Mrs Teoh's irritation mounted into quivering indignation. ... "That boy has such a thick skin, I tell you! I sent him to the Principal's office and he came back, looking cool and not in the least disturbed. It's no use, I tell you," lowering her voice and looking round to ascertain that neither the Principal nor the Principal's known sympathisers were in the staffroom. "If those at the top don't do anything, what can we do? We shall continue to have rubbish like Kenneth Rozario in our college. They know they can get away with their nonsense.
Catherine Lim
'Kenneth Jerome Rozario' (1980), p. 63
Kaiya,
teng bong, sinyora.
Bos ngka bong, yo lembrah.
Bos lembrah yo ngka bong,
isti yo pun lembrah.
Kuniseh isti lembransa, sinyora;
lembransa sa nasang naseh di trumenteza.
Santah na albi sa basu sa nasang naseh di fogu
kumih matu.
Drumih bong-bong sa nasang naseh di skiseh
tudu bos ja pedreh.
Dia pra dia,
Idadi pra idadi,
Mundansa pra mundansa.
Olu di tigri tokah kumih.
Ponti di linggu tokah mudreh.
Denti di largatu tokah machukah.
Sanggi suzu tokah kuzeh
fikah kari sabrozu,
kari debal.
Justu kumih tudu.
Beng kumih yo sa korpu teladu,
kara fresku
frizidu.
Pau kung bola,
Rabu kung ubida,
Dedu kung unya.
Ponti di linggu
kung peli grosu.
Kureh tudu na basu di kalor.
Subezu?
Nadi fikah.
Rabnanoti nadi kabah.
Mundu kemadu justu nenang chegah.
How
goes it all, ma'am?
You are not well, I believe.
You believe I am not well;
I also believe.
Notice this thought, ma'am;
thinking is born in torture.
Sitting at the tree's base is born in the flames
eating forest.
Sleeping well is born in forgetting
everything you lose.
Day by day,
age by age,
magnatum by magnatum.
The eyes of the tiger are eaten.
The tip of the tongue is bitten off.
The teeth of the crocodile are crushed.
The dirty blood is cooked
into a delicious curry,
a devil's curry.
Just eat it all.
Eat my sliced body,
my freshly fried
face.
Penis and testicles,
tail and ears,
fingers and fingernails.
The tip of the tongue
and thick skin.
Everything runs under the heat.
Enough?
It never will be.
The Ravenous Night never ends.
The burning world just hasn't yet arrived.