A Dialogue Between Two Generations

A Dialogue Between Two Generations

(a duet co-written by Nor Faridah Abdul Manaf and M. SHANmughalingam)

Faridah:

Thatha

The day you told us of your journey to the new land

I half listened in between MTV and instant noodles

You spoke of the early days' hardship and how lucky we were

You collected empty bottles, sold used newspapers

to pay for Dad's school and his six other siblings

I heard your stories too often

that I could tell you which line you'd forgotten.

Shan:

Your Thatha was pioneer Paper Lama man.

I did not even dream of a van.

I walked everywhere

Saving on trishaw fare

When the sun was at it's hottest

I thought of our daughters.

Then our sons, my wife and our family

What I had to do just to live simply

Faridah:

Pak Mat thinks you are a tough man

Despite confined to your wheel chair

Auntie Mei Lin serves you nice, warm Chinese tea

It looks very Malaysian to me.

You spoke, saw, heard no evil

in this land of opportunities

one wise way to survive, you say.

But Thatha, 

explain to me

the divide and rule I face at school

Indians do what Indians have to do

Malays see what Malays want to see

Chinese hear what Chinese want to hear

Thatha, teach me how to stay cool like you.

Shan:

I only look - cool

Don't judge a look by its cover

The Colonials started the divide and fool

But do we need to perpetuate it as a rule?

Must a Malaysian fear and 

face loneliness in his own homeland?

Almost every one else here

Is First a Malay, a Chinese, an Indian,

an Iban or a Kadazan.

And now first a Muslim, Buddhist,

Christian, Hindu, or a Holier

Than thou even within his

own community.

Must a Malaysian be relegated

Down to the "Others" category

For being none of the above racial

or religious categories first?

A Malaysian lost in Malaysia

Will he be found?

By whom?

When?

 - Published in Indian Literature, Sahitya Akademi's Bi-Monthly Journal, No. 267: January/February 2012 Vol. LVI No. 1, pg 114-116.