Ibu Mertua Ku (My Mother-in-Law)

I must say, Mak Dara was actress extraodinaire!

Mak Dara was so impressive! She was so natural in 'Ibu Mertuaku' (my Mother-n-Law, M-I-L) (1962), and I almost dare say it was Mak Dara who made the movie t-h-a-a-t great. Ha ha ha! (of course coupled with P Ramlee's excellent directing, Sarimah's ethereal beauty, the controversial story-line and more). Yes the all time favourite of all P Ramlee's movies.

I would be so shocked if there was any adult in Malaysia that did not know, 'Ibu mertuaku'. That would be p-r-e-p-o-s-t-e-r-o-u-s! Ha ha ha! How could anyone? That is the testimony as to how successful this P.Ramlee's movie has been. In this region at least.

This movie all of us know, is about a tragic ill-fated marriage between a talented but struggling musician (Kassim Selamat-P Ramlee) with an heiress (Sabariah Mansor-Sarimah). Sabariah's mother (Mak Dara-the most famous of M-I-Ls ever, in this corner, being twisted and skewd with oh-so-rigid societal norms and expectations) was totally against her daughter marrying Kassim, a man of no great means and especially that he was just a mere musician (P-E-M-U-S-I-K) at that.

We are a non-pluralistic society. We suffer from tunnel vision. In our society we have the saying, 'Biar mati anak, jangan mati adat'. (Better your children die than your traditions). Our culture is very 'shame-driven' to an extent we lose sight of things. This mentality is of course very thick with M-I-L (Mak Dara), she found it more comforting to disown Sabariah, then to work round things and come to terms with situation.

I really don't have to narrate the story, as people can narrate the sequence of events of this movie even backwards.

The obsession of societal shame, drove M-I-L to resort to that false telegram. By that token, M-I-L, allowed Sabariah to re-marry without even being divorced by Kassim! But Sabariah was not at fault, nor anyone else, but status conscious M-I-L.

No wonder, Kassim said what he said to M-I-L, when he found out Sabariah was still alive, when he realised the grave that was meant for Sabariah was false, 'Kau bagaikan haiwan', (you are an animal) however the exact quote has escaped me right now, apologies.

We, as a society, adopts the 'herd's mentality'. We worry more about...'Apa orang cakap nanti' (what the others would say)... rather than about doing the right thing, regardless of societal norms (personally I do not subscribe to this attitude one iota, but that is me). We are afraid of accountability. We avoid standing up as an individual but let me qualify myself, as there are exceptions, but sadly, they are so few and far between.

But...such is life! So sad.

I shall leave you with this out-of-this-world heart rending song from the movie:

(maybe you can google and download, as the melody is awesome).


Dimana Kan Ku Cari Ganti


Hendak ku nangis
Tiada berair mata
Hendak ku senyum
Tiada siapa nak teman
Kalaulah nasib
Sudah tersurat
Begini hebat
Apa nak buat
.
Di mana kan ku cari ganti
Serupa denganmu
Tak sanggup ku berpisah
Dan berhati patah
Hidup gelisah
.
Alangkah pedih rasa hati
Selama kau pergi
Tinggalku sendirian
Tiada berteman
Dalam kesepian
.
Dunia terang menjadi gelita
Cahaya indah tiada berguna
Keluhan hatiku
Menambah derita
Tetap kau jua
Tak kunjung jelma
.
Dimana kan ku cari ganti
Mungkinkah di syurga
Untuk kawan berduka
Menangis bersama
Selama-lama

.
Song by P Ramlee
Lyrics by S Sudarmaji




Illustration: www.geocities.com