Musical Monday makes its comeback...

Dear reader,








It's been a while since my last Musical Monday, hasn't it? Alright, so it's been a while since my last anything. It turns out that college life gets pretty busy at times. Who knew. Before I get down to song-sharing business, I have one piece of information I would like to divulge. My father went to Singapore recently. He goes to a lot of places, for his job, you know. Anyway, this otherwise mundane and ritual business trip was heralded by an extraordinary souvenir. He came back bearing gifts. Or, rather, gift. An awesome, awesome gift. The gift in question was a...wait, are you sitting down? I think you'd better sit down. Prepare your mental faculties for the shock of your life. Brace yourself. I'm serious. This is going to blow your mind. Okay, enough stalling. He brought back a--pause for dramatic effect--tablet PC! An effing tablet PC! Can you believe it? Because I can't believe it. I'm still trying to recover from the shock. I'm typing this right now on my brand new, still-has-that-new-electronic-product-smell tablet PC, the one I'm having trouble believing is real. And to answer your unspoken question, my nosy reader, yes...it was extremely expensive. It cost a substantial amount of money, and--from the way my dad tells it--at least one limb. Ah, but it was worth it. So worth it. It has this screen, right, that can swivel all the way backwards and then down, so you can draw on a completely flat surface. And it has a little latch-thingy that makes a 'tch!' noise when you lock it in place, so your completely flat surface doesn't move around or flip open suddenly and hurt someone when you're drawing on it...or whatever. And the keypad is a joy to type on. So big and bouncy and white. It's just so effingly awesome and cool. There are no words to describe just how effingly awesome and cool it is. So I'll just post a picture of it instead.

My life is complete. Yes. If I died tonight, I'd die happy. Okay, so that's a minor exaggeration. But just a minor one. Anyway, since I can already feel scorching waves jealousy radiating off of you, I'd better switch the topic. Don't want to dwell on one subject for too long, it gets boring. Ah, my new tablet PC. Just look at it. Ahhh~




Okay, okay, switching topic. The song! Yes, the song! The song? Oh, yeah. Right, so the song I'm sharing with you today is--yet another--Malay song. This song is actually a great favourite of mine, don't know why I didn't share it sooner. It's called 'Akustatik' by OAG, also known as O@G. It's an indie Malaysian band--you know, muy mucho respect for being independent and all that--and the lead singer is Sarawakian, I believe [woot!] A word about this band: they're really into the whole wordplay thing. Which is one of the reasons I love them so much. Almost all their songs have a punny element to them, either in the title or in the lyrics. This makes them great fun to listen to, but only if you understand both Malay and English. Yup. And it also makes it hard to translate. So I settled for the song that, for me, is the easiest to translate and, as luck would have it, is also one of my all-time favourite songs...of all time. 'Akustatik' is sort of a combination of two things: 'akustik' and 'aku statik'. 'Akustik' meaning 'acoustic', and 'aku statik' meaning 'I am static'. Static, as in, not moving. Stationary. It'll make sense once you listen to the song and watch the video. *gestures flamboyantly in the air* After you, dear reader.










Akustatik
OAG
Seusia malam ku menantimu
Dihembus embun, aku tersipu
Mungkinkah kau lupa temujanji kita
Kau gembira bersama teman-temanmu


Berlari-lari ku mencarimu
Selembut salju musim berlalu
Menapa berubah sekelip mata
Hatiku gundah tiada terhingga


[Chorus]
Kau umpama merpati putih
Patah sayapnya di udara
Kau umpama merpati putih
Patah sayapnya di udara


Merbahaya

Seusia malam ku menantimu

Dihembus embun, aku tersipu

Mungkinkah kau lupa temujanji kita

Kau gembira bersama teman-temanmu

Berlari-lari ku mencarimu

Selembut salju musim berlalu

Menapa berubah sekelip mata

Hatiku gundah tiada terhingga

[Chorus] x a lot of times

Pa, pa, pa, pa...

Seusia malam ku menantimu

English translation:

Akustatik

OAG

I waited for you all night long

Breathed upon by the dew, I blushed

Maybe you forgot about our date

You're happy together with your friends

I run, looking for you

The season passes as soft as snow

Why change in the blink of an eye?

My heart is saddened beyond expression

[Chorus]

You are like a dove

That broke its wing in the air

You are like a dove

That broke its wing in the air

Dangerous

I waited for you all night long

Breathed upon by the dew, I blushed

Maybe you forgot about our date

You're happy together with your friends

I run, looking for you

The season passes as soft as snow

Why change in the blink of an eye?

My heart is saddened beyond expression

[Chorus] x many, many times

Pa, pa, pa, pa...

I waited for you all night long

There you have it. Like I said, fairly simple, translation-wise. Okay, so I tried to get the words in the video to translate them, but the stupid subtitles kept getting in the way. And I couldn't find any other video that didn't have subtitles. I know what he's saying, I have ears. I don't need the stupid subtitles. Anyway, here's what I managed to get. Some of the spelling is old-fashioned, the type used during Malaya's colonial days. I think they did that to make it look quaint and fairy-tale-ish. Nice touch, if you ask me. Here you go.

Pada suatu hari, seekor burung t'lah ditetas ke duniya.
Burung itu menjadi seekor burung yang [...] dan [...]
Dia cuba untuk menjadi burung yang paling hebat.
Puteh, namanya...
Hobinya suka berterbangan di awan biru bersama teman-temannya.
Tiba-tiba Puteh menjadi seekor burung yang ego.
Ibunya selalu berpesan supaya jangan terbang bersendirian.
Puteh tidak pernah mempedulikan nasihat orang tuanya.
Pada suatu pagi, ketika Puteh khayal berterbangan...
Malang tidak berbau...
Puteh telah dilanggar oleh burung besi yang amat besar.

cerita pendek oleh: Radhionazalim

In English: Once upon a time, a bird was hatched into the world.
This bird tried to be a [...] and a [...] bird.
She tried to become the greatest bird.
White, was her name...
Her hobby was to fly in the blue clouds with her friends.
White suddenly became an egotistical bird.
Her mother always told her, don't fly alone.
White never listened to her parent's advice.
One morning, while White was intoxicated with flying...
Disaster struck...
White was hit by a very big steel bird.

a short story by: Radhionazalim

Yay! Footnote time! I realize this is a really long post, so I'll make it short. Just for you, dear reader. I translated Dia to She because, although all the pronouns in Malay are not gender-specific, the song is probably about a girl, so...I decided the story was about a girl dove, too. I don't know if that's what they (the storywriters) intended, but I don't really care. She's a girl. Deal with it. So, the second one: Puteh and duniya. The original spelling for the words 'white' and 'world', back when writing in the Latin alphabet made its big début, along with colonization. It's pronounced that way, so. Poo-teh. Nowadays it's spelt as 'putih' and 'dunia'. And the next one: Malang tidak berbau. This is actually a Malay proverb that means, literally, bad luck has no smell, or is odourless. And it means, figuratively, that you can never tell when disaster may strike. Out of the blue. The last one: Radhionazalim. I think, but I'm not sure, that these are all the names of the band members combined into one word. I know, for sure, that Radhi is the lead singer. So the other two must be Ona and Zalim. And since I'm too lazy to google them, I'll just keep assuming that that's what it is.




And I'm done. Wasn't that exceptionally short and exceptionally sweet, dear reader? Well, I've said all that I wanted to say, so I'll be going now. See you 'round, ta-ta for now, adieu, and all that.



















Yours,






Figgy, the Proud Owner of a Brand New Tablet PC

1Malaysia...what's that?

Dear reader,



I've been thinking a lot lately. And when I say thinking, I mean I've been engaged in some serious, solemn, deep contemplation. The subject matter upon which I have been contemplating is...Malaysia. Specifically, the 1Malaysia concept. Sometimes I feel sceptical. Could 1Malaysia actually come to pass? In my lifetime? Other times I feel affronted. Hypocrites! This country is full of them. They say one thing and do another. All this lovey-dovey, world peace, be kind to your neighbour stuff is just on the surface. If you dig any deeper--underneath the sugar-coating, 'showing face' veneer of tourism brochures and 'Malaysia: Truly Asia'--you'll find tension. Layers and layers of deep-rooted tension between the races and creeds and colours that make up Malaysia.




We can't help it, of course. What do you expect, just dumping all sorts of races that were never supposed to cohabitate into one single country? Of course there'll be tension and backstabbing and favouritism. We're only human, after all.




But I also think we should've gotten over that racism business by now. I mean, there are people whose great-great-great grandfathers were immigrants, yet they still get treated like second- (third-, fourth-, fifth-) priority citizens in their own country. I think if your family has been in Malaysia for at least two generations, you should qualify to be called a native Malaysian.




A line from the film 'Gubra' comes to mind. Sometimes, for the non-bumiputera citizens of Malaysia, living in this country is like "loving someone who doesn't love you back". It's heartbreaking. It's the feeling you get when someone you love with all your heart betrays you for another. Someone more 'worthy' than you. How do you measure someone's worth? By who their father was? Their religion? Or do you measure them by their actions, their words? By their unyielding loyalty to you?




Granted, not everyone in Malaysia is a racist. In fact, the opposite is true. We all had friends from different races growing up. In primary school, I used to love to listen to my friends' stories about all their different racial customs and beliefs. We used to brag to each other, feigning indifference if someone's story was more impressive than ours. Ha, the pride of little children. We get to mix and mingle with so many interesting people. That is the side of Malaysia that I love. Where else can you have holidays every other month for so many festivals? Easter, Good Friday, Deepavali, Hari Raya, Wesak Day, Christmas, Merdeka...the list goes on. Oh, and the food! Ah, the food. Don't even get me started on the food...a list of all of Malaysia's contributions in the culinary department would stretch for miles. Or kilometres, as the case may be.




Anyway, about this 1Malaysia thing. I for one think it's still a dream: distant, vague, maybe even a little surreal. But unattainable? No. Definitely not. To make dreams a reality, we need to wake up. So wake up, Malaysians. Stop sleeping your life away. Let's make Malaysia a place of faces without races.












Yours,




Figgy the Malaysian

♫ ♪ Music and Lyrics...and Translation?

Dear Reader,





You should know by now that when I hear a song, it's not the music I listen to first, it's the words. I am quite fortunate to be able to understand two languages quite fluently: English and Malay. And, by understanding Malay, I can almost understand Indonesian. You see, the Malay and Indonesian languages share the same relationship as American and British English. The accents and colloquial terms are quite different, but the basic words used are pretty similiar.



Malaysians sometimes borrow Indonesian words, especially in poetry, novels or songs, because Indonesian words sound so much more poetic and romantic than our Malay ones.



Anyway, the reason I'm composing this post is not to deliver a lecture on the differences or similarities between the Malaysian and Indonesian languages. I'm here to share a song with you, my dear reader. It's called 'Juwita (Citra Terindah)' by M. Nasir. Here are the lyrics and the translation:





M. Nasir
Juwita (Citra Terindah)
Bagaimanakah aku gambarkan
Rasa yang membakar jiwaku?
Tiada kata yang tak cliché
Bagai habis bahasa bermutu
Sedang engkau teristimewa buat diriku
Ilham tugu Taj Mahal
Didirikan, oh…


Barangkali kita perlu
Melihat di sebalik materi
Kau wanita, aku lelaki
Ayuhlah kita *mengikat janji
Yang kau Juwita menolak segala dusta
Citra yang terindah
Cerita yang sakti

Chorus:
Ku serahkan nasibku pada cinta murni
Jugaku rasakan bukti
Patahkan, ku hancurkan badanku ini
Kau tetap menjadi

Oh-oh, oh-oh…*Pujaan
Oh-oh, oh-oh…Juwita

Kau segala-galanya

Kau Juwita menghidupkan jiwa yang lara
Menggoncang kalbu yang lama membeku

[Chorus]

Oh-oh, oh-oh…Pujaan
Oh-oh, oh-oh…Juwita
Oh-oh, oh-oh…Pujaan
Oh-oh, oh-oh…Juwita

*Sempurnakan cintaku
Juwita...Juwita...
Kaulah segalanya
Segalanya...
Kaulah segalanya
Segalanya...






M. Nasir
Juwita (The Most Beautiful Image)
How do I describe
The feeling that burns in my soul?
There are no words that aren’t cliché
As if language of good quality has been used up
Whereas you’re the most special person to me
The inspiration behind the Taj Mahal
Being built, oh…

Maybe we need
To look behind the subject matter
You’re a woman, I’m a man
Come, let us *make promises
That you, Juwita, push aside all the lies
The most beautiful image
A sacred story

Chorus:
I deliver my fate to a pure love
I have also felt the proof
If I break, crush my body
You will still be

Oh-oh, oh-oh…*The one I adore
Oh-oh, oh-oh…Juwita

You are everything

You, Juwita, brought a miserable soul to life
Shook up a heart that has long been frozen

[Chorus]

Oh-oh, oh-oh…The one I adore
Oh-oh, oh-oh…Juwita
Oh-oh, oh-oh…The one I adore
Oh-oh, oh-oh…Juwita

*Perfect my love
Juwita...Juwita...
You are everything
Everything...
You are everything
Everything...









*mengikat janji--make promises
Ok, so I translated this phrase as 'make promises'. But the literal word-for-word translation is 'tie promises'. I love this phrase because it implies that promises, like knots, can be tied; that they are binding. Just thought you would like to know that, my dearest reader.


*pujaan--the one I adore
The original [accurate] translation for 'pujaan' is 'idol', or 'sacrifice'; you know, something to be worshipped and adored. I thought 'idol' was a little heavy for the upbeat mood of this song and, besides, I believe in the whole monotheistic "You shall have no other gods before Me" thing. So I paraphrased.


*sempurnakan--perfect
The word 'perfect' is used as a verb here, not as a noun. Examples:
Verb: 'please perfect my love'.
Noun: 'make my love perfect'.
Interestingly enough, it's almost the same situation with the Malay word. 'Sempurna' means 'perfect', a noun. Add '-kan' to the back and it becomes a verb.





Alrighty then. I should probably go now, before I come up with anymore footnotes and bore you to death. Bubbye!





Yours,



Figgy the Philologist