Why do you think Penang is a peaceful place?

The question is not why Penang is peaceful place but what holds the people together in Penang? What keeps Penang from exploding into a full blown racial confrontation. The answer is in who is asking. Is it a local asking this question or is it a foreigner, is it a rich well to do independently wealthy that is asking the question or is it the oppressed poor. The answers are relative depending on the questioner and based on their observations on a period of time. For the transient random enquirers like a foreign journalist of tourist who drop by and having spent a few weeks or months on the island Penang is a peaceful place or so it seems, however when one had been born and lived here most of one's life the answers are not so positive as one would like to believe..
Penang's wealth lies in her mixed cultural heritage with the three predominant culture of Malays, Chnese and Indians having existed alongside each other as its its main showcase. From all over the world people who have had the opportunity to visit this island have been amazed at how peaceful it seems this spirit of co-existence that has lasted with very few minor frictions for the past 57 odd years since the country had achieved its independance, Penang has become a model of social harmony in the eyes of the world or so it seems.
having been born in 1949 a few years before the independance I fell very fortunate to have lived through the past 6 decades of changes that this country has been through. My father from Sri Lanka and mother from Medan, in Sumatra, I can only call myself a Malaysian although most of my life i have identified my life to that of a Malay from growing up in a predominanatly Malay Village of Kampung Selut, Sungai Pinang, located on what was once the outskirts of Georgetown. This village is long gone and it is doubtful that the younger generation today living in the area even remember the old name of Kampung Selut or Muddy Village. Today the area is very much part of the Georgetown City limits.
A little bit of personal experiences from historical perspective on how or what it was like in those days as far as racial harmony went between the three various racial groups. The Kampung Selut was almost one hundred percent Malay except for two Indian families and a Chinese grocery store located across the main street from the village. The village is enclosed by two streets intersecting one another, that of what used to be called River Road and that of what is today the Sungai Pinang road on one side while on the other runs the Jelutong road. The Sungai Pinang River runs one one side thus enclosing it all around. In the fifties to the sixties the village existed as a cluster of thatched housed built high on stilts standing soem six feet above the ground. This was because the village was located in a mangrove type swamp land where the salt water at hightide can reach the floor even at six feet! Hence the name Kampung Selut or Muddy Village as the village eixsted in a mud hole practically.
To be continued...

Hijab (Veil) of an Artist

The penang State Art gallery recently held a unique exhibition by one of Malaysia's contemporary artist whose works has been acknowledged as among the leaders in the Fine Arts world. The exhibition entitled "Veil of an Artist", is the multi - media installation works by Hasnul Jamal Saidon, a man I have come to befreinded for almost half a decade now.

The exhibit was officiated by none other than the Don of the Malaysian Arts, Dato Syed Ahmad Jamal, the National laureate, an artist whose works are among my favourites in the Malaysian Art scene. When the man decided that too had to contribute a song after listening to Hasnul singing his piece, I thought, now here is a true performer a man who is ever ready to share his sense of what is creativity.

Hasnul's works were displayed in a blacked out room where everyone were groping all over eachother untill theirs eyes grew accustomed to the very dimly lit environment. I for one almost fell over a low seat and grabbed a hold on to a lady's scarfed head to catch myself, how scary! Well, i could have been slapped for no reason for one thing. The works were all I can say is 'surealistic' and it revealed his long journey towards 'Self' discovery, a an artist, a teacher, a husband and a father.

Hasnul ios no doubt a great painter, but that was not enough for him, he had to seek the next phase towards expressing himself like not too many had done and in this case he combine the projection of himself through the electronic media onto and into the pantings. The closest one could come to being present in one's creation so far untill perhaps in the future he could manifest himself via some other means from his works.

The 'Veil' is an ongoing search and research that hasnul has been grappling with in the context of Islam and the teachings of the Great Sufi Masters such as Ibn Arabi and Sheikh Kadir Jilani and we had many discussion over the topic throughout our relationship untill there is an understanding between us without having to utter a word on it anymore. I see him as someone who is full of energy and climbing a steep mountain to seek out whatever truths therein and before he is through, he will ruffle alot of feathers in the Malaysian Art Scene. He is a challenger and likes others to challenge him in his beliefs and his ways.

Among those who made it to the oppening as always is my Chinese brother LeeKhai who never misses an art show or anything that has to do with it in Penang. Lee is a True Believer when it comes to the Fine Arts. Not only is he a collector but he genuinely supports every effort towards promoting the artist.

My friend Fauzan was also on hand and aught to be as he is also Hasnul's one time teacher at UITM. Fauzan is the pillar of the USM Fine Arts School today. He is a very dedicated lecturer and a no nonsense artist. I respect this guy for his strict discipline and inherent vast amount of creative energy ever producing pieces of art like through his pores.

Ode to Poland

The tragic loss of Poland's President and his wife along with the top Polish ruling elite was something that touched my soul as I had in some way been close to what is Polish and the Polish people, just as I had been even closer to the Japanese in my life. Call it a long Karmic link or to put it simply I might have been a polish soldier in my past life or a Japanese Printmaker in another as i had also felt like i was once an Egyptian architech, of which I had a very vivid dream at one time in the past.

Poland is to another one of those unfortunate country whose people had suffered through the ages under one form of tyrany or another, albeit religi0us, economic or political . One of the poorest countries relatively speaking in Europe, Poland is none the less a nation of proud and very industrious people having suffered and faced off the Germans and the Russians in two World Wars.

While living in Green Bay, Wisconsin sometime in the late 70s I worked at the Meat Packing Houses as a boner or one who seperates the mat from the bones on a beef meant for making hamburgers, it was while working at this job that i came to make a few good friends with Polish background. I used to visit them at their family homes in rural Northern Wisconsin small towns like Lena and spend the weekend on Polish farms. I was accepted with my family by my Polish friends into their family circle and community which I can never forget especially my friends Bob and Marry Fatla. Most of the whites who ran the Packing houses in Green Bay were of Polish decent althoguht the factories were owned mostly by the Jews with names like Frankathal.

My heart goes out to the Polish people for their loss and pray that they have a speedy recovery and forge ahead with the healing of the nation's grief.

The Bahari Family Album of 1990s

Tim Mosquida or better known as the 'Chief' among H&H Ship Services employees, in downtown San Francisco was my mentor at work. He was an honorary member of the Navajo Tribal Council for the Navajo Nation of New Mexico

and Arizona areas.
These moments in the life of the Baharis were taken while we were lving on 2nd. Ave and Balboa in the Richmond District of San Francisco. My late wife nancy was teaching at the downtown UC Berkeley Campus on Market Street. and my son had just graduated from the Berlin American High School in Berlin, Germany.

Nazri was also the Batallion Commander of the ROTC for his troup at the high school and I attended the Gradutation Ceremony in Berlin and watched my son handed over his command to his succerssor.
The chubby looking little guy who is my was and is still my pride and joy along with them, all four of them today, is my son Karim. Raising him from ababy had helped with my own healing processes from that of an angry and incorriggible and uncaring character to a half way decent father and husband. I thank God for his infinite Mercy in saving me through my son.

My daughter Marissa Estelle, was a fiesty young girl from day one who kept me and my wife on our toes for she was always up to something the moment our backs was turned. Marissa being the only girl in the family took over the seat of affection from all her brothers and is loved by all of them especially Karim who bosses her around.

There was a time in my life when i said the hell with family life and lived like a Bohemian never caring about others beyond just casual. I was a drunk and on the verge of joining the drug addictition line, but while living at the Zen Buddhist monastry at Green Gulch my life was changed not immediately but through a long process of seeing and being enlightened to the so called challenges of 'Life'. I took the Bull by the Horns and did my best to make my married life with children yet another creative adventure. I succeeded some and failed at others but all in all I am a proud father to all my four children, Nazri, Timo, Karim and Marissa Bahari.

Recent Charcoals

Sketching with charcoal pencils on Newsprint paper is my favourite way to go when one is beginning to learn how to let loose. Charcoal is the most basic of all mediums and has that primordial feeling about it. It is soft and easy to handle especially in creating shades from your sketches.

By rubbing with the tip of your finger or your thumd at areas where you want some shadows you can create wonders with charcoal. Always realize the direction of your smearing or rubbinf such that the darker areas reamins where you want them to be.

These are mostly five minutes copies of readily available pictuures like these particularl ones were from works by Harley Brown an American master of pastels from the South West state of New Mexico. I am very taken by his works and his laid back philosophy on Art.

The more you practice using charcoal pencils the more fluid you will find your strokes when sketching as it is not the most expenxive material out there charcoal pencils or blocks or sticks is a great medium for those who do not mind getting their fingers dirty.

My Daughter A lawyer?

Marissa did quite good with her SPM results with an A+ in English and an A in Bahasa malaysia and an A in maths. She got all the three core subjects squared away fortunately and now where to go from her. After choosing and that from Fashion Design to Linguistics she has now settled to becoming a lawyer something she had wanted to do in the past but with my disapproval. I told her that if she was going to make it as a llawyer she'd have to be a bad one as the good ones end up not making good money! Dont know where i got the idea from but at that time I thought being a lawyer was a bit not in her character.
Her uncle Zakaria howeer had talked to her about it while he came to fethc her and her brother from our accidient site to send the two back to Penang via bus. He tried to convince her that she should become a lawyer as he once was. Now i am beginning to agree with them as i can see it her character as having the Bahari Nastiness when needed to be, we call it the Bahari scowl, the dirty mean look that either scare people or piss them off. Its the look that is like a volcano is about to erupt from within and this is something that a good lawyer aught to have in a fight.
My daughter when little was spunky and never afraid to get herself into trouble but she has the ability to keep it inside and seldom explodes in her emotions but when she does heavens help her source of problem.
Ya.. maybe a lawyer may not be such a bad idea and the country can use one more good lawyer to replace my idol Karpal Singh when he retires. I wonder what my friend LeeKhai has to say about it.

Sketching is the begining of all artistic endeavour just after doodling. As doodling is just runnig your pen or pencil over paper making tracks randomly, it cannot be considered sketching as yet untill you decide to put some thoughts into your tracking. Once a thought or an idea has entered your doodling is not more doodling it is creating, it has taken the step towards sketching.

I have emphasized numerous times in my writing in the past that the act of sketchig is one of the strongest form of meditation there is in practice, its just that most who sketch are not aware of it and thats even better.

Sketching makes you or force you to stop and smell the roses or the stench in the gutter beside where you sit to capture the 'Twin Toweres', (which i have never doen yet ironically, living here in Malaysia).

When you have the confidence to sit in the public anywhere and do a sketch heedless of all that is happening around you, you got the attention of your environment as it got you. You become a part of it as it becomes a part of you, the heat the noise the ugliness the unique and the mundane, they all are your expression, your creation, your sketch. You do not miss s crew out of place nor a whisper of how bad sketch is, nor do you miss the sense of being that most of common man has seem to loose while walking in the street or sitting in the mosques, thats what makes you an artist.

In sketching you capture the world in all its beauty and randomness, its commonality and chaos much more so than taking a picture with a Minolta or a Cannon. Your mind explores each and every millimeter of your subject in one glance and it is captured in your subconcious negative mind and the rest is redering the postive image through your hands and pens, and pencils and erasers (never like them) on to the pages of your journals/sketchbooks. What is so hard about that?

Random Sketches 1990

When using colour pencils sketching it is best not to do too large a sketch. Sketch with the pencils and not 'color' your sketches., thats my style offcourse. Sometimes the ragged strokes makes for more vibrant or raw texture rather than the unintresting smooth - out texture of a well laid out coloring technique.


Then again the use of jagged or random lines can also be deemed as uncertainty or unsure of one's technique or better yet the lack of confidence. However each and every sketches that i have done rarely takes more the ten minutes, five minutes is considered average as i have a poor sense of patience and am prone to lets get it down as fast as we can.

Subject matter, as you can see so far in all my works, there is no subject matter as anything and everything matters as far as my sketching is concern. I try to make for intresting subjects through jotting down my thoughts as i am sketching or i combine various elements to create a story just so the viewer is gets a kick out of it rather than just see how well executed a sketch is.

It dont take much materials for one to carry around when out sketching and these are relatively so small that hardly anyone notices that you have them on you. Except for the sketch pad, the rest is hidden away safe in your pockets and thus there is no excuse for you not to have them around when needed.

A tree on a rainy day.