22 April 2011

VISITORS’ CORNER ( P.1) – Opening page - ninotaziz

VISITORS' CORNER

For quite a while I have been thinking of introducing space in this blog for a visitor to address other visitors on a subject which is not quite relevant to any particular entry. For instance one may wish to share certain information or announcement. It may be in the form of a short entry. This is Pakcik’s first thought which I would invite my dear visitors to comment on. The main idea is to make Almanar site more interactive.

It is coincidental that a request for information has come from one of our frequent visitors/contributors, ‘ninotaziz’. She has a request to make and I am at a loss to help.

“Dear Pakcik,

I hope you can forgive my begging for assistance here. I know it is not very suitable...but I am calling out to anyone who remembers or have access to the old legend Syair Dandan Setia. Not the movie. I am drawing a blank wall.

I have bits and pieces. Major questions are ...

WHo was his father - Raja Merembat? Mother? Permaisuri Lela Mengerna?

Was he from Negeri Dendam Berahi?

Who gave birth to Intan Terpilih after eating the pomergranate that fell from the heavens?

Who was Dandan Setia's first wife?

How did Intan Terpilih become fair again - she was reborn pitch black skinned?

When and how did Dandan Setia win Intan terpilih back?”

=============

So here is an example of one use of our new VISITORS’ CORNER
Please someone, come to ninotaziz's rescue, giving her the information or a lead somewhere for her to get it. Thank you.


Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan

17 comments:

Ummie said...

Sorry, I do not have the answer, but the 'nama dulu-dulu' interest me.
I was once asked to plant 'pohon wijaya kesuma'.
Cari punya cari, dah lama baru tau rupanya itulah bakawali.
Belm tanam pun sampai sekarang.

ninotaziz said...

Dear Pakcik,
Thank you ! For coming to my rescue. Hopefully someone can help. Pleas on Facebook went unheeded. I am sure because no one had heard of Dandan Setia. Normally I can rely on Mum...but she is not too sure here. Short briefs are welcome but if anyone wants to write to me, I am contactable at ninotaziz@gmail.com

Not having the benefit of Malay literature as a subject in school, what I have learnt in later years are based on research, reading, and oral storytelling.

Dear Ummie, even though I am still searching for some answers, the gardener in me loves the fact that bakawali has a very interesting other name - pohon wijaya kesuma steps right into my world of folklore and legends!

I used to have bakawali in abundance which bloomed at night of course. But haven't replanted since we moved

I wonder what happened to Sir Hanks?

Wan Sharif said...

Pakcik ,
I got a feeling that (Ninot thought?) may be.. just maybe, you might have some idea on the subject.. or an old book hidden somewhere in Kallang Maras or Kalumpang on the subject..
I would like to suggest to Ninot a blogger who is also a magpie as far as books are concerned.. she has been a linguist allright.. but syair might not be her forte..

ninotaziz said...

Dear Ayoh Wang,
The story line of Dandan Setia is a great piece for a folklore legend!

Al-Manar said...

Dear Ummie, ninitaziz & Ayoh Wan,

I am sorry I truly have nothing and know nothing about folklores.

Among the regrets in my life is he loss of our ancestor home (of six generations) besides the main mosque in K Terengganu. The state govt decided to possess the land. It all happened when I was away in UK way way back in the mid 1950's. My personal loss was my old books of all sorts, old letters and so on. Whe I finslly returned it was all padanng jarak padang tekukur. Who would bother to care about ab yound boys' personal possessions.

Because it was a very old house it was full of old 'junks' - ancient books of all sorts. I remember reading some ancients books of pantuns in jawi scripts and spellings. The house should be a museum in itself - old design and massive 'cengai' timber pieces constructed without a sungle nail.

It is no use crying over spilt milk, so to speak.

Let us hope someone will come up with something. Can national library or DBP not be of help at all?

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Aunty Ninot,
Have you tried the National Archives? Though your Jawi reading must be in superb condition. If I remember correctly, Dandan Setia and Intan Terpilih were actually cousins. His first wife was Intan Terserlah, who was very jealous of Intan Terpilih as although she was "hitam legam" was a favourite cousin due to her intelligence.

Dear Pakcik, my 2-cent contribution. purrr....meow!

ninotaziz said...

Oh how I feel for those old manuscripts, in Jawi at that! What a treasure. What a loss!

Dear CFS,
Aunty is very grateful indeed.

Ummie said...

Ninotaziz,
After much rebelling in Me,
it is only recently I realised the reason why Chinese (My observation) like to plant the bakawali.

I used to plant many Hanjuang Merah (Just recently I know its name),
but some asked,
'kenapa tanam pokok atas kubur?'
I had just recently know too why it's planted there.

There's another plant I was asked to plant,
but could not recall the name.

Hjh Nazli Abbas said...

I paid a visit to "Muzium Sastera" Melaka first thing this Sunday morning to see whether there's anything about syair Dandan Setia. No, they don't have - only "Syair Baiduri", "Hikayat abdullah", "Dondang Sayang" and lots of other sastera stuff.Very interesting place to visit if you come to Melaka. I'll try and inquire from the Muzium's private library, insyaAllah, next time, about your Dandan Setia. You could also try google "Tan Sri Aziz Tapa", Melaka most famous authority on local culture and literature.

ninotaziz said...

Hjh Nazli,

Thank you so much for such encouraging support. It reminded me that I have not visited Melaka for almost six years or more when it was one of my favorite places for many reasons.

Meanwhile. I have managed to get my hands on Hikayat Si Miskin and Hikayat Bakhtiar. And also the full length stories of the Five Ladies of Baghdad after many weeks of research and so have been busy writing these stories.

I will definitely check out Tan Sri Aziz Tapa - just shows how much bigger the pool of knowledge when you reach out.

Thank you once again. Really from the bottom of my heart.

Salam.

Al-Manar said...

Hjh Nazli Abbas,

That you went to such length, including an early visit to the museum, says a great deal about you, madam. I hope this will not be your only visit here. I for one will pop in from time to time to enjoy what story Nek Ngah has to relate. If 'nek' is an endearment term for 'nenek', I deserve no less by virtue of age, of that I am sure.

Welcome to Almanar and thank you for being gracious enough to go into such trouble to help: and do call on us again.

Iskandar Syah Ismail aka DR Bubbles said...

Salam, I have spoken to Prof. Abdullah Hassan today at PBAKL @ PWTC and casually asked him whether he knows about Syair Dandan Setia. And he said yes. He got a copy of it at his office in UPSI, and it belonged to an old man. He promised to return it, however he will make a copy. It is in Jawi. I have asked him to provide me a copy. Hopefully, I can get it sooner.

Al-Manar said...

Dr Bubbles,

Should I just call you by this name, the one I have been very familiar with?

Iskandar, you are a god-send! Of course you have been involved in setting up libraries everywhere. You are at the very source of it and I did not think of it.

Ninotaziz will be dancing all night over this finding.

Now it is just a simple administrative matter. Please contact me 019 9839703, or email almanar@pd.jaring.my.

Thank you sir.In return I would like to invite you (and family) to KT and be my house guest for a couple of days - with nasi dagang, keropok lekor and all. Of course I have a hidden agenda; designing a library for a new orphanage - just that expertise of yours, not the financial part.

Once again, thank you.
Wassalaam from Pakcik Hassan

ninotaziz said...

Dear En Iskandar,

Thank you so much for responding with such heaven sent news.

Pakcik, I am actually quite overwhelmed and not quite sure how to proceed from here.

I am grateful and at the moment can only say thank you, thank you, thank you.

ninotaziz said...

Dear Ummie,
I am wondering about that other plant you can't recall...

Al-Manar said...

Dear visitors,

I am glad that our Page 1 of Visitors' Corner, a request from ninotaziz, has a happy ending. Please send to Pakcik whatever ideas there are for our general interest.

Perhaps, our Dr Bubbles may, at certaing stage, wish to write a short note for our Visitors' Corner. Our visitors may be drawn to help his sterling work with small contributions. Many of us share something in common i.e.

Berkhidmat kerana Tuhan untuk kemanusiaan.

Thank you all.

DR Bubbles said...

Salam,I got the thick copy of 1954's Jawi written Syair Dandan Setia. Be glad if madam ninotaziz could email me your address to my gmail: adabi99@gmail.com

Prof. Emeritus Abdullah Hassan has kindly photocopied the book for her. Saya tolong deliver sahaja. Hehehe...