Moderating ASEAN Poets' Forum

As a non-poet, it was indeed an honor to be a part of Fourm Penyair ASEAN (South-East Asian Poets' Forum) last Saturday.

I was tasked to moderate the 2nd session, which discussed the topic "Poetry and Social Issues", featuring poets from the Phillipines (Prof Rebecca T. Anonuevo), Singapore (Isa Kamari), Myanmar (Maung Day) and Thailand (Chiranan Pitpreecha). They come from such diverse backgrounds (academics, professionals, artist, activists and of course - poets) and generously shared their thoughts and experiences.

Prof Anonuevo took the audience on a journey that her national literature has undergone in terms of sealing their identities through the languages they write in, as The Philippines "inherited" three languages - Tagalog from their forefathers, and Spanish and English from the colonists.

Isa Kamari spoke about the social issues plaguing the Singaporean Malays and how they were portrayed through Malay poetry throughout the decades.

Meanwhile, young Burmese poet, Maung Day, offered us a a glimpse of the contemporary literary scene in Myanmar. He reiterated that even though the young poets are deprived of the social experiences that the older generation went through, that does not make them lesser poets as they are still committed in addressing the issues in their current society.

Chiranan Pitpreecha spoke from her heart when she emphasized the power of poetry in highlighting the issues in one's society. She also aptly reminded poets that such power comes with huge responsibility to tell the truth as it is.

All in all, it was a great session. I enjoyed moderating it, and most importantly, I enjoyed listening to each panelist. This was my first experience at an event of such stature and I would like to extend my gratitude to ITBM, PENA and DBP for the opportunity to be involved. Apologies for any shortcomings, I am only human :)