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  • Film: Where Do We Want to Take Our Cinema? Reblog from Melangit Merah

    “..I find it so hard to find any good Indonesian films..”

  • Poem: Request By Muhammad Yamin

    Request By Muhammad Yamin, 1921 Listening to the waves close to me Pounding to the left and to the right Chanting a song full of compassion A longing for the place of my birth is awakened. In the East on my side Shrouded in cloud-billowed skies Appears the island full of marvels That assuredly is…

  • Poem: Homeland By Muhammad Yamin 1920

    “Oh Andalas, island of Sumatra, Make sweet the name, from north to south!”

  • Face of a Hero

    By Kosim Pohan, December 1945 The sudden thought passes, the intangible transforms, In the mind, and makes the faces take form, Going deep into the feelings, to the gates of the soul, The spirit of the heroes of ancient times. In ages past, among the islands, in mother earth, Spilling blood flowed flooding the earth,…

  • Poem: Suffering by Marlupi By Utari Kusno

    “…all suffering will slowly / Vanish swept away by time.”

  • Batak manuscripts from Sumatra in the British Library – Asian and African studies blog

    “The Batak peoples of north Sumatra are associated with a distinctive writing culture, with manuscripts written on a range of organic materials, primarily tree bark, bamboo and bone.  Most characteristic are the bark books known as pustaha, written on strips of bark of the alim (Aquilaria malaccensis) tree, which is folded concertina-fashion, and sometime furnished with wooden…

  • Poem: Buffalo Herder By Muhammad Yamin

    Buffalo Herder By Muhammad Yamin, 1921 Who would not be deeply moved To see a small child singing Alone in the middle of a field No shirt, nothing on his head. Thus is the fate of the buffalo herder Shading under, a wooden shelter; After leaving the stable at dawn Only heading for home at…

  • History: Soother of sorrows or seducer of morals? The Malay Hikayat Inderaputera

    “..Hikayat Inderaputera was one of the most widespread and popular Malay tales..”

  • Poem: Early Morning By Muhammad Yamin

    Early Morning By Muhammad Yamin, 1921   Fiery sunset still glows wondrously, Saddening the majestic stars; Become dim then the light is gone, Rising and setting since time immemorial. Dawn in the east arrives fiercely, Spreading jewels all over the world; Radiant bright as rare pearls, Variety of colors, sparkling. Slowly and gloriously, Gradually rises…

  • Poem: Love By Muhammad Yamin

    Love By Muhammad Yamin, 1921   I often laze about, deep in thought, Watching the sky aglow, Vaguely visible, joyful, Sweeping all away, my contemplative thoughts. What is there to say, what does the future hold? Weak is my heart, without any strength, Watching the stars shining gloriously, Far atop the mountains. Oh God of…