I am 36 years old and I always spell in full whenever I text or email for I loathe the sms language used widely by youngsters these days. Boleh buat sakit otak ok. A case in point, a bbm that said 'k t sye tang' received just a few nights ago gave me an instant bout of nausea.
Why am I making the above statement? Because I have just read Dayang Noor's second novel, Hilang (thank you kak for posting it out to me) and it didn't give me a single hint of headache nor nausea. In fact, I got glued to it for 4 hours or so and read it from cover to cover just in one sitting. It was a pretty good book with unexpected twists here and there. The story plot developed in unexpected manner from one chapter to another that my imagination and opinion on one of the main characters, Khairani, kept changing over the pages and only firmly established at the last page of the book. There were also moments when I chuckled while reading it, especially when I saw 'Harsa' and 'Intan's Oven'. I can sooo imagine them for they were based on real people that some of us might know.
Anyway, over hundreds of books that I have bought over the last 10 years, Hilang is only my 3rd malay book. The first one was Lantai T Pinkie (ada autograph Pak Samad Said!) and the second was Jerat, kak Dayang's first ever novel (it was a good one too). Truth to be told, I stopped buying and reading malay books back in the late 90s when Khadijah Hashim stopped writing novels. Other books by the then 'aspirational' writers, mainly focused on love stories but with repetitive and expected boring story plots. Even the owner of one bookshop that I used to frequent in Ampang Park said to me one day.. 'Sama saja la dik!'. The language used too were too berbunga and jiwa karat that I couldn't stop laughing while reading (hilang feel ok), hence another reason why I stopped.
Back to Hilang, it is one of the 2 Fixi books banned by Popular Bookstore Malaysia with the excuse that the book contains words or languages that aren't suitable for the general public particularly teenagers. Seriously??? If based on the same ground, I can honestly say that ALL the english novels I have bought from this exact bookstore over the years should be banned as well since they all contained far worse language with either direct or sexual innuendos. The irony is, 50 shades of gray which is clearly classified as an erotic novel is. apparently, being sold by the bookstore. So, why the double standard?
The funny thing is, the founder of PTS Media Group (who is, ironically, also a STF alumnus like kak Dayang) came out with this statement indirectly supporting the action by Popular Bookstore, labelling Fixi books as using Bahasa Melayu Rendah (BMR). Honestly, for a publisher who came out with a supposedly educational book entitled 'Studi Secara Smart' (hancur bahasa!), it is to me like the pot calling the kettle black. Heh.
If I, a 36-year old (fairly) educated woman, can actually enjoy reading Hilang, a book that to me, uses acceptable language and grammar of today's standard to engage our general population to start reading malay books again, why not Popular or PTS? Why the holier-than-thou attitude? Apart from students sitting for malay literature papers and language professors, tell me honestly, who else are using Bahasa Melayu Tinggi (BMT) in today's world? Would you prefer people shy away from malay books altogether?
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Anyway, love this song. It's been awhile since KRU came out with a beautiful number like this one.
