SURAT-SURAT DARI FRANKFURT

Tak ada catatan sebenarnya. Yang ada hanya lima pucuk surat yang saya tulis dari kamar 614 Hotel Meininger, Europaallee 64, 60327 Frankfurt, Germany. Surat itu tidak ditujukan kepada sesiapa pun, kecuali kepada diri sendiri. Kerana surat itu hanya untuk diri sendiri, maka tak eloklah saya paparkan di blog ini.

Saya sertakan petikan berita dari wawancara wartawan dengan saya di sana. Temubual ini dalam bahasa Inggeris, bukan dalam bahasa MELAYU! Saya menjawabnya pun dalam bahasa Inggeris bukan dalam bahasa MELAYU. Hari ini saya bebenar-benar terkenangkan guru bahasa Inggeris saya di SMK Melor semasa tingkatan 1 hingga 3, namanya Mr. Christopher Cowan dari UK. Moga-moga beliau masih sihat. Teringat juga pensyarah Sejarah Teater Barat saya, Pn. Janet Pillai yang "memaksa" kami memabaca 14 skrip yang semua dalam bahasa Inggeris.


Mak Yong book launched at Frankfurt Book Fair
2010/10/11


FRANKFURT: A book on “Mak Yong”, touted as the “mystical heritage of Malaysia”, was officially launched over the weekend at the Frankfurt International Book Fair here.
“Mak Yong” was authored by Kelantan-born Rahimidin Zahari, who also writes poetry, plays and essays, and works as a publications officer at Istana Budaya, a department under the Ministry of Information, Communication and Culture.

"I was born in Kelantan, which has a rich culture of shadow puppet shows, big drums, talented singers and dancers,” he told Bernama.

When UNESCO declared “Mak Yong” as a cultural heritage, Rahimidin said he was “simply overjoyed”.
“It was then that I thought of writing a book about it. UNESCO declared ‘Mak Yong’ a masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity,” he revealed.

Though he did not receive any monetary benefits for his book, he was, nevertheless, happy to do it because “I had a feeling of national pride”.

The pictorial book is supported by a generous sprinkling of pictures that highlight the evolution of the “Mak Yong” dance.
“This book is intended to reach the masses and its price will be RM159 because of its size and hard cover," Rahimidin said.

Mohd Khair Ngadiron, managing director of the Kuala Lumpur-based Malaysian National Institute of Translation, which published the book, said that a German publishing house had expressed interest in having a German translation.
He explained that the book was launched at the Frankfurt International Book Fair because “we wanted to get as much international exposure as possible."

A large crowd of Germans and other nationalities attended the launch and they were also treated to several kinds of Malaysian delicacies. Renate Berg, a Frankfurt-based school teacher who came with her class, described the Malaysian curry puffs as "heavenly". -- BERNAMA