Personal Review On This Play - Ikram Muzakkir

After finish reading and studying on this play, I had notice Kee Thuan Chye’s works are one of a kind. In the play, he has his own way in revealing and describing the issues that are considered as sensitive issues pertaining to certain people. He is the man with a big hope for the future generation in living in peace and harmony among different races. In the play, the connection between the past and the present is very effective in conveying his thought about the issues happen in Malaysia. He wants to view his message on the idea of how the history is repeating through the drop of the characters.
The story is also easy to understand. He uses simple and effective choice of words in conveying his thought. Some literary works that I had read from other writers are hard to understand due to difficult and bombastic words. As I read the play, I can presume that the play is about a bunch of actors who are rehearsing the story about the killing of J.W.W Birch. The storyline is connected even when some actors are dropping down from the character and do their own work. For example when the actor playing Sultan is reading a newspaper about the issue of power as when they are talking about how Raja Abdullah being a powerless man before they drop out from the character. He is mocking the government in abusing their power entrusts to them by the people. Nowadays, as we can see a lot of misuses of power happen in the politic world. Through this, he manages to convey his idea in the state of “if you think the aspects of the past are bad, think again. The present is no better”.
He is hoping that the future generations did not commit the same mistake made by the people from as this play is dedicated for all Malaysians, especially the young in whom lies the hopes for the present and the future, and his children. He tries to make sure that the history is not repeating