FACULTY OF EDUCATION, HUMANITIES AND ARTS

(FEHA)

ELR3073
SOUTHEAST ASIAN LITERATURE

SESSION/0720

SECTION 1

ASSIGNMENT: LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY (30%)

THE AGONY OF SOCIAL CLASS IN THE SINKING OF VAN DER WIJCK (2013)
AND 29 FEBRUARI (2012) FILMS

PREPARED BY:

AM2007006912
SITI FARRAWAHIDA BINTI ISMAIL

AM2007007197
ERNI ADRIENA BINTI IRWAN

PREPARED FOR:

MDM. NURFARIZATUL AIN BINTI PONIDIN

SUBMISSION DATE:

26TH SEPTEMBER 2022

 FKLT/06-00

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1. SITI FARRAWAHIDA BINTI ISMAIL
2. ERNI ADRIENA BINTI IRWAN
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2. AM2007007197
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SOUTHEAST ASIAN LITERATURE (ELR3073) 26TH SEPTEMBER 2022

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 TENGGELAMNYA KAPAL VAN DER WIJCK (2013) AND 29 FEBRUARI (2012)

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Sunil Soraya directed Tenggelamnya Kapal Van Der Wijck, a 2013 Indonesian romance
drama film scripted by Imam Tantowi and Dhony Dirgantoro. The film, starring Herjunot Ali,
Pevita Pearce, and Reza Rahadian, is adapted from a novel, Tenggelamnya Kapal Van Der
Wijck by Haji Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah, commonly widely recognized as Buya Hamka,
and depicts the unrequited love involving Zainuddin, a mixed-race man, as well as Hayati, a
pure Minang woman. To further illustrate, Van der Wijck was authored by Buya Hamka, an
Islamic scholar who condemned Minang adat (traditions), as a satire of the discrimination
towards mixed-race people, prominent through the Minang society at the time, and also the
subordinate role of women. Interestingly, Hamka authored Van Der Wijck while residing in
Medan as the editor of an Islamic weekly magazine, which the novel was inspired in part by
the sinking of a ship hull in 1936. On the contrary, 29 Februari (2012) is a Malaysian "fantasy
biography" as well as a romantic musical film constructed by KRU Studios that has been
marketed as the country's debut realistic three-dimensional cinematic release. 29 Februari,
directed by Edry Abdul Halim and featuring Remy Ishak and Jojo Goh, depicts the narrative
of a man who only aged once every four years, owing to being conceived on February 29th,
allowing him to age much slower than his contemporaries. Edry Abdul Halim had selected
historical events in Malaysia as the setting of the film that was more vital to the people, for
instance, the British era, Japanese occupation, Independence Day, and so forth. Founded in
1992 by three siblings, Norman Abdul Halim, Yusry Abdul Halim, and Edry Abdul Halim has
subsequently diversified and currently offers a wide range of media and entertainment industry
services, emphasizing both development and distribution competencies. Consequently, the
similarities between Tenggelamnya Kapal Van der Wijck (2013) as well as 29 Februari (2012)
can be seen through four themes which are love, social conflict, cultural prejudice, and pride.

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1.1 TENGGELAMNYA KAPAL VAN DER WIJCK (2013) SYNOPSIS

In 1930, Zainuddin (Herjunot Ali) ventured to his late father's hometown in Batipuh,
Padang Panjang. He encountered Hayati (Pevita Pearce), a girl who characterizes the
attractiveness of a Minangkabau girl, among some of the allures in the Minangkabau nation.
Considering that Zainuddin is not of sheer Minang lineage, he endured a lot of intolerance from
the Minang republicans. Although he cherishes Hayati, the daughter of a local nobleman,
Zainuddin is prohibited from seeing her due to the durability of indigenous cultures, which
inevitably annihilates their solemn love. Hayati happened to meet Khadijah's elder brother,
Aziz (Reza Rahadian) while staying with Khadijah, and Aziz became infatuated with Hayati.
Hayati's family prefers Aziz, who hails from pure Minang origins and stems from a prominent
family. As a direct consequence, Hayati's family looks down upon Zainuddin, who seems to
be impoverished and of mixed ethnicity. Despite receiving a sizable fortune from Mak Base,
Zainuddin has become too late to admonish Hayati's family, and in the end, Aziz marries her.
In despondency, Zainuddin and his friend, Muluk, fled to Java, first to Batavia and
subsequently to Surabaya, in which Zainuddin rose to prominence as a novelist and
humanitarian. Aziz and Hayati had somehow relocated to Surabaya since Aziz had been
recruited there. Their marriage has eroded, as Aziz's wrath prompts him on being suspended,
putting them homeless while they had to seek help from Zainuddin. After a while of living with
Zainuddin, Aziz flees to Banyuwangi, abandoning Hayati for Zainuddin where he left a note
in which he stated that Zainuddin is much more worthy of Hayati. Towards the end, Aziz had
committed suicide, while Zainuddin and Hayati's love story is brought to the ultimate test
during a tragic cruise onboard the Van Der Wijck ship.

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1.2 29 FEBRUARI (2012) SYNOPSIS

Budi (Remy Ishak), who is in his teens, sells woven baskets with his friend Razak (Izzue
Islam), with whom he grew up in the orphanage, around the Independence Declaration in 1957.
When he happened to come across a pair of sisters, he became infatuated with one of them,
notably Ho Lai Lai or Lily (Jojo Goh). Budi and Lily's blossoming romance is depicted through
rendezvous by the river as well as a pilgrimage to Budi's prior dwelling, which has been
embellished with tunes produced by Budi's humming affection towards Lily. Regrettably,
Lily's family is displeased with the relationship they had, specifically her father, Mr.Ho (Chew
Kin Wah). Despite the lapse of decades, Budi's desire to connect with Lily remains unrequited.
Budi, now over 30 years old and also the proprietor of a floral shop, intends to reconstruct his
parent's home as an orphanage home in 2012. As he was chasing one of his workers, Arif
(Muniff Isa), who had frequently been late for work, straight towards the Penang Hospital, he
ended up in a ward designated after the name Ho Lai Lai. Arif is revealed to be Lily's nephew,
who now Lily is elderly and struggling with end-stage cancer, hence, he attempts to spend as
much quality time as he can with Lily. Budi awakened in anguish on the morning of the 55th
Independence Day, due to experiencing a dream of a catastrophic commotion that might afflict
him and Lily, regardless of the fact that his health had already been deteriorating. He was
rushed to Penang Hospital, where he encountered Lily on a stretcher and tried to give her the
fractured ring, unfortunately, he blew his last breath throughout the midst of the moment. A
minute later, Lily's story came to an end.

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2.0 THEMATIC COMPARISON

2.1 UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

Love is a comprehensive human emotion as it is regarded as a natural constitutional

sentiment that can emerge in an assortment of ways that culminate throughout a multitude of
cognitive-affective reactions as well as behaviors (Hatfield & Rapson, 1993). There are
numerous types of love that can be viewed, however, both movies contain a similarity in terms
of unconditional love. Endures alterations inside the companion's characteristics while the
relationship persists and is alluded to as unconditional love (Christensen, 2020). To commence,
the similarities between the two movies in terms of a love theme can indeed be exhibited, in
Tenggelamnya Kapal Van Der Wijck, Zainuddin's love for Hayati is incomprehensible.
Zainuddin became fascinated over Hayati the minute he beheld her for the inaugural time.
Regardless of the fact that Zainuddin and Hayati were prevented from marriage due to their
social class distinctions, Zainuddin felt mortified to see his loved one marry someone else but
somehow, he still harbors love and admiration towards Hayati for years. Likewise, in the film
29 Februari, Budi struck love at first sight when he initially glimpsed Lily during Independence
Day. Regardless of the ethnic contrasts between them, Budi persevered in pursuing his devotion
toward Lily. Budi's affections for Lily have been so profound that he sought as well as waited
for several years in anticipation of her returning to his arm. Even when Budi encountered Lily
again after she had aged, his feelings for her remained largely unchanged.

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2.2 SOCIAL CONFLICT (CHARACTER VS CHARACTER(S))
A conflict is indeed a form of literature that thus depicts a dispute between two opposing
sides. Conflict is the antagonism posed by another character (antagonist) towards the leading
character (protagonist) of a storyline in accordance with the goals (Soerjono Soekanto, 2006).
It has always been frequently utilized in storylines to disclose a deeper significance while
showcasing the main protagonists' motives, morals, and inadequacies. There are numerous
varieties of conflict; nonetheless, Tenggelemanya Kapal Van der Wijck and 29 Februari exhibit
similarities in regards to social conflict or, in other words, external conflicts that center on
"character vs character(s)". Pertaining to the movie Tenggelamnya Kapal Van der Wijck, the
external conflict has occurred between Hayati and Hayati's uncle which is Datuk Penghulu
Adat, where he was furious at the relationship that has been going on between Hayati and
Zainuddin. To further elucidate, it can be proven as the following excerpts:

Hayati: Kenapa pakcik hantar dia pergi?

Datuk Penghulu Adat: Terlampau banyak sangat tuduhan palsu tentang hubungan
kau dan dia!
Hayati: Tetapi hubungan kami ikhlas, pakcik. Ianya tidak melanggar batas-batas
syara’.
Datuk Penghulu Adat: Ati! Jangan diukur nilai adat kampung kamu dengan buku-
buku yang telah kamu baca. Cinta hanyalah dunia khayalan, kisah dongeng dalam
buku. (Soraya, 2013)

Correspondingly, the movie 29 Februari has also depicted the external conflict between Mr.Ho
and Lily when Alex decided to cut off the engagement with her when he found out that Lily
was secretly meeting Budi. The following excerpts describe the rage Mr.Ho had towards Lily:

Lily: Papa, dengar penjelasan saya.

Mr.Ho: Berani kau melawan cakap aku! Kau dah menjatuhkan air muka kau! Lebih
baik aku tak ada anak macam kau! Memalukan! Semua dengar sini, semua orang boleh
balik sekarang. Berhenti makan dan minum kerana anak saya fikir dia sudah dewasa.
Dia sudah boleh berdikari. Dia nak hidup mengikut caranya. Tidak peduli tentang
hidup berumahtangga, entah sampai bila nak tunggu! Tengok apa? (KRU [Studios],
2012)

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2.3 CULTURAL PREJUDICE (RACISM)
Furthermore, according to Zakaria et al (2016) cultural prejudice is defined as the
composition of perspective on specific participants of the cluster composed on the preceding
conception, behavior, and the standpoint of the batch, incognizant of the discrete personality
of the individual. In Sunil Soraya's Tenggelamnya Kapal Van Der Wijck cultural prejudice was
very transparent where Hayati's uncle Datuk Penghulu Adat (Tenggelamnya Kapal Van Der
Wijck, n.d.) clearly stated that he is against Hayati and Zainuddin relationship as they come
from different cultural backgrounds especially Zainuddin being an "outsider" where he is not
a Minang people. For instance, in the following excerpts Datuk Penghulu Adat and her other
uncle points out his antagonism towards Zainuddin and Hayati's relationship:

Datuk Penghulu Adat: Kau itu kebanggaan keluarga. Zainuddin itu tidak bersuku!
Bikin malu saja! Menjatuhkan nama besar, merusak Ninik-Mamak, merusak korong
kampung meruntuhkan rumah tangga dan mencemarkan kampung halaman. Orang
seperti dia tidak bisa dijadikan sandaran hidup. Zaman sekarang, jika ingin bersuami
harus jelas asal-usulnya.
Penasehat Datuk: Lebih baik dia mati daripada membuat malu Ninik-Mamak!
Merusak adat dan kelembagaan negeri kita, mengubah keaslian tradisi, asal-usul kita
yang asli. (Soraya, 2013)

Meanwhile, in 29 Februari (KRU [Studios], 2012) cultural prejudice was present in the
following excerpts where Lily's father Mr. Ho is ill-disposed towards Lily and Budi's
relationship.

Mr Ho: Aku cakap elok-elok kau tak nak dengar ya? Nak aku jerit baru kau faham ya?
Biar aku mati pun, aku tak akan biarkan kau kahwin dengan anak perempuan aku!
Faham!? (KRU [Studios], 2012)

Excerpts above clearly depict Mr. Goh's perspective on the different cultural prejudices just
because Budi is Malay and he is Chinese. Hence, in both movies the cultural prejudice was
shown by both the female lead character’s father.

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2.4 PRIDE (MALE LEAD CHARACTER'S PRIDE)

Subsequently, according to L. Tracy & W. Robins, (2019) pride is defined as a ''self-

conscious'' susceptibility to incriminating convoluted self-evaluative technique, which is a
crucial moral sentiment. In this movie, the similarity of pride theme can be seen in the main
character where both Zainuddin and Budi have very high self-love and strong determination.
For instance, in Tenggelamnya Kapal Van Der Wijck, Zainuddin fell into great ill and lost his
will to live after being rejected by Hayati when she chose the rich and gregarious Aziz over
him. However, he realizes everything and what he should be doing afore crying over spilled
milk after he was scolded by Bang Muluk. The pride that was depicted by Zainuddin was when
he started to embark on a journey to become a better version of himself and started writing as
a professional. Another example of pride shown by Zainuddin was when he took very good
care of Hayati when her husband, Aziz left her at his house to find a new job. Zainuddin always
remembers his boundaries with Hayati despite still having feelings for her and taking care of
his pride. On the contrary for 29 Februari, after Budi's proposal was rejected by Mr. Ho and
Lily herself, he never begged Lily to accept him and moved on. Budi knows that his pride is
far more worthy than being humiliated greatly. Budi also saved his pride by working at a barber
shop to save some money to renovate his late parent's house so that it could be turned into an
orphanage. Hence, the similarity of the pride theme shown was how the male lead character
gets back up on their own two feet after every fall.

3.0 CONCLUSION

In conclusion, both movies Tenggelamnya Kapal Van Der Wijck and 29 Februari
illustrate one of the best examples of unconditional love between a man and his lover, the social
conflict between an antagonist and protagonist, cultural prejudice between different cultures
and races, and pride of an individual that could either lead to success or doom. On the other
hand, foregrounding the four thematic comparisons successfully elaborated the main moral
values in Sunil Soraya's Tenggelamnya Kapal Van Der Wijck which are loyalty, honesty, and
truth will always be tested (Sudrajat & Muslimah, 2019). Meanwhile, in Edry Abdul Halim's
29 Februari the moral value that was conveyed in the movie was the strong perseverance that
is needed to achieve our goals. It is highly regarded that despite differences a community has,
it should never be the reason to discriminate and judge others. All in all, it is beautifully
corroborated that there are a lot of issues that occur in any culture and race due to the problem
that comes from their arrogance and selfishness.

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