The Back to My Roots competition asked youths to express what ‘Malay’ meant to them. With a tagline like “a multi-disciplinary visual arts exhibition”, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It’s quite amazing what these (very) young talents came up with in a matter of weeks.

About a dozen or so entries were on display last Saturday at the Malay Heritage Centre. And among these were short-listed artworks, which the judges scrutinised and deliberated over.

Judging panel (L to R): Sarkasi Said, Walter Lim (NHB), Khalid Shukur Bakri (MHC).

The judges awarded 3rd Prize to an extremely shy young lady, Katini Bte Said (15, Pierce Secondary School).

She chose a peacock motif as a symbol of pride for her race and culture. Her drawing of two peacocks sharing 1 body implied that Malays are united together by their very own unique culture and traditions. Katini brings home a cool 2GB iPod Nano.

And proving that race is no barrier, 2nd Prize was won by Ming Zhen (11, Greenwood Primary School). She laboured for a week on her acrylic on canvas artwork, which features a bird of paradise. According to her, the painting reflects how modern Malays embrace different milieu but yet uphold their own traditions and culture.

Ming Zhen aims to apply for the School of Arts and we wish her all the best! Meanwhile, she’ll be enjoying her Canon A530 Digital Camera.

The top prize of an XBox 360 was awarded to 28-year-old Zulkifli Sabhani (Zool)

for his entertaining flash animation, featuring a cartoon character which looks exactly like him!

Based on a traditional children’s nursery rhyme/game, “Enjet Enjet Semut”, his laugh-out-loud hilarous music video features new insights into “Malay-isms”.

See for yourself here (1, 2, 3).
Warning: The chorus is extremely memorable (to put it kindly). I still catch myself humming the tune, DAYS after the event. [help!]

When Zool signed up for the competition, he knew he did not want to do “the normal artworks like painting or drawing”. He wanted to try something more contemporary and avant-garde. The idea and lyrics came to him at 3am one morning and he finished all the animation in a mere 2 weeks. This includes the very tedious coordination of the song and the characters’ lip movements! Ever humble, Zool was quick to point out that his fren Syaz helped by playing the guitar in the video.

Watch out for more of Zool’s creativity on his website, coming up in January 2007. No prizes for guessing what Zool will be up to in the next few weeks! (For the record, Zool said that the first game he’ll buy for his new XBox would be something soccer-related. : ) )

One artwork which caught my eye was a Zen-garden look-a-like made from raw rice grains.

This was inspired by a Malay proverb, “ikut resmi padi, semakin berisi, semakin tunduk” which advises one to be as humble as rice grains. I believe the Chinese equivalent would be “nothing is more humble than bamboo-the taller it grows, the deeper it bows”.

Not all works were in 3D. Several poems were submitted too and here is a suprisingly mature work from Amirul Rifdi from XinMin Primary.

Bumi dipijak, langgit dijunjung
Tak akan putus lagu dan irama
Ibarat Quran yang buruk penuh dengan makna
Di sinilah letaknya titik permulaan
Suatu tamparan dijadikan pedoman
Setiap insan memerlukan pegangan
Setiap hari adalah pengalaman
Ambillah ia sebagai suatu pengajaran
Biar budaya dan seni Melayu kakal selamanya

Official English translation:

Respect and follow the local customs and way of life
Like how melody and harmony never disengages from one another
Like the old Quran that is still meanignful
This is where it starts
Treat a falter as a guide
Every being needs a faith
Every day is a new lesson experience
Take it as a lesson
Let the Malay arts and culture live forever

Cheem, right? Amazing what they learn in primary school these days!