Malay Quotes

“Waktu untuk berbahagia itu sekarang,
Tempat untuk berbahagia itu di sini,
Cara untuk berbahagia ialah dengan membuat orang lain berbahagia.”
― Robert Green Ingersoll

“Manusia ini kuat, tapi nafsu mampu menundukkannya.

Nafsu itu kuat, tapi iman mampu menundukkannya.”
― Najmi Nawawi, Head With Serban

“Dalam setiap hubungan yang sihat mesti ada perbezaan pendapat dan perbezaan pendekatan yang tidak semestinya membawa kepada perpecahan atau permusuhan”
― Ahmad Sebi Abu Bakar

“Sia-sialah pembicaraan yang tidak mengaitkan bahasa Melayu dengan cita-cita besar membina tamadun bangsa dan negara, kerana dari tahap awal pertumbuhan dan perkembangannya, bahasa Melayu senantiasa menjadi petunjuk dan kayu ukur kemajuan bangsa.”
― Awang Sariyan, Kemajuan Bahasa dan Persuratan Melayu di Peringkat Kebangsaan dan Antarabangsa: Cabaran dan Pelan Tindakan

“In the city, human beings celebrated and enjoyed material conditions and comforts, but were caught in the labyrinths and knots of spiritual shallowness and psychological confusion. In the city human beings wrestled with the demands of survival and profit but fled from life’s imperatives of honesty and moderation. In the city man was afraid to confront his own face.”
― Isa Kamari, The Tower

“Kita perlu faham bahawa hak manusia perlu diraikan dengan syarat mengikuti panduan syarak. Jika semua hak manusia perlu raikan, maka akan lahirlah manusia yang hidup tanpa undang-undang. Semuanya bebas atas dasar liberal. Nak jadi lesbian? Nak tukar jantina? Semuanya boleh.

Hak manusia yang berlandaskan nafsu ini menjauhi fitrah Muslim yang sebenar. Jangan jadikan hak asasi manusia sebagai alasan untuk membenarkan tindakan. Kita sering kali fikir tentang hak manusia, tapi kita lupa bahawa kita adalah hamba-Nya, dan kita ini hak milik Allah. Bagaimana dengan hak kita sebagai hamba?”
― Najmi Nawawi, Head With Serban

“What happens to a highbrow literary culture when its fault lines-along caste, class and gender-are brutally exposed? What happens to the young iconoclasts who dare to speak and write about these issues openly? Is there such a thing as a happy ending for revolutionaries? Or are they doomed to be forever relegated to the footnotes of history?

This is the never-before-told true story of the Hungry Generation (or 'the Hungryalists')-a group of barnstorming, anti-establishment poets, writers and artists in Bengal in the 1960s. Braving social boycott, ridicule and arrests, the Hungryalists changed the literary landscape of Bengal (and many South Asian countries) forever. Along the way, they also influenced iconic poets, such as Allen Ginsberg, who struck up a lifelong friendship with the Hungryalists.”
― Maitreyee Bhattacharjee Chowdhury, The Hungryalists

“Pak Suleh recalled the atmosphere on his island of Pulau Sebidang, which had been ruled by his ancestors for more than a hundred years. Now it had been passed to foreign hands—whichever nation from whatever foreign world which had been claiming the island was theirs—such that he and his ancestors who had lived on that island for generation after generation had been chased away to live in these birdhouses. They had now inherited these congested breathing diseases.

Why was it that he could no longer enjoy the wind which blows from the sea, which is very much one of God’s incomparable benevolences? He could no longer savour the swaying coconut trees, ketapang trees, beringin trees and other trees which whistled and murmured when caressed by the winds as their dried leaves fell onto the sand, mixed with red and white flowers scattered all over the pristine white beach, resembling the moving clouds on a wide piece of white paper.

I have lost everything, thought Pak Suleh deep in his heart.”
― Suratman Markasan, Penghulu

“Everything has been planned. The ascent will be completed in two days’ time. He will climb another one hundred floors today. Another hundred the next day. He does not want to take the lift. The rush of life causes people to drown in the temporary. He wishes to dip into eternity before he leaves.”
― Isa Kamari, The Tower

“For him, the kampung was a place to live and work that was based on a steadfast and intimate relationship between man and nature. The village was a true reflection of life in the tropics.”
― Isa Kamari, The Tower

“Kita perlu faham bahawa hak manusia perlu diraikan dengan syarat mengikuti panduan syarak. Jika semua hal manusia perlu raikan, maka akan lahirlah manusia yang hidup tanpa undang-undang. Semuanya bebas atas dasar liberal. Nak jadi lesbian? Nak tukar jantina? Semuanya boleh.

Hak manusia yang berlandaskan nafsu ini menjauhi fitrah Muslim yang sebenar. Jangan jadikan hak asasi manusia sebagai alasan untuk membenarkan tindakan. Kita sering kali fikir tentang hak manusia, tapi kita lupa bahawa kita adalah hamba-Nya, dan kita ini hak milik Allah. Bagaimana dengan hak kita sebagai hamba?”
― Najmi Nawawi, Head With Serban

“Tukul tangkal balik pintu, budak nakal memang macam tu”
― Zamidah Hashim

“সন্দীপন, আপনি অনেকদিন কিছু লেখেননি, প্রায় বছরতিনেক । তার বদলে আপনি কুচোকাচা গদ্য ছাপিয়ে চলেছেন এখানে সেখানে । সেই স্বভাবই আপনাকে টেনে নিয়ে যায় হাংরির হাঙ্গামায় । আমি বারণ করেছিলুম । আপনি কখনও আমাকে বিশ্বাস করেননি । ক্রমশ দূরে সরে যাচ্ছিলেন । আমি শক্তিকে কখনও বারন করিনি, কারণ আর যত গুণই থাক --- শক্তি লোভী । শেষ পর্যন্ত উৎপলও ওই কারণে যায় । কিন্তু আমি জানতুম আপনি লোভী নন । আপনার সঙ্গে বহুদিন এক বিছানায় শুয়েছি, পাশাপাশি রোদ্দুরে হাঁটার সময় একই ছায়ায় দাঁড়িয়েছি । সেই জন্য আমি জানতুম । আমি আমার লোভের কথা জানতুম । সেই জন্যই বুঝেছিলুম আপনার লোভ আমার চেয়ে বেশি নয় । আমার ওতে কখনও লোভ হয়নি, হয়েছিল অস্বস্তি থেকে ঘৃণা । ইংরেজিতে রচনা ছাপিয়ে ইওরোপ আমেরিকার দৃষ্টি আকর্ষণ করা আমার বিষম বদ রুচি মনে হয়েছিল আগেই, এখানে এসে আরও বদ্ধমূল হয়েছি । হাংরির গ্যাঁড়াকলের প্রতি আরও ক্রুদ্ধ হয়েছি । অপরের কৌতূহল এবং করুণার পাত্র হতে আপনার ইচ্ছে করে ? হাংরি এখানে যে দু'একজন পেয়েছে, তাদের কাছে তাই । আমি এতদিন দেশে রইলুম --- অনেক সুযোগ এবং আহ্বান পেয়েছিলুম, কোথাও তবু একটি লাইনও ইংরেজি পদ্য ছাপাইনি । ছাপালে কিছু টাকা পেতুম, তবু না । কারণ সবাইকে বলেছি, আমি বাংলা ভাষার কবি, আমি শুধু বাংলাতেই লিখি, যে ভাষাব কথা বলে ৭ কোটি লোক --- ফরাসি ও ইতালির চেয়ে বেশি । এবং ফরাসি ও ইতালির চেয়ে কম উন্নত ভাষা নয় । আমার কাজ কবিতালেখা, নিজের কবিতা অনুবাদ করা নব, ও কাজ অন্যের । তোমাদের দরকার হলে বাংলা শিখে অনুবাদ করে নাও । এই ধরনের সূক্ষ্ম পিঠ চাপড়ানির ভাব লক্ষ্য করেই আমি বাংলা কবিতার ইংরেজি অনুবাদ গ্রন্হের কাজ, যেজন্য আমি এখানে এসেছিলুম, এক লাইনও করিনি ।”
― Sunil Gangopadhyay, অর্ধেক জীবন

“Sandipan, why have you not written much of late? What is this thing about occasional prose pieces? This habit of yours has attracted you to the Hungry Hangama—this latest fad. I did forbid you. And you did not trust me. And then you simply distanced yourself gradually. I never stopped Shakti. Shakti is greedy. Utpal too has taken that route. But I knew that you were not greedy. I have often shared a bed with you, stood in the same shadow while walking in the sun. I know very well the contours of my own greed. And therefore, I could instinctively feel that your greed is less than mine. I became deeply uncomfortable, generated some strong aversion to this new phenomenon. I had always felt that to compose in the English language in order to earn cheap accolades in the West is the worst possible form of greed and narcissism. This feeling has deepened this time here, at Iowa. Would you ever like to be an object of curiosity and pity to the outsider? I have met some Hungry wallahs here—it is these that drive them at the bedrock. Every single day I receive some invitation or the other to write in English. I have refused. Steadfastly. There are 7 crores of potential Bangla readers for me. Much more than French and Italian. I am just doing fine. I write poetry and have no intention to translate my sensibilities. If you wish to access my thoughts in English—do translate me. Happily. I had officially come here to do this kind of mutual back-patting. So far I have resisted that lure.”
― Sunil Gangopadhyay, অর্ধেক জীবন

“সমীর অন্য অনেক সময়েও আমাকে অনেক সাহায্য করেছে । একই কলেজে পড়ার সময়ে বন্ধুত্ব, যদিও আমাদের বিষয় ছিল আলাদা । সমীরের জীববিজ্ঞান আর আমার অর্থনীতি । কলেজে তো অনেকের সঙ্গেই পরিচয় হয়, কিন্তু কারুর কারুর সঙ্গে সে-বন্ধুত্ব খুব গাঢ় হয়ে ওঠে । গ্র্যাজুয়েশানের পর সমীর খুব তাড়াতাড়ি চাকরি পেয়েছিল । আমি বেশ কয়েক বছর বেকার অবস্হায় টিউশানি-মিউশানি করে কাটিয়েছি । সেই সময়ে সমীর কৃত্তিবাসের সঙ্গে যুক্ত হয়ে পড়ে । হাংরি জেনারেশনের সঙ্গে কৃত্তিবাসের খানিকটা টানাপোড়েন তো ছিলই, সমীর সেটা মেটাবার অনেক চেষ্টা করেছে । ওর ছোটোভাই মলয় রায়চৌধুরীকে পুলিশ গ্রেফতার করে, তাতে, হাংরি জেনারেশনের সঙ্গে আমার কোনো সম্পর্ক না থাকলেও, মলয়ের পক্ষে সাক্ষ্য দিয়েছিলাম আমি ।

বিহারে চাকরিরত হলেও সমীর কলকাতা থেকে একটি প্রকাশনা সংস্হা চালু করতে চেয়েছিল । তার প্রথম বই, আমার ‘একা এবং কয়েকজন’ । তখন আমাকে কবি হিসাবে ক’জনই বা চেনে । তবু আমার কবিতার বই প্রকাশ করায় সমীরের অনেকখানি ঔদার্য প্রকাশ পেয়েছিল । সমীরের প্রথম কাব্যগ্রন্হ বেরুল, ‘ঝর্ণার পাশে শুয়ে আছি’ । নামটা বোধহয় আমারই দেওয়া । প্রেসেও ছোটাছুটি করেছি আমি । সে সময় সমীর চমৎকার রোমান্টিক কবিতা লিখত । পরে তার কবিতা একটা অন্য দিকে বাঁক নেয় । ওই সংস্হা ( কৃত্তিবাস ) থেকে সমীরের আরেকটা কবিতার বই বেরিয়েছিল, ‘আমার ভিয়েৎনাম’ । পরে সেই প্রকাশনা বন্ধ হয়ে যায় ।”
― Sunil Gangopadhyay, অর্ধেক জীবন

“Without much ado, Ginsberg, along with Orlovsky and Fakir, arrived one Sunday at the Coffee House looking for Bengali poets. The cafe was abuzz with writers, editors and journalists. Each group had a different table—some had joined two or more tables and brought together different conversations on one plate. But somehow, everyone seemed to have an inchoate understanding of the business of war and what it spelled out for them in the end.”
― Maitreyee Bhattacharjee Chowdhury, The Hungryalists

“Now as the train moved towards Calcutta, Malay felt as if his life was coming full circle. It had been a strange decision to visit the city at a time when post-Partition vomit and excreta was splattered on Calcutta streets. Marked by communal violence, anger and unemployment, the streets smelled of hunger and disillusionment. Riots were still going on. The wound of a land divided lingered, refugees from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) continued to arrive in droves. And since they did not know where to go, they occupied the pavements, laced the streets with their questions, frustrations and a deep need to be recognised as more than an inconvenient presence on tree-lined avenues.

The feeling of being uprooted was everywhere. Political leaders decided that the second phase of the five-year planning needed to see the growth of heavy industries. The land required for such industries necessitated the evacuation of farmers. Devoid of their ancestral land and in the absence of a proper rehabilitation plan, those evicted wandered aimlessly around the cities—refugees by another name.

Calcutta had assumed different dimensions in Malay’s mind. The smell of the Hooghly wafted across Victoria Memorial and settled like an unwanted cow on its lawns. Unsung symphonies spilled out of St Paul’s Cathedral on lonely nights; white gulls swooped in on grey afternoons and looked startling against the backdrop of the rain-swept edifice. In a few years, Naxalbari would become a reality, but not yet. Like an infant Kali with bohemian fantasies, Calcutta and its literature sprouted a new tongue – that of the Hungry Generation. Malay, like Samir and many others, found himself at the helm of this madness, and poetry seemed to lick his body and soul in strange colours. As a reassurance of such a huge leap of faith, Shakti had written to Samir:

Bondhu Samir,

We had begun by speaking of an undying love for literature, when we suddenly found ourselves in a dream. A dream that is bigger than us, and one that will exist in its capacity of right and wrong and beyond that of our small worlds.

Bhalobasha juriye

Shakti”
― Maitreyee Bhattacharjee Chowdhury, The Hungryalists

“Even amid the erratic crowd and the loud voices that drowned everything in coffee, Ginsberg commanded attention. Samir had recalled to Malay:

He approached our table, where Sunil, Shakti, Utpal and I sat, with no hesitation whatsoever. There was no awkwardness in talking to people he hadn’t ever met. None of us had seen such sahibs before, with torn clothes, cheap rubber chappals and a jhola. We were quite curious. At that time, we were not aware of how well known a poet he was back in the US. But I remember his eyes—they were kind and curious. He sat there with us, braving the most suspicious of an entire cadre of wary and sceptical Bengalis, shorn of all their niceties—they were the fiercest lot of Bengali poets—but, somehow, he had managed to disarm us all. He made us listen to him and tried to genuinely learn from us whatever it was that he’d wanted to learn, or thought we had to offer. Much later, we came to know that there had been suspicions about him being a CIA agent, an accusation he was able to disprove. In the end, we just warmed up to him, even liked him. He became one of us—a fagging, crazy, city poet with no direction or end in sight.”
― Maitreyee Bhattacharjee Chowdhury, The Hungryalists

“Apa awak yang biji benih pada masa buruk anda, akan dituai pada masa yang baik anda”
― P.S. Jagadeesh Kumar

“In the entire vista of Malay literature—including even the Indonesian literatures—he was unique. None rivalled him in originality and poetic genius; in Malay Sufi literature none excelled the clarity and flowing simplicity of his prose which, nevertheless, reveals profound metaphysical insight in the Sufi doctrines; none exceeded him in poetry, whether it be in terms of literary output or in terms of intellectual content. He was, as I have earlier shown, the first man to set forth in systematic writing the essential aspects of the Şufi doctrines in Malay, and he not only impressed his influence upon certain historiographically important literary usages in Malay literature, but introduced as well new technical terminologies and concepts into the Malay language in general, and into Malay Sufi literature in particular, having do with theology, metaphysics and philosophy.”
― Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas, The Origin of the Malay Sha'ir