Tuesday, June 28, 2005

"makan tanggung,berak cangkung"

I did mention I'm finished with the novel "Salina" by the acclaimed writer A.Samad Said.The perumpamaan/peribahasa/bidalan(I don't really know!really I don't) really caught my eye and got stuck in my mind.Weird at first.Never heard teachers in my school teaching such.....ermmm metaphore?

Anyway,Salina is basically about a particular person and the people of Kampung Kambing a setinggan village in Singapore.On how life revolves in a setinggan/slumThe struggle and life after WW2.Modernisation and such.Salina herself is a prostitute.Being the title of the book I did expect the bulk of the story revolves around Salina.I was wrong.The author captured the image of the people in Kampung Kambing vividly.On how,malays can be so layu at times instead of being melayu.The struggle sometimes rides on a very thin line of what is halal and what is haram.That particular time where joget is the in thing and so is dating perempuan cabaret.Also there is Kurupaya the so called landlord of most of the converted kandang kambing.He turned it into homes.That is how Kampung Kambing got its name.

Actually,its nice to read something that really revolves around normal people and somewhat less fortuned than us.Similarly,like Sepet which tells story of some people as it is.Unlike some modern malay flick(the old ones are excellent esp those of P.Ramlee's!) tells ud stories of the love and collition in a middle upperclass/rich datuks and datins over and over and over again!Patutla tak maju .Producers produce these kind of films and movies because its what the "malay layu type" market wants.They want profit.So,it ain't their fault anyways.Throw in some stars and wahlah.A popular star with a huge fan base would surely want to catch the fav singer acting resulting in huge ticket sales.Don't ya think?

So enough of this shit.So.What do you think "makan tanggung,berak cangkung " means?From the context of the book it highlights an event on ungratefulness of Abdul Fakar towards Salina.Abdul Fakar is basically taken care by Salina.They cohabitate.Salina goes "wondering" around at nights and takes care of Abdul Fakar.After a while of harmonious leaving Abdul Fakar turns outs to be so dependant on her and in same time treats her like shit!He boozes a lot,kaki perempuan,taik judi and yg sewaktu dgnnya.I hate this dude!I guess the author berjayala.Sebab you can feel what you read.Similarly like Harry Potter,Dan Brown and others!So people lets all read a lot and spend alot on books so we can reduce the price of imported books and keep the receipt for income tax reduction!heheheheee.......

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Despite the fact that I have a copy of 'Salina' in my house probably since it was published, I have yet to read it.

After reading your review, maybe I'll pick it up. Who knows, miracles can happen :)