Lidah Mat Salleh

Kadang-kadang orang boleh lupa,

Lidah, lidah Mat Salleh,
Tetapi Darah tetap Melayu.

Hati tidak berganjak, tidak juga menunggu,
Dan jiwa. Jiwa tetap milikNya...

1991

-I sometimes laugh at the idea that people think it's 'cool' that I can speak English. When I really, really feel clammed up because I can't express myself so people will understand me- in Malay. Like famous authors, like Hilal Asyraf or Fauziah Asyaari, or penulis cinta-cinta ayat tuh. I'm not ungrateful, just tired. To me, it's cool to be great in Arabic. Or Greek. Or Hebrew. People decipher and feel challenged with the many meanings it possess.

-I love batik art the best. People can guess the picture, the color. But you can never decipher the emotion behind the mixture of colors.
I am not good at batik art, I've tried, and I think I haven't gotten it right at all. It's not easy to learn all these merging color techniques. These paintings are NOT mine. They're one of my favorites though.

-I used to be really bad at talking with people, because of the language barrier, and I drew a lot in my spare time to express.

Now, I think I talk too much, but still... I draw some more.
Why can't I connect?