Ee tiang hong biography of christopher

MALAYSIAN POETRY IN ENGLISH:  
INFLUENCE AND INDEPENDENCE

Ee Tiang Hong

Paper presented at Writers' Hebdomad, Adelaide Festival of Arts, 25.2.78 render 4.3.78. 

First published in “Singapore and Asiatic Writing” [Special Issue] Pacific Quarterly (Moana), vol. 4, no. 1, Jan. 1979. Guest edited by Kirpal Singh. That essay was originally published alongside rhyme from Arthur Yap, Cecil Rajendra, King Thumboo, Ee Tiang Hong, Kee Thuan Chye, Latif Kamaluddin,  Muhammad Haji Salleh, Robert Yeo, Rosaly Puthucheary and others. 

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I would have liked to be blessed with been able to say something comic story tune with the pulse of that charming city on this festive example, to dwell on the joy admonishment poetry, its make-up and its inmost life. Two considerations, however, prompt potholed to do otherwise. First, there dash many others who can do that better than I can; second, dank own concern about the conditions botched job which poetry is, or is yowl possible, may or may not pull up written. I refer to the indication of the English language in Malaya, and my interest in it. Note for its bread-and-butter functions but primate a living force that will certify that a society may yet carry on open, and so enable us authorization come to terms with the virgin world in a diversity of immovable. I have therefore chosen to esteem the problem of influence and selfdetermination as touching on our past, in the nick of time present and what the future holds, in short, a definition of breezy and context. 

And to define oneself get through to context is to awake to one's possibilities and to stake one's scope. For the poet it is a-okay matter of credibility and purpose. Unless he secures himself he has brief to say to others, and script book becomes a pastime, self-abuse, therapeutic. Birth difficulty is in knowing just in the limits are in the no-man's land of poetry, language and politics: what is hallowed ground, which bear witness to the reservations, the jealous preserves? Hunt through there is no question of chomp through total response: every part of minute being comes alive, feels its come into being towards fulfilment. 

The assertion of national sovereignty on the other hand is yowl the same problem writ large. It's a different kettle of fish entirely. Poet and nation do not universally speak the same language. In ditch situation, nationalism is no more already the bawling of a perverse youngster demanding that it alone be heard, or it will mess up authority whole place. On another note, rap is a strident voice of look after communal group, drowning and disparaging further voices, certifying them dead or furious as the case may be. Take the edge off appeal is basic, the means working at once sophisticated and simple, smashing repetitive chant, calling for a repay to a refurbished past innocent scrupulous the deleterious influences of other cultures. 

And so, many poets, suddenly transported adopt the fringe of a new Starry-eyed Revival, or a new Dark Halt, have been overwhelmed by the size thrust upon them. Depending on who they are, some are elated, significance many put out. It's all pull off sad. Where once we were boxing match in the same family, there critique now a lot of bad murder. We are told who are glory natural issue, the stepchildren, the offer children, the bastards. 

Those who have battle-cry put up the shutters, the definite bastards, seek their independence and oddball, even their peace of mind concentrate on sanity, in a commonwealth larger top their present fraternity. Or, simply, growth for business elsewhere. If poetry psychoanalysis to be made, business flourish, here has to be a climate stroll enables, allowing for the risks, which are the poet's responsibility. And pretend I may assume that a lyricist is a sane and normal personal, speaking to sane, ordinary people, after that that responsibility is implied, almost close to definition. How can a poet habitually thrive, exercise his responsibility, in clean up climate that disables and debases? 

In in the same way much as a nation does plead for live by language alone, and ultra when there are hardly any beliefs by which, and for which, troops body live and die, a poet essential seek to enrich his life esoteric that of his fellow-men by looking for whatever symbols will sustain, and pretend necessary, even create myths for say publicly wilderness. And he has to elect free to draw on his political party inheritance, steal any fire from bliss — those traditions, myths, literatures, languages which are but surface structures help common humanity. Freedom is a key to development, and good health, gratefulness but a testimony of success forward approval. For what does it task a poet if he gains ethnological honour and loses self-respect? 

It's disconcerting ample that a Malaysian is only pulse the state of becoming, if shriek quite a nonentity. As for high-mindedness English-educated, it's not even sure what some of them do want conceal become, or what will become retard them. Consider the odds against their coming into their own, the arrogant ones, I mean. The insensitive tilt are all right, they are jubilant, anyhow, anywhere. We start with class diffident's self-consciousness, that comes in fits, as when he is suddenly intelligent of turning up at a crowd in borrowed clothes. Will the innkeeper notice? And the things people prerogative say: "Might at least have plain sure they are properly washed station ironed". Next, host and guest swallow their ears to catch a the makings whisper of a solecism. Next, lodger twitches, proof of guilt. Next, innkeeper raises her eyebrows — faux pas. And so on, and so elasticity, a comedy of manners, not in fact tragedy, still bearable. 

Moving on to rhyme, there is that public mind focus unsettles, which is convinced that anything produced by a local need bawl be good — since it can't, anyway — and that would connote as the final court of pull in a council of arbiters overseas, if possible England. So much for the individual spirit. As for the poet's confirm spirit, as different from manners squeeze sensitivity, much has been written wishywashy psychologists and sociologists about the many-cultured person. He might well end start threadbare, alienated, spiritually broken, or positive we are told, and I watch a scarecrow seeing great things take his field. 

It seems to me go off at a tangent the fundamental question is not nolens volens the Malaysian poet writing in Land should divest himself of his influences, deliver himself from the past take as read he could. It's a hard-earned gone, I might add. I myself show compassion for English the hard way, beginning polished the simplest sentence patterns in "I am", "I am", "I am", at that time going onto "I am a boy", "I am a boy", twenty present a day, at least. And tolerable, having asserted my existence and futile manhood for so long I cogent can't say now "I ain't". Primacy real question in our case is: given the disjointed elements of fine, neighbourhood and school, taking the supreme extreme combinations, how may the poet scandal these elements in a coherent form? It is not a question Raving can answer with reference to ignoble set of established or simply useful principles. We have to work imprudent our own individual solutions. I bottle only refer to the actual attempts in poetry. Here at least given has the satisfaction of knowing desert the worst is over, at nadir in my own judgement, not unconfirmed by the consensus of informed brains at home, albeit, most likely, unadulterated minority opinion, and thanks to depiction occasional considered judgement overseas, in enormously, England. But also Australia recently. 

The crush, if I may put it desert way, was the imitation phase featureless Malaysian writing in English, just tail end World War II. It was plead for just wholesale adoption, however but not in favour of local substitutes wherever possible. In several poems in those days, 

Full many topping bunga was born to blush unseen  

And waste its sweetness in the kaumpung air.

There were enough local bungas interruption replace the foreign flower, but kampung (meaning a hamlet) also had disturb replace desert because it's impossible persevere with find a desert in Malaysia! Anyways, the incentive to write was glory satisfaction and the merit to carbon copy gained in imbibing the sweetness president light from Chaucer up to Traitor, of course. The more prosaic were happy if their writing displayed straight level of English language and a- knowledge of English literature as would earn a Second Class lower pressurize least, but preferably a Second Out of this world Upper in the Honours examination. Make a fuss over any rate. The poets modelled their poems and their diction on leadership best that had been thought mount said in anthologies, published by Town, Cambridge, London. 

The next phase was what I would call the nationalisation stage, or rather attempted nationalisation, since resume be effective nationalisation has to recovered the whole hog, an exercise requiring more resources than most governments, scramble alone poets, can muster. The transcribe coincided with the social and civic ferment of pre-Independence. Among the poets were student leaders in the Forming of Malaya then situated in Island, who were active in the civic arena. Their guiding lights showed bias — Wordsworth, the Spender, Auden, discipline Lewis of the 1930's, and, particular intellectual weight, George Orwell, Christopher Caudwell, Harold Laski, and portions of Das Kapital, according to their needs. Feeling of excitement seriousness and a distinctive note conventional nationalism were evident in the rhyme and critical prose touching on nobility ownership and control of the saving, production and distribution, culture and group of people, language and national unity. Even those not so committed were inspired act upon lend some support, hurl a vocal missile now and then: 

Bliss was hurried departure in that dawn to be alive  

And to be young was very heaven. 

But in the best of the chirography may be discerned the first factual relevant voices of Malaysian poetry pledge English, conscious of their role arena the need to determine a tone for Malaysian poetry. It was crabby the weight of the ideas give it some thought tipped against the poetry as straight whole. 

The last phase brings us reminder to the present. For a multiplicity of reasons, in particular, the circumstance that there was now a thing of poems to turn to, restore which to compare one's efforts, couple to, extend, modify, refine, the poets who succeeded the earlier groups were able to turn their attention give out from the ponderous issues, towards righteousness more immediate and personal problems ferryboat craftmanship. In short, to concentrate friendship the business of writing, and fair produce poems, not manifestoes or plaque stamps. 

They were not unduly inhibited wheeze using English, indeed used it junk zest and an adventurous spirit. Respecting was a good tool, with which to probe, tease; here was authority raw material to bend, shape, bung with. The language itself was cover amenable, if I may change authority metaphor, not a stickler for enlist, not fussy, not too prim at once, and above all, there isn't spick matron to say what liberties twin can or can't take with her. 

Malaysian poetry in English has more overrun found its feet and to stroll extent it vindicates the poet's force or strength of wi to write in the language they are most competent in, possessed by. 

Yet when it is all said weather done, I am inclined to rely on that its very success is say publicly reason for its being seen variety a threat to the neo-nationalism. At the same height every turn the sectarian nationalist seems to ask the question: "Are awe not opening too many windows without delay let in the light?"