On I Went To Meet My Southeast Asian Hero, Dr. Jose Rizal

By Soultari Amin Farid

noramin_dd@yahoo.com

It felt like a mini-pilgrimage for me. Taking that 1 hour walk from my hostel to a place where I would meet a statue of a personality I so admire. When I finally came face to face with him at the midway of a street called "Av. De Filipinas", I knew I was face to face with someone I truly admire.

I first came to know about Dr. Jose Rizal during a research about postcolonial independence for an undergraduate essay in Australia a few years back. Back then, being so motivated by postcolonial theories and fuelled by my frustration with the ongoing discourses about what it means to be a Malay in Singapore and the Malaysian-Indonesian feud about who should lay claim to the origins of the song, "Rasa Sayang", I (re)turned to history to find out more about our common nationalistic aspirations and cultural affinities.

Through my research I found out about Jose Rizal and his desire to unite the Malay world. He was not a warrior but he fought through his books and intellect. His words spurred on the independence movement against the Spanish which eventually reach fruition, unfortunately only after his brutal execution, in 1898. The Filipinos were the first in Southeast Asia to get a taste of independence from their colonisers and established a republic.

Today I stand in front of his monument recalling my first encounter with this brilliant man, my Southeast Asian hero. Through him, I know it is possible to create change with words. And interestingly, I am here in the capital of one of the European colonisers standing proudly looking at the monument that was erected in remembrance of this intellectual individual.

30th December marks his 118th death anniversary.

“On this battlefield man has no better weapon than his intelligence, no other force but his heart.” 

― José Rizal

That French Cafe Meet-up

By Soultari Amin Farid

noramin_dd@yahoo.com

In a French café replete with cultural texts and posters of arts events, quietly tucked in the corner of Clermont Ferrand’s heartland, three dance researchers with teacups in hand are completely absorb in lively discussion about CHOREOMUNDUS.

Their laughter and enthusiasm about topics ranging from sharing about life experiences and perspectives on dance anthropology add to the sprightly ambience of the meeting space: the palpable joy one gets from stimulating intellectual discussions.

In attendance are Ipshita Rajesh, Bharatnatyam practitioner and arts education advocate from Mumbai, India; Signa Schiavo-Campo, dance therapy advocate and contemporary dance enthusiast from Milano, Italy; and Amin Farid, the one from that overcrowded Island in Southeast Asia.

Truly it is a special moment for these seekers of knowledge who, although strangers, embrace at first meet with such familiarity and found instant comfort from the transaction of information between each other, learning more about the world: its complexities, its endless possibilities and, most important, its shared humanity.

They realise thereafter, although they might have already known individually, that this shared love for dance and their believe in its power to heal, educate and bring people together does exist away from complicated academic jargon and overwhelming theories which serves only to distract and mask the common man from something that, although admittedly can be complex, should simply be enjoyable.

“The friendship I gained from this programme is truly something that I treasure most.” says the bespectacled lady who is from the senior cohort of the programme. Her two contemporaries nod in agreement and start sharing about the fun times their cohort had performing in Norway during the Orientation week.

“Honestly, I would not have imagine all of this,” shares the Singaporean about the programme, “being here and the possibility of being in an European café talking to my Italian senior about my perspectives on dance. I feel that world has shrunk that I am able to just leave home to meet someone who shares the same experience and engage in such exciting discussions for hours on end”.

The petite lndian lady shares eagerly, “I feel even more calm now knowing that our seniors have gone through similar paths as us”.

Truly, the experience of tearing one’s hair when thrown into the sea of anthropology and the confusing concepts that hinders you from moving forward is not something to be reckoned with: let alone the Eurocentric views and examples that reminds one of a lingering colonised past.

Such is the experience a seeker of knowledge gets from a meeting with like-minded, like-experience people at a café nestled in a quiet street in the heartland of this French town.

Surely one cannot help but wonder of how it will be when eventually individuals, steeped in experiences and influences reaped through CHOREOMUNDUS, will meet one day in a gathering of sorts? A conference, maybe?

Hopefully it will be as lovely as this one.