A LETTER TO FRIENDS

Salam

How are u? Hope you are fine, be blessed by Him in any ways, in any means.

I’m good. But not mentally and spiritually. Just wanna share with you what had happened to me in this late evening. I’m taking a break, after reading 3 articles. It was very moving, it isn’t like articles at all, ops pardon me, academic journal at all. It was more like a story, and I love stories, which make me go and go and go.

I have a class between 4-6pm. It wasn’t a class actually; it was a film screening, The Battle of Algiers. Have you watch it? I recommend it. It will change your entire feelings about colonialism, and perhaps change my direction of academic life a.k.a my thesis. Never, in my entire life, I hasve experienced a greater feeling of being a patriot. And you know I was never a patriotic.

Algeria was ( I repeat was) asking, demanding independence from the colonist – the French. And of course, being an old bastard, the French never gave in. Thus, French involved in the most hallucinating war, in which they didn’t even acknowledge it as a war, instead they called it rebellion, terrorism etc. What draw me here are: first, the brutal, sadist ways of French use in attempts to defeat the rebel. I cried for many parts of the movie, and just imagine the women were wearing veils. Just like me.

Second, the length of the Moslem women took, Algiers women took/did in supporting the revolution. They bare their faces, bodies, throwing away the veils, and pretended to be Europeans, so they could plant the bombs in the café, stadium, cinema and disco in the European areas. ( Algiers lived in Kaswah, the lower caste place –imagine, again, u are the locals, the bastards come and conquer your country, and force you to live only in certain areas). I would never take my veil, I mean, in today’s time, not for any reasons. I could never imagine the heroic efforts , being naked not only for certain parts of your bodies, but your souls as well. God.

And third, the scene where the last rebels, Ali de Pinto (cant remember, blasah jer la) and his comrades, being cornered by the French, and were blown up as they refused to surrender, is really2 touching. The director was purposely took a shoot where many Algiers prayed ( by menadah tangan –tak larat nak translate ) while crying, hoping that Allah heard their pleas, their du’a, so there were, perhaps, some miracles happened, that there was an Act of God which could saved Ali etc.but of course their prayers weren’t granted.

I was almost praying myself. And wishing like hell that Ali etc will be saved. Or there was another version of this film. And I remember our ancestors, guard jealously our cultures, values, beliefs, tradition. Like what Faisal Tehrani is doing now. Tok Janggut. Dato’ Maharajalela. Mat Salleh. Mat Kilau..eh ader ker..hahahha…Temenggung Jugah Anak Barieng. And the nameless warriors that weren’t recorded as hero. The bastard Britishs.

And the reading is mocking about wearing veils.

Algiers fought for 6 years, genocide happened, and of course, they won.

Excuse me. I’m tired. Jaded. Emotional. Grief.