Jalan Petaling

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.
(A place where Wong and Tang meet hope.)

- Swit Marie
1430H 7th October 2017
Pasar Seni



From L-R: Me supporting Speakcity before a run, Lily Jamaludin and Afi Noor


The view of Kuala Lumpur City from the window of Ruang, the event venue




Swit Marie is a 'Jacqueline of all trades' who loves wearing plaid
When words fail, she allows movement and emotion to carry her through
A believer in making dreams come true, she would love to collaborate with you
An explorer starting fresh and would only give her best
She stands in the gap and will only call it quits when it's a wrap.

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