Jawi II. 1999
Braille on plastic paper
21 cm x 29.5 cm

Hamir Soib @ Mohamed’s work Jawi II (1999 - 2008) presenting sheets of paper inscribed with Jawi texts embossed in Braille confronts audiences with their lack of fluency in Braille in as much as they might also be unfamiliar with the Arabic script. As he describes of the work, "Jawi is a most valuable treasure to unite the Malays. Not a secret code but something other people must learn in order to use and have control of". Hamir’s comment on the need to regain control of one’s identity reveals the heart of the matter as a necessarily personal undertaking rather than through a performance of outward displays and trappings. His approach reconciles for himself, and in a way for the MATAHATI as well, the engagement with faith in private edification rather than public exhortation.