THE art of Malay poetry can be far reaching if it is not confined to a certain issue, ethnicity or religion.

To illustrate how broad it can be, Kumpulan Sasterawan Kavyan recently held a contest where the poems were themed around the topic of “Hinduism”.

The top three poems were written by Malaysians of different ethnicities.

Of the 26 poems received, Mohd Faiz Nazim Baidilleh (Iz Baidilleh) took the top prize for modern form and focused the message on “Tiga”.

T. Viveganandan’s “Maka Kau Kubentuk” picked up the second prize while Lee Chen Kang’s “Cerita Muruga” placed third. Each of the winners were awarded RM800 cash.

“Tiga”, the winning poem, featured moderate elements of Hinduism, was focused in its message, and had the principles of a modern poem.

Meanwhile, “Maka Kau Kubentuk” focused on the central elements of Hinduism and “Cerita Muruga” had an entertaining narrative that made it a compelling piece.  

Prolific author Mohd Faizal Musa, who led the panel of judges, said it was commendable that Malay was used as the medium as the language was not exclusive to Malays only.

“I think it is interesting because all this while, Bahasa Malaysia or Melayu is only associated with Islam, but here we can see that a language belongs to those who can master it.

“The panelists are happy that Bahasa Malaysia or Melayu can be used as an expression to convey the elements of Hinduism and what makes it more interesting is that the winners are from different races,” he told The Malaysian Insight when contacted today.

Faizal, famously known as Faisal Tehrani, added that there should not be any restrictions for non-Malay writers who wanted to use Malay language to convey their artistic expressions.

He also drew a parallel between the contest and The Man Booker Prize which had non-native English writers as winners, such as Arundhati Roy, writer of ‘The God of Small Things’.

The Hinduism poem contest was sponsored by Amir Muhammad, owner of Matahari Books, which had published Perlis Mufti Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin’s book.

The poems were judged by Faizal, Kumpulan Sasterawan Kavyan and Amir.

The contest was held in response to Asri’s controversial cow poem, which allegedly criticised Hindus for worshipping cows.

Asri had apologised to all non-Muslims, especially Hindus for misinterpreting the poem’s real meaning. The poem has been removed by administrators of Asri’s Facebook page. He said the poem was targeted at the Indian government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Consolation prizes of RM160 cash were awarded to Muhammad Fareed Isa’s “Sirna Dalam Samsara”; Muhammad Ruzaiman Ahmad’s “Karma Bima Sakti” and Renganathan Palanisamy’s “Kami Yang Bergelar Penganut Hindu”.

A total of 26 poems were submitted for the contest. – May 12, 2017.