Dissapointment by Aishah Kazman

I'm dissapointed at how quick you are at making judgements,
I'm dissapointed at how little trust you have on me,
I'm dissapointed of how such small things manage to break us apart,
I'm dissapointed at how bad I am in handling this situation,
I'm dissapointed that maybe, we have yet to know each other,
I'm dissapointed at how I failed to work this out,

I am dissapointed because I've missed you and Im afraid to do anything about it.

Love overcome all obstacles?

Love , does it overcomes all obstacles?

By : Siti Aishah Kamarul Azman ( PET 130020 )

It is a very interesting topic to ponder on, especially as we were studying the movie - Sepet ( 2005 ) . When it comes to love in movie, the first thing in mind would the infamous hanging-by-the-wood-plank scene from Titanic or maybe a scene from a recent Nicholas Sparks adapted book movie. Nope, this love will not be that kind of love, but instead it is a simple gesture of affection from one person to another person. Why make it difficult? We love our mother and father, we love our siblings, our friends, our teachers and the list goes on and on.

In the movie Sepet, it revolves around a connection between two random people connected by a mutual feeling of love. Yes, it does involves the high school kind of love but what makes it so special is how Yasmin Ahmad set characters from two different personality, a different social class and other differences but yet they are still bounded by this feeling of love. The question is why? How can a modern yet traditional Malay young lady be attracted to this young Chinese man who loves poetry? The contradiction of characters itself is strong , but yet the pure-ness of the connection is so beautiful it beats the classic Romeo and Juliet anytime.

For example, in a scene where the duo first laid eyes on each other at the market you could clearly see the attraction radiated between Jason and Orked . How the entire universe seem to stop at halt to witness this particular event between two young naïve youth.  The following events that follow the development of relationship shows despite the obvious differences in race they managed to overlook the matter and develop a relationship based on trust and pure love. Multiple scenes successfully portrayed this relationship development, the scene where both Jason and Orked ran through the rain holding hands with a red plastic bag covering their heads, the scene where they met at a fast food restaurant and discussed on various topics and the scene where they sat in front of Orked’s house while being watched by her family members ( Dad, Mom and Kak Som )

During an in-class class discussion on the topic, we have come out with an agreeable formula of what does it takes to have 'love' . Here it is ,

Love = sacrifice + maturity + courage for change + able to overlook differences ( race, religion , wealth etc ) + trust

But again, in order to have all that and create a connection within two person you ought to have TRUST. I mean, without having that trust, you won't be able to create that first touch point and there will not be any consequence action without placing a strong trust into the relationship. Trust is about being able to look beyond physical, cultural and socially constructed differences, Trust is about being able to tolerate and accept the different background of people. Trust is about giving a part of yourself to another person.

I believe , this is what Yasmin Ahmad is trying to show us from here movie. You need to be able to look beyond your bubble, try to understand the differences and embrace the uniqueness of every human kind. Orked and Jason are two young lads, who managed to look beyond their differences and form a beautiful connection all because of they put their trust to the other person.

Trust is what we lack of in the current Malaysian context. We are often not being able to look beyond race, religion and social class. We often fear of accepting what are not the norms of our society. Instead, we create this bubble where we create the acceptable behavior and expect the future generations to follow suit.

Another scene that relates to love and trust in the society is when Orked’s mother defended the relationship ( between Orked and Jason ) when Orked’s dad commented how he disagree on the inter-racial relationship. In my point of view, such action shows how she put trust in Jason despite coming from a different background and how she believe in the love between the duo.

Going back to the topic, does love overcome all obstacles ? Well, trust leads to love and love leads to world peace. I'm not saying that love is the only solution for a better nation but its part and parcel of it. Just look at the Jason and Orked whom managed to embrace the differences and provide a different perspective of how we perceive others.

I do believe that if we Malaysians are able to trust one another, we will be able to overcome the racial tension that's getting worse by each day. I do believe that if we Malaysians are able to put aside our differences, we are able to be a stronger nation. And thus, love may be able to help us in overcoming obstacles.

**Edited on : 17th November 2015 

Movie reference :


Sepet ( 2005 )

Go not to the temple by Rabindranath Tagore

"Go not to the temple to put flowers upon the feet of God,

First fill your own house with the fragrance of Love.

Go not to the temple to light candles before the altar of God,

First remove the darkness of sin from your heart.

Go not to the temple to bow down your head in prayer,

First learn to bow in humility before your fellowmen.

Go not to the temple to pray on bended knees,

First bend down to lift someone who is down trodden.

Go not to the temple to ask for forgiveness for your sins,

First forgive from your heart those who have sinned against you."

-- Rabindranath Tagore 

I came across this poem from the late Yasmin Ahmad's blog ( yasminthestoryteller ) while I was reading through her posts. As I read through each lines, it struck me of how we often forget the simple things in life - being humble. and forgiving others. We talk about being a good person everyday, we envision to achieve our 'life purpose' as we grow older in life but along the way, we also build up ego, pride and end up classifying ourselves into different classes and levels. It saddens me how few people discriminates others based on what ( race, social class, wealth ) they are  instead of recognizing the potential and abilities. 

There's too much that can be ponder upon when you talk about forgiveness. From this 5 stanzas alone, Tagore managed to remind me the importance of being humble , and to forgive everyone including yourself. Forgiving others are somewhat easy because all you need to do is to understand and communicate with the other person.However, to forgive yourself is not that easy especially if you have your ego standing on the way. 

In the end, remember this - people make mistakes all the time , its always important to forgive them on the mistakes because that is how they have learned new things about themselves.