EDINBURGH 2023: Siapa Yang Bawa Melayu Aku Pergi? (Who Took My Malay Away?) Q&A

BWW catches up with Faizal Abdullah to chat about bringing Siapa Yang Bawa Melayu Aku Pergi? (Who Took My Malay Away?) to the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Tell us a bit about Siapa Yang Bawa Melayu Aku Pergi? (Who Took My Malay Away?)

Siapa Yang Bawa Melayu Aku Pergi? (SYBMAP?) is my love letter to Singapore, where I was born and raised. It takes the style of a lecture-performance and it investigates my Muslim-Malay-Singaporean identity, especially the tension of being 'Malay' and 'Singaporean'. SYBMAP? also looks at ideas of colonisation, identity, indigenous displacement, and the loss of culture, heritage and language. It deals with serious themes, but is told from a personal perspective that is self-deprecating, light-hearted and I'd like to think, humorous.

The creative team is made up of artists from the Asian diaspora and the show will feature visuals from London-based artists Kinga Markus and Jeffrey Choy and music from Isyraf, a sound artist from Singapore.

Why was this a story you wanted to tell?

SYBMAP? started off as a scenography exercise that I had in uni. The theme was 'home', which reminded me of family, friends, food, familiar surroundings, and Singapore. I was born and raised in Singapore. When I say that I'm Singaporean and that I'm Malay and Muslim, it seems to perplex quite a number of people; when they hear Singapore they'd ask if I can speak Chinese and when they hear Malay they'd say I'm Malaysian. And these are not isolated, one-off incidents. So I thought, let's make a show - the title translates to Who Took My Malay Away? - to set the record straight. 

In the process of making the show, it also made me think about my roots, heritage, and culture. I began to think about the Malay language, especially facets of the language I'd forgotten or perhaps taken for granted. I wondered about the Malay customs that I'd lost. I recalled how I used to react when called 'Malay'. It was about looking within myself, why has this happened, and then looking beyond me, at my surroundings and circumstances, to see why it's been allowed to go on.

Why bring it to Edinburgh?

We want to add more colour to the festival. As Malala Yousafzai said: There should be no discrimination against languages people speak, skin colour, or religion. I'm a brown body with a brown story that the audience is probably not so familiar with. So I'm really looking forward to sharing my language, my voice and my version of brown. And putting on a show at the Edinburgh Fringe feels like a rite of passage, right? So that's another good reason to be here. We want to take the show to a bigger audience. And we want to be part of an amazing showcase of performances, and be part of this community for this duration of the festival, to connect with other amazing artists and shows. We also have aims to tour the show and hopefully this will help us get a step closer to that goal. 

Who would you like to come and see it?

I would like everyone to come and see it. If you have no clue what Singapore and Singaporeans are about, come and see it. If you know Singapore, then you definitely need to see it; you'll be in for a surprise, or two, or more. If you've watched Crazy Rich Asians, and you think THAT is Singapore, you need to see SYBMAP? for a re-callibration of your perception of Singapore. If you're interested in decolonisation, this is for you. of  If you sometimes feel like you've lost or are losing your heritage, culture and language, this is also for you. If you just want something honest and get to know who is Faizal Abdullah, this is definitely for you.

What would you like audiences to take away from the experience?

I hope they will learn that Malay - the people, the customs, the language, where they come from, who they are - is rich, varied, complex and not all alike. There's diversity and nuance. I hope they don't equate Malay with just being Malaysian anymore. The performance is me being very honest about my thoughts and feelings about being Muslim-Malay-Singaporean. I've been acting since 2008, and I don't think I've done anything quite so personal. And lastly, I hope that they start to see Singapore as I know her; a bustling fast-paced city that is made up of different cultures, faith and ethnicities, an island that is still-maturing, a nation that is imperfect, and a place that is still my home.

Photo credit: Hector Manchego

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