Published on October 18, 2005

There is great goodwill when the SeaWrite award winners gather, but unfortunately not a great deal of communication

The winners of this year’s SeaWrite Awards, Asia’s most prestigious literary prize, appear totally overwhelmed as they walk into the National Library of Thailand. The writers from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Vietnam eventually settle on a red sofa, a little too far away from the audience, looking nervous and slightly ill at ease.

Their diffidence is understandable. These are scribes not speakers and they are supposed to address an audience who knows little about their books. They can’t even communicate among themselves.

Yet they share a common bond. They have all written about the difficulties in their countries and they feel the same need to build peace through their pens.

Their message – stick together and fight for peace – is conveyed through translators as they take turns to explain their books to the audience.

Abdul Ghafar Ibrahim from Malaysia is the first of the awardees to echo the plea made every year – that the works be translated into English to allow cultures and ideologies to be understood by a wider audience.

He also reads a poem describing what he’s seen in Thailand, cleverly impersonating the sounds of a bus and a tuk-tuk, which draws laughter from the floor.

“Your minds are awake. You are not afraid of the dark; the Thais dare to share themselves,” read the last lines of his ode to the Land of Smiles.

“I feel sorry, because we’re close [geographically], yet we’re not really close,” says Vietnam’s winner Inrasara-Phu Tram.

“I do wish I could read my colleagues’ books. Poetry and literature can do so much to link countries and build friendships between different cultures.”

Poet Acep ZamZam Noor from Indonesia explains that he writes about love and erotica to counter political issues. Maybe that’s why he’s considered an outsider at home.

He smiles shyly as he gathers up the courage to say, in English: “I can’t speak English, but I love you all!”

Rahimi AB from Brunei points out that writers can contribute to society, not just politics, and expresses hope that everyone will join hands to rebel against corruption.

“Corruption is everywhere. I never mention corruption in my books, [instead] I speak about retired people living lonely lives in a big compound with luxury cars.”

Cambodia’s Miech Ponn dwells on culture issues in his poems. He tells us how he lost his wife and children during the Khmer Rouge regime and is bombarded with questions about the genocide. Sadly his passionate response is interrupted by the moderator. He has overshot his allocated time.

Laos’ Bounseune Sengmany is a jolly fellow with no qualms about chatting with the audience. He wishes there were no boundaries between our two nations.

“You can’t tell the difference between Lao and Thai, we’re all together.”

He’s dissatisfied with traditional Lao culture, though, and mentions that twins are still rejected because they are believed to bring bad luck and that arranged marriages are the norm in some parts of his country.

“We should fight tradition. We need idealism and determination.”

Malou Jacob from the Philippines, the only woman to win an award this year, is a playwright and filmmaker.

Her book “Anatomy of Corruption” talks about the arbitrary gunning down of peace activists. One of her plays, about a child who eats dirt to survive, received critical acclaim.

“He did it to live but also to get attention,” she says.

“Literature and art play an important role in society. They talk about empathy and passion, as well as the plight of people. They also provide a much-needed escape from reality.”

P Krishnan from Singapore speaks in Tamil and compares his strong Indian cultural values to those of Thailand. His book focuses on the literature of Singapore.

Thai winner Binlah Sonkalagiri has been trying to hide in the audience for most of the evening.

“I thought I was lucky to win an award but I am even luckier to be with nine other awardees.”

The 10th winner – the awardee from Burma – is absent for the third consecutive year. The moderator says this is to avoid answering awkward political questions.

After two hours and 10 minutes, the authors leave the library, relieved that their ordeal has come to an end.

The audience, however, is not too thrilled. Many are teachers or students whose curriculum focuses on studying the SeaWrite authors. Some have travelled from other provinces for this occasion. Others say they came because they love reading.

All they wanted was to get into the minds of these authors. But that would take months – maybe years – and a whole bunch of translators. And the books are not even available in Thai, never mind in English.

Lisnaree Vichitsorasatra

The Nation

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