Sajak Sajak Salleh: Poems Sacred and Profane

by Salleh Ben Joned

Sajak-Sajak Saleh: Poems Sacred and Profane (1987) merupakan buku pertama Salleh Ben Joned (1941 - 2020). Kemunculan buku dwibahasa ini pernah dianggap oleh seorang Sasterawan Negara (sila rujuk Lebai Gugel untuk tahu siapa) sebagai “pengalaman yang paling traumatik dalam dunia sastera Melayu.”

Sajak-sajak yang terkandung di dalamnya menghubungkan yang sakral dengan yang tabu; meraikan kepedasan tapi juga kelirihan bahasa dalam menggaul jati diri tersendiri. Daripada ‘hal dalam kain’ yang paling intim kepada kritikan jenaka sinis terhadap polisi pembangunan Dasar Ekonomi Baru, buku ini bukti yang jelas kenapa Salleh digelar ‘the bad boy of Malaysian literature.’

Genres: Poetry

188 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Born in Malacca in 1941, Salleh spent ten years Down Under as one of the last Colombo Plan Scholars. But instead of studying, he got married to a fellow student in his first year at the University of Adelaide. His in-laws disapproved, so the couple moved to Hobart where Salleh became a student of one of Australia’s major poets, James McAuley, at the University of Tasmania. He returned to Malaysia in 1973 to lecture in English Literature at Universiti Malaya, but quit in 1983 to become a freelance scribbler, actor and translator. His first book was the bilingual poetry collection, Sajak-Sajak Saleh: Poems Sacred and Profane (Teks, 1987). It was followed by As I Please (Skoob, 1994) and Nothing is Sacred (Maya Press, 2003), which were compilations of his popular New Straits Times column, the poetry book Adam’s Dream (Silverfish, 2007), and the play The Amok of Mat Solo (Silverfish, 2011). He died in Subang Jaya in 2020.

Reviews

[Mohd Jayzuan]

Salleh Ben Joned is a rebellious poet. His poems are incredibly powerful. He's the Johnny Rotten of poetry in Malaysia.

[Soll]

Penulisan yang gila ; ikhlas . Love it . Xx

[Johnny B. Rempit]

Here is a small sampling from this book.

Drinking, gambling, lying, bribery,
and all kinds of whoring too
all of them perfectly okay.
And to hog it all's not taboo.

All sins of course; but nothing really
a trip to the Holy of Holies
cannot fix for eternity

Next, is a blurb from the front cover of the book.

"The appearance of Salleh's book... was the most traumatic experience for the Malay literary scene." - Prof. Muhammad Hj. Salleh

I don't really read a lot of poetry but I just had to read this book. It didn't disappoint me. I'm just wondering why it's not banned. Hahahaha...

[Mohammad Shahrul]

Sebuah karya klasik dari hasil buah tangan 'the bad boy' dalam dunia sastera iaitu Allahyarham Salleh Ben Joned dikeluarkan semula oleh fixi.Sajak-sajak 'berani dan liar' terhimpun dalam senaskah buku.

[aidaandhrhh]

I'm mad I can only rate it 5 stars. I'm not the type to annotate my books but this one is an exception. The ink didn't get a chance to dry out because there's just lines and lines of literary brilliance.This anthology of Salleh's work is a testament that he will forever be Malaysia's literature bad boy. And the only one at that. He's the only one that can write profane and sacred poems and actually meant words after words of it. Nobody can ever replace Salleh Ben Joned. May his soul blessed by the Almighty.

[Nabilah]

Kumpulan puisi yang kurang ajar, erotis tapi halus. Kedudukannya betul-betul di antara barbarisme dan ketamadunan tinggi.

[Siti]

Love it! It fuses all things human, sacred and profane, seamlessly.

[leya kuan]

i wish there was more of this in our country

[Atikah Wahid]

I didn't know what to think about Salleh at first. I knew of him, he has a reputation of being a wild card. But I didn't know his work so I had a knee-jerk reaction at first, didn't warm up to the vulgarities and profanities. I wasn't used to seeing local issues in such a stark way before. that's the thing about Salleh, to enjoy his work, you have to have patience and an open mind. he's not here to entertain or win hearts. His poems are hilarious, sarcastic, daring, intimate and anything but mild. I only started to appreciate Salleh's work when I learn about the issues he talks about, the events that are referenced in his poems. from there, I begin to appreciate the nuance in his poems. Most of his poems talk about tenfold of issues! It is impossible to just derive one singular meaning. Then I realised he is a genius, an artist and ballsy as hell. We need more people like Salleh, forever questioning and never afraid to approach the taboo.

[Ira Nadhirah]

Mood tidak menentu memang ubatnya buku sebegini. Secara logiknya puisi atau sajak atau poems atau apa sahaja definisinya selalunya membantu. Dua tiga hari. Baca berhenti. Telangkup atas katil. Malas menanda akhir bacaan. Esoknya sambung lagi. Sambung lagi. Sehingga penghabisan. Ada yang faham. Ada yang tidak. Ada yang malas nak faham (rujuk mood di awal tadi). Yang boleh diingat. Tentang serangga pemakan bahan bacaan. Sajak buat anak perempuan. Dan sudah semestinya Sonnet Shakespeare yang diterjemah (atau versi bahasa Melayu nya). Sinar Mata Kekasihku Tidak Seperti Bintang Timur. Senyum sikit saudara.

[Azrin Fauzi]

Mendapat "pengalaman paling traumatik" (meminjam kata-kata SN Muhammad Hj. Salleh) semasa melewati sajak-sajak SBJ dalam buku ini.

Sekadar memetik beberapa cebisan sajak (yang buat aku trauma);

"Hubby keeps bobbing
between her and Bobby.
She hisses to dear dummy:
'Get lost you boring babi!'"

"Hantu dan aku
berkhalwat,
masuk kelambu
mengenal kebogelan."

"Bermulalah adventure seorang Alice,
Wonderland wallahualamnya very nice;
cencaluk belacan dan ikan bilis
bersama durian merai si gadis."

"Bladi bastat!"

[Kiko]

Asalnya memilih Saleh utk pembentangan kelas.
Tidak tersangka pula boleh terpaut pada hasil keras tulisannya yang ternyata garang dan tersendiri.

Malaysia perlu penulis seperti ini.
Yang menulis dalam kedua-dua bahasa.
Menongkah arus kelainan tapi dipenuhi dengan kata kata terisi dan terdalam buat kita semua yang berenang di Tanah Melayu ini.

[Vhicy]

Malaysia needs more poets like these. Fevered and fervent. Salleh makes words and images sing, not in the Bianca Castafiore way, but in the clarity of an orchestra of crickets in the velvet dark of a forest kind of way.

[Rokhyiah Rahman]

lepas baca, ternganga sekejap, kemudian tergelak sorang-sorang. genius! ntah kenapa x mau bagi bintang penuh.

[Hanif]

berani. lantang. garang. jujur.

[Luc Abdullah]

Koleksi sajak-sajak maha jantan.

Kah kah kah.(sebut dengan intonasi kendiri)

[Jennifer]

First book of poetry by Malaysian literature's l'enfant terrible. Must read.

[Sabrina Loh]

His poems are like stories that project colourful pictures into the mind. "Sacred and Profane" says it all, I think. Heartfelt, double-edged and wildly memorable.

[Saharulnazri]

inilah bapak segala puisi indie yg ada kini. perlu baca oleh semua peminat puisi

[Md. Khir]

Ia sedar yang ia dalam antologi.

[Mergastua]

"Bladi bastat!"

[Aliff Awan]

Pemilihan perkataan, susunan ayat dan isu-isu yang Pak Salleh pilih untuk tulis buatkan dia menang.

[fiza nasri]

How poetic!