Journalist, writer, playwright, and an actor... 4 in 1. That’s Kee Thuan Chye. March 30, 2009 was a memorable day. Dr.Edwin arranged a session for us to meet Kee Thuan Chye. Thanks to Dr.Edwin.
He was so humble and frank when he told us about him. He started to write at a very early age. I felt like ‘WOW’ at that time, as I compared myself when I was young. I sometimes felt difficult to write even an essay, not to mention stories that need imagination.
I got to know about him when I was in my first year degree itself. We read a short story ‘A Sense of Home’ written by Kee Thuan Chye. It was a story which I will never erase from my memory. It is an interesting story due to its special English language. He...he...he...
His literary works are very interesting to be read. There is always an underlying meaning beneath it. One should be a real alert reader to get the juice of it.
For this semester, we read about his play, ‘Swordfish, Then The Concubine’. At first I just read for the sake of examination, however after the session with him, it actually enhance my understanding of the play. He actually manipulated two historical events in our history to highlight the current issues that we are facing now. It is not an easy work to be done to inject in those issues in a play. He is good in doing that. Not all of us were aware of the issues that he actually brought forward in the play. A lesson for us at that time was, ‘ Be an alert reader’.
As the play that we had was just a manuscript, one of my friend asked when will he publish the play. Well, his answer was just, “I had revised his manuscript again.” That really reminded me of what Dr.Edwin told us prior to read the play, “The difference between reading a play by Shakespeare and a play by local writers such as Kee Thuan Chye is, a Shakespearan play will not be revised anymore.” Ha...ha...ha... It’s so true. However, I really hope to get the latest manuscript as it contains some other new issues.
When we asked him when his play be perfect, he only said that life can’t have perfection, we must just try to make it as good as it can. A very meaningful phrase.
A matter of what he said that really captured my mind was we should not really accept whatever we read as truth, because it only represents the author’s truth.
This meaningful session with Kee Thuan Chye had actually made me to think of a few matters. :-)
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i agree with you that kee thuan chye is good at 'injecting' serious issues in his play and tell it in a humorous way. through humor, he is able to make serious matters less provocative and also avoid from offending anyone. if i ever had the idea to talk about issues that we rarely have the guts to talk about in public, i would choose to make it humorous too. in a way, i think kee thuan chye's plays are mostly relatable to the state of our nation. thus, as you've said, we need to be an 'alert reader' to be able to understand what he really means - kee thuan chye...a smart writer in deed.
ReplyDeleteHey dear…
ReplyDeleteHe was adorable, right? A good orator, a fantastic playwright, actor, journalist and etc. I was also fascinated when heard him telling about his background. He started writing at such a young age. That’s really impressive!!! He also has a good sense of humour. The best part was when almost everyone actually started to write when he announced that he was going to give some tips for final exam. After meeting him I just wondered if we could also be proficient and knowledgeable like him. I agree with you about the message he conveys in his every piece of writing. It may contain amusement but he still hits at the right place to express his ‘truth’ to us.
Hats off to you, Mr KTC