Using Malay Quatrain to Empower Language

Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam - Malay quatrain could elevate the sovereignty and empower the Malay language as the official language of Brunei, the acting director of language and literature said yesterday.

Speaking during the opening ceremony of the Southeast Asian Literature Council (Mastera) Quatrain Seminar, Workshop and Festival 2010 yesterday, Hjh Aminah Hj Momin said through its popularity, Mastera could achieve its goals to improve and expand the creation, appreciation and use of Malay quatrain.

The acting director pointed out that the involvement of youths in the project was aimed to promote Malay cultural heritage as well as foster the participants' interest in Malay quatrain.

"By involving the youth in this area, it will be able to stimulate the dissemination of the culture which is now losing their interest."

She said that the event is the result of a paper presented during the Mastera Conference on March 8, 2005, which proposed a Youth Poetry Festival to be held in Malay/Indonesian speaking countries.

To implement these recommendations, Hjh Aminah said that the three founding countries, namely Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia, have agreed to prepare a concept paper for implementation.

For the record, each state sends two participants, who are not only limited to youth or arts stream students, but also youths from science, engineering and other subjects and for both Malay and non-Malay participants.

Each country will also appoint a supervisor, either among teachers or experts in the field of poetry.

"By combining the participants from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, we will be able to unite and foster cooperation and mutual understanding among people through innovation and creativity in quatrain with the guidance of mentors who are experts in this field," said Hjh Aminah.

She pointed out that pantun is an old aspect of poetry that has long existed among the Malay community, even before they knew how to write and read.

"Pantun is the absolute property of the Malay people who inhabit the Malay archipelago with its legacy handed down from one generation to the next," said the acting director.

"Pantun are high quality forms of art that can drive the thinking of an author, especially in certain situations or place where it was composed and recited because the function of the Pantun itself in the Malay community is more of a smooth delivery of emotions in full metaphor, analogy, and the likes," she added.

According to Hjh Aminah, in addition to quatrain, other cultural heritage of the Malay people included gurindam, peribahasa, seloka, syair, perumpamaan and perambahan.

A total of 20 youths are attending the five-day event which consists of seminars and workshops facilitated by eight invited speakers from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.

The speakers were expected to educate the participants the ways to effectively compose and deliver the poems.

The seminars and workshops will take place in Temburong district whereas the festival, where the participants will showcase what they have learned, will take place in the Belait district.

Among the other projects being conducted by Mastera include studying comparative literature, youth writing workshop each year in Bogor; Mastera Literary Awards, Literary Prizes Mastera; Mastera Young Writers Awards and Publications and Mastera Insert Sheet and Study Results.

On hand to launch the event was Deputy Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports Datin Hjh Adina Othman.

Source: http://www.brudirect.com
Photo: http://ceritarakyatnusantara.com

Share

Tuliskan komentar Anda !