MLIE Exhibition: Critical Analysis

::Disclaimer::

Please cite the source if any of you happen to extract any information from this site; Aiman and I have sourced for information and research with hopes to make this mini-exhibition a successful one. Plagiarism is not allowed, just cite the source(s) according to the American Psychological Association (APA) format.

T. Pinkie’s Floor is written by A. Samad Said and was first staged in World Trade Centre Auditorium Singapore on the 5^th and 6^th June 1996, and was restaged in Malaysia in 2006 due to popular demand. As the title goes, it is a story of T. Pinkie, or Tengku Siindahkuno's as a joget dancer in a club in Singapore and it crafted the time, the mood and the setting of the fifties when Malaya and Singapore were still the Malay Federation. This slice of life can in future contribute to the anthropology, sociology and history of our place, enabling us to look back and learn some aspects of our identity and ethos (Solehah Ishak, 2010). This play too discusses about the effects of love and the consequences of war to the characters involved, which will be dealt in depth in this analysis.

The setting of this play is after the Second World War, when life was tough and some women had to dance and serve for the men in the club. T. Pinkie was among the most beautiful women and famous too in the Bunga Joget Moden Club. She was adored by all of the men because of her look, including an accordion player, Muhairi Tirus and Gunjoloh, a gang leader. T. Pinkie, Nyai Sunarti, Siti Udaya, Musalmah Jiing, Puteh Su Abdullah, Jongkidin Jaroi, and S.Diman are among the characters representing that era—all talked about love and life but none prevails as that era was filled with tears and pain.

As the play progresses, Muhairi and T. Pinkie started to foster feelings for each other but it was not expressed until T. Pinkie ran away from Gunjoloh, who had abused her physically and sexually until she bears a child. Muhairi and T. Pinkie ran to Sarawak and tried to start out a new life but it was not long because of the Malaysia-Indonesia Confrontation which had taken T. Pinkie’s life. Even though he lived alone for the rest of his life, Muhairi still have his love and memories with T. Pinkie that motivated him to subsist and met Loiran Sindhu many years later who turned out to be T. Pinkie’s grandchild.

The story hovers around Singapore, as the Bunga Joget Moden Club was situated there. The story revolves around the characters who worked there, which are dancers and musicians, and the people who go to the club, especially the gang members. This can be seen in Act One as T. Pinkie was talking to Nyai Sunarti about The Axe Brand, which was the name of a gang who has supremacy in the area. Next is the historical setting of the play as the play is set in the 1950’s after the Second World War and the commencement of the Malaysia-Indonesia Confrontation. This gives bad memories to the characters during their younger days as the Japanese soldiers had treated them badly and also had bombed their homes. In page 70, Nyai Sunarti mentioned about her status as a nyai (mistress) and how the Japanese would like to keep the nyais as their sex toys in that era. T. Pinkie then died tragically during the confrontation because of bombs dropped during the period and we can clearly see how war had taken many life of the innocent. As for the social setting, we can see in that era, there were gender bias towards both men and women. This is proven when Muhairi said to T. Pinkie about Nyai Sunarti in page 64:

“It’s certainly true that the Dutch came to loot the products of the land of Java…”

and

“Yes, but Nyai Sunarti is also a product of Java!”

These dialogues show that there are still beliefs that women are only items for men to keep as Nyai Sunarti is the servant of Mr. Delarosa, the Dutchman. It literally shows how the Dutch, who had conquered Java for many years, love to keep the nyais for their pleasures. If women at that era has the gut to retaliate or given education, they may not get involved in that kind of situation and would have been given more respect by the other gender.

There are a lot of characters being introduced in the play and the main character is T. Pinkie who lived in club for all her life as her mother was a waitress in a club. She was among the top dancers in the club as not only she was beautiful, but also the way men adore her buttock. This can be seen when Muhairi was talking to her and he mentioned,

”All women have buttocks, but yours are special! Buttocks like yours are in great demand…”

She was told that she had a royal blood, which was from her father, but sometimes questioned why she does not lived like one. This can be seen when she told the story of her life in act two,

“Dad was a pearl diver – it was said, he would dive around Australian water. This is the only that I know about dad. Dad was a nobleman – but I don’t understand why his life was as poor as mum said. A member of the nobility but he is poor? It’s really… really strange. Sometimes I find it rather humorous too. Maybe… maybe, dad was a nobleman – I mean an opera actor.

…

“There, there’s not another story before I became a dancer – but it’s not necessary to tell it. Not a sweet story, not a happy story either.”

 Next was Muhairi Tirus, who started out in the play as a 67 years old man who lived at Teluk Melano beach alone. He was a fan of Gul Bakawali, a hikayat and back in his younger days, which when he was 27 years old, he was an accordion player who worked in Bunga Joget Modern Club. He had a secret crush over T. Pinkie, which was not revealed until at the end of the play when he said:

“All this while, I’m shy. But in my heart… it is all so turbulent…”

and

“Actually, I… I too desire for such beauty.”

We could see that there are a lot of minor characters who had influenced the main characters. Nyai Sunarti was a mistress to Mr. Delarosa, who also works as a dancer in the same club and would go to T. Pinkie when she feels like missing her man. Towards the end of the play, T. Pinkie realizes that her love towards Mr. Delarosa is not pure as it should be. This can be seen when T. Pinkie narrates,

“…Suddenly I saw the real Nyai Sunarti who was hidden all this while.

…

“ It’s not surprising too, if she has no faith in people like Muhairi, an accordian player – a man, according to her, who is only useful when people want to kiss.”

Next is Loiran Sindu, the grandson of T. Pinkie who went to Teluk Melano in search for T. Pinkie’s history as his mother mentioned about her before she died. After finding Muhairi, he asked about Gul Bakawali as he did not want Muhairi to grow suspicious of him. There is little known about Loiran other than he was T.Pinkie’s grandson. This is shown when he finally told Muhairi the truth about himself,

“Oh yes, I’m really not Tajul-Muluk looking for the flower of Gul Bakawali to present to his father who is blind… Mum died in a mental hospital shouting the name of Tengku Siindahkuno, wildly raving the name of Tom Ratna. I… I want to find peace for my own self.”

After finishing the characters and characterizations, we will go through the theme of the play. There are a lot of themes that could be seen in T. Pinkie’s Floor but the two of the most significant themes are love and the suffering caused by war. We could see how love affects the play because T. Pinkie and Muhairi loved each other but were afraid to express it. Muhairi said to T.Pinkie,

“All this while, I’m shy. But in my heart… it is all so turbulent…”

and

“Actually, I… I too desire for such beauty”.

 T. Pinkie also showed her feeling when she ran away from Gonjuloh and straight to Muhairi. She asked him to take her away from the club and also away from her former life.

“It’s a long… long story. But, please take me to where ever Bang Hairi. I… I don’t want to be tortured like this anymore. I must run far away from that accursed house. My life is full of suffering.. since.. since I was pregnant and after I gave birth. Really miserable. It was hell…”

From this dialogue we can also extract the theme of the suffering experienced by the characters. To reinforce the theme, there was also another part of the play which tells the story of how T. Pinkie’s life in the past;

“Dad was a pearl diver – it was said, he would dive around Australian water. This is the only that I know about dad. Dad was a nobleman – but I don’t understand why his life was as poor as mum said. A member of the nobility but he is poor? It’s really… really strange. Sometimes I find it rather humorous too. Maybe… maybe, dad was a nobleman – I mean an opera actor.

…

“There, there’s not another story before I became a dancer – but it’s not necessary to tell it. Not a sweet story, not a happy story either.”

As a final point, we are going to look at the literary elements of the play. The first element that could be detected is symbolism. This can be reflected upon the relationship of Nyai Sunarti with Mr. Delarosa. Their relationship is a symbolism of how the Dutch invaded Java and left when there were no more resources of their interest. This could be seen in the play when Muhairi describes their relationship when he talks to T. Pinkie.

“It’s certainly true that the Dutch came to loot the products of the land of Java. Nyai Sunarti is a Javanese, right? Then… then the Japanese… although their reasons were seemingly purer, namely for peace and prosperity to the people of the East… but actually they too wanted to loot the products of Java. Now… now Nyai Sunarti is waiting for the return of the Dutch colonist.”

T. Pinkie too loves to wear pink kebayas while dancing in the club, as the colour represents the symbol of beautiful women. In that era, pink colour is an indicator of femininity and gracefulness of a woman so it is concluded that by wearing a pink kebaya, it enhances her looks and that is why she is call T. Pinkie instead of Tengku Siindahkuno.

The second literary element that could be seen in the play is imagery. This could be seen when Jongkidin, another minor character in the play, uses imagery to explain what he feels. For example,

“I am an ancient scholar, I only hear the rustling winds telling the clouds to give me answers with its rain”

This is where Jongkidin describes his sense of loneliness, waiting for something to fill the gap in his heart. It was later replied by another minor character, Puteh Su, who’s in love with him by saying,

                        “I am the rain, Wak. I… I can be the rain.”

This reflects that she has feelings for him and confesses to him by answering his statement literally.

The final literary is irony and it can be seen in Nyai Sunarti’s feelings towards Mr. Delarosa. At the initial phase of the play, she often says to T. Pinkie that she misses him with all her heart. This is proven when she describes Mr. Delarosa to T. Pinkie:

“Mr. Delarosa is also a good storyteller, full of humour, intelligent. He is an entertainer and a loyal protector, Pinkie. I … feel lonely without Mr. Delarosa all this while, Pinkie. Truly, since he’s not around, I’m confused… I feel upset. I really miss him so. I … I miss his sloppiness, his tickling, his kisses and his bites. I’m not ashamed to admit it, Pinkie. I really miss him so.”

Later on in the play, T. Pinkie realizes Nyai Sunarti true feelings as she told the audience the real Nyai Sunarti,

            “…Suddenly I saw the real Nyai Sunari who was hidden all this while.

…

“ It’s not surprising too, if she has no faith in people like Muhairi, an accordion player – a man, according to her, who is only useful when people want to kiss.”

In conclusion, this play really manages to express the theme of love and the sufferance dealt by the characters. A. Samad Said has beautifully shaped the life of T. Pinkie on the dance floor, which tells us the connection between her life and the title itself. Although this play is fictional, but A. Samad Said has included his own experience to make his writings more realistic and remarkable to read. Based on this play, audience can also imagine the sorrow life in the fifties as the nation has only grasped independence for a short time but already started a new conflict between the two neigbouring countries. This information of the past can be used by future generations to preserve peace and harmony so that the history will not be repeated.

References

A. Samad Said (1992) Edisi Khas Sasterawan Negara: A. Samad Said; Antara Bulan dan Wira. Selangor. Percetakan Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

A. Samad Said, Dharmawijaya (2005) A. Samad Said: Sebuah Antologi Puisi Yang Menghimpunkan Karya-Karya Selama Lebih Setengah Abad. Kuala Lumpur. Utusan Publications & Distributors Sdn. Bhd.

A. Samad Said, Sarah Sadon (2004) Koleksi Terpilih Sasterawan Negara: A.Samad Said. Selangor. Dawama Sdn. Bhd.

A. Samad Said, Solehah Ishak (2010) T. Pinkie’s Floor. Kuala Lumpur. Institut Terjemahan Negara Malaysia Berhad.

Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia (2005) Selected Poems and Short Stories Form 1. Kuala Lumpur. Dewan Bahasa Dan Pustaka.

Mac, Yin Mee (2006) Extreme PMR Notes Literature Component Form 1.Selangor. Sasbadi Sdn. Bhd.