Open Literary Award to all
I READ with keen interest the report on the bold move by the National Film Development Corporation Board (Finas) in the upcoming 29th Malaysian Film Festival, “No more drama (hopefully)” ( Star 2, Sept 21).
Finas has responded positively on the urging of many parties inside and outside of the industry to remove the Malay and non-Malay division and from now on “allow every (Best Film) nominee to compete in one category only”. The change creates healthy and fair competition and deserves applause from the public.
As a literary scholar, I would like to draw attention to another national-level award, the National Literary Awards (Anugerah Sasterawan Negara) which was envisioned in 1977 and officially awarded to the first winner in 1981.
This award is regarded as the highest honour in local literature. Nevertheless, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) only considers literary works in the Malay language, as Malay literature is classified as the sole “National literature”. Literature in other languages such as English, Chinese, Tamil, Iban, etc, is categorised as “sectional literature” and denied nomination.
The statement made by cinematographer Mohd Noor Kassim is worthy of consideration: “Why should films made by locals be categorised according to language in a national-level competition? Aren’t we all Malaysians? Don’t we have the same identity card? I believe we should encourage healthy competition instead of making room for division.”
This perspective not only reflects the moderate stand of most Malaysians after 60 years of independence but also the sincere desire to ensure the industry continues to grow healthier and fly higher.
As we all know, the most prestigious Noble Prize for Literature is granted not just to Swedish (the language of the organiser) or English (the dominant internation- al language) works alone but to literary works in all languages. The organiser of National Literary Award should thus seriously consider opening this award for authors in other languages.
This move will benefit Malay literature in particular and the Malay language in general while creating a more credible, prestigious and reputable award in the literary field.
If writers in other languages have the opportunity to compete against Malay language writers on the same platform, it would drive writers in the Malay language in widening and uplifting their themes, subject matters and aesthetic strategies.
It works the same way for the former. When such liberation happens, it should also encourage the proliferation of local literary works being translated into Malay.
These translations will undoubtedly enrich the Malay literary and language heritage. It will also create greater access to local literary works regardless of language. This is a win-win situation for all writers while promoting the spirit of one Malaysia to have literary works in different languages exposed to all Malaysians.
On a frank note, the present National Literary Awards enjoy limited acceptance as a national competition. This award is not presented every year. I guess it is due to a lack of convincing candidates and nominations but this may change if it is open to all.
Perhaps there are Malay writers just like their Malay filmmaker counterparts who would like to see healthy competition in the field of literature.
Our hope is that the organiser will reconsider the conservative and exclusive perspectives of the awards and be bold enough to make appropriate changes to make it more prestigious in the true national meaning.