AS I PLEASE by Salleh Ben Joned

Publisher: Times Editions

Salleh is one of Malaysia's most interesting men of letters. He was a university lecturer at the University Malaya and has written many articles that have provoked thinking among his readers. An utterly fascinating character who detests the limelight but nevertheless a kindly soul, even though he will never admit it.




SALLEH Ben Joned is not a person to be taken lightly, even though at
times he seems to write in that manner. Thus, this compilation of his
articles which appeared in the New Straits Times under a column of the
same title, As I Please, between 1991 and 1994, plus a few essays, say a
lot, or very little (as you please), about a man whom many know only from
a distance.
Frankly, it is with some surprise that we find a writer such as Salleh
living in our midst. Some will say we do not deserve him. It has been said
that he is irreverent, profane, loud and maybe even irrelevant in this day
and age in Malaysia.
Begging your pardon then, I beg to differ. As I read his essays and the
articles which sprung from the NST collection, tears were running down my
cheeks. Not of sorrow, but from comic relief. This man is really funny, in
a clever sort of way.
His command of English is exceptionally good. Perhaps, it's because he
spent a decade studying and socialising with a different crowd. But
whatever he found there seems to have sharpen his literary senses.
Salleh loves to expose those hypocrites who walk in disguise as holy men
or men of letters. Hence, he has probably made more enemies than friends,
but those who know him intimately (and I am not one of them) have
whispered the conclusion that he's either a genius or someone who is prone
to exposing himself too much.
The man has proudly and openly discussed some of the most controversial
things he had done in his younger and "wilder" days. Many of his peers and
students remember him and his antics from his university days.
From his writings, and at the risk of incurring his wrath, I would say
Salleh is about the most pious man I have ever come across. Certainly,
more honest than those self-proclaimed religious men he has taken pot-
shots at.
He claims he knows very little about the religion which he discussed
with great abandon but the little he knows seems quite eloquent in the
manner from which he dances across the subject.
In The (Malay) Malaysian Writer's Dilemma, his points of contention will
surprise many non-Malays. The passion and honesty in which he tells of a
Bumi Dilemma can only elicit silent applause from those who don't know
him.
Salleh's thoughts are refreshing, biting at times, he's brutally frank
but never dull.
Malaysia, a land sometimes accused by some members of that limited pool
of literati of being a wasteland where the river of ideas often stagnates,
would do very well with more men like Salleh Ben Joned.
The writer constantly pokes fun at himself in self-parody to show he's
not beyond staring at his own soul. As for the spelling of his name, which
may have raised some eyebrows, he says: "For those Melayus who are also
self-conscious about being Muslim (that means the overwhelming majority),
an added help would be in order. These readers will have concluded from
what they have heard of Salleh Ben Joned (`Ben' is of course a clear sign
of his secret Zionist, therefore anti-Islamic, sympathies) that the purity
of his religious identity is questionable.
"They will be glad to be informed that the pun of `sully' on
Salleh/Saleh is an unconscious acknowledgement of this, for `sully' is
from the Latin suculus which is a diminutive of sus, a boar or swine."
The articles in As I Please may shock many a reader even though they are
not designed to do so. Salleh's familiarity with parts of the human
anatomy may leave a reader from a more genteel background slightly
ruffled. The ease with which he discusses, argues and stirs topics with
sexual content can make some cringe or roll on the floor with laughter, as
in my case.
But whatever the reaction, the end result is a totally different
impression of the man from what you thought of him in the beginning.
Salleh has a natural inclination to either draw admiration or displeasure
from his readers.
From topics ranging from Kiss My Arse - In the Name of Common Humanity
to Anti-Islam and All That Jazz, this book is guaranteed to make your day,
regardless of which school of thought you belong to.
There will come a time in the years ahead when Salleh Ben Joned may no
longer stalk the earth, that the discovery will be made that he is indeed
a fine writer, nay, a great one. His thoughts are his own. He often thinks
them aloud, preferably standing on a table to a roomful of people who
would meekly keep their heads down and stare into their kopi-o.
Salleh is like a tiny candle in a room shrouded in total darkness. He
forces you to see things rather clearly through his mind's eyes. For that,
we should be grateful. Such a man only appears once in several
generations.
In many other countries, such a man would have accolades readily and
happily heaped on such a character, if they had one to call their own.
To embarrass the man further, may I add that Salleh is like that breath
of fresh air that fills your lungs at the break of dawn. So, to Salleh Ben
Joned, after getting slightly better acquainted with you through this
book, I tip my imaginary cap to you, just as you have lifted your
imaginary ketayap to those whom you admire.