Perkara 20 & 18

Terasa terpanggil untuk letak entri ni... dah lama perap tapi macam tak sesuai je nak letak...

No offense to anyone, tapi sesiapa yang nak mengeluh pasal keluar/masuk Sarawak kena pakai passport atau work permit sila paham why all these are necessary at the first place... I have been into history sejak akhir2 ni... kalau aku tahu macam ni punya best, tentu aku dah skor Sejarah time SPM...

Anyway... this is an article that I got from dayakbaru.com on this Perkara 20 / Perkara 18:

The 20 point agreement / 18 point agreement is between made between TWO countries ( Malaya and Sabah / Malaya and Sarawak).

What is the agreement all about?

The 20-point agreement, or the 20-point memorandum, is an agreement made between the state of Sabah (then North Borneo) with what would be the federal government of Malaysia prior to the formation of Malaysia in September 16, 1963. A similar agreement was made between the state of Sarawak and the federal government but with certain differences in their 18-point agreement

The agreement

Point 1: Religion

While there was no objection to Islam being the national religion of Malaysia there should be no State religion in Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah), and the provisions relating to Islam in the present Constitution of Malaya should not apply to Borneo

Point 2: Language

* a. Malay should be the national language of the Federation

* b. English should continue to be used for a period of 10 years after Malaysia Day

* c. English should be an official language of Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) for all purposes, State or Federal, without limitation of time.

Point 3: Constitution

Whilst accepting that the present Constitution of the Federation of Malaya should form the basis of the Constitution of Malaysia, the Constitution of Malaysia should be a completely new document drafted and agreed in the light of a free association of states and should not be a series of amendments to a Constitution drafted and agreed by different states in totally different circumstances. A new Constitution for Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) was of course essential.

Point 4: Head of Federation

The Head of State in Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) should not be eligible for election as Head of the Federation

Point 5: Name of Federation

“Malaysia” but not “Melayu Raya”

Point 6: Immigration

Control over immigration into any part of Malaysia from outside should rest with the Central Government but entry into Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) should also require the approval of the State Government. The Federal Government should not be able to veto the entry of persons into Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) for State Government purposes except on strictly security grounds. Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) should have unfettered control over the movements of persons other than those in Federal Government employ from other parts of Malaysia Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah).

Point 7: Right of Secession

There should be no right to secede from the Federation

Point 8: Borneanisation

Borneanisation of the public service should proceed as quickly as possible.

Point 9: British Officers

Every effort should be made to encourage British Officers to remain in the public service until their places can be taken by suitably qualified people from Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah)

Point 10: Citizenship

The recommendation in paragraph 148(k) of the Report of the Cobbold Commission should govern the citizenship rights in the Federation of Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) subject to the following amendments:

* a) sub-paragraph (i) should not contain the proviso as to five years residence

* b) in order to tie up with our law, sub-paragraph (ii)(a) should read “7 out of 10 years” instead of “8 out of 10 years”

* c) sub-paragraph (iii) should not contain any restriction tied to the citizenship of parents – a person born in Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) after Malaysia must be federal citizen.

Point 11: Tariffs and Finance

Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) should retain control of its own finance, development and tariff, and should have the right to work up its own taxation and to raise loans on its own credit.

Point 12: Special position of indigenous races

In principle, the indigenous races of Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) should enjoy special rights analogous to those enjoyed by Malays in Malaya, but the present Malays’ formula in this regard is not necessarily applicable in Borneo(Sarawak & Sabah)

Point 13: State Government

* a) the Prime Minister should be elected by unofficial members of Legislative Council

* b) There should be a proper Ministerial system in Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah)

Point 14: Transitional period

This should be seven years and during such period legislative power must be left with the State of Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) by the Constitution and not be merely delegated to the State Government by the Federal Government

Point 15: Education

The existing educational system of Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) should be maintained and for this reason it should be under state control

Point 16: Constitutional safeguards

No amendment modification or withdrawal of any special safeguard granted to Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) should be made by the Central Government without the positive concurrence of the Government of the State of North Borneo

The power of amending the Constitution of the State of Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) shouldbelong exclusively to the people in the state. (Note: The United Party, The Democratic Party and the Pasok Momogun Party considered that a three-fourth majority would be required in order to effect any amendment to the Federal and State Constitutions whereas the UNKO and USNO considered a two-thirds majority would be sufficient)

Point 17: Representation in Federal Parliament

This should take account not only of the population of Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah) but also of its seize and potentialities and in any case should not be less than that of Singapore

Point 18: Name of Head of State

Yang di-Pertua Negara

Point 19: Name of State

Sarawak or Sabah

Point 20: Land, Forests, Local Government, etc.

The provisions in the Constitution of the Federation in respect of the powers of the National Land Council should not apply in Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah). Likewise, the National Council for Local Government should not apply in Borneo (Sarawak & Sabah).

***The commentaries below are by dayakbaru.com, not mine

*Merger

In 1961, when the Malayan government began discussing a possible merger with neighbouring Singapore, Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei, problems of ethnic power relations arose again. The “Malaysia” proposal sans Sabah and Sarawak went back more than a decade; earlier negotiations had proved fruitless. The Singaporeans themselves were not anxious to be ruled by what they considered a Malay government. By 1961, however, Singapore had grown receptive to the idea of joining Malaysia, largely because of the prevailing idea at the time that industrial Singapore could not survive without access to Malayan markets.

Singapore Chinese population is a threat to Malaya

The Malayan government was not keen on having the Chinese Singaporean population push the Malays into a minority position in the new Malaysia. Many Malays felt that upsetting the Malay-dominated nature of the armed forces and police might place them in a dangerous situation. It was also argued that the inferior economic position of the Malays would be emphasised by the entry of even more rich Chinese, setting the stage for major discontent.

Malaya get Sabah and Sarawak to form Malaysia to make use of their native population numbers

The Malayans decided to resolve this by merging with Sabah and Sarawak; both British colonies had large native populations whom the government considered “Malay”. Under Article 160 of the Constitution, most of them were not Malay; the natives were mainly animists or Christians instead of Muslims as required. To resolve this issue, the government expanded its informal definition of “Malay” to include these people.

Oh tidak, tidak dan tidak!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No reason to exclude politicians as GLC heads, says Najib

2011/02/10
BY Alina Simon and T. Alagesh

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The government would not hesitate to select anyone who was qualified, including former civil servants and ex-politicians

KUANTAN: The appointment of heads of government-linked companies is based on qualifications, capability and experience, and not solely on whether they have political experience or their background.

Explaining the rationale for the appointments in light of a proposal that former politicians be banned from holding such posts, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said the government would not hesitate to select anyone who was qualified, including former civil servants and ex-politicians.

“We are not tied to any policies,” he said after chairing the cabinet meeting at the Pahang Foundation complex here yesterday. This was the first cabinet meeting held outside Putrajaya since Najib took office in April 2009.
Najib was responding to a proposal by National Economic Advisory Council (NEAC) member Datuk Dr Zainal Aznam Mohd Yusof to ban expoliticians from holding top GLC jobs.

Zainal, a government economic adviser involved in drafting the New Economic Model (NEM), was quoted by a news portal as saying that corruption could be curbed if politicians were banned from holding senior positions in companies.

The government, Najib said, would appoint anyone based on their qualifications, whether they were corporate figures, excivil servants or former politicians.

“Politicians are also highly educated, with degrees and master’s in business administration.

“Some also have corporate experience and they are experienced in administrating their respective ministries.”

Zainal also got into a flap with Perkasa after he claimed that the Malay rights group Perkasa was totally against Part One of the New Economic Model, containing the Equal Opportunities Commission’s proposal to drop the 30 per cent Bumiputera equity ownership.

Because of the opposition, Zainal claimed some original ideas had to be edited out, prompting him to express unhappiness over the final version of the NEM.

Zainal also claimed that Perkasa had threatened to burn the part containing the proposal to drop the Bumiputera equity and that the non-governmental organisation criticised Malay members in the council who went against Perkasa’s cause.

Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali’s immediate response had been to dismiss Zainal’s assertions, denying that Perkasa had threatened to burn the NEM documents but underscored the need for the NEM to include the Bumiputera agenda on the economy to be the national agenda to determine the future of the country.


Read more: No reason to exclude politicians as GLC heads, says Najib http://www.nst.com.my/articles/NoreasontoexcludepoliticiansasGLCheads_saysNajib/Article/#ixzz1De86gw4A

so what? takde kerja lain ke?

baca kat sini: http://spu-bloggers.blogspot.com/2010/09/ciri-pakaian-islam.html

standardla dulu-dulu orang macam ni....itu pun nak kecoh...yang pak menteri minum arak time muda-muda tu lagila... ada yang sampai sekarang kot...

busuk.

http://borneoherald.blogspot.com/2010/10/taib-mahmuds-sister-raziah-gets.html

The 29 year old bride..

Aiseyyy....melepas aku nak jadik First Lady.

source

men of power = big time jerks?

http://ruangbicarapriamalaya.blogspot.com/2010/12/panas-dukumen-lengkap-laporan.html

I'll leave it up to yourselves what to think about it... ni pun orang dapat tahu dari Wikileaks.. kita yang dalam negara ni mana tau apa-apa kan?

I've formed my own opinion anyway.

of current affairs..

Currently reading:

Current perfume:

Current dream guy:

Current wish:

Current condition:

Current favorite pastime:

Currently watching:

huh...sakit hati aku tengok cerita nih....by the way, the film is different from the book written by a history writer on this bloody mess...

Mari Belajar Bahasa Ibunda dan Ayahanda

I am on leave this whole week and after balik dari Brunei tak pergi mana-mana pun..but it's so nice to be on leave and not having to pack, unpack and getting on any flights for a change..

Yesterday, had things fixed around the house so kenala duduk rumah the whole day coz it took the contractors the whole day to work while we played UNO, Scrabble, Bingo, Snake & Ladder and cards while waiting....luckily my parents are around so we worked together to clean the house afterwards... sempat lagi my dad buat lawak...the day before kena tsunami sebab paip pecah, then kena volcanic ash pulak sebab habuk orang potong tiles tersebar ke serata rumah....

Today, we went out in the morning....hajat di hati nak ke Pasar Bekenu untuk cari udang galah....nak tau siapa yang mengidam? Dad, of course...and dia nak udang galah from sungai kat Miri/Limbang ok....coz rasa dia lain. Pening jugak sebab sekarang kan musim hujan mana ada orang pegi memancing... tapi syukur Alhamdulillah, mungkin sebab niat baik nak tunaikan hajat mak bapak, elok-elok turun dari kereta ada sorang makcik melintas bawak udang yang baru ditangkap guna bubu...besar-besar pulak tu....the timing couldn't be more perfect coz kalau miss beberapa saat je, that makcik mesti dah sampai pasar dah, dan udang-udang yang hanya 8 ekor tu mesti terpaksa berebut dengan orang-orang lain...sebab tak banyak ikan kat pasar...nelayan tak turun ke laut sebab gelora...

During our little road trip, Mom and Dad played a game....they challenged each other words in their own tongues (Dad guna bahasa Melayu Sarawak yang klasik and Mom guna bahasa Kedayan)...siapa yang paling banyak tak tahu maksud perkataan, dia yang kalah...the winner was Dad (of course).

Sempat jugak catch a few words yang saya tak pernah guna.....am putting a few down here..including some that I know but nice to share with you guys..

Bahasa Melayu Sarawak:

pecong - spider webs
kenyat - asyik-asyik nak lagi, nak lagi, nak lagi (tak pernah puas)
jaber - also known as "juruk"; tempat air kumbahan
ujung lunggin - tebing sungai
kelebar - kupu-kupu
kelontet - pepatung (dragonfly)
penjan - tingkap
ceridak - pengotor
gago - penyibuk
lalo - terlebih masak, overdue, boleh juga digunakan untuk describe golongan 'andalusia'..hehe

Bahasa Kedayan:

pelacahan - tempat air kumbahan
kulimambang - kupu-kupu
pidin - pepatung
balingkatak - katak (haiwan)
katak - penyakit di mana jari kaki rosak sampai kuku masuk dalam isi jari (something like that la)
lauk - ikan
gulaian - sayur-sayuran
kuyok - anjing
jilama - manusia
lampuh - gemuk
ranggau - tinggi
langai - luas, in different context can also means lonely

ok, tu jela...lain kali I ajar uols lagi...

ni boleh dikira as tribute ke?

For the whole month of October, Astro has been airing old P Ramlee movies through various channels; Ria, Prima, Citra, Warna, Ceria and even History channel...actually sebelum ni pun dekat Prima memang selalu main filem P Ramlee, but this month memang memanjang la cerita P Ramlee sahaja....so, at the little time I spent at home this month, aku memang akan tengokla cerita P Ramlee ni kat TV.....sekali masa 7-9pm....then after that mesti tertido depan TV then woke up to see another P Ramlee movie playing tengah-tengah malam which ends at 2.45am....sanggup tengok tu...ada sekali tengok "Anakku Sazali", went to sleep and had a very sad dream sampai menangis teresak-esak dalam tidur.....saya memang minat cerita P Ramlee y'all....back during the days of no pirated VCDs, kat rumah saya we have an almost complete collection of original P Ramlee's VCDs.....huhu

Anyway, malam ni is like the finale for the P Ramlee month kot....kat Astro Ria tayang Konsert Di Manakan Ku Cari Ganti and kat Astro Citra (yang ni korang kena langgan la kalo nak) diorang tayang P Ramlee The Musical.... P Ramlee was born in 1929 and passed away in 1973 at the age of 44 years....muda lagi tu....but I remembered from either TV show or something I read back then that during his last years it was quite sad.....bila tengok balik the musical tu....I learnt that he has to compete against the radio and TV phenomenon, pop yeh-yeh (tiba-tiba rasa benci dengan L Ramlie dan Jeffrydin boleh?) and he was even boo-ed during one of his public performances kat stadium mana entah...Saloma pulak has to sing in night clubs in KL to make ends meet....sedih kan....ada hikmahnya Allah menjemput dia pergi lebih awal...it must have been a hard fall for him....he was on top of the world, and suddenly within a span of few years jadi macam tu, kena treat macam apa je....yelah crowd kat Malaysia ni bukan boleh harap sangat....tengokla apa jadi dengan industri muzik and perfileman kita....memang susah nak ada penyokong......P Ramlee, like other genius artistes (macam Van Gogh, Beethoven) lived their lives to a sad ending....bila dah mati baru orang nak mengenang-ngenang.....those titles awarded to him are all awarded post-humously....and I don't know where do the royalties from his songs are going to....anak kandung dia yang boleh diharap, Nasir P Ramlee dah meninggal and si Sazali pulak adalah buruh DBKL (if I'm not mistaken)...

Anyway, this is the last song that P Ramlee wrote.....sedeyyy woooo.....I'm putting the lyrics in here....nak dengar lagunya, just google or find it at YouTube.....fikiran saya terganggu selepas dengar lagu itu and hence gigih mencari charger laptop so that I can google it up and write about it.....

Air Mata di Kuala Lumpur

Airmata di Kuala Lumpur
Jatuh berkecai hancur berderai

Putus kasih yang tak ku duga

Dikau pergi tak tinggal pesan

Hancur musnah impian mulia

Istana ku bina menjadi pusara

Gelaplah pasti masa hadapan

Jiwaku merayau utara dan selatan

Hidup sudah tiada beerti

Zahirku hidup hai batinku mati

Remuk redam hatiku hancur

Airmata di Kuala Lumpur

Oh sedihnya..... Al-Fatihah.


some FAQs about P Ramlee at this link ---> CLICK

Aku menangis tidak terhingga

alkisah streamyx

sebagai menyahut seruan kerajaan untuk melahirkan masyarakat yang celik IT, di samping sebagai langkah untuk mengurangkan masa yang digunakan untuk melayari laman web semasa di pejabat dan justeru meningkatkan produktiviti, saya telah mebuat keputusan untuk membuka akau streamyx bagi kediaman saya.

sekarang, seluruh dunia dan ilmu pengetahuan berada di hujung jari saya....tapi, saya tak ada idea apa lagi nak buat selain dari main facebook, check email dan baca berita gosip...saya tiada kesabaran dan minat untuk upload muzik atau filem....youtube pun saya jarang bukak.... sampai di rumah idea pun tiada...dan ada banyak benda lain yg boleh saya lakukan di rumah seperti kemas rumah, basuh baju, tengok TV atau main Nintendo Wii yang sangat baik untuk kesihatan...sekarang, kena bahagikan masa untuk bertapa di depan komputer pulak...daym internet is addictive.

jadi, apa faedahnya steamyx ini kepada saya? whateverla....

Entri sempena Hari Kebangsaan ke-52

Kepada rakan-rakanku yang dihormati dan dirahmati serta dikenangi sepanjang pagi dan petang…

Yeay! My favorite drama series ever, Rosli Dhoby – Warkah Terakhir sedang disiarkan secara marathon di Astro Citra, saluran 131 sempena sambutan Hari Kebangsaan. Beliau mungkin kurang dikenali berbanding tokoh-tokoh kemerdekaan yang lain, but as a true Sarawakian, saya dibesarkan dengan mengenali beliau sebagai salah seorang wira Sarwak (seperti Rentap, yang rasanya lebih ramai orang kenal).

Jadi, saya berasa amat teruja bila KL Motion Pictures dan Cik Wan Hasliza tampil dengan siri drama ini (sehingga saya sanggup langgan Astro Citra dan influenced my mum to do so too) hehehehe… lagipun drama ni dihasilkan dalam bahasa Sarawak. Bersungguh-sungguh si Beto Kushairy dan actors lain yang bukan orang Sarawak belajar bahasa ibundaku ini…hehe

Drama ini memaparkan rentetan peristiwa (ditambah dengan sedikit elemen drama yang ditokok tambah sebagai rencah komersialisme) yang berlaku dalam 3 tahun terakir dalam hidup Rosli Dhoby sehingga ke peristiwa pembunuhan Sir Duncan George Stewart dan ke tali gantung.

Kenapa peristiwa ini penting? It signified the beginning of nationalism in Sarawak. Dulu-dulu instead of Kompeni Hindia Timur Inggeris (seperti di Malaya), Sarawak diperintah oleh keluarga Brooke. Hubungan rakyat Sarawak dan the White Rajahs baik. The people of Sarawak hidup aman dan makmur. Lepas tu Jepun datang…after Jepun kalah, maybe keadaan agak kelam kabut, so raja masa tu, Charles Vyner Brooke telah menjual Sarawak kepada British dengan harga 1 juta pound sahaja. Apa dia ingat harga diri dan hak orang Sarawak murah macam tu ke? Si Charles Vyner Brooke ni jugak telah mengikat perjanjian selama 75 tahun dengan syarikat Anglo Saxon (nama lama bagi kompeni yang saya bekerja sekarang, daym) yang menguntungkan dia dari tahun 1909-1984. So, orang Sarawak memang tak merasa kemewahan hasil bumi sendiri, dan cukai yang dibayar digunakan untuk membina rumah-rumah agam bagi pegawai British.

So, apa lagi…mestila rakyat rasa tertindas. Maka bermulalah gerakan anti-cession di Sarawak. Seramai 338 orang pegawai kerajaan (termasuk guru-guru) yang berhenti kerja sebagai tanda tak puas hati kepada kerajaan British yang baru. Anthony Brooke, anak saudara Charles Vyner cuba untuk meleraikan kekusutan yang timbul, tapi agak dihalang oleh British….yada yada, (selebihnya sila rujuk buku sejarah).

Apa yang saya nak cakap di sini tentang cerita Rosli Dhoby ni:

1. Masa Rosli bunuh gabenor tu, umur dia baru 17 tahun dan sudah faham akan makna perjuangan, masa umur saya 17 tahun, saya tengah sibuk bercinta monyet, main pancaragam dan SPM. Adik saya yang umur 16 tahun sekarang tahu nak mengamuk je jika kehendaknya tak dipenuhi.

2. Tentang cinta. Rosli Dhoby ada girlfriend. Nama dia Ani. Tapi orang dulu-dulu biasalah, bercinta sembunyi-sembunyi dan tulis surat pun sembunyi-sembunyi (bertapok kata orang Sarawak). Sampai sekarang, Hajah Ani tak kahwin (gambar dia boleh digoogle, rasanya masa muda dulu mesti cantik). Teringat kata-kata my friend, "kalau ikut kepercayaan kamek orang, semua orang ada jodohnya, mun orang ya sik kahwin, maknanya jodohnya dah mati". Rasanya ni kisah cinta sejati ni. Mungkin cinta Ani terhadap Rosli sungguh kukuh sampai dia tak boleh bukak hati untuk orang lain.

3. Sarawak finally gained independence (and joined Malaysia) in 1963, through negotiation. Mungkin tindakan Rukun 13 (yang merancang pembunuhan gabenor) agak terburu-buru dan radikal, tapi tak boleh salahkan diorang jugak. Takkan cukup berpuas hati dengan tampal poster je. Nak tampal poster pun macam-macam halangan dari British. Marah beb. However, sekarang ni pun penindasan akan hak rakyat dah berlaku kembali di Sarawak. Bukan oleh orang luar, tapi orang sendiri. Kekayaan sumber bumi dieksploitasi tanpa mengira hak dan kerosakan pada alam sekitar. Saya tak nak sebut panjang lebar kat sini nanti saya kena bunuh (hehehe, dramatic). Fikir-fikirkanlah sendiri what I meant by that.

OK…itu jelah yang dapat saya cakap hari ni..here are some pictures of Rosli Dhoby's and Awang Morshidi's batu nisan. Mereka dihukum gantung pada tahun 1950 di Penjara Sentral, Kuching dan dikebumikan di perkarangan penjara tersebut tanpa tanda. Dalam 1980s kot (if I got my facts right) baru diletak tanda dan pada tahun 199x, jenazahnya dan 3 orang rakan seperjuangan yang lain dibawa balik ke Sibu, tanah tumpah darah diorang. Gambar yang saya ambik ni, bekas batu nisan tu je yang diletakkan di perkarangan Muzium Islam Sarawak, Kuching.

SELAMAT MENYAMBUT HARI KEMERDEKAAN

JANGAN BIARKAN MINDA ANDA DIJAJAH

P/S: Saya ada tengok diorama di MONAS, Jakarta tentang perjuangan rakyat Indonesia menentang Belanda. Sangat kagum.

Kisah Natrah 'Cermin' buat Orang Melayu

source: www.utusan.com.my

ISTANA Budaya (IB) yang terletak di Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur, tahun ini menyambut ulang tahun ke-10 penubuhannya.
Sejak sedekad lalu, IB telah menjadi pentas persembahan pelbagai naskhah seni dan budaya tempatan ataupun yang diimport dari luar negara.

Daripada seni pementasan teater dan muzikal tradisional hinggalah kontemporari, IB menjadi medan terbaik dan paling berprestij dalam seni persembahan pentas di negara ini.
Sesuai dengan namanya, IB paling molek mengangkat naskhah-naskhah yang ada hubungkaitnya dalam menterjemah nilai-nilai seni dan budaya yang bertunjangkan masyarakat Malaysia amnya dan Melayu khususnya.

Natrah misalnya, merupakan naskhah teater terbaru yang akan dipentaskan di Panggung Sari, IB, mulai 17 hingga 25 November ini.
Teater yang bakal diarahkan oleh Erma Fatima itu merupakan naskhah yang cukup relevan untuk dipentaskan di IB sesuai dengan nama, peranan dan prestij IB. Juga dalam konteks persekitaran semasa yang berlaku pada ketika ini.

Biarpun barisan pelakon utama teater itu belum diputuskan lagi, tetapi daripada susur galur kisah Natrah itu, yang pasti banyak unsur tersirat yang boleh diselongkar bagi diketengahkan kepada khalayak.

Kita mungkin tidak terlalu teruja untuk mengetahui siapakah pelakon yang akan melakonkan watak Natrah.
Sebaliknya, ramai yang mungkin tertanya-tanya sejauh manakah naskhah Natrah mampu mengeksploitasi di sebalik kisah gadis Belanda itu bagi mencetuskan suatu nilai pemikiran di minda para penonton?

Kisah cinta lara dan rumahtangga Natrah pada tahun 1950-an yang penuh tragis itu secara kasarnya hanya berada di luar kerangka pengisahannya sahaja.
Namun, di sebalik paparan naskhah itu, ia mampu mengundang pelbagai nilai pemikiran yang tersirat untuk diinsafi oleh orang Melayu pada hari ini.

Isu murtad, krisis identiti, pemartabatan bahasa Melayu, agama Islam, semangat patriotik, kesepakatan dan cintakan bangsa sendiri merupakan antara perkara penting yang boleh ditekankan menerusi teater tersebut.

Kita tidak mahu teater Natrah kelak menjadi sebuah pementasan yang lebih membuai kisah asyik percintaan antara Natrah dan Mansor Adabi semata-mata.
Tugas berat Erma ialah bagaimana mahu membentangkan naskhah itu agar ia mampu mengetuk minda orang Melayu supaya sedar dengan realiti sosial dan politik yang sedang menghimpit mereka pada ketika ini.

Difahamkan ketika ini Erma sedang sibuk memilih pelakon yang akan melakonkan watak Natrah. Tidak dinafikan, pelakon watak utama itu amat penting bagi menghidupkan jalan cerita teater terbaru arahan Erma tersebut.
Beberapa nama pelakon yang mempunyai darah kacukan telah pun disebut-sebut sebagai pendokong watak Natrah. Sayangnya, perkara yang kurang penting seperti itu pula yang lebih heboh diperbualkan ketika ini.

Harus diingat bahawa pementasan Natrah jangan disamakan dengan persembahan muzikal yang lazimnya lebih hanyut dibuai oleh alunan iramanya sahaja. Natrah sebenarnya sebuah naskhah teater yang berat.
Ia berat dan penuh dengan tanggungjawab untuk agama Islam dan bangsa Melayu. Ini adalah naskhah terbitan IB yang terletak di bawah naungan Kementerian Penerangan, Komunikasi dan Kebudayaan.

Pementasan ini menggunakan duit rakyat, di mana tentunya ia juga dipentaskan untuk rakyat.
Sejauh mana Natrah atau Maria Bertha Hertogh boleh mencetuskan kesedaran kepada orang Melayu? Bebanan itu tentunya terletak di atas bahu Erma.

Sepatutnya, soal mencari pelakon popular mana yang akan melakonkan watak Natrah menjadi perkara kedua.
Bagaimana dengan skrip teater ini? Adakah Erma mampu menyampaikan mesej-mesej itu menerusi Natrah?

Dalam isu pelakon utamanya pula, yang paling penting pelakon itu mestilah mampu menghayati dan melakonkan watak Natrah dengan berkesan.
Apalah gunanya mengambil pelakon muda yang baru setahun jagung berlakon dan hanya popular dengan kisah-kisah sensasi melakonkan watak tersebut? Bimbang nanti, lakonan entah ke mana, mesejnya pun entah ke mana.

Para penonton yang mengetahui latar kisah Natrah tentunya tidak kisah siapakah pelakon utama teater itu.
Sebabnya, Natrah bukanlah sebuah naskhah hiburan berkonsepkan penglipurlara, tetapi ia sebenarnya adalah sebuah pementasan yang boleh dijadikan 'serampang dua mata' untuk menguatkan lagi kesedaran orang Melayu pada hari ini.

Erma yang juga penulis skrip Natrah haruslah lebih berani dan kreatif menekankan intipati maksud tersirat yang terdapat dalam kisah tersebut.
Antara persoalan penting yang harus kita sama-sama fikirkan daripada teater Natrah kelak ialah, berapa ramai lagikah insan seperti Natrah yang akan menjadi mangsa keadaan seperti itu?
Sudahkah kita bersedia dan rela kehilangan lebih ramai Natrah?

Watak Natrah secara simbolik menggambarkan kealpaan bangsa Melayu dalam mempertahankan agama mereka.
Kurangnya kesedaran kita terhadap persekitaran yang sedang berlaku termasuklah percaturan politik yang merugikan sesama Melayu, sikap keterbukaan sosial yang melampau-lampau merupakan antara 'penyakit' yang menyebabkan tragedi seperti itu tidak mustahil akan berlaku lagi pada masa depan.

Justeru, Natrah merupakan sebuah naskhah yang bukan sahaja berat untuk digalas oleh Erma dan IB.
Malah, ia juga menagih penghayatan yang tinggi buat kalangan audiensnya. Sama ada para penonton 'mendapat sesuatu' daripada Natrah atau tidak, ia adalah penanda aras kejayaan pementasan itu kelak.


P/S: who want to watch this theatre with me?