The poem entitled Kingdom of Purplaya is purely fictitious and does not make any references to Malaysia, Malays or Islam, its author, internationally-renowned poet, Cecil Rajendra said today.

Rajendra, a Malaysian who has published numerous books addressing Third World issues, said there were no words in his poem relating its contents specifically to Malaysia. The poem was published in the latest issue of Aliran Monthly , organ of the social reform movement, Aliran.

"There were no words like 'Malay', 'Malaysia', 'Islam' or such in my poem. It was those chauvinists who associated the poem with Malay and Islam," he said when contacted by malaysiakini .

He was responding to the joint statement yesterday by the Persatuan Melayu Pulau Pinang (Pemenang) and the Teras Pengupayaan Melayu (Teras) that Kingdom of Purplaya was "inflammatory and seditious", and that "Aliran, like Cecil, wants to promote anti-Malay and anti-Islamic propaganda among the non-Malays".

Rajendra, a human rights lawyer based in Penang, said any poem was open to different interpretations and readers should not narrow it down to one definitive, absolute meaning.

He said his poem could just as well apply to other countries such as Singapore, Papua New Guinea and Zimbabwe as he incorporated universal values into his works.

"The poem could be applied to more than a dozen of countries. Furthermore, Kingdom of Purplaya , which refers to a kingdom full of purple people, does not exist in reality. There are no purple people and Malaysia is definitely not a kingdom," he said.

Other controversies

Rajendra also recalled several similar incidents in the past when a few of his poems became subjects of controversy after they were published.

"I once wrote a poem called Animal and Insect Act in the 1990s about repressive laws and immediately some people concluded that I was writing about Malaysia. But repressive laws can be found in any part of the world.

"In another incident, our government confiscated my passport - but returned it later - after I wrote Death of a Rainforest in 1997. They thought I was writing something that could jeopardise the tropical timber industry here," he said.

Meanwhile, Aliran executive committee member Anil Netto said the social reform movement would not respond to the Pemenang and Teras' joint statement as yet.

"We will not make any remarks on this issue until our committee members have discussed it. We may release a press statement later," he said.

Below is the full version of Rajendra's poem.

Kingdom of Purplaya

The Kingdom of Purplaya

is located somewhere in Asia

slightly north of the Equator.

Its people are of mixed origins:

some Indonesians, some Chinese

some Indians, some Portuguese ...

Most Purplayans were immigrants

from the neighbouring countries;

only a handful are pure indigenes

who live up in the mountains

and are hunters & fruit gatherers

but not land-owners - just tenants.

These natives - true sons of the soil -

have been made marginal

by usurpers who stole their mantle

claiming that they are the original

god-chosen people of Purplaya and all

others, including indigenes, are mere aliens.

To ensure their privileges in perpetuity

this 'purple' bunch of pretenders

(With aid of their colonial masters)

drew up a farcical Constitution

which ensured that King & President

would always be of their persuasion.

They implemented a quota system

to reserve places for their children

in school, college & university;

stuffed ranks of Police & Army

with officers of their nomination

to protect their pockets & property;

and legislated that any question

of their special powers & position

would invite a charge of treason.

These self-anointed 'purple people'

now enjoy licences unlimited

for they are the only ones free

to libel enemies in their papers

burn effigies on street-corners

while other citizens of the country

face torture & imprisonment

if they criticise the government

or organise any kind of rally

Still, this apartheid autocracy

- the world's last bastion

of institutionalised racism -

harbours pretensions extraordinary

and lays claim to be

the only true surviving democracy!