Precious two hours spent with Mr. Kee Thuan Chye

My course mates together with different batch mates had an evening with Kee Thuan Chye for an hour and forty-five minutes. Dr. Edwin briefed about him for about five minutes. The first thing I can say about him is that he is a funny person. He is 55 years old but not seen through his face though. He started by talking about his family background where they are not highly literate people and he is from Penang. He started to write when he was in primary school and used to show his writings to his uncle when the uncle will be busy playing poker or mahjong. The uncle does give him some words of appreciation towards his writings. He shows him because he is a literate and a secretary to a judge. It is a pity that he died of a young age.
"I've been in journalism since 1977, beginning with The National Echo," he says. Kee Thuan Chye is more than a journalist. He is a playwright and several of his plays, such as 1984 Here and Now, We could **** You, Mr Birch and The Big Purge, are political commentaries on the country. Not surprisingly, a few been considered has too risky to stage in Malaysia. I did not know he writes poems as well. He mentioned about a poem, ‘A figure of forgotten hours’. Well that is what I heard but when I google it, it was actually ‘A figure of forgotten in hours not of need’. He enjoys watching James Bond’s movies starting from the first one, Dr. No when he was just 10 years old in 1964. That is when I knew how old he was. He also mentioned that what he understands best is the sex part.

He is also interested in William Shakespeare. He watched ‘As You Like It’ and fell in love with the actress Rosalind when he was eleven and she was seventeen. Then, he watched Hamlet and that is when he realises in William Shakespeare’s plays there are full of tragedy and revenge. Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter thought him the theatre of absurd. Theatre is a passion for him. At first, he wanted to be a lawyer but his family could not afford it. His first job was at MAS at Subang airport where he worked as a traffic clerk but after two days, he got bored and quit the job. He then worked as a temporary teacher in his old school, Francis Light and after finishing studies, he applied for USM, which was the nearest University for him. He majored in journalism. He even broadcast in RTM where he got RM75. That was a big money last time. ‘It was enough for me to buy beer, cigarette and buy petrol for my Honda cup.’ That is how he used up the RM75.

In 1976, he graduated from USM. He did his Masters in Essex, UK. When he was in UK, there was ‘Operation Lalang’ in Malaysia in 1987. Hundred over people arrested under ISA and the book, ‘The Big Purge’ dedicated to them. The book is about how the Prime Minister manipulates event leading to a racial riot and he comes to the rescue. He mentions about Datuk Anwar Ibrahim and concludes that truth is always an illusion thing. He spoke for thirty-five minutes and for another one hour, it became as seminar where students asked him questions. He wanted students to ask questions concerning The Swordfish, Then the Concubine. It seems he has revised the play once again. He is been doing it for the past ten years. After many question and answer session, I became aware that the play is about modern Malaysia. Dr. Edwin asked a question which I wanted to ask Mr. Kee Thuan Chye, which is, why not make the play, The Swordfish, Then The Concubine a final play and then when new issues rises, why don’t make another new play? For that, Mr. Kee answered that he wants it to be the best product.
There is a movie called ‘Sell Out’ releasing in May is acted by him where he will be singing and that’s when he came to know that he sucks in singing. Not forgetting my favourite sitcom, Mind Your Language alike titled ‘Nee How Ma’ airing April 15. I will make sure to watch it! This is all the notes I took down about Mr. Kee Thuan Chye. I liked he ended his talk by giving us ‘possible exam questions’.
1) Identify the satiric, ironic, enimic…blah…blah…in The Swordfish, Then the Concubine.
2) Is The Swordfish, Then the Concubine is pack of lies or should it be recommended?
3) We could **** the author of The Swordfish, Then the Concubine. Explain.
There you go! What a funny person he is and I am glad I had the chance to meet him in person. I wish him the best in his writing, acting and sharing his thought with all of us!

Practice makes perfect!

I should say that I MUST be able to adopt and adapt the skills that I have learned for my future lessons so that I will not have any trouble teaching my students. I am in the learning process and I am learning lots of things or methods from Dr. Edwin. From the previous semester I have learned quite a number of things from the Teaching the Language of Short Story.
The first skill that I have learned this semester is that a play ought to read more then once especially Oedipus the King and King Lear to get better understanding. As I read the play, I stop to read the footnotes given in Oedipus the King and meanings given for certain words on the left side of each page for the book King Lear. During my second reading, I try to read without looking at the footnotes and the meanings. I do this so that I will be able to know whether I understand the play or not. I also realise that I understand better if I read the play aloud.
As I read the plays, I pay close attention to some of the aspects of the play, such as dramatic irony, elements of fate (moira), consequences of certain behaviours, the tragic flaw of the characters, the various themes, the nature of tragedy, the relationships between the main characters and the conflicts that emerge. By doing this, the play sticks in my head and I do not have the difficulty to find for the evidence from the book if given any questions to answer.
All that I have learned and learning I will make use of it during my days of teaching the students within two years. How would I adapt all the skills that I have learned? Writing down this question, a saying comes to my mind, ‘practice makes perfect.’ Yes! I need to practice and the best time I could do this is during simulated teaching in any of the subjects. I have the confidence that I will be able to provide interesting activities for my students with all the activities done in the classroom by my fellow course mates with the guidance of Dr. Edwin and Miss Kasthoori.
I am on the way of being a teacher. I feel excited but also nervous and scared. I hope I will get through it! I wish a very good luck to all of my course mates and myself!

I have got the best lecturer and tutor!

Why would I interpret the content differently when I have the best lecturer and tutor around? As I stated in my earlier blogs, my lecturer Dr. Edwin is a very knowledgeable person who knows how to address to us the importance of his teachings. Personally, I am very thankful to have him as my lecturer for this subject because the way he teaches makes me think and analyse more about the play. I like his style of asking us to underline or highlight phrases or words that are important. Whenever I am supposed to do that, I will put more importance on that particular phrase as a preparation for my examination.
Miss Kasthoori, my tutor for this course teaches me many styles of teaching a play to students. The class is very interesting because the way she conduct the class makes it very lively. Whatever input I am getting is very clear and understandable to me. The information’s that are given is not ambiguous. In fact the lectures and tutorials gives me more idea on what activity or what teaching style to use in my class for future lessons. Another valuable thing I get in class is that, Dr. Edwin goes through the plays in detail. For an example, the play, ‘The Swordfish, Then the Concubine’ by Kee Thuan Chye was understood by me only after I went through with Dr. in the class. At first, I thought the play just does not make sense to me because I was not able to interpret it. Later on, I realise that I was the one who was not able to get the idea of the play but I manage to understand it at last!
Learning play is difficult for me so there is no chance I would interpret the content differently without the lectures and tutors guidance. I might have interpreted differently if I had a lecturer or tutor who does not know what they are teaching. I am getting everything that I am supposed to get as a student for Teaching the Language of Drama. What can I ask more?

First time experience

I never thought I will be watching a play live. Dr. Edwin mentioned to us that we are required to watch a play for this Drama subject so that we can get an idea of how it feels to watch a play live rather than just reading about it. My main reason to go and watch a play is because I will be getting 10 marks for it but then it’s been two weeks and Dr. Edwin never asked for the tickets as a prove. Anyway I went just for a requirement for this subject but after watching it, I feel like going again whenever I have the time. It is worth the time and money.
The play that I watched with my friends is The Secret Love Life of Ophelia. The play started at 2pm sharp and ended at 3.15pm. The studio that we went to was very small because there were only two characters with just sofa’s and a table as props. The actor (Alfred Loh) and actress (Sharon Lam) acted very well. The play’s director (Christopher Ling) was present too. He sat at the other corner of the studio. I am not sure whether I should call the place studio or something else but it was very small. I sat so near to the actors. This play is suitable for 18 and above because it has much sexual conversation between Hamlet and Ophelia. I was shocked and amused when Hamlet put his hand under his pants and rubbed his private part. Some of the audiences closed their eyes. It was funny for me. The Hamlet character’s voice projection was very classic and loud. His every utterance was clear to me and I am sure to other audiences too. My point of view of the play, it was quite bored. It became bored because just two of them with lengthy dialogues. I was expecting more action, more people and shorter dialogues between the characters. I am thankful to this play though because it has given me an interest to watch other plays because I am impressed with the actors’ capability in knowing the words that they should speak at the right moment.
Now I totally agree with my first blog, which I stated that acting in the theatre requires years of practicing one’s memory and improving one’s abilities. I have seen it with my own eyes. There is nobody to say cut and repeat the whole scene once again. The actors just depend on what they have memorized. I am giving thumbs up to the actor and actress!

I am studying so that I can teach

Knowledge and understanding of various aspects of the theatre arts and of dramatic techniques are a prerequisite for effective learning and teaching in drama at all stages. All that I am learning from the lectures and tutorials in the classroom are related and useful to my area of studies. The lectures and tutorials which are being taught are connected to the lecturers and tutors experience and knowledge which they get as a teacher and in a way they teach me on how to teach the plays. Literature is not a preferred subject by many students. They need an interesting way to present the plays to them.
I hated literature during school. I had to love it when I was in first semester because I had to sit for exams and the worst part was I had to carry around a big literature book containing short stories, poems and plays. But later on I enjoyed literature. Aspects of drama that help me to enjoy and interpret a play are through its setting, structure, characterization, theme and dramatic irony. Other aspects that I get are my own perspective of the world, my sense of humour and moral values. The activities prepared during tutorial classes develop ideas and plans for me to carry out various types of activity. The way Dr. Edwin teaches also engages me in reflective and creative activities.
The National Guidelines for the Expressive Arts 5-14 state: "Most children will come to school with extensive experience of imaginative play through which they will have begun to explore aspects of the world and characteristics of the people around them. In drama, this familiar and powerful way of learning is exploited as pupils engage in activities where they are given opportunities to develop their knowledge and understanding of themselves and their relationship to others and to real life events. By engaging feelings, knowledge and experience in this dynamic and enjoyable way, creative and imaginative thought is stimulated and confidence and self-esteem enhanced. The effectiveness of using drama in this way will depend on the relevance of the context to the pupils and the opportunities it affords for challenge and commitment."
I am teacher to be so the main thing I learn from lectures and tutorials is the proper method to teach my students in two years time. I just realise its not easy to teach especially a subject which is not an interest of the students but what I am being taught now gives me a lot of ideas to plan my lesson plan.

"I am myself."

Last Tuesday on the 24th February our class watched a movie on Elizabeth: The Golden Age. This is our first movie to watch for this semester for the Drama subject. Cate Blanchett acted for the role of the Virgin Queen in this Shekhar Kapur-directed sequel to that film. Focusing on the queen's tempestuous relationship with the adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh, the film also stars Clive Owen (as Raleigh), Geoffrey Rush (as Sir Francis Walsingham) and Samantha Morton (as Mary, Queen of Scots).
I was excited about seeing this film. After watching it, did I like the movie? To be honest, it’s not my taste. It was kind of dull. Whether it’s the way it should be, I am not sure but for me it was boring. The acting was great, but it was almost too boring to watch. Everything was so predictable. When queen tells Bess to talk to Raleigh because the queen likes him, I knew Bess and Raleigh will fall for each other. I feel that Cate Blanchett is not an interesting character. I was thinking maybe Mary Stuart (Samantha Morton) would be more suitable for the role. I am an action movie freak but then I do watch this kind of movies but this movie didn’t capture me. The only thing that captured me was the clothing and the big beautiful castle.
What is the role of Raleigh? At first I thought he was going to marry the queen till the queen asked Bess to talk to him. Raleigh's presence distracts the queen but she never takes any action. Well just once she asked him to stay when he wanted to leave. The queen’s genuine preoccupation are the Catholic threats posed by her cousin Mary Stuart (Samantha Morton), under castle arrest in Scotland, and by her former brother-in-law, King Philip II of Spain (Jordi Molla). The queen is also quite taken with astrology, and regularly demands of her resident expert (an amusing David Threlfall) more specific reassurances about the outcomes of events than he is able to provide. Overall, the movie takes a small-minded view of history and, in its rush to proceed from one tumultuous event to the next, lacks any sense of occasion relative to the significant pageant it attempts to depict. There's no view of Elizabeth other than that she was a human being, too, but that is hardly enough.
I remember the queen’s last line. ‘I am myself.’ What is she trying to say? She can lead the country just by herself or not get married I guess. Anyway they acted well, that I can’t deny but it could have been more interesting.

Sex-change..blinded..gift of augury..

In the play Oedipus the King, the character Teiresias is from the city of Thebes and played a major role in the story. When Oedipus asked him how to lift the pestilence from Thebes, Teiresias replied that Oedipus was the cause of all their problems; this answer almost cost Teiresias his life but Oedipus had sympathy for Teiresias’ age and blindness and spared him. I had no intention to find out more about Teiresias till my class was asked to do research on him by our lecturer and I found interesting facts about him. The great priest.
Eighteen allusions to mythic Teiresias, noted by Luc Brisson, fall into three groups: one, in two episodes, recounts Teiresias' sex-change and his encounter with Zeus and Hera; a second group recounts his blinding by Athena; a third, all but lost, seems to have recounted the misadventures of Teiresias. Teiresias was a prophet of Zeus. According to the mythographic compendium Bibliotheke, different stories were told of the cause of his blindness, the most direct being that he was simply blinded by the gods for revealing their secrets. An alternate story told by the poet Pherecydes was followed in Callimachus' poem "The Bathing of Pallas"; in it, Teiresias was blinded by Athena after he stumbled onto her bathing naked. His mother, Chariclo, a nymph of Athena, begged her to undo her curse, but Athena could not; instead, she cleaned his ears, giving him the ability to understand birdsong, thus the gift of augury.
On Mount Cyllene in the Peloponnese, as Teiresias came upon a pair of copulating snakes, he hit the pair a smart blow with his stick. Hera was not pleased, and she punished Teiresias by transforming him into a woman. As a woman, Teiresias became a priestess of Hera, married and had children, including Manto, who also possessed the gift of prophecy. According to some versions of the tale, Lady Teiresias was a prostitute of great renown. After seven years as a woman, Teiresias again found mating snakes; depending on the myth, either she made sure to leave the snakes alone this time, or, according to Hyginus, trampled on them. As a result, Teiresias was released from his sentence and permitted to regain his masculinity. This ancient story is recorded in lost lines of Hesiod.
In a separate episode, Teiresias was drawn into an argument between Hera and her husband Zeus, on the theme of who has more pleasure in sex: the man, as Hera claimed; or, as Zeus claimed, the woman, as Teiresias had experienced both. Teiresias revealed woman's greatest secret: that she receives the greater pleasure: "Of ten parts a man enjoys one only." Hera instantly struck him blind for his impiety. Zeus could do nothing to stop her, but he did give Teiresias the gift of foresight and a lifespan of seven lives. Stripped of its narrative, anecdotal and causal connections, the mythic figure of Teiresias combines several archaic elements: the blind seer; the impious interruption of a natural rite (whether of a bathing goddess or coupling serpents); serpents and staff (Caduceus); a holy man's double gender (shaman); and competition between deities.
Teiresias's background, fully male and then fully female, was important, both for his prophecy and his experiences. Also, prophecy was a gift given only to the priests and priestesses. Therefore, Teiresias offered Zeus and Hera evidence and gained the gift of male and female priestly prophecy. How he obtained his information varied: sometimes, like the oracles, he would receive visions; other times he would listen for the songs of birds, or ask for a description of visions and pictures appearing within the smoke of burnt offerings, and so interpret them. As a seer, "Teiresias" was "a common title for soothsayers throughout Greek legendary history" (Graves 1960, 105.5). In Greek literature, Teiresias's pronouncements are always gnomic but never wrong. Often when his name is attached to a mythic prophecy, it is introduced simply to supply a personality to the generic example of a seer, not by any inherent connection of Teiresias with the myth: thus it is Teiresias who tells Amphytrion of Zeus and Alcmena and warns the mother of Narcissus that the boy will thrive as long as he never knows himself. This is his emblematic role in tragedy. Like most oracles, he is generally extremely reluctant to offer the whole of what he sees in his visions.
In Hellenistic and Roman times Teiresias' sex-change was embroidered upon and expanded into seven episodes, with appropriate amours in each, probably written by the Alexandrian Ptolemaeus Chennus, but attributed by Eustathius to Sostratus. Teiresias is presented as a complexly liminal figure, with a foot in each of many oppositions, mediating between the gods and mankind, male and female, blind and seeing, present and future, and this world and the Underworld.
(Taken from www.answers.com)
Well, there you go. I find this information quite interesting because I never thought that a blind priest like Teiresias would have such an interesting background. I hope you enjoyed reading. See you in another post!

Learn or not to learn..

A lecture is an oral presentation intended to present information or teaches people about a particular subject, for example by a universtiy or college teacher. Usually the lecturer will stand at the front of the room and recite information relevant to the lecture's content. (Wikipedia) My lecturer Dr. Edwin is teaching the class on Oedipus the King for the past four weeks. I find the play quite interesting. I have learned so many interesting facts about theatre. Now I can proudly say that I know the names of Tragedy and Comedy playwright’s. The three most famous Tragedy writers are Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles. Oedipus the King is written by Sophocles.
Critics point out that lecturing is mainly a one-way method of communication that does not involve significant audience participation. Therefore, lecturing is often contrasted to active learning. But lectures delivered by talented speakers can be highly stimulating; at the very least, lectures have survived in academia as a quick, cheap and efficient way of introducing large numbers of students to a particular field of study. (Wikipedia) My lecturer Dr. Edwin is a very knowledgeable person who knows how to address to us the importance of his teachings. Personally, I am very thankful to have him as my lecturer for this subject because the way he teaches makes me think and analyse more about the play. I like his style of asking us to underline or highlight phrases or words that are important. Whenever I was asked to do that, I will put more importance on that particular phrase as a preparation for my examination.
A tutorial is a weekly meeting. I consider it as tuition for the subject Drama. The tutorial is a creative and flexible teaching method that enables the tutor to adapt a course to the precise requirements of students, and to give that student individual attention and supervision. Miss Kasthoori as our tutor will point out to us the most important aspects of the Drama and as we are doing Oedipus Rex she teaches us on how to find the evidence from the text. What have I learned by this? I have learned to critically analyse the text so that I can get the proper textual evidence when I was asked certain question like, ‘How do you know that Oedipus Rex is short tempered?’ By analysing the text critically, in no time I can get the evidence. The purpose of this exercise is not merely to test a student’s ability to amass facts, but to develop powers of critical analysis so that he or she can identify and interpret significant information and present facts and conclusions in a clear and precise form.
I can conclude that, I am learning something from the lectures and tutorial being held and not just going to class for the sake of getting full attendance or to sit for the final exam.

Drama tutorial

First week
Naomi : When our tutorial Drama ah?
Huey Fen : Friday, 3-6pm.
Naomi : What?! Are you saying that I can’t go back on Friday’s? I wonder what’s our tutor going to teach us. It must be a boring class.
Huey Fen : Well we have to wait for next Friday.

This was the conversation of me and my friend on Monday of first week but I need to admit that my perception changed after attending the first tutorial. Our tutor’s name is Miss Kasthoori. The class was very interesting. The way she conduct the class makes it very lively and none of us were bored to death. We were asked to get in group of six by Miss Kasthoori and start acting a scene from the book Now Read On. Each group came up with different acting scenes. Miss Kasthoori implied that everybody thinks differently. As for me, my first act was to act with a guy who wants to bring me out. The guy who happened to act with me was Wafi. It was funny to act with him and the whole class watching at us was another thing. All of us were very excited and was waiting for the third week. This class is all about acting and bringing out the talents in us.

Talking about talents, I was surprised and impressed to see some of my friends acting especially Jeremy acting the role of Raj and Huda the role of Leila from the play, The Ring. It was nice to see them acting but then it was kind of boring to see just the two of them in front talking to each other. Miss Kasthoori then asked us what would be nice to make the play more interesting and everyone of us start giving our opinions. This class gave me inspiration to write a play which I have already submitted before the Chinese New Year break. I hope Dr. Edwin likes it. This tutorial class is one of the best classes for this semester and I am enjoying every bit of it. Thank you to Miss Kasthoori and to all of my classmates who has made this class one of my favourite and I hope I will be able to understand better all the plays which will be taught throughout this semester by Dr. Edwin and Miss Kasthoori. I’m waiting for Drama class!

Is theatre out of date?

Theatre is the branch of the performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one or more persons, isolated in time and/or space, present themselves to another or others." As for me, I feel it is out of date because with the technology that we have right now, we can do more things then produce a play. A movie you can go most anywhere to find or see something but for a theatre or drama you have to be in one place all the time and if you miss anything you cant replay it! Plus movies have the advantage that if you miss it in a theater, you can wait it out and rent the VCD or DVD and watch it in leisure, whereas plays you need to enjoy then and there, or else they are gone.
In a theater, the audience can see only the whole stage at one time. This is the main reason that action in plays is often over-dramatised to make emotions and actions clearer to the audience that may or may not be near the stage. Movies, however, can use close-ups, zoom shots, long shots and jump cuts to exercise a mastery over the audience's perspective.
Whenever I am watching a movie and there’s a scene where someone goes to a play (theatre), I get so bored and start going to the kitchen or get myself busy with something else. I feel that theatre is for old people who have nothing much to do. I also feel that, why waste time and energy on a stage when we can take that so called play in a real place just like in the movies.
This is just my opinion and I would like to end with a quote by M. Moussorgsky which goes, “Art is not an end to itself, but a means of addressing humanity.”