the poem tells snobbish (unsociable) people not to tell his people are lazy because the snobbish people are only onlookers and they cannot judge the people of the speaker. The snobbish people judge the speaker’s people weak on the basis of so-called economic data. Although his people have not made tall apartment buildings, they are gentle and hard-working. They entertain singing and dancing. That shows they are well-cultured and civilized. But the so-called critics who are the onlookers cannot judge his social advancement properly. His people love life, which is the symbol of humanity deeply existing in their spirit and behavior.
The speaker tells the snobbish and so-called educated people or politicians not to write that his nation does not have literature and culture. His nation enjoys sajak or pantun at their opera called bangsawan. His people have read epic shairs and the theological theses. He claims that the so-called educated people have not gone through the history which is full of ancestral glory, and cannot enjoy the flavour of this social customs that can be felt on the pattern of the songket and in a Kampong village in his country.
The speaker reminds the so-called educated people not to tell his people poor because his nation is rich in humanity although they have a very few banks to deal with the money. He claims that his people have already learnt how to organize such associations and bodies as his society was an entity before the existence of the political philosophy. And he claims that the snobbish and so- called educated people don’t have any knowledge of his nation and reminds them not to judge it. This poem is a severe attack on the snobbish and so-called educated people or politicians who think they know better.
In this way the poet has tried to show deep love and respect to the native culture, traditions and civilization.
सरांश नेपालीमा
यो Do not Say भन्ने कविता Mohammed Bin Haji Salleh ले लेखेका हुन । उनी मलेसियाको Post Colonial कविको रुपमा चिनिन्छन् । यस कवितामा कविले देशका जनताको देश भक्ति र सुसंस्कारलाई प्रस्तुत गरेको छ । प्रस्तुत कवितामा ladang, keris, kampong जस्ता धेरै Malaysian शब्दहरूको प्रयोग गरिएको हुदाँMalaysian Englishको एउटा उदाहरण भएको देखिन्छ ।
कविले आफ्नो देशभक्तिलाई प्रस्ट रूपमा प्रशंसा गरेको देखिन्छ । आफूलाई शिक्षित भनाउदा व्यक्तिहरूले लेखकको देश र जनताको मूल्याङ्कन गर्न सक्दैनन् । उक्त शिक्षित भनाउदा मानिसहरू मात्र रमितेहरू, कारमा बसी गाउँबाट हिंड्ने त्यस्ता धनी भनाउदा व्यक्तिहरूलाई कविले सम्मान गर्दैनन् किनभने उनीहरूले प्राप्त गरेको आर्थिक तथ्याङ्कले कविका जनतालाई गरिब देखाएको छ । कविका देशका मानिसहरूले गगनचुम्बी भवनहरू नबनाए पनि उनको समाज यथेष्ट मात्रामा सभ्य भइसकेको छ । उनले देशका जनता र जीबनलाई भौतिक, आर्थिक सम्पन्नतालाई भन्दा बढी सम्मान गर्छन् । उनको देशका जनतामा यथेष्ट मात्रामा मानवीयता रहेको छ। त्यसै गरी लेखकले आफ्नो देशमा साहित्य र संस्कृतिको प्रशस्त विकास भएको कुरालाई दाबी गरेका छन् । उनले शिक्षित मनाउदा व्यक्तिहरूलाई यो कुरा सम्झाएका छन् । उनले यो पनि दाबी गरेको छन् की उनका देशका जनताले धेरै ग्रन्थहरू पड़ी आफूलाई सुसभ्य र जानकार बनाएका छन् । उनको देशका समाज यति धेरै सुसंस्कृत छ की शिक्षित भनाउदा व्यक्तिहरूले यसको जानकारी राख्न सकेका छैनन् । त्यसैगरी उनका देशका जनताले संघ संस्थाहरू सञ्चालन गर्न जानिसकेका छन् । उनको राष्ट्रले कुनै पनि राजनैतिक दर्शनका आगमन हुनु पहिले नै आफ्नो फरक पहिचान बनाइसकेको छ, जुन कुरा शिक्षित भनाउदा व्यक्तिहरूलाई जानकारी छैन भन्दै कविले शिक्षित भनाउँदा व्यक्तिहरूप्रति कडा आक्रमण गरेका छन् ।
यसरी कविले यस कवितामा आफ्नो देशको संस्कृति, रितीरिवाज र सभ्यता प्रतिको माया र सम्मान देखाउन खोजेका छन् ।
Answer the following questions.
a) Who is the poet addressing to in the poem?
= The poet is addressing to the snobbish and so-called educated people, or politicians who pass the village sitting in a car and pretend to know the simple poor people and their life.
b) The poet feels proud of the humble people. How do you prove their simplicity?
= The poet feels proud of the humble people. We can prove their simplicity with the help of their system of living in a kampong (village), wearing hand-woven songket (cloth), listening to the sajak or pantum and dancing whole night, reading epic shairs and theological theses etc.
c) What does the poet mean by ‘The people’s epics’?
= The poet uses the terms ‘epic shairs’ to refer to ‘The people’s epics’. It means a long rhythmic poem about the action of great men and women or about the nation’s history.
d) How does the speaker attack the political philosophy?
= The poet as the speaker. attacks the political philosophy severely by mentioning that the so-called political philosophy has nothing to do with the advancement and civilization of his society. His society was an entity before the appearance of political philosophy.
e) Has the political philosophy taught them anything? If so, why not?
= As mentioned in the poem, the political philosophy taught them nothing because their society had been already exiting as an entity with its complete recognition and advancement on its own before the emergence of the political philosophy.
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