Tuesday, June 30, 2009
TANAHAIR
Tanahair: tanah (soil) + air (water). Means motherland or native land.
Rice requires soil and water to grow. Rice sustains life of an individual in a typical Southeast Asian community. So the land that sustains life is the land that the individual belongs to. For river and coastal communities, the river or the sea would be the source of life. River provides mode of transportation; sea provides food.
Due to the connection and the very close relationship between the individual and surroundings, the notion to “tanahair” is very central to the life and culture of the Malay community. Land is a very important issue to SEA. In rural communities, their understanding of what is wealth is basically how much land a person has. [more land>> more rice>> more food + money!! :D]
· Tanah tumpah darah: “soil where blood is/was shed”. Means motherland.
· Tanah pusaka: “hereditary soil”. Means land inherited by generations after generations.
· Tanah hidup: “living soil”. Means the productive usage of land for growing crops.
· Tanah mati: “dead soil”. A piece of soil that is not arable.
We will be learning more about "tanahair" in class soon, so i'll keep posting!
Posted by Mel at 2:31 AM