Jack Malik’s poems will be featured at a few book launches during KALAM Kreatif KL in November 2024. His home state Perak gives birth to outstanding authors, auteurs and artists. At regional level, Tamar Jalis, Baha Zain and Pyan Habib. At global level, Michelle Yeoh, Oscar winner, and Jin Ong, Golden Horse winner. And not forgetting editor and political activist Fan Yew Teng. The poet tells us why his home state, a key inspiration to his poetry, spurs its creatives to seek a true adventure, something bigger and more profound than themselves.

Gampang! (Louche!), your collection of Malay poems, pulls no punches about your hometown Ipoh. In fact, it’s a swear word I’m accustomed to hearing from Perakians (eg: “anak gampang”, or “bastard”). But it’s a love letter to Ipoh, isn’t it? Do you think our love-hate relationship with our hometown makes a good starting point for an ode?

For us Perakians, “gampang” doesn’t necessarily connote swearing, although people usually associate it with obscenity. Sometimes we use it in an endearing way, like “macam gampang” or “ce gampang”, akin to “well, I’ll be damned…” or something like that. At least for me, personally. I don’t have a love-hate relationship with my hometown. Only longing and heartache from the distance. We are roughly 200 km apart. Every time I see bougainvilleas blooming, I think of Ipoh (bougainvillea is the official flower of the city).

Your English poem, Tennyson, Food and Holy Ground, is featured in the anthology Tapau: The Best of Malaysian Food Writing 2000-2022. It’s a bit E.E Cummings in style, a bit jazzy we find. Like beat poetry. Does music inform your poetry?

I didn’t think of E.E. Cummings when writing this particular piece, but Cummings is one of the literary figures that resonates well with me, along with William Carlos Williams, James Schuyler, Frank O’Hara, Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Bob Kaufman, Gregory Corso, Anne Waldman, Robert Creely – to name a few. And yes, music does inform my poetry. Mostly I draw from three genres: jazz, hip hop and indie-rock. John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ryo Fukui, Bill Evans are staples; Digable Planets, Kendrick Lamar, Outkast, and Tobe Nwigme are dope; Mountain Goats, Bright Eyes, Modest Mouse and Daniel Johnston are foundational.

Ipoh, City of Love draws from local and international poets, as well as hip hop as the drive. Gampang! is indirectly influenced by the blues.

“Music does inform my poetry. Mostly I draw from three genres: jazz, hip hop and indie-rock.”

Are you, like Tennyson, a romantic poet?

I won’t deny it. By the way, my secondary school’s motto is a line from Tennyson’s poem: “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” SMK Anderson Ipoh (Anderson Ipoh High School), 2006 to 2010.

We’re fascinated by your use of social media language in your writings, which is whimsical and contemporary. Very Michael Rosen. Do you think the reductive nature of texting inadvertently contributes to a new type of poetry?

Well, I’m not too sure about “new type of poetry”, but memes and internet culture do play a part in my literary and general worldview.

Perak as a state has produced many talented authors, auteurs and artists that made Malaysia famous. A few names: Pyan Habib, Jin Ong, Michelle Yeoh, and of course, the horror writer Tamar Jalis (who was from our hometown of Manjung). They wave their Perakian credentials proudly, but we notice that they all had to make their names outside Perak. Our editor had to start her writing career in London, UK. What is it about Perak that births so many creative people – who have to produce their best works far away from home?

It’s true. Even two of our National Laureates, Muhammad Haji Salleh and Baha Zain, are from Perak. Maybe it’s the water of the limestone valley? Think about it: our beansprouts are fat and sweet. Imagine the effect it has on our creatives. In all honesty, I can’t put my fingers on why us Perakians produce our best works far away from home. It could be that we need to go on our “hero’s journey” for us to not only create enduring creative works, but to make our hearts fonder – as you can read in my poem Gampang!. Think of Perakians as Bilbo Bagin and our hometowns the Shire. There’s not much happening, but adventure awaits us outside. By adventure I mean opportunities to create and to do work. Or perhaps Perakians separate private matters and artistic choice. The former sees Perak as a place to return to, unburdened by the weight of any label. The latter believes that outside one’s home state, one wears the hat of a creator.

“It could be that we need to go on our ‘hero’s journey’ for us to not only create enduring creative works, but to make our hearts fonder. Think of Perakians as Bilbo Bagin and our hometowns the Shire. There’s not much happening, but adventure awaits us outside.”

Which format do you prefer: print, PDF or e-book?

Even though I’m a millennial, I’m old-school in terms of publication. I prefer print. There’s something about owning a book and creating a personalised library that’s rewarding.

About Malaysian Places and Spaces

Jack Malik’s poems, Ipoh, City of Love and Gampang! are featured in the Malaysian Places and Spaces anthology, published by Maya Press. The anthology brings together published and unpublished poems by local and international poets including Salleh Ben Joned, Ee Tiang Hong, Shirley Geok-Lin Lim, Wong Phui Nam, Muhammad Haji Salleh, Hilary Tham, Cecil Rajendra, Omar Mohd. Noor, Fan Yew Teng, Ghulam Sarwar Yousof, Charlene Rajendran, Bernice Chauly and Malachi Edwin Vethamani. Edited by Malachi Edwin Vethamani, the anthology will be launched in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in November 2024 during KALAM Kreatif KL.

Book launch: Malaysian Places and Spaces

• Date: 3 November 2014, 3:00-4:30 pm
• Venue: MountBatten Cafe, 58, Jalan Tun Perak, City Centre, 50050 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Visit the Facebook group for more info

About Tapau: The Best of Malaysian Food Writing 2000-2022

Jack Malik’s poem Tennyson, Food and Holy Ground, is featured in Tapau: The Best of Malaysian Food Writing 2000-2022. The anthology, edited by May Chong, Jason S Ganesan and Wan Phing Lim, will be launched by the Malaysian Writers Society in November 2024.

• Google Books: Tapau: The Best of Malaysian Food Writing 2000-2022
• More on the society: www.malaysianwriterssociety.org

About It Takes So Much To Be Nothing

It Takes So Much To Be Nothing: Jack Malik Pomes 2018-2024 is a collection of poems by Jack Malik. It’s published by Maya Press, to be launched during KALAM Kreatif KL. It will be launched together with Merabak Sembah (Worship), an anthology of poems published by Rabak Literature Publication (Rabak Lit).

Book launch: Merabak Sembah x It Takes So Much To Be Nothing

• Date: 3 November 2014, 6:00-7:00 pm
• Venue: Muzium Telekom | Muzium Telekom, Jalan Raja Chulan, Kuala Lumpur, 50200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
• Visit Jack Malik’s Facebook group for more info

About KALAM Kreatif KL

The literary gathering KALAM Kreatif KL will take place between 1 and 3 November 2024 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as part of Think City’s initiative, Kreatif KL Festival. The event is curated by Pauline Fan, Hafiz Hamzah and Roestam Alias, and coordinated by Aisyah Rais. It features over 40 speakers from nine countries and 27 programmes which will be held at Muzium Telekom Kuala Lumpur, Riwayat Bookstore, Mountbatten Cafe and Bartolo Lisboa Bakehouse at Central Market, Kuala Lumpur.

• Event: KALAM Kreatif KL
• Dates: 1-3 November 2024
• Location: Muzium Telekom, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• For more info, visit the Facebook group