by Gwee Li Sui
SI CELIK: Tetapi, mereka tak nampak jasad kitakah?
SI BUTA: Kita kan sudah mati.
SI CELIK: Tetapi, jasad kita kan wujud?
SI BUTA: Kita kan sudah mati.
SI CELIK: Mereka yang mati. Bangkai bernyawa.
SI BUTA: Kita kan sudah mati.
SI CELIK [mengejar ke arah orang ramai yang lalu-lalang dan yang tidak menghiraukannya]: Hei! Kau orang butakah? Kau orang butakah?
SI BUTA: Kita kan sudah mati.
Si Celik berlari ke arah mayatnya dan mayat Si Buta sambil menjerit-jerit kemarahan.
SI CELIK: Hei! Tengok! Tengok!!!!!! Kau orang tak nampak kita orangkah? Butakah? Butakah!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SI BUTA [mendekati Si Celik yang berteleku dan menangis di hadapan mayat mereka]: Kita kan sudah mati!
SI CELIK [menjerit geram]: Ya, kita sudah mati! Kita sudah mati!!! Tapi dia orang tidak nampakkah jasad kita yang sudah mati niiiiiiiii!!!
SI BUTA: Jasad kita mati. Roh kita tidak. Tapi, roh mereka mati.
SI CELIK [menggeram]: Ya, dan jasad mereka bangkai bernyawa.
Si Celik bersusah payah cuba bercakap dengan orang ramai yang lalu-lintas di situ. Si Buta cuba mencegahnya. Kemudian, datang seorang gadis mengambil gambar ibu, ayah dan abangnya dengan menggunakan kamera Polaroid. Apabila gadis itu menunjukkan foto yang sudah siap kepada keluarganya, mereka terkejut kerana melihat wajah Si Buta dan Si Celik ada bersama mereka dalam foto tersebut. Foto ini dipancarkan ke skrin di bahagian belakang pentas.
GADIS: Ayah! Macam mana orang-orang ni ada dalam gambar kita?
AYAH: Entah.
Mereka kelihatan takut. Si Buta dan Si Celik menjenguk foto tersebut. Mereka berpandangan. Freeze lakonan. Pentas digelapkan.
Guardian of the Bay
BY NADIPUTRA
Translated by Harry Aveling
BRIGHT EYES
THE BLIND MAN
VOICE
A TEENAGE COUPLE
A FAMILY, made up of a FATHER, a MOTHER, and TWO CHILDREN
A CROWD, comprising people of various ethnicities, ages, and religions, Singaporeans as well as foreign tourists
A GIRL with a Polaroid camera, and her FAMILY, made up of a FATHER, a MOTHER, and a BROTHER
The theatre is in darkness. The only sounds are the soft breeze and the soft breaking of the waves on the shore. A moment later, there is the sound of a person running quickly along the edge of the beach, splashing through the water. Suddenly, we hear a scream, a loud painful scream. After a few seconds, we hear the very loud, terrifying roar of a lion.
BRIGHT EYES [suddenly screams very loudly in pain]: Aaaaaaah!
Silence. The stage lights are slowly raised. A body lies sprawled at the edge of the stage. The bleeding feet of the figure protrude from a pair of black jeans that looks as though it has been torn deliberately in a number of places. The body is also dressed in a torn T-shirt which appears to be covered in blood. There are deep wounds on it. The chest of the figure slowly rises and falls, indicating that the person is still alive. We hear the sound of slow, laboured breathing.
BRIGHT EYES [moving with difficulty, lying face down, suffering severely, and trying to move to the centre of the stage]: Where am I?
VOICE [speaking in a deep, soft, affectionate manner]: In a classroom.
BRIGHT EYES [looks left, right, up, all around the stage, trying to find the source of the voice]: A classroom?
Brief silence.
VOICE [speaking in a deep, soft, affectionate manner]: You are a damned fool!
BRIGHT EYES [suddenly looking left, right, up, all around the stage, trying to find the source of the voice]: A damned fool. [Suddenly forcing himself to shout as loudly as he can.] Where am I? [Silence.] Where am I?
VOICE [speaking in a deep, soft, affectionate manner]: You can be anywhere you want to be.
BRIGHT EYES [struggling with his pain and forcing himself to shout]: Where am I? Where? Bitch…
VOICE [speaking in a deep, soft, affectionate manner]: Ah, ah, ah… No bad language here. No swearing. Speak properly… Manners maketh man.
BRIGHT EYES [responding quickly as he forces himself to speak loudly despite his pain]: What sort of man?
A lion roars. BRIGHT EYES quickly looks around for the source of the sound.
BRIGHT EYES [in pain]: Do you want to eat me in the dark, do you? Beast! Just because you’re big and have sharp teeth, you want to kill me, do you?
An old hunched-back BLIND MAN with a stick walks past BRIGHT EYES. He is well-dressed. He then turns back towards BRIGHT EYES and approaches him.
THE BLIND MAN [shakes his head, then turns around, and says]: What a pity.
BRIGHT EYES [angrily, despite his pain]: Is that all you can say – what a pity?
THE BLIND MAN [stops, then faces BRIGHT EYES]: Pity is one of the great qualities of human existence.
BRIGHT EYES [angrily, despite his pain]: Is that all you can feel?
THE BLIND MAN: It is better to feel pity than anger. [He turns around again and begins to leave.]
BRIGHT EYES: Wait!
THE BLIND MAN stops.
BRIGHT EYES: Can you help me?
THE BLIND MAN: Are you in trouble?
BRIGHT EYES: Why did you look at me, shake your head, and start to walk away? You’re blind, aren’t you?
THE BLIND MAN: I am blind. But I can smell the fresh blood on your body and hear the fear in your voice. I feel sorry for you.
BRIGHT EYES: If you feel sorry for me, then help me.
THE BLIND MAN: I felt sorry for you but not as you are now.
BRIGHT EYES: Then when?
THE BLIND MAN: I felt sorry for you when you were reading your poetry near the Merlion just now.
BRIGHT EYES: Were you listening to me?
THE BLIND MAN: You kicked the Merlion, then recited: “The lion is a stupid block of stone.” You spat on the Merlion, then you continued: “Spewing into the sea. It was a shambles.” Then you coughed up phlegm. You continued: “A symbol of stupidity.” You farted at the Merlion, then continued: “Clown of the bay.” You pissed at the Merlion, then continued: “A fantasy mascot.” And you shat at the base of the Merlion, and, as you squatted, you recited: “An idol of stone, a deceitful piece of art…” Then, when the Merlion, guardian of the bay, came alive, you ran away, and it ran after you… You immediately asked the statue of Raffles to help you. He only folded his arms and watched you run, running and running. That was when I found you here.
BRIGHT EYES: Who are you?
THE BLIND MAN: The Blind Man who hears everything, who smells everything, who can still wants to experience every grain of life here on the equator. [He recites mockingly.]
The lion is a stupid block of stone
spewing into the sea
a symbol of stupidity
clown of the bay
a fantasy mascot
an idol of stone
a deceitful piece of art.
BRIGHT EYES: You can remember all that!
THE BLIND MAN: Of course.
BRIGHT EYES: I don’t.
THE BLIND MAN: You just follow your feelings. You don’t remember anything.
BRIGHT EYES: What else do you remember?
THE BLIND MAN: The silent figure of Raffles with his arms folded.
BRIGHT EYES: You’re blind. How could you see that?
THE BLIND MAN: When I went to school, the statue had its arms folded. I don’t think he puts his hands on his hips after I went blind. Have you ever seen Sang Nila Utama?
BRIGHT EYES: No.
THE BLIND MAN: Have you seen Lee Kuan Yew?
BRIGHT EYES: No.
THE BLIND MAN: No wonder you kicked the Merlion, spat on the Merlion, coughed up phlegm over the Merlion, farted at the Merlion, pissed on the Merlion, shat on the Merlion, the guardian of the bay.
BRIGHT EYES: Because it is spewing into the sea. People say that it spews up the whole ocean.
THE BLIND MAN: You are ungrateful...
BRIGHT EYES: Am I?<
br />
THE BLIND MAN: Yes. That is why the Merlion statue chased you.
BRIGHT EYES: The Merlion statue chased me?
THE BLIND MAN: Yes.
BRIGHT EYES: How do you know?
THE BLIND MAN: As you ran, you were screaming and shouting out, “The Merlion is after me! The Merlion wants to eat me… Help… Heeelp! Raffles, help me… Please, Raffles, help me! Why won’t you uncross your arms and help me? Help… Heeeeelp!”
BRIGHT EYES [in pain]: The Merlion was chasing me… The Merlion wanted to kill me!
THE BLIND MAN: Impossible… impossible! The Merlion is still standing at the mouth of the bay, spewing water into the ocean.
BRIGHT EYES [in pain]: I saw the Merlion chasing me. That was why I ran away. How did you know that the Merlion was there?
THE BLIND MAN: I saw it.
BRIGHT EYES: But you’re blind, aren’t you?
THE BLIND MAN: I saw it with my ears. When you began to run all over the place, some kids exuberantly laughed as they watched you. Then they wanted to take a photograph with me in front of the Merlion. They liked hearing me talk about the Merlion. They don’t come from Singapore, but they enjoy my stories. [Takes a picture out from his pocket.] Ah…! Look! This is the picture the kids gave me after we’d had our photograph taken.
BRIGHT EYES [after looking at the photograph that THE BLIND MAN has given him, asks]: So what was chasing me?
THE BLIND MAN: How would I know? Ask Raffles.
BRIGHT EYES [angrily but restraining his pain]: Raffles? He only knows how to fold his arms.
THE BLIND MAN: Dear Mr. Raffles folded his arms when he saw you being chased by the Merlion. It was your fault. Raffles couldn’t do anything. He certainly didn’t dare stop the Merlion. The Merlion knew you had abused him. So he couldn’t say anything. Even Sang Nila Utama didn’t dare come and help you. The lion he saw was a fake.
BRIGHT EYES: Who are you?
THE BLIND MAN: A man like yourself.
BRIGHT EYES: Why are you following me?
THE BLIND MAN: I want to see you die.
BRIGHT EYES: You want to see me die? What sort of a person are you?
THE BLIND MAN: A human being?
BRIGHT EYES: A human being? But you want to see me die?
THE BLIND MAN: Yes. Because you are an animal. And, if you are not already dead, then I’ll have to kill you myself with my stick.
BRIGHT EYES [angrily but restraining his pain]: You are an animal, just like the Merlion.
THE BLIND MAN: Because I love the Merlion. It is a unique symbol of our progress. There is nothing else like it in the whole of the world. And the world respects it. I will destroy anyone who tries to destroy the Merlion. Including you. My stick will be a hundred years old on the ninth of August, and I will use it as a weapon to kill you.
BRIGHT EYES [laughing as he tries to resist his pain]: Kill me?
THE BLIND MAN [cynically teasing BRIGHT EYES]: The lion is a stupid block of stone, spewing into the bay. A symbol of stupidity, clown of the bay. A fantasy mascot. An idol of stone, a deceitful piece of art. [Suddenly, he begins hitting BRIGHT EYES angrily. BRIGHT EYES screams and tries to defend himself but is unable to do so.]
When BRIGHT EYES lies silent and unmoving, THE BLIND MAN stops hitting him. THE BLIND MAN observes him then prods BRIGHT EYES to make sure that he is really dead. After satisfying himself that BRIGHT EYES is dead, THE BLIND MAN studies his stick.
THE BLIND MAN [while studying the stick]: You are absolute proof, together with God, that I have killed Bright Eyes. I will leave you on Bright Eyes’s body as proof that I killed him. When the police look for his murderer, you will be the witness to my having killed him. My fingerprints are all over you. [Placing his stick on BRIGHT EYES’s rigid body.] I did it because I believed that I was right. I don’t need to hand myself over to the police. It’s their job to find out who killed Bright Eyes. He was blind about the Merlion. If the police can’t work out that it was me from this stick [laughs cynically], then I really don’t know. What sort of police are they? [He walks around BRIGHT EYE’s body, smiling in disgust.]
While circling BRIGHT EYES’s body, THE BLIND MAN is unaware that BRIGHT EYES has suddenly grabbed the stick that lies on his body and begun to hit THE BLIND MAN’s feet. THE BLIND MAN falls to the ground. BRIGHT EYES begins crawling, trying to stand up as he hits THE BLIND MAN as hard as he can. Unable to get up, THE BLIND MAN flounders about and loses consciousness. THE BLIND MAN grasps the stick. BRIGHT EYES holds tightly to it as well.
BRIGHT EYES [panting with exhaustion, breathing deeply, excited]: Are you clever or am I stupid? Now who is blind and who can see? [He sighs deeply. He is silent, rooted to the spot as he continues to hold on to THE BLIND MAN’s stick.]
Soon a pair of very fashionably dressed TEENAGERS walks past THE BLIND MAN and BRIGHT EYES, but they are too much in love to take any notice of them. A while later, a FAMILY, comprising a FATHER, a MOTHER, and TWO CHILDREN, stroll by without seeing THE BLIND MAN and BRIGHT EYES because they are too busy enjoying themselves. A little while later again, the stage lights having slowly been raised, more and more people pass. They are of various ethnicities, social groups, and sizes and include foreign tourists as well. THE BLIND MAN and BRIGHT EYES appear from among the crowd. They are surprised.
BRIGHT EYES: Can’t they see us?
THE BLIND MAN: We’re dead.
BRIGHT EYES: But they can see our bodies, can’t they?
THE BLIND MAN: We’re dead.
BRIGHT EYES: But our bodies are still there, aren’t they?
THE BLIND MAN: We’re dead.
BRIGHT EYES: They’re dead. Living corpses.
THE BLIND MAN: We’re dead.
BRIGHT EYES [running towards the passing crowd oblivious to their presence]: Hey! Are you blind? Are you blind?
THE BLIND MAN: We’re dead.
BRIGHT EYES runs towards his body and that of THE BLIND MAN, screaming angrily.
BRIGHT EYES: Hey! Look! Look!! Can’t you see us? Are you blind?? You are blind!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THE BLIND MAN [approaching BRIGHT EYES who is leaning on his elbows and weeping in front of the two corpses]: We’re dead!
BRIGHT EYES [screaming angrily]: Yes, We’re dead! We’re dead!!! But they can’t see our dead bodies!!
THE BLIND MAN: Our bodies are dead. But our spirits are not. Their spirits are already dead.
BRIGHT EYES [angrily]: Yes, their bodies are living breathing corpses.
BRIGHT EYES tries hard to talk with the passing crowd. THE BLIND MAN tries to stop him. Then a GIRL comes, taking Polaroid snaps of her MOTHER, FATHER, and BROTHER. When she shows the photographs to her family, they are startled to see the faces of THE BLIND MAN and BRIGHT EYES in the pictures. The photographs are projected onto a screen at the back of the stage.
GIRL: Daddy! How did these people get into our photographs?
FATHER: I have no idea.
They look frightened. THE BLIND MAN and BRIGHT EYES peer at the snaps, then look at each other. The action freezes. The stage is darkened.
From a Beautiful Country
BY CYRIL WONG
Which isn’t where I am right now;
not exactly, and still,
where I’m writing from is still lovely,
in its way;
when one world shapes another,
defines it as how justice is defined
by chaos –
don’t you get my drift? I mean,
don’t you see
how I’ve lived on this island
for less than fifty years and in that time
I’ve been lost on another
island
afloat behind the first:
a second country
where ghosts meet and fondle
in sunlit corners of old Ann Siang Hill;
where pedestrians stop and kiss for no reason;
and pausing beside an abandoned building
invites insight
&
nbsp; into loneliness,
not urban development.
A mirror-country without seasons
except for the protracted heat of passion’s projection,
the flash-rain of love’s
provisional withdrawal.
Home is where the heart is but my heart
is in a better place,
thrumming behind the heart of this present place,
since this is how I’ve divided the self –
cast in two places at once.
Where I am and where I can’t help
but be: death
merely concludes the dialectic.
Yet as one world passes into the other
to fit and flicker singularly, time’s slippery
miracle, I’m given brief cause
to celebrate; not with words scattering
like leaves across a tired playground, but
silence that becomes its own
forgotten language,
a bridge into the eternal.
In such moments,
the unthinkable becomes
no longer mysterious
and the country I knew is no longer
the country I know.
回去的路
作者：梁文福
六十多岁的小舅，在澳洲定居几十年了。上个星期他到访新加坡，向我七十多岁的母亲提出想吃客家酿蚝干。母亲亲自为他做了。小舅尝了第一口，泪，簌簌地流了下来。
小舅吃完了那一口酿蚝干，告诉大家：上一次吃到这道需要功夫和时间来烹制的“家”肴，是在1987年。那时外婆还健在，小舅回吉隆坡老家时，外婆亲自做给他吃。
我在过后听母亲叙述，才知道此事；这种过后的咀嚼，更能嚼出一种特别的味道。我想：小舅也是在咀嚼着2014年特为他做的酿蚝干时，才真正嚼出1987年那一口酿蚝干的味道。口感和香味，是一条回去的路，让小舅回到还有娘亲疼的“那时候”。
写作几十年，有些文章曾经想写，却终于没能写成，反而令我念念不忘。在我心里，有一篇文章，早已拟好了题目：《从十五楼到十五楼》。
