Impian yang musnah

Les Miserables hanyalah cebisan daripada seluruh peristiwa sekitar Revolusi Perancis yang cukup diingati dalam sejarah.

Kita mungkin tidak sepenuhnya dapat memahami keperitan zaman itu, apatah lagi jika kita sendiri menganggap sejarah dan politik itu persoalan biasa dan tidak begitu penting.

 

There was a time when men were kind
When their voices were soft
And their words inviting
There was a time when love was blind

And the world was a song
And the song was exciting
There was a time
Then it all went wrong

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving

Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used and wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung, no wine untasted

But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
As they turn your dream to shame

He slept a summer by my side
He filled my days with endless wonder
He took my childhood in his stride
But he was gone when autumn came

And still I dream he'll come to me
That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed.

Nyanyian Perjuangan

Diangkat daripada karya Victor Hugo, penulis tersohor di Perancis pada abad ke-19, ternyata Les Miserables tidak mengecewakan saya.

Revolusi sering punya sisi seni-budayanya tersendiri. Ini tidak menghairankan kerana revolusi sering terkait dekat dengan sifat romantis. Lagu ini dapat mewakili zeitgeist zaman itu.

Saya percaya kita boleh menghargai filem muzikal ini dengan sedikit pemahaman tentang latar Revolusi Perancis dan kompleksitinya.

Seperti lazimnya, saya akan menonton filem bersama isteri. Saya sukakan perbincangan kami setiap kali menonton mana-mana filem. Seringkali saya akan dikejutkan dengan sisi lain daripada analisanya. Itu yang menjadikannya satu kitaran yang menyeronokkan.

Mungkin nanti saya harus mula mengulas buku dan filem dengan sejumlah kupasan yang sumbernya daripada perbualan dengan isteri selepas menonton.

Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!

When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!

Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Somewhere beyond the barricade
Is there a world you long to see?

Then join in the fight
That will give you the right to be free!!

Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!

When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!

Will you give all you can give
So that our banner may advance
Some will fall and some will live
Will you stand up and take your chance?

The blood of the martyrs
Will water the meadows of France!
Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?

It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!

When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes...



Do you hear the people sing
Lost in the valley of the night?
It is the music of a people
Who are climbing to the light.

For the wretched of the earth
There is a flame that never dies.
Even the darkest night will end
And the sun will rise.

They will live again in freedom
In the garden of the Lord.

They will walk behind the plough-share,
They will put away the sword.
The chain will be broken
And all men will have their reward.

Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Somewhere beyond the barricade
Is there a world you long to see?

Do you hear the people sing?
Say, do you hear the distant drums?
It is the future that they bring
When tomorrow comes!

Will you join in our crusade?
Who will be strong and stand with me?
Somewhere beyond the barricade
Is there a world you long to see?

Do you hear the people sing?
Say, do you hear the distant drums?
It is the future that they bring
When tomorrow comes...

Dengar!

Dengar-dengar. 
Yang diucap berbunyi agama, 
Yang sampai ke telinga berbunyi kuasa. 

Dengar-dengar. 
Yang ditutur baik belaka, 
Yang diamal, macam celaka. 

Dengar-dengar.

Katil

Embrace Change: Change begins at home! 

Begitulah bunyi iklan IKEA pada tahun 2009. 

Ya, resolusi yang mudah ialah menambah baik apa sahaja tentang kehidupan kita, dan salah satunya ialah rumah. Tahun ini saya dan isteri merancang untuk mencantikkan bilik belakang - letak katil, meja belajar, rak buku dan almari simpanan pakaian. Bilik ini adalah untuk tetamu dan sering digunakan untuk solat, menyimpan pakaian dan menempatkan banyak buku-buku saya.

Lego

Tahun lalu sempat berkunjung ke Legoland Malaysia bersama keluarga. Hanya beli set Lego ini sebagai kenangan, selain sejumlah gambar ketika berada di sana. Baru sempat selesai memasang bersama isteri di malam tahun baru, selepas memasang semua set lego yang dijual bersama pengisian minyak Shell!

Tahun Baru

Hidup adalah perjuangan tanpa henti. Tahun baru hanya sekadar memberitahu kita betapa cepatnya perjalanan masa sementara terlalu banyak keinginan berbuat belum terlaksana.

1 Januari aku masih bercuti. Kaki sakit kerana tertusuk lidi tebal yang tajam di rumah mertua pada hari Ahad, 30 Disember 2012. Berjalan masih terdengkot-dengkot. Tak banyak dapat berbuat selain duduk di depan komputer menyiapkan kerja terjemahan untuk buku Prof. Emeritus Tan Sri Dr. Khoo Khay Kim.

Selain itu menonton siri filem Lord of The Rings yang tak pernah membosankan. Antara filem penuh falsafah yang terbaik pernah ditonton setakat ini. Ada satu dialog ungkapan Samwise kepada Frodo yang selalu memotivasikan:

I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.

Ia mengingatkan saya tentang hidup sebagai perjuangan tanpa henti. Yang menang tidak mengalah, yang mengalah tidak pernah menang.

Semoga 2013 adalah tahun yang memberangsangkan buat kita semua!