Si Tenggang Homecoming: Analysis

i

the physical journey that i traverse

is the journey of the soul,

transport of the self from a fatherland

to a country collected by sight and mind.

the knowledge the sweats from it

is estranger's experience,

from one who had learnt to see, reflect

and choose between

the challenging actualities.

ii

its true i have growled at my mother and

grandmother,

but only after having told them my predicament

that they have never brought to consideration

the wife that i began to love in my loneliness,

in the country that alienated me,

they enveloped in their pre-judgement.

i have not entirely returned, i know,

having been changed by time and place.

coarsed by problems

estranged by absence.

iii

but look.

i have brought myself home,

seasoned by faith.

broadened by land and language,

i am no longer afraid of the oceans

of the difeerences between people,

no longer easily snared

no words of ideas

the journey was a loyal teacher,

who was never tardy

in explaning cultures and variousness.

look i am just like you.

still malay,

sensitive to what

i believe is good,

and more ready to understand

than my brothers.

the contents of these boats are yours too,

because i have returned.

iv

travel makes me

a seeker who does not take

what is given without sincerity

or that which demands payment from

beliefs.

the years at sea and in coastal state

have thought me to choose,

to accept only those tested by

comparison,

or that which matches the roads of my

ancestors,

which returns me to my village

and its comppleteness.

v

i've leanrt

the ways of the rude,

to hold actuality in a new logic,

debate with hard and loud facts.

but i too

have humanity, respecting

man and life.

vi

i am not a new man,

not very different

from you;

the people and cities

of coastal ports

thought me not to brood

over a foreign world,

suffer difficulties

or fear possibilities.

i am you,

freed from the village,

its soils and ways,

independent, because
i have found myself.

Analysis

It is a reflection of si tenggang who has gone overseas and return to his homeland. His perspective of life has widened but basically he is still the same person. |His on people do not accept him and in this poem si tenggang tries to convince them he still respect his poeple and their culture.

Poetic devices

Contrast

'the physical journey that i traverse is the journey of the soul'

Personification

'the journey was a loyal teacher who was never tardy'

'the country that alienated me'

Assonance

'journey of the soul'

'to a country collected'

'....growled.......mother and granmother'

'estranged by absence'

Alliteration

'Freed from'

'Country collected'

'Love.....loneliness'

'land and langguages'

Symbol

'oceans'

represents the unknown , something big and mysterious

'fatherland'

represents his native land , his home

'journey of the soul'

represents internal or spiritual reflection during his travel

'i am you'

the 'you' represents all malay poeple

Metaphor

'seasoned by confidence'

'the contents of this these boats are yours too'

THEMES

• 'travels' to foreign lands
• home is where one belongs
• alienation
• independence
• search for knowledge
• loneliness
• rejection and acceptence
• respect and humality
• importance of rootsloyalty to ones community and country
• courage and integrity

MORAL VALUES

• we should not be afraid to travel and widen our horizons
• learning is an on going process
• one must live in harmony with one's family and society
• no matter how far we go home is where we belong
• one must be humble and respectful no matter how learned someone is

ISLAMIC PERSPECTIVE

• islam encourages us to seek knoeledge
• do not judge people without understanding them
• do not be afraid to try new things