Do Not Say

do not say my people are lazy
because you do not know.
you are only a critic, an onlooker.
you cannot know or judge,
passing the kampong in your car,
staring at economic data.
do not think my people are weak
because they are gentle,
because they do not build skyscrapers.
have you ever worked in a ladang,
or danced the ronggeng?
can you sing the dondang sayang?
do not think that we have only music
because we love life.

do not write that we have no literature, culture.
have you ever listened to the sajak or pantun
stayed a night at the bangsawan?
have you read the epic shairs
or the theological theses?
how many times have you wondered about history in the blade
and ancestry in the handle of the keris,
or felt the pattern of the songket?
have you lived in a kampong?

do not condemn us as poor
because we have very few banks.
see, here the richness of our people,
the brimful hearts that do not grab or grapple.
we collect humanity from sun and rain and man,
transcending the business and the money.

do not tell us how to live
or organize such nice associations and bodies.
our society was an entity
before the advent of political philosophy.

do not say-
because you do not know.

              – Mohamad Bin Haji Salleh (1942 – )

Key Takeaways

• Written by Mohammad Bin Haji Salleh (1942 – ), a Malaysian poet
• The poet insists on the idea that native people and their life cannot be understood by the outsiders; he derides those who pass the kampong (Malay village) in a car, and pretend to know the simple, poor, humble people and their life. He valorizes the nativeness and the cultural richness of the Malay people against the criticism of the outsiders.
• The poem presents series of comparison between the innocent, poor, humble people of a Malay village and the educated, rich, and non-Malay town-dwellers who build skyscrapers.
• Is a severe attack on the snobbish and so-called educated people or politicians who think they know better.
• From post-colonial perspective, this poem also resists the power and abuse of the colonial European power, particularly, the British, who always deemed the native indigenous people as poor, weak and savage.
• Takes pride in nativeness, own identity, tradition, cultural richness, and history
• Use of many native language (Malaysian) words: ‘bangsawan’, ‘dondang sayang’, ‘kampong’, ‘keris’, ‘ladang’, ‘pantun’, ‘ronggang’, ‘sajak’, ‘shairs’, ‘songket’

Malay Word	Meaning in English
bangsawan (noun)	Malay opera
dongdang sayang (noun)	a type of serenade in which both members of the couple sing verses alternatively
kampong (noun)	Malay village
keris (noun)	traditional Malay dagger
ladang (noun)	clearing for non-irrigated farming
ronggang (noun)	dance for couples, sometimes accompanied for songs
sajak (noun) / pantun (noun)	a form of modern Malay verse
shairs (noun)	a literary form in which the language is rhythmic
songket (noun)	hand-woven cloth, that has a complicated pattern of gold or silver thread

GLOSSARY

advent (n): the coming of an important event
brimful (adj): completely full of something
condemn (v): to express strong disapproval especially for moral reasons
critic (n): a person who expresses opinions about the good and bad qualities of books, music, etc.
entity (n): something that exists separately from other things
epic (n): a long poem about the action of great men and women or about a nation’s story
grab (v): to take hold of something or somebody with your hand suddenly
grapple (v): to take a strong hold of something and struggle
onlooker (n): a person who watches something that is happening
skyscraper (n): very tall building
stare (v): to look at something, somebody, for a long time
theological (adj): related to religion and god
transcend (v): to be or go beyond the limits of something