There was this girl named RIA. I stumbled into her in the ruins of Angkor I visited a couple of weeks ago – on 1st June 2008. She was there tugged in a corner amidst hundreds of foreign tourist that thronged the infamous historical sites of Cambodia. She was around 10 or 11 and of the same age as my two granddaughters Nurul Aifa and Nureen Hana. She was alone, and I presumed she was a local.
On the first glance I mistook her for an art student from a local institution doing some school projects. But she was there all alone, minding her own business, sketching rigorously on a worn out exercise book. Was she an art enthusiasts, or merely one of those street urchins trying to woo tourists with her sketching prowess for a couple of Riel or Dollar? My guess was almost right when a couple of Japanese teenage girl approached her corner, eager on what she was sketching on.
She was actually sketching one of them. It was a quick sketch job. She initialed her name on the caricature and handed it over to them. The 2 Japanese girls overjoyed. They giggled as they shook her hand. For that moment they were close, like bosom friends on an outing. I later help to photograph the three.
There were lots of street urchins at most of the historical sites. There were there, selling their wares. They would crowd and harassed those naïve visitors until you part with your dollar or Riel for a pair of bangles or other trinkets made of beads. Those were the nuisance lots. There were also street children scavenging dustbins looking for plastic bottles or empty cans. It was really a depressing sight looking at those half naked kids collecting discards, some to the point of eating any l
eftover foods found or quenching their thirsts from those salvaged bottles or canned drinks.
But this girl named RIA was one with a different. She was neatly dressed and well composed. She neither harassed the visitors nor scavenging the throw-outs. She sketched simple caricatures and passed them to those who find time to befriend her.
Her simple nature and kind smile for the moment urged me to get to know her. And as I approached her, she spontaneously handed me her latest sketch. It was a multi petals flower, with a butterfly hovering over it. The sketch was simple and neat.
For the moment I took it as a symbolic gesture of friendship. The initial RIA is prominently displayed on the top right corner. RIA in The Malay Language meaning gembira, girang, riang, sukacita ( joy,happiness). For whatever its true meaning was, the name RIA fitted her personality. The multi petal flower maybe bunga cempaka or chempa to the locals. Melayu Chempa originated from Cambodia, and hence bunga kemboja widely flourished in the country as well in Malaysia. Is she of the Malay origin?
I took a snapshot of her for my 2 granddaughters. Little did I know Nurul Aifa and Nureen Hanna had met her earlier, and was sketched. Like me the two were proud of their find.
Flashback: I recalled my early association with a Malay Chempa from Cambodia, was with actor, filem producer director Ismail Sasakul. We met in Kuala Lumpur at my office in Angkasapuri when I was The Head Of Drama, RTM (Radio Television Malaysia) in the 1980es. Earlier he had established himself locally as an independent film director. He was first based in Marang, Trengganu, later in Negeri Sembilan. Ismail Sasakul was a soft spoken and a kind man. He escaped to Malaysia with his families from his war-torned country, and found shelter in Kampong Kelulut, Marang. We were not in contact for a very long time since then. I believed either he or his family are still in the country or had been shipped back to Cambodia by The World Amnesty Organizations.
On the first glance I mistook her for an art student from a local institution doing some school projects. But she was there all alone, minding her own business, sketching rigorously on a worn out exercise book. Was she an art enthusiasts, or merely one of those street urchins trying to woo tourists with her sketching prowess for a couple of Riel or Dollar? My guess was almost right when a couple of Japanese teenage girl approached her corner, eager on what she was sketching on.
She was actually sketching one of them. It was a quick sketch job. She initialed her name on the caricature and handed it over to them. The 2 Japanese girls overjoyed. They giggled as they shook her hand. For that moment they were close, like bosom friends on an outing. I later help to photograph the three.
There were lots of street urchins at most of the historical sites. There were there, selling their wares. They would crowd and harassed those naïve visitors until you part with your dollar or Riel for a pair of bangles or other trinkets made of beads. Those were the nuisance lots. There were also street children scavenging dustbins looking for plastic bottles or empty cans. It was really a depressing sight looking at those half naked kids collecting discards, some to the point of eating any l
eftover foods found or quenching their thirsts from those salvaged bottles or canned drinks.But this girl named RIA was one with a different. She was neatly dressed and well composed. She neither harassed the visitors nor scavenging the throw-outs. She sketched simple caricatures and passed them to those who find time to befriend her.
Her simple nature and kind smile for the moment urged me to get to know her. And as I approached her, she spontaneously handed me her latest sketch. It was a multi petals flower, with a butterfly hovering over it. The sketch was simple and neat.
For the moment I took it as a symbolic gesture of friendship. The initial RIA is prominently displayed on the top right corner. RIA in The Malay Language meaning gembira, girang, riang, sukacita ( joy,happiness). For whatever its true meaning was, the name RIA fitted her personality. The multi petal flower maybe bunga cempaka or chempa to the locals. Melayu Chempa originated from Cambodia, and hence bunga kemboja widely flourished in the country as well in Malaysia. Is she of the Malay origin?
I took a snapshot of her for my 2 granddaughters. Little did I know Nurul Aifa and Nureen Hanna had met her earlier, and was sketched. Like me the two were proud of their find.
Flashback: I recalled my early association with a Malay Chempa from Cambodia, was with actor, filem producer director Ismail Sasakul. We met in Kuala Lumpur at my office in Angkasapuri when I was The Head Of Drama, RTM (Radio Television Malaysia) in the 1980es. Earlier he had established himself locally as an independent film director. He was first based in Marang, Trengganu, later in Negeri Sembilan. Ismail Sasakul was a soft spoken and a kind man. He escaped to Malaysia with his families from his war-torned country, and found shelter in Kampong Kelulut, Marang. We were not in contact for a very long time since then. I believed either he or his family are still in the country or had been shipped back to Cambodia by The World Amnesty Organizations.
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