IN EXILE I AND II-POEMS BY SITI RUQAIYAH HASHIM IN ENGLISH AND MALAY LANGUAGE.

BIODATA OF SITI RUQAIYAH HASHIM

Rokiah Hashim from Malaysia writes using the name of Siti Ruqaiyah Hashim. She graduated from University of Science in Malaysia in Theatre and Drama, then continued her studies in University of Sydney and obtained Post Graduate Diploma in Translation from Institute of Translations and Books in Malaysia. Starting from 1987 her poems and short stories were published by mainstream literature magazines and newspapers. She is also prolific in film and theatre critics and wrote since 2007 in her column in a major national daily in Malaysia and published a film critic book in 2015 and some 250 articles. A bi-lingual anthology of her poems titled Catharsis/Katarsis in English and Bahasa Melayu was published in 2015 and Spanish in 2016. Her bi-lingual anthology together with 12 other world peace poets titled News From Strasbourg was published in 2017. All translation into Bahasa Melayu was done by SitiRuqaiyah herself. Her second bi-lingual World Peace Poem anthology titled Peace Be Upon You Davos was published in June 2019 in Zagreb. Her collection of poems were translated and published in Albanian recently by Ditet E Naimit 2019 titled Rerat E Sri Lavender. Her latest bi-lingual book is translations of Shaip Emerllahu poems In Bahasa Melayu and English titled Epal Tetovo/Apples of Tetovo also published in late 2019 .She translated Jeton Kelmendi's book and published it in 2020. She published her poetry collection Between Stolen Glances in 2020 by Kultura Snova followed by her 3rd peace Poem World Anthology Prayers for Aisha Lulu in 2021. Her works also appeared in numerous other anthologies together with other world poets and in foreign magazines and newspaper. .She attended numerous local poem festivals in Malaysia and all over the world. She is currently living in Europe and an associate author with International magazine Diogen Pro Culture for World Peace (USA), Poetrybay(USA),Greenwatch Bangladesh, Campus 247.Wordpress (Ghana), Atunis Galaktike Poetry (Brussels) IWABOGDANI (Brussels) and many others. Her poem won Best Poem in Split, Croatia in May 2019. Recently She was awarded by IWABOGDANI Brussels and Yalta 10th Chekov Festival in 2019. International Forum of Creativity and Humanity (IFCH) based in Morocco recently awarded her Excellence in Recognition of Humanitarian and Cultural Fields and on International Women’s Day 2020 she was awarded Ideal Arab Leadership Woman. She was also appointed Ambassador of Humanity from Malaysia by IFCH.

POEMS BY SITI RUQAIYAH HASHIM.

IN EXILE

I.

Watching the absorbing Kosem Sultan series
For entertainment and delving into hearts and minds of anscestors
My great great grandpa Tok Pak Lah
Eases me to accept His fates
Alfatihah*for the blue eyed great grandma Tok Nek Jah
Who told stories about his late father

Ah! Kosem is borne and borne again
Different times
Different places
In different languages and culture
Kosem who brought with her nothing but love and naivety

Oh my!
Alfa Laila Wa Laila** again

*Verses from Quran recited for the dead
** Arabic classics -Tales of 1001 Night
DALAM PELARIAN

1.

Menonton siri Kosem Sultan yang mengasyikkan
Untuk hiburan dan menyelami hati-budi
Moyangku Tok Pak Lah
Semakin senang aku menerima takdir Nya
Alfatihah untuk Tok Nek Jah yang bermata biru
Dan sering bercerita tentang Arwah bapanya

Ah! Kosem lahir dan lahir lagi
Di waktu lain
Di tempat lain
Dengan bahasa dan budaya lain
Kosem yang hanya punya cinta dan kenaifan bersamanya

Aduh!
Alfa Laila Wa Laila lagi!

II.

It happened long ago
Maybe I should say it started long ago
Because till now, their tales are not over yet
Yes! More than quarter century
Maybe it will go on
As long as that old man lives
Or his disciple the purple eyed Prince still in power
In his unseen realm in this universe
And this Vlaska Ulica* become my witness
I poured out all my notes about them

It became a significant part of journey in life
And episodes supercede each other
Actors come and go
Episodes varied from each other interestingly
Not boring at all
There were heroes,friends,witches, hangmen, spies
All sorts of jobs not registered in the National Registration Department
Sometimes scary
Perplexing
Absorbing
Ing…ing….ing…..

They never stopped
Putting me under their microscopic radar I think
And their obsessions become larger
From day to day
Crossing continents and everything in them.

*A big main road in Zagreb, Croatia.

II.

Ianya sudah lama berlaku
Atau mungkin aku patut kata telah lama bermula
Kerana hingga kini cerita mereka belum tamat
Ya! Lebih dari sesuku abad
Mungkin ia akan berterusan
Selagi si tua itu hidup
Atau anak didiknya Putera bermata ungu masih kekal berkuasa
Dalam dunianya yang tidak kelihatan di muka bumi
Dan Vlaska Ulica* ini menjadi saksi
Ku hamburkan segala nota catatanku tentang mereka

Ianya jadi sebahagian besar perjalanan hidupku
Dan babak demi babak silih berganti
Pelakon demi pelakon datang dan pergi
Dan setiap babaknya punya variasi cukup menarik
Sedikit pun tidak membosankan
Ada wira, sahabat, tukang sihir, algojo, perisik
Dan entah apa lagi jawatan yang tidak didaftarkan di Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara
Kadang-kadang menyeramkan
Membingungkan
Mengasyikkan
Meng…..meng ….meng….

Mereka tak pernah berhenti
Meletakkanku di bawah radar mikroskop mereka agaknya
Dan obsesi mereka bertambah besar
Dari hari ke hari
Merentasi benua dan segala di dalamnya

*Nama jalan raya besar di tengah bandar raya Zareb, Croatia.

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