Cecil Rajendra

Cecil Rajendra
Born 1941 (age 7475)
Penang, Malaysia
Occupation Lawyer, poet

Cecil Rajendra (born 1941) is a Malaysian poet and lawyer.[1][2] His poems have been published in more than 50 countries and translated into several languages.[3]

Early life and education

Born in Penang, Rajendra completed his education at St. Xavier's Institution (elementary), the University of Singapore (undergraduate), and Lincoln's Inn (legal, London).[2] Though Rajendra's works are highly acclaimed internationally, within Malaysia his works are not well acknowledged.[4]

Career

Rajendra, nicknamed 'The Lawyer-Poet', writes controversial poems that address human rights and environmental problems. As an attorney, his work has focused on helping poorer people who are in need of legal aid. He is a co-founder of Penang Legal Aid Centre (PLAC).[5]

Working with photographer Ismail Hasim, Rajendra explored the backstreets of the island of Penang before the pair compiled and published Scent of an Island, a collection of poetry and black-and-white photographs of Penang.[6]

In 1993 he had his passport taken from him by the Malaysian government, to prevent him from traveling. A Malaysian High Commission spokesman stated, "Mr Rajendra's passport was retained for his anti-logging activities, which it was felt could damage the country's image overseas".[7]

Recognition

In 2005, Rajendra was awarded the first Malaysian Lifetime Humanitarian Award "in recognition of his pioneering legal aid work and exemplary poetry".[3] Also in 2005 he was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature, although it went to Harold Pinter.[8]

Published works

Poetry

Books

References

  1. "Keith Addison: Cecil Rajendra". journeytoforever.org.
  2. 1 2 Benson, Eugene; Conolly, L. W. (30 November 2004). Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English. Routledge. pp. 1328–. ISBN 978-1-134-46848-5.
  3. 1 2 "BC 2009/2010 Candidate: Cecil Rajendra", The Malaysian Bar.
  4. Ganesan, Guataman; Sabapathy, Elangkeeran (2013). "A postcolonial reading of Cecil Rajendra's selected poems". Asian Social Science (Canadian Center of Science and Education) 9 (15): 60. doi:10.5539/ass.v9n15p60. Retrieved May 7, 2015.
  5. "The Penang Legal Advisory Centre: Where the poor can seek justice". penangmonthly.com.
  6. Loh, Arnold (22 March 2015). "Lawyer-poet Cecil Rajendra's poetry remains deeply significant through the years". The Star. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  7. Raymond Whitaker (7 August 1993). "Malaysia denies passport to 'anti-logging' poet: Cecil Rajendra puts verse to work in his radical criticism of environmental destruction, writes Raymond Whitaker". The Independent.
  8. "Poetic Reason, acidic rhyme". thesundaily.my. 12 November 2005.

External links

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