"Geneva mafia wanabes..."
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"a hand woven dopata from baluchistan a fine piece of cloth, from dera bugti where a civil war between the military and freedom fighters continue to claim lives ( www.balochvoice.com ) i had chosen this cloth among so many others drapped before me i had felt the sufferings of the womenfolk who usually take months to sew a piece of artwork like this which makes me think how fortunate i am to be me how lucky i am to be always safe and sound not ever knowing what it feels like to have a bomb explode in your backyard and see the remnants of your children scatter around you ..."
june always bring back bitter and sweet memories. For one, my father, whom i loved with all my heart and soul, passed away in 2003. it was the most difficult time for me. at the same time, i was in the midst of excitement, because we had just received word that ISA (Internal Security Act) detainees were being released from detention in Kamunting. despite my father's illness, i had gone to cover the story. On June 2, he died, as I was on my way back from the prison. one of the ISA detainee, hishamuddin rais (independent writer, film-maker, former student activist) was a friend i had respected for being different, for being his own person, for always pushing the boundaries, eventhough it would later cost him his freedom...he is free now, and i had written these poems for him while he was in detention...april2001-june2003. I Hishamuddin Rais (middle) "Your name is freedom but they tear your wings And keep you captive in a golden cage; they hide your radiance under a table and dro...
"with an earth like this, who needs hell...?" these days they attack me even in my home why then do they say: ‘there is no place like home?’ i am robbed in my playground raped in my school, bombed in cinemas bus stations flea markets and shopping malls i am the target no matter who i am is there a safe place for me to play? please show me the way i need refuge yet no place on earth is safe your government says I can stay for awhile yet I am harassed manhandled embarrassed in your airports i may work for your people yet I can be whipped if my boss does not have my papers from a human being with dignity i am reduced to an animal they call 'the undocumented’ how can you call this place earth for me it’s a big battle field sometimes there are no guns but too often i am killed not by bullets but ignorance by hatred discrimination racism inhumanity pride sometimes it depends on which side you’re on take sides they say as the ones without sides are the ones hurt the most so I to...
"blown away" "tears" "blood" if there was a tear-drop everytime someone was hungry there would be close to 800 million tears a day; if there was a teardrop for every one who is homeless there would be close to one billion tears a day; if there was a tear-drop for the many who are internally displaced in the world there would be near to 25 million tears a day how many more tears need i cry - for the evicted, victims of war, conflict and strife, for battered women and children? if i counted those tears it would be enough to flood the entire universe ! * pictures by susan loone, 2004, penang.
"sayang..... is a malaysian word used to describe love from the mundane to the most passionate so i call you sayang and if you ask me how i would describe us, i would say "peaceful" gone are the days when i would seek adventure or excitement..... all i want now is peace to lie in your arms and feel the whole world enwrap me to feel eternity enclose me in one moment..."
let us venture now into unchartered territories let's leave behind wind blown images of the past come place your hands firmly into mine and i w ill drag you to a land of infinite freedom where we can see beyond the colors of our skins for the only color that matters is our humanity the only difference is whether we love or hate not our faiths, our langauges not our wealth and certainly not our skins if you probe close enough you will see there is a rainbow, a kaleidoscope of colors beyond the pigmentation of our skins until you dare to seek these heavenly shades of truth how can i ever start to tell you what freedom is...?
how can i continue breathing when my breath refuses to acknowledge that this is my breath how can i continue to speak when my voice does not recognise the origin of its tones how can i continue to walk when one limb fails to correspond with the other how do i continue to live when my life forgets that it is alive how do i die when my death doesn't know how …
if you ask me god has no face no color no sex and no smell god has no form no structure but a fusion of power pulsing through our veins god is a passion burning in our brains the motivator of all good things governing our spirit making us reach out for other human beings on an equal plane of love and understanding god is this eternal vision and desire to seek for the truth no matter how many tangles and barb wires it took god is this endless want for freedom of speech thoughts, actions and feelings that would save the whole world god is this force that will claim back the rights of all the living to breath, live and love until we see god in this fashion until we are not frightened how do we face the evils of greed and oppression if you ask me god is within me god is within you god is a moment a situation an era, a country where love rules unconstrained...
come into my world where there are no frontiers horizons are blurred and the sea and ever changing hue of green, red, black, yellow and blue there are no houses of detention no rules and regulations and humans like you and me can live in harmony we can love as free as the wind sleep or wake, dance and sing and yet have more than we can eat why? because it is the fruits of our labour the strength of our hands and the intensity of our minds which bring food to our tables not the state not the factories and certainly not politicians come into my world where god is to kind to tell us to fear where no man, woman or machine is big enough to trample on us we may not own property and we do not wear gold coz we do not want anything to drag us down to earth just give us the pleasures of infinite freedom if you even wondered about my sweet little world reach out your hands and i will gladly show you the secret window to its boundless treasures….