Dr Yahaya Sanusi's Mango Tree - a poem for our times

I reproduce an excerpt of Dr Yahaya Sanusi's "Mango Tree" here. It's a wonderful poem that spoke so much to me about the travails of our time - the passing of the old, the abandonment of the weak, voiceless and powerless for new commercializations, the loss of our soul.

tapi apa kan daya 
waktu telah tiba 
mereka membunuh aku bila aku tak terdaya 
mereka pengecut, penipu 

aku mati untuk kau hidup 
kau adalah warisanku 
jagalah martabatmu 
selamat tinggal 
sayangku 

(the time has come 
and now it's done 
they take me down, I cannot fend 
cowards and liars, they still pretend 

I die, so that you live 
my legacy, you shall receive 
hold your head high with dignity 
fare thee well till eternity 
my dear)

The full poem and the story of Hidayah Amin's mango tree can be found at Ms Amin's Gedung Kuning blogsite.

Selling off our heritage - the plight of Kampong Glam

Most would have missed the plaintive appeal (tucked way down on Page 42, Sunday Times 17 June), of Ms Hidayah Amin about how Kampong Glam may be losing  its story to the glitz of Omani wealth. Kampong Glam was a Malay enclave, originally designated for the occupation of Sultan Hussein Shah (himself of Bugis heritage) and his family. The area was primarily populated by immigrants from Java, Sulawesi and Bawean. There were Indian and Middle Easterners as well, but they mostly assimilated into the Malay culture. Ms Amin would know as, being the great grand-daughter of Haji Yusoff the belt merchant, she lived in the big yellow house, smack in the middle of Kampong Glam. At least until the government forcibly acquired the property.

She is so right, and her appeals should not go unheeded. The Malay culture needs to be protected, and it is fundamentally wrong to continue to assume that propagating a pseudo Middle Eastern Islamic facade is  equivalent to preserving the Malay heritage. The richness of Malay, Javanese, Sulawesian and Boyanese cultures need to be specifically protected as well. Unfortunately though, there are few who are wealthy and powerful enough on their side to fight for them.

Their voice desperately needs to be heard. We have lost too much of our true Singaporean heritage already.