FOR several years now, writers' organisations in Malaysia have widely celebrated World Poetry Day on March 21. This Day was introduced by Unesco in 1999 at the initiative of the USSR, but for some reason it was not celebrated in Malaysia for a long time, although poetry is loved in this country.
And, there were always a lot of poetry events here. In 1976-2004 every two years in Kuala Lumpur, the International Poetry Festival was held, in which, by the way, Soviet and Russian poets performed with success: Bella Akhmadulina (1978), Elena Taneva (2002), Alexander Rein (2004).
Since 1998, the Malaysian capital's writers' body PENA on the first Friday of every month at its headquarters with enviable regularity organizes poetry evenings, where everyone is given the opportunity to recite his or her poems.
In the evenings you can meet poetry lovers, young poets, and poet-masters who have received recognition and have the highest title of the National Laureate — Abdul Samad Said, Anwar Ridwan, Muhammad Haji Salleh, Zurinah Hassan, Baha Zain.
The Federation of Malaysian Writers' Organizations (GAPENA) which coordinates the activities of writers' unions in all states of the country periodically hosts poetry events too.
Its most famous event is the Merdeka reading competition. The final of the competition is held in turn in each state, and the winners receive cash prizes and cups. Sometimes, foreigners who can speak in Bahasa Malaysia will take part in the final out of competition — they are invited to make the final more spectacular and interesting.
It just so happened that both me and my daughters Anna and Polina were lucky enough to take part in such events in 1998, 1999 and 2002. Of course, the experience was unforgettable. Colourful costumes, a sea of poetry, happy faces of the winners.
I remember in the past, every organization strove to outdo the other. In Kelantan, poems were recited in nature, where the Kelantan River flows into the South China Sea.
Once upon a time in Kuala Lumpur, poetry readings were carried out on LRT trains and on the escalators of shopping malls. And, of course, an important place was given to poems about poetry itself. In the end, it was poetry that's the focus of the celebration.
And this year, probably the most important event was organized by the National Union of Poets (PEMUISI). It was an online meeting "Interaction of World Poets" in which representatives of 10 countries took part.
It was officiated by Professor Datuk Seri Dr (and now Senator) Awang Sariyan and PEMUISI president Datuk Dr Radzuan Ibrahim. The leitmotif of their speeches was "poetry unites countries, peoples, cultures and helps people to understand each other". Both of them recited their poems too.
The last verses read at the Day of Poetry have not had time to resound, but Malaysian poets are already beginning to prepare for a new celebration. It is to be expected.
As the National Laureate, Dr Muhammad Haji Salleh, used to say: "Poetry is not only the art of depicting beauty in words. For centuries, thoughts and feelings, clothed in poetic form, penetrate into the hearts of people, reminding us that we are all one big family and that we, so different, are actually very similar to each other."
* The writer, writing from Russia, is a former Universiti Malaya lecturer
