The Muruku Murmurations

This piece was written after I went for Scott Sneddon's workshop on Performance Poetry and a challenge by Melizarani when she saw my blonde hair. This piece is about layers and how each person has the potential to be more than who they present themselves to be. Let's be proud of who we are. Lyrics were taken from Justin Bieber's What Do You Mean Let's make Malaysia great again Let's make the world a better place Let's take away the pain Let's take away the rat race. Let me shake your hand And take your hand So we can make a stand At the front of this stage On this rich and flourishing land And put in motion what we have planned. We have come to an age Where words don't stay on a page They are typed out on timelines And taking and giving offense is now fine Animals are allowed out of their cage To be proud roaming predators To instil fear and go on a rampage And let out their rage. I think everybody is trying hard. It

This piece was written during The Muddy Confluence, a workshop put together by Afi Noor and Lily Jamaludin from Speakcity Asia for Projek Dialog and  Thinkcity 's Pesta Puisi Kota . A day filled with spoken word, heavy topics that hit home, and a melting pot of beautiful muddy poetry. Prompt: Write 14 lines about how you arrived at this city and what makes Kuala Lumpur your home. Kring... Kring... Kring... Nenekku sampai di jeti (My grandmother arrives at the jetty) Kulitnya kering dari Gunung Timur Cina (Her skin dry from the East Mountains of China) Kurus kering badannya. (Her body; just skin and bones.) Kring... Kring... Kring... Datukku sampai ke stesen kereta api (My grandfather arrives at the train station) Kulitnya kasar menjadi orang buruh (His skin rough being a labourer) Melombong bijih timah (Mining tin) Bertemu di Jalan Petaling-ling-ling-ling (They meet in Petaling-ling-ling-ling Street) Di mana Wong and Tang bertemu dengan harapan.

This was a homework assignment that was given by director Chris Ling for the #MalaysiaThrowsHerselfABirthdayParty spoken word theater show. This is a poem written for MALAYSIA. You have been swept over by waves and waves of men Of different colours and loud deafening voices All wanting to reap of a free land A land that is rich and pregnant with potential A land where rulers couldn't measure up to the lead nation When they bartered jengkal, hasta and depa For the value of currency and what the powers that be define economy. Your straits were promised to become straighter And your quarries will be excavated to become industries for quality Resources stripped of its sources by the sorcery called segregated education Fields ploughed by our own hands get handed over to the fiends claimed as legal pirates. Celebrating your own 60th birthday because you want so much to be counted as a senior citizen To reap of the benefits because so much has been taken from you B