In Malaysia "Laughter Is Not The Best Medicine"

Hantu Laut

Are there such things in the Malay language as satire, parody and burlesque that are common in the English language using humour, wit, irony and exaggeration as weapon for ridicule and constructive criticism?

I don't know.I only know of sindir-menyindir but not in literary technique but in the form of pantun.

One of the best known satirical work in English is Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travel which I believe many of pre-Malaysia secondary schools students have read.

There are many literary works of satire in English.

Other notable examples of satire are George Orwell's Animal Farm. Alexander Pope's mock-heroic poem "Rape Of The Lock" about over reaction of contemporary society over trivial things fits well into Hassan Skodeng's current dilemma.

What dire offence from am'rous causes springs,

What mighty contests rise from trivial things

The poem is based on an incident involving friends of Pope, Arabella Fermor and her suitor, Lord Petre, both from aristocratic Catholic families at a time, in England.Petre, wooing Arabella, had cut off a lock of her hair without permission,and the resulting argument had created a breach between the two families.A tempest in a teacup.

Read this and this and see where it can land you if you are in the mood for some harmless satirical poke that your fellow Malaysian could not discern but takes it as an insulting attack and brought the long arm of the law against you.

Don't poke fun, mate!




In Malaysia, "laughter is not the best medicine"

It can land you in court and a criminal charge.

It's all because 'the blind leading the blind'

A word of caution. For the prudish and uninitiated Skoding's satire did not convey the intended pun.