MLIE – REFLECTION BY YAB AIE

Literature is something beautiful to me. I had been exposed with literature when I was young. My late father is someone who is really artistic. So do my mother. The first literature work that attracts me the most is ‘Gurindam Jiwa’ the beautiful song from classic movie acted by Nordin Ahmad. My father told me that gurindam was made to shows Nordin Ahmad’s love towards his wife. Then I realize that literature is some way to show what inside you. Furthermore it is more lovely and sweet.
As I grew up, I learned something new about literature. ‘SHIT’ by Shahnon Ahmad. What so special about this book? For me as a child I hate this Shahnon because he uses rude word and term in his book. My father told me that this also a kind of literature. But literatures suppose to be something beautiful and sweet I said. This book is sweet he said. Maybe I did not know how to appreciate literature yet. Then I wanted to learn more about literature. It happen when I entered secondary school. There I learned about Shakespeare, Roald Dahl and others English’s poets. But apart from them I knew that there are Malaysian writers that write in English.
I amazed me. Our national writer told about our own country. There I learned to be more nationalistic and independent tinker. When I continue my study in Institute Pendidikan Guru Kampus Temenggong Ibrahim, I was exposed to Salleh Ben Joned. He always has been cynical through his works. He condemned Malaysian and our political scenario. But through out my study here in Malaysian Literature in English I know that he is not a traitor. People like him and Dina Zaman are not traitor. They just being neutral when giving their opinion through their literary works. People like them look Malaysia from global perspective. Maybe some Malaysian cannot accept it. Because they think that they a the victim but when we think more and not inward what they wrote is true.
By learning MLIE I become the better person. Those writers give me a path to justify my own country without being bias. This subject also teaches me to appreciate our national writers. And I believe that our Malaysian writers able to compete with others in the world. Their literary works are superb. Malaysian should appreciate them first them they will be able to bring our country via their works to the world. Believe it or not we will benefit from it.