By Farah R
Edited by Nur Najia Nazri
Societal definitions of beauty might be objective, but not for the disability communities who felt abandoned by the prolonged unequal treatment. A paradox, Masharakat Chantek portrayed how the disability communities are enigmas whose often excluded in ‘Masharakat Chantek’, a beautiful society.
“Everyone can rightfully own beauty regardless of any impairments they possessed”
– Mohd Rosli Ibrahim, author of ‘Masharakat Chantek: Enigma Penyisihan OKU’
In line with the IIUM Disability Grand Awareness Campaign (IDGAC), the IIUM Student Union in collaboration with Disability Service Unit IIUM wrapped up a Book Talk featuring ‘Masharakat Chantek: Enigma Penyisihan OKU’ on 13th December 2023. The talk has invited the author of the book itself, Mohd Rosli Ibrahim to deliver astute sharing of his latest launched book, centralising on the disability communities who are often forgotten by society.
Book Talk promotion poster
According to Mohd Rosli Ibrahim, the author of the book, the title of the book was inspired by a Malay movie entitled ‘Sumpah Orang Minyak’ in which the phrase ‘Masharakat Chantek’ has opened his heart to navigate a movement on Orang Kurang Upaya (OKU). Due to this, he, who is also visually impaired, has reserved this denomination solely to steer the movement.
The title ‘Masharakat Chantek’ which is spelt using the Old Malay language symbolises the abandonment of disability communities that has been happening since the 1960s. The author expressed his deepest emotion through this non-fictional writing with the hope his voice could be heard by the heart of a ‘beautiful’ society.
Innately, human beings love beautiful things that bring serenity towards the eyes, however, the stereotype of having ‘perfect’ or ‘adequate human features’ has caused the other community to suffer greatly.
Image courtesy of ILHAM Books
Personally, as this is my first time attending a book discourse by the book’s author, I found myself in astonishment during the one hour 30 minutes session. The session was conducted in a forum-like talk. I was starstruck by the familiar literary terms the author articulated. As an English Literature student myself, of course, the words muttered were not foreign yet I was delighted to hear it in a big crowd, let alone when the author said it in Malay literary terms. Honestly, I almost teared up at the alluring Malay literary terms and language.
I had always wanted to attend a book talk where literary terms are used. I had attended several book talks in the past but most of them were philosophical books reviewing and connecting the dots of contents with the current issues. This time, I went out of my bubbles and listened to a more life-centric book analysis and despite a tiring day after 9 am to 5 pm classes, I was physically tired yet soulfully contentful.
As I listened intensively to the talk, my heart was heavily affected when the author mentioned that university students act as society’s tongues and society's light. The author then highlighted that students, mainly university students’ role in generating and exploring new information and engaging with not just the university environment, but the outside world as well, including the special needs community and the indigenous group.
Other than providing personal discourse in his writing, the author also explains how the disability community is viewed from the Islamic approach. He concluded that every human creation’s potential is meant to be appreciated, including the disability community. Thus, excluding them from society is paradoxical in Islamic contexts.
Before ending the talk, Mohd Rosli Ibrahim asserted his hope for the attendees to write out criticism towards the literary text written by him. He welcomes any room for enhancement regarding his published works.
Finally, but just as importantly, we were all brought into this world to learn, not to impose our own rules on one another. Our purpose as a beautiful society was to support one another by lending our hands and shoulders. We were intended to value one another's capability for a chance to lead a cohesive and just society. Truly, I believe a beautiful society's definition lies within the human being’s hearts and not the visible features.
Photos of the Book Talk happening in MAR Banquet Hall
Comments