Latiff Mohidin

Siapakah Yang Akan Mengingatkan Aku

Language: malay

Translations: english (Who Will Remind Me), german (Wer wird mich erinnern )

Siapakah Yang Akan Mengingatkan Aku

waktu itu para penghuni malam
telah nyenyak tidur di atas lantai
tubuh-tubuh yang terbaring ke dalam mimpi
melupakan gerak dan suara serak
peladang-peladang tua di siang hari

aku turun ke tanah berjalan
mengelilingi rumah dengan senyap
cuba mengingatkan nama-nama pohonan
burung-burung kecil di dalam lalang itu
ikan-ikan yang menggelepar di tebat

siapakah yang akan mengingatkan aku
akan gerak bayang-bayang tak bernama
menghilang ke dalam kelam tanpa suara?

aku akan berjalan berlengkar sebentar
di sini mengelilingi rumah dengan senyap
menanti sebelum saat lelap itu kembali lagi

Latiff Mohidin

photo © Cheryl Hoffmann

* 20.08.1941, Seremban, Malaysia
lives in: Penang, Malaysia

Latiff Mohidin is one of the most renowned and influential Malaysian poets. Born on 20 August 1941 in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia, Latiff received his early education in Malaya and Singapore. In the early 1960s, Latiff left his homeland to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin, Germany, for four years on a scholarship from the Federal Republic of Germany. In 1969, Latiff attended a course on printmaking at Atelier La Courrier in Paris, France and later continued at Pratt Graphic Centre in New York, USA.

photo © Cheryl Hoffmann

During the late 1960’s and 70’s, Latiff travelled through Southeast Asia, prolifically writing poetry and creating monumental artworks that captured the zeitgeist of the region’s turbulent history. Latiff’s poetry plays with fresh imagery and metaphor, encapsulating precision in expression. He has written seven volumes of poetry, including Sungai Mekong, Kenbara Malam and Pesisir Waktu, as well as several art books. His lyrical and evocative literary poetry earned him the SEA Write Award in 1984 and many national awards. His poems been translated in English, Chinese, German, Italian, Danish and Tamil.

As a painter, Latiff has redefined Malaysian visual arts with series such as “Pago-Pago”, “Mindscape” and “Langkawi”. His artworks have been exhibited worldwide in over 30 solo exhibitions, including in Berlin, New York, London, Osaka, Sydney and Sao Paulo.

Latiff is also a highly accomplished literary translator. He has translated Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck and Goethe’s Faust from German to Malay, and has produced Malay versions of world classics such as the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, the poetry of Rumi, Lao Zi’s Tao Te Ching, and Noh plays by Yukio Mishima.

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