komponen sastera in Bahasa Melayu subject

Making Malay literature (kesusasteraan Melayu) a component in the Bahasa Melayu subject may not necessarily increase the level of interest among students. Students are learning KOMSAS (komponen sastera) just for the sake of exam and do not show genuine appreciation for Malay literature. They may have read about cerita jenaka like Lebai Malang or Pak Kaduk, but try ask them if they have read about Pak Pandir, you'll be surprised that some of them may never even heard about the silly character before. Anyway, I don't suggest for Pak Pandir to be included in the syllabus though.

Sometimes I wonder if the ministry of education knows how to choose the right reading material to be used as textbooks. Maybe I'm wrong. Perhaps the problem lies in the children of today. They have no heart and soul for the poor or even tragic characters in their anthologies and novels. Many times when students were asked to read the novel Meniti Kaca, they will laugh about the character Mahyun, the mother of Nazar (the main character), because she had this penyakit nanar and who was later sent to Hospital Bahagia (so now you know why they laugh about it). When the mother was found dead under a coconut tree by the river, some students may even find that plot funny. Not only that, the majority of city kids can't relate to the story because the latar tempat and latar masyarakat in the novel were something they can't imagine of.

In a similar setting in Hadiah Hari Guru, a boy named Ramli was so poor he had to give ulam pucuk janggus as a present to his favourite teacher, Cikgu Fatimah. In reality, especially in this 21st century, a touching storyline using poverty and simplicity won't leave much impact on our students like the way it used to work on students in the 70s or 80s. Poverty still exists but this common kampung setting which keeps repeated in the school syllabus just won't work anymore especially in convincing the modern kids on how lucky they are. Perhaps we should have more short stories like Tina and Tangan Kanan, Kiri atau Kedua-duanya which are better readings for students because they emphasized on family values. I simply love the fact that the authors of the two short stories like to over use the teknik plot imbas kembali (flash back) and gaya bahasa hiperbola (exaggeration) respectively.

There are a lot of good puisi (whether tradisional or moden), prosa and drama in the anthologies used by students. Even the novels are good. However, it is not enough. In my humble opinion, students shouldn't just limit themselves to the textbooks. They must read more than what they were asked to do. There are a lot of good books that worth reading such as Syair Siti Zubaidah, Hikayat Malim Deman and Sayang Si Tina just to name a few. Sayang Si Tina, by Ali Majod is one of my all time favourite. The story is about a student called Tina who was involved in an accident and left her paralysed. The touching story is about the acceptance of oneself as well as the acceptance of others.

On the other hand, teachers must be creative in teaching KOMSAS in order to increase the level of interest among students. Instead of just asking students to read from the textbooks or give tonnes of notes on sinopsis, plot, gaya bahasa or nilai dan pengajaran, why not guide your students and start asking them to write their own piece of sajak, pantun or drama? I always believe that the opportunity to write and being guided will unearth someone's talent in literature.

Since most students never believe they could write a sajak (because teachers rarely ask them to do so), I'll share some tips on sajak writing in the coming post. I'll also let you see my first sajak published by Dewan Siswa when I was in Form 5.

tips to write a five-line sajak

Recently I was browsing the Internet to find activities for my BM students (currently I'm giving BM tuition for a few UPSR and secondary students). I came across a website titled Combine Your Grammar and Poetry Skills. I find the activity rather interesting and wanted to share with my students.

Here is one of the sajak written by my student, Caryn Goh, a UPSR student. I was amazed by the result and her potential. I discussed with her and suggested some new vocabulary that can be used to improve the sajak.

Caryn's version:

Sang Suria,
Bercahaya dan besar,
Memberi cahaya kepada manusia,
Seperti bola yang panas,
Andainya aku seperti kamu,
Dapat membantu orang ramai.

Edited version:

Sang Suria,
Bercahaya dan besar,
Memberi harapan kepada manusia,
Seperti bebola yang membara,
Andainya aku sepertinya,
Dapat menerangi segenap manusia.

The following is the technique of writing (in Malay language) a five-line sajak.

1. Baris pertama - tulis satu Kata Nama (Am atau Khas atau Terbitan) pilihan anda.


2. Baris kedua - tulis dua Kata Adjektif untuk menerangkan Kata Nama anda. Anda boleh menggunakan Kata Penguat untuk Kata Adjektif anda. Contohnya, amat cantik.


3. Baris ketiga - tulis satu Kata Kerja untuk menerangkan Kata Nama anda.


4. Baris keempat - tulis perbandingan (simile) dengan menggunakan kata-kata seperti bagai, seperti, macam, bak, laksana.


5. Baris kelima - tulis impian/kehendak/keinginan/harapan anda dengan menggunakan kata-kata seperti andainya, sekiranya, hanya jika pada permulaan ayat.

Here are five different sajak which I have written as examples for my students.

Peperangan,
Kejam dan tanpa kemanusiaan,
Menafikan erti kemerdekaan,
Bagai tiada masa hadapan,
Hanya jika perselisihan ini tidak lagi berterusan.

Sejarah,
Sukar namun penting,
Menjemukan segenap pelajar,
Laksana menonton televisyen tiada berwarna,
Hanya jika aku mampu mengingati segala.

Pahlawan,
Waja dan perkasa,
Menentang musuh yang dikecami,
Bagai tiada keesokan hari,
Andainya aku juga gagah dan berani,
Akanku tamatkan kekejaman ini.

Menara KL,
Tinggi dan megah,
Berdiri teguh di pusat bandar,
Laksana wawasan kita yang tak pernah pudar,
Andainya kejayaanku juga setinggi pencapaianmu.

Malam,
Sunyi dan berpanjangan,
Menenggelamkan cahaya dengan kegelapan,
Bagai kemuraman yang tiada berkesudahan,
Andainya pagi akan mendatang.

I have a Form 2 student who asked me if writing sajak is part of the PMR exam. I told her no. Instead it's part of the process of learning BM. I explained to her that learning Bahasa Melayu is more than just passing or excel in PMR.

Through sajak writing, we learn to apply gaya bahasa such as simile, metafora or hiperbola which is part of KOMSAS (Komponen Sastera) and tatabahasa (for example Kata Nama, Kata Adjektif and others). The process of writing a sajak also requires students to use different vocabulary in a creative way and construct better if not poetic sentences.

Most importantly we learn to appreciate other writers' puisi by reading and conducting research to write our very own piece of sajak.

home away

It's been about four months since I make a trip back to my hometown in Kuantan. Mum and Dad haven't seen me for months. The thing they always ask me is whether I put on weight or lose it. I'm planning to go back next week.

In the meawhile, I've written a sajak (malay poem) about being away from the family.

Kerinduan Penghijrah Kota

Di hamparan bumi nostalgia itu
detik manis sewaktu kecil
ditatang kepastian
kasih keluarga tercinta
sesungguhnya
tiada ruang yang memisahkan.

Bumi nostalgia
tiada lupa mengimbas segala
antara
keasyikan musim remaja
dan
pahit-mahit menggapai cita.

Kini
kian meminggiri
kian alpa
erti makna institusi keluarga
apakah dalam kedapatan
ada kehilangan
dalam kehilangan
baharu beroleh keinsafan?
~HCFoo~