Pantun Mak Itam

Pa's passion for the cute Melaka houses led me to Pak Itam's house, a popular youth hangout in the kampung. Pak Itam married three times, first to a pantun primadona who kids call Mak Itam.

According to Pak Itam, Mak Itam was his only wife who stayed. His jodoh from the second and third unions ended in divorces.

When her husband developed interest in other women and committed to two others, Mak Itam, who gave up her glamourous life, experience a total blow. To her ears her new state of bermadu tiga screams she wasn't loved anymore.

Mak Itam promptly succumbed into a phase of unfathomable depression, reveals her daughter. "First she went mute for years. Years! After eons of silence, she suddenly rediscovered her voice and began to sell pantuns at any chance she gets.. That's when we discovered she's no longer her sane self."

Looking back at her two favourite four-liners I can only guess why after all these years she never managed to recover from her husband's actions. She chants:

"Pasang jerat di hujung tanjung
Dapat seekor landak betina
Panjang ku kerat, pendek ku hubung
Baru dapat menjadi sama."

"Layang-layang terbang melayang
Main layang di panggung wayang
Siapa kata abang tak sayang
Bagaikan bunga jatuh melayang."

The first pantun reeks of her struggle to be an equal and only partner to her husband - whatever the shortcoming, she will do her best to iron things out. The second pantun sounds as if she's trying to convince herself that there's still space for her in her husband's life. Sadly, to equate "bunga jatuh melayang" to her husband's love for her rings bells of insecurity and hopelessness in my head.

Today in her 70s, the bob-haired, sarung-clad Mak Itam paints a picture of an old woman who is chirpy and well cared for. The snarky lady also loves driving her daughther crazy with her kid-like antics, ranging from spitting the food she chewed off everyone's plate to mocking her daughter's nagging.

Her daughter kids her back by telling her that her pantuns are all stale. When this happens she only growls in dissatisfaction.

During our visit Mak Itam asked my older sibling if he has settled down. When he replied "No," she smiled approvingly. "Muda lagi, enjoy dulu. Betul tak?"