I cannot believe I have met Kee Thuan Chye and even shook hands with him!

Yes. Like my shoutout in Facebook, I cannot believe I have met Kee Thuan Chye and even shook hands with him. Many would think “So what?”, “Big deal!”, “Cheh, Malaysian playwright only, ma!”. Let me tell you this. He is not just a Malaysian playwright. He is THE Malaysian playwright. And oh, not just a playwright alright! He’s an actor. He’s an author. He’s a journalist. He’s a columnist. Take that!

To be honest, I never liked politics. It is downright dirty. It is corrupt. Enough said. I’d better keep my mouth shut and my opinions to myself or I’ll end up being detained by the ISA. Whenever I read the news, I choose not the read anything related to politics. It bores me to death. It disgusts me. Except when there is sex scandals involved. That, I like.

Alright, back to the topic. Kee is a humble man, albeit full of wit and wisdom. A man who is so passionate in what he does. And I salute him for his balls, his biting sarcasm and caustic criticisms in his writings. Darn! I should have Wiki-ed him earlier. Then, I could have answered his question and win the book he was giving away. I did google him up but I forgot to check out his works. I even watched the video of Kee’s interview by The Edge, which Dr. Edwin recommended. What caught my eye in the interview was Kee’s decision to name his children Jebat Arjuna and Soraya Sunitra. He revealed that it was his contribution to Bangsa Malaysia. The answer to the question which he asked us students was - The Situation of the Man who stabbed a Dummy or a Woman and was disarmed by the Members of the Club for a Reason Yet Obscure, If There Was One. A ridiculously long and difficult name to remember for a play, if you ask me. Taught me a lesson there – always perform a thorough research prior to meeting someone.

I’ve watched him act on Kopitiam, Anna and the King, read his poem A Figure Not Forgotten In Hours Not-Of-Need, his short story A Sense of Home, as well as his play The Swordfish, Then The Concubine. I loved all of them. His play, The Swordfish, Then The Concubine made me realize that drama is not just a form of entertainment, but also an intellectual activity. The issues he highlighted in the play are sociopolitical comments about what is happening in contemporary Malaysia. And the approach he used to highlight these issues challenges one’s intellect.

Indeed, the session with Kee was very awe-inspiring. He is definitely one of those few people who managed to teach me a thing or two about the importance of being truly passionate in what we do, that we should practice what we preach, and not just pay a lot of lip service to it. Mr. Kee, thank you for taking some time out from your busy schedule to meet us students when you could have used it to take some rest. And to Dr. Edwin, thank you for making it possible.





p/s: An error occurred when I was transferring the video of Kee reading from his book, March 8: The Day Malaysia Woke Up into my computer. By the time I discovered it, I have already deleted all the files from my camera! Grrr...