___________________________________________________________________________________
IJAZAH SARJANA MUDA PENDIDIKAN
(SEKOLAH RENDAH)
DENGAN KEPUJIAN
FIK 3042- ENGLISH FOR COMMUNICATION 2
SESI : 2011
ASSIGNMENT : AN INTERVIEW REPORT ON A PROMINENT PERSON WHO HAS CONTRIBUTED TO THE COMMUNITY
NAMA : MARY ANAK JITOS / D 20102043115
KUMPULAN : EL - Q3
NAMA PENSYARAH : EN. AHMAD ZAINURI BIN LOAP AHMAD
TARIKH SERAHAN : 12 JUN 2011
An Interview with Jais Sahok : A Malaysian National Laureate
1.0 Introduction
An interview session was conducted with Mr. Jais Sahok on 10 May 2011. The purpose of the interview is to gain better understanding of his experience as a renowned writer and his excellent performance as an academic teacher.
Mr. Jais Sahok is one of the prominent novel writers in Malaysia. It is to society’s interest to know about his experience as a successful writer. Mr. Jais had successfully addressing various interesting academic and social issues related our daily lives which he had expressed through his academic article, short stories, poems and novels. His writing had received a number of awards from various organizations in the country. Mr. Jais not only contributed to the society through his writing activity, but he is also active members of various professional associations throughout the nation. Due his invaluable contribution to the nation, Sarawak state government had inaugurated him one of the most prestigious state award which is better known as “Ahli Bintang Sarawak”.
In this report of the interview, Mr. Jais had proudly shared his biography as an academician and a writer. As for the purpose of this task interview questions and pictures during the interview session were also attached.
2.0 Biography of the Interviewee
In the interview Mr. Jais proudly narrating his biography his early school days, his experience as a write and also his experience as an academic teacher in the Malaysian school. Mr. Jais Sahok was born in Lundu, Sarawak on 14 November 1959. At the age of 52 he had establish himself as a renowned writer in the country by winning various awards through his writing career. He began his teaching career in 1982 as an Academic Teacher. Currently, Mr. Jais is an Academic Teacher at SMK Batu Kawa teaching Bahasa Melayu for the Form Six classes. He has been serving in the teaching profession for the last 29 years.
Mr. Jais is Master degree holder in Science Information Management from University Teknology Malaysia graduated in 2005. His first degree is in Bachelor of Education (Teaching of Bahasa Malaysia as First Language) from Universiti Pertanian Malaysia in 1988. In his early school days, he attended his primary school in Lundu, Sarawak (1966 – 1971). He attended his lower secondary school at SMK Lundu (Form 1 – Form 3) from 1972 until 1974). As for his Form 4 and Form 5 he furthered his study at SMK Dragon, Kuching (Currently known as Kolej Tun Abdul Razak) in 1975 until 1976. Upon completing his Form Five he continued his studies in Form Six at SMK Dragon from 1977 until 1978. Being interested in the teaching profession he, later went to Teachers’ Training College which is known as Maktab Perguruan Batu Lintang from 1980 until 1981 at Kuching, Sarawak.
Despite his commitment as a teacher in the school, Mr. Jais is also active in various organizations that groom his writing skills in various genres. He became a committee member of Angkatan Karya Sarawak (Sarawak Writers’ Group and Gabungan Persatuan Penulis Sarawak (Association of Sarawak Writers) since 1982. He is also a member of Persatuan Kebangsaan Melayu Sarawak (Sarawak National Malay Association) since 1982. Being a teacher Mr. Jais also joined the Kesatuan Guru Bumiputera Sarawak (Sarawak Bumiputera Teachers Union) since 1984. In his quest to become a professional writer, in 1989 he is one of the committee members for Gabungan Persatuan Penulis Sarawak (Association of Sarawak Writers). In 2004, Mr. Jais join another writers association better known as Persatuan Karyawan Sarawak (Sarawak Writers Association).Amazingly through his writing activity. Mr. Jais had won a number of award and also wining various writing competitions of various genres in recognition of his active involvement in the writing community as early as 1983.
In the 29 years of teaching profession Mr. Jais had awarded as an Excellent Achievement Teacher on 18 December 2003. It is a special award by the Education Department. Four years later, in 2007 Mr. Jais was awarded a special award in recognition for his teaching performance better known as Anugerah Pencapaian Khas (Special Achievement Award) during the Teachers’ Day celebration. This award was given to him for his invaluable contribution to the teaching profession. In the same year, the Chief Minister of Sarawak also awarded him a special award from the Chief Minister office for his excellence in teaching profession. In 2008, Mr. Jais was also won another award from the Chief Minister office known as Anugerah Khas Guru Sekolah Menengah Cemerlang (Special Award for Excellent Secondary School Teachers). Each year Mr. Jais had never failed to win award in recognition for his dedication as a teacher. In conjunction with the Teachers’ Day in 2009, he was awarded as Exemplar Teacher for the Padawan District. The award was deliverd by Datuk Yong Khoon Seng (Minister in Chief Minister Office). In the following year (2010), Mr. Jais was presented as the most Innovative Teacher when he was awarded the Anugerah Guru Inovatif ( Innovative Teachers’ Award) by the Padawan District Education office. In 2010, became memorable events for the Education Department when Mr. Jais inaugurated another special award from Sarawak State Government. One of most prestigious award was inaugurated to Mr. Jais Sahok by the Sarawak State Government in recognition for his contribution to the nation was Ahli Bintang Sarawak on 14 December 2010.
Despite his excellence performance as an education officer, Mr. Jais began his literary career with his first publication in 1989. His first publication is Poem Anthology published in 1989 by Sarawak Writers’ Association; which is a collection of 75 poems. In the same year (1989) also managed to published a collection of 15 short stories entitled Dunia Tidak Selalu Sepi (The World is Never Silent) which is also published by the Sarawak Writers’ Association. This first publication was a major stepping stone for Mr. Jais to publish more books, short stories, poems and academic article until the present date.
3.0 Report of the Interview
As a writer, a novelist and a poet, Jais Sahok is known for his passionate quest for identity. He started to become a writer in 1981 while he was in the teachers’ training college, Batu Lintang Teachers’ Training College. Having established himself as a writer, he has exerted his creative energy mainly on various types of writing genre including, poem, short stories, drama script, fictions and non-fictions.
As a teacher by profession, Mr. Jais had also written few textbook used in the Malaysian secondary schools. One of his book used for the teaching of Bahasa Melayu for Form Two (Bahasa Malaysia Tingkatan Dua KBSM) published by Pustaka Cipta in 1989. In 1989, Mr. Jais Sahok had published another two text books which was used as academic reference for Malaysian students. Those books were Panduan Ulang Kaji Dinamik SPM : Hikayat Umar Umaiyah (Revision Guidance of SPM for Hikayat Umar Umiayah) and Panduan Ulang Kaji Dinamik, SPM : Drama Penantian (Dynamic Revision Guidance for SPM : A Play) which were both published by Grafikaprin Publication in 1989. Has vast reading in the Malay Literature act as a strong foundation for him to published one of the best references for the Form Five students to do their revision in Malay Literature. As a scholar himself, Mr. Jais Sahok was not only contributing in the Malay Literature. In 1990, he successfully published a book which is used as a reference for the Remedial Class. A book entitled “Pendidikan Pemulihan” was published in 1990 by Masa Enterprise in Kuala Lumpur. It is one of the reference books used for remedial classes in handling weak Malaysian students. In the same year, he also publishes another book on Bahasa Malaysia. The book entitled Rempah Ratus Bahasa Malaysia (A Thousand Ingredients of Bahasa Melayu) was published by the Teachers’ Union of Kuching branch. This book is a collection of various issues regarding the language including the grammatical aspect of Bahasa Melayu. Indeed, this collection would be a very important reference of Malaysian scholar who was interested in the linguistic studies especially for the national language, Bahasa Melayu.
Another great contribution of Mr. Jais in education is when his book entitled Antologi Karya Sastera Komsas : Drama Hemodialisis (Anthology of Literaure : Hemodialisis : A Play). The book was chosen by the Curriculum Department of Ministry of Education to be used for Form Two students in Malaysian school. This book was used since 2010 in all Malay Literature Form Two classes throughout the country. Mr. Jais’s literature writing had contributed to the enrichment of Malay literature study in Malaysian school.
When asked what inspired him to write and where he got the brilliant ideas for this writing. I asked with a million thoughts running through my head wondering what had inspired his writing throughout the many years. Nevertheless, Mr. Jais responded in a straight forward answer telling that there are two things that inspired him and source of his brilliant ideas in writing. “Two things” he said. “Read; read the newspapers, school books, story books, encyclopaedias, biographies, magazines even comic books. He said that habits of reading had expanded his thought and mind in writing. Specifically, he said that it doesn’t have to be a particular genre; it can be any type of readable materials. It helps every individual to have more knowledge, not just certain knowledge but all sorts of knowledge. Quoting what he said “Just because you’re reading comic books, it doesn’t mean you’re not gaining any knowledge. You’re most likely to get inspired to become an artist from reading comics”. Extensive reading is his power to write. Secondly, he highlighted that writers need to go outside and watch people go by. From watching them, it enables a writer to see how people move around. Their body language, facial expression tells you something; every person you see has a different story to tell. It is being observant and making comprehensive analysis of every human behaviour act as a very important source for him to write.
Mr. Jais Sahok also mention that in all his life, he said that creativity has played an enormous part especially in writing fiction - as a writer he mentioned he use to imagined his way through story after story, and also wrote stories of his own by looking into the local context. The forms of creativity he has drawn to have changed based on the scenario. Once he imagined becoming a novelist and this takes some time for him to acquire these writing skills in this genre. To the present date Mr. Jais said that written 147 short stories which were published in the local newspapers and magazine such as Utusan Sarawak, Dewan Sastera, Dewan Masyarakat, Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian. A few of the short stories had won competition at the national level such as from Utusan, Public Bank, Esso-Gapena (Federation of Malay Writers Association) and Utusan Melayu in 2002. Listing a few, one of his short story entitled Bubu won second prize of short story writing competition conducted by Universiti Sains Malaysia in 1985. In 1987 the short story entitled Gugurnya Langit Hijau Nanga Tiga Dari Sudut Sosiologi had won third prize in a short story writing competition conducted by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka in Kuala Lumpur. In 1988 his short story entitled Hisham; a short story for teenagers won first prize in a short story writing competition conducted by the Sarawak Education Department. Mr. Jais said that he managed to win lots of other prizes in short story writing competition. When asked how many of his short stories had won prizes in competition, in a smile, he responded that he has a long list which he could not exactly recall.
Mr. Jais further elaborated how creativity comes while his writing. He stated that thinking has been another favourite form of creativity, though that came later. He highlighted that thinking creatively is one of the highest forms of creativity. This form of thinking was a very important source for him to write short stories. He mentioned that these thinking are far more important especially in writing novels. Mr. Jais’s novel entitle Ngoncong won the third prized in novel writing competition organized by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka in 1996. Another novel which only managed to awarded participatory certificate entitled Detik (Time) was published in 1996. Novel Bermulanya Di Sini (It Started Here) won the second prize in a competition organized by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka in 1991. These are the few novels which had been sent for competition and had received recognition from its respective organizers. Mr. Jais said that though none of these novels receiving the national award; it is to his pleasure to share his thoughts to the readers on various issues in the society. It is also his hope that by reading these few novels, it shall enlightened the Malaysian citizen in the existence of various social issues that happened around them in their daily lives.
The interview become more interesting when Mr. Jais elaborate how and when did he become a writer. He said that in his childhood that he started to love reading. He did all what he could to grab books in the school library. He realized the suffering encountered from a reading comprehension disability. This had made him an avid reader in the school. Motivated by his Bahasa Melayu teacher announced that they had to read four books that year. Then on he was catapulted into another world by reading. Book amazed him so much. He thought about it for days after reading it and could not wait to read another book. Before he knew what was happening to me, he started to buy books in stores and reading at least a book a month especially when he was in the secondary school. Mr. Jais further elaborated on his reading habit during his childhood by saying that it was rather spontaneous. The awareness was cultivated when he figured out that for a poor village boy reading acted not only as a companion but also as a source of education. Therefore he loved to read widely. He said that he had read each and every book at the library when he was in primary school, which was not that many really ; he said “there were around fifty books per shelf, but they were plenty” for me to read. That was how it all sparked, because reading opens up the mind and expands our understanding of the world. And when he was in Form Six he started to dream to become a writer. When he was in the school, he wrote a short story for school magazine. A few of his stories were published in the school's annual magazine. That is his starting point of his as a writer.
Another interesting experience that Mr. Jais share is when as whether his writing ever experience rejection especially when writing article for newspapers or magazine. He shared that it was enough to wallpaper his entire house, monthly. He smiled when he said that being a writer is having a thick skin. He stated that “finding and interested editor, I believe, has to do a lot with luck and timing”. A more interesting sharing is when he elaborated on his reaction to those rejections. Mr.Jais explained that there are two types of rejections. Form Letter and what he called as Positive Rejection. A Form Letter is just like it sounds. No signature, or a rubber-stamp signature. He wonders if the publisher didn't just open his submission, attach a Form Letter, and return it to him without so much as reading a word. The Positive Rejection is when an editor actually takes the time to personalize the rejection letter in some way. "Close, try us with your next story idea." That is how he sees the rejection. A very positive thought he had is that something, anything that makes it more than a just a Form Letter Rejection he consider it as inspiring.
When asked what actually motivate him despite the rejection. He elaborated that he was motivated by having an idea that could be shared, and sharing not in the form of conversation that would leave no impact but in a creative and imaginative form, published in the shape of a book, all written down. He was talking about ideas transferred into a book, in writing, because when he first read the library books, he got the impression that if someone has talent, is able to write and the writing is published, then it would be an immense contribution to others and that contribution might possibly last for a long time, depending on its quality and its exposure to society. The life span of works as such is longer than the writers. So when he was small, he had dreams of becoming a writer so that my work would be published, read by people and would stay for a long time at libraries. He said that it was his childhood vanity. Mr. Jais is the one who had been motivated to write since his childhood. It could be this reason that he had been an active writer for the last 22 years.
Mr. Jais also elaborated on his dream as writer. It was all just dreams when I was in the primary school. I was yet to know how to write a literary work. It was only through reading that the dreams developed into an ambition. A well-kept ambition! In secondary school, he started thinking about writing. Through reading, he learnt on his own how fiction writers set the narratives in motion, introduce the characters, begin and put the plot into action; also, he began to scrutinise the narrative style, the language used and so on. That was how he first learnt how to write fiction, because there was no school in my place at the time that taught writing or offered writing courses like the way we have now. He officially began writing after his college life. He mentioned that his lecturers introduced him to a number of terminologies and tips for good writing. This knowledge makes an easy way for him because he had been studying it on his own since secondary school. Mr. Jais claimed that initially he felt a bit overwhelmed by all the heavy terms and jargons, but with time it all fell into place. However, it further stimulates his motivation to become a writer and that knowledge had uplifted him to the present status as a renowned writer of the nation
Asked about the challenges he faced as a writer, Mr. Jais shared an interesting respond. He said that there are many major challenges that most writers face. For Mr. Jais, frustration is one of them. Always wondering if his story is good enough, if his writing is good enough that means that he could share my thought with the society and to develop their thinking. Then once he sell a work and it is published his worry that no one is going to buy the books, read them, like them. He also worried about marketing and sales figures and getting out and promoting. Then there is finding enough time in a day to do all that needs to be done. He work full time as teacher, freelance part-time for a community newspaper, write book reviews for a web site and am married with three children. He try to schedule 20 - 30 book signings a year, teach creative writing classes a few times a year and give presentations to schools and clubs as often as possible. So where do he find time to write? On Saturdays and Sundays he wakes up at 3:00 AM. He writes until about 9:00, when the family starts to stir. This way he does not take time away from his beloved family. As it is he has them at mall bookstores all over the place at least once a week, almost every week, from May until November. So for him, time and energy are the most frustrating. But he wouldn't do it, if he didn't love it. Mr. Jais stated that “You have to want it and achieve what you want. Write because you love it. If it sells, that's icing on the cake”. It is really a positive thought and spirit that he had to drive him as one of the well known writer in Malaysia.
Mr. Jais shared some good advice to the new writers. He mentioned that there is an old saying. However, he forgets who said it. Mr. Jais said that "If you always do what you have always done, then you will always get what you have always gotten." Those are words to live by. The key is never give up. Save every rejection letter. Work and re-work your query letters. Those are, perhaps, more vital than the story themselves. They are the first thing and maybe the only thing an editor will look at. If the query letter is full of mistakes, the editor won't bother with your story. If you've been using the same style letter for years and are getting nowhere, he advise the new writer to continuously “try and try”. Mr. Jais was very optimistic that errors had made him to be more matured as years goes by.
When asked on the role of a writer to shape this world as a better place to live in the spontaneously respond that writers could, through their works, help to create a better world. He further commented that writers should not be overly egocentric and think that they alone could help in the attainment of a better world. There are others as well who could contribute towards this goal: thoughtful and ethical politicians, rural and urban planners, economists, sociologists, intellectuals, religious scholars and so on. He believe that since the time of Socrates and Plato a significant body of serious writings have had its own epistemology and subtext that aspire for a more humanistic society, with an improved liveable condition for the species. Writers generally love peace not war, harmony not conflicts, a healthy not toxic social environment, and humanity not bestiality in mankind; they love love itself, not hatred. Mr. Jais believed that writers could help to create a better world by continuing to produce ethically and aesthetically appealing works, and not forgetting the epistemological and pedagogical aspects in their writing, although he realise that there are writers who refuse to be bound by the concept of epistemology in literary works. One’s purpose of writing would determine his level of awareness about his society and the world. The level of a writer who writes for money and popularity would certainly be different from one who is aware of the social issues that should be woven into his work. This awareness comes with inner vision, regardless of whether a writer is young or has matured with age and experience.
This respond had demonstrated that Mr. Jais not only a great thinker but a writer who has great vision that a writer plays a very important role in the nation’s intellectual development. In addition he possess a great patience in meeting the challenges in his endeavour of his quest of writing and continuously thinking and creating a better world for the society through his writing. The interview was a very successful one. The interview ended with this invaluable advice for the new writers and new generation who intended to share their thought with the Malaysian society and the nation on a broader context. Mr. Jais shows his sweet smile ever when he talk on how a writer could contribute to intellectual development of the society through his writing. Indeed, Mr. Jais is one of a great figure in literature work of the nation.
4.0 Interview Questions
a) Where did you studied during your early school days? Could you elaborate on your career and academic experience as a teacher?
b) What inspires you in your quest for writing?
c) Where do you get all those brilliant ideas from?
d) Your reading habits were cultivated in childhood. Would you like to elaborate on it?
e) When did you started to dream of becoming a writer? How and when did you get started as a writer?
f) Did you ever get any rejections?
g) How did you react to those rejections?
h) What motivates you to continuously writing?
i) Could you explain about your creative process?
j) What are the major challenges that you have faced in your career?
k) What do you advise new writers to do?
l) How do you think a writer could help to create a better world to live in?
5.0 Pictures During the Interview Session
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