In conjunction with the Neo-Abstraction: Space, Colour and Light exhibition held at Wisma Kebudayaan SGM (WKSGM) from 2 to 16 August 2009, SGM together with Prof. Dato' Dr. Ghulam-Sarwar Yousof, director of the Asian Cultural Heritage Centre organised a multi-lingual poetry reading session titled "Space and Sound." This event was held on 15 August 2009 at WKSGM.

According to Dato' Dr Ghulam, the principal objective of the event was to promote an appreciation of poetry in various languages and from various cultures of the world. For this event, nine readers presented poetry in eight languages (English, Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi, Iban, Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin and Tagalog). The readers themselves came from varied backgrounds including lecturers in the field of pharmaceutics and pharmacology, a businessman and an expert in drama. What united them was their love and passion for poetry.

The event kicked off with readings by Wong Phui Nam, Malaysia's best-known English-language poet, who is also highly regarded in South-East Asia. He presented new poetry to the audience. Dato Dr. Shanmughalingam, another well-known Malaysian poet, who read from his published works, followed him. One of his poems about a mother lamenting her daughter going overseas to study had the audience in stitches. Both of them recited in English.

Khalid Shaikh and Farrukh Zeesham read respectively the works of the internationally acknowledged Urdu poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz and the classical Punjabi mystic poet Bulleh Shah. Both of them are lecturers at the International Medical University (IMU). A third member of their team, Dr. Nadeem Irfan Bukhari sang a moving Hindustani film song. The humorous poetry presented by Faruq Zeesham (who is from Pakistan), which was about a man buying a shirt, also had the audience laughing in both the Urdu and English versions.

Dorothy Duratul Ain presented two pieces in the Iban language. One was a lullaby sang to her as a baby by her grandmother, while the other was a tearful cry against destruction by modernity. Poetry in Iban language, though largely unknown by Malaysians, is also a part of our national heritage.

Dinesh Chandren from SGM recited two poems by Usman Awang, one of the finest poets in the Malay language. He read Kekasih (Beloved) and Si Anak Kecil (the little child) first in the original Malay, then in English. Another member of SGM, Khoo Koon Hoe recited one of SGI President Daisaku Ikeda's poems in Mandarin, which was written to commemorate August 15, the day World War II ended.

Finally, Prof. Ghulam himself took to stage. He read a poem entitled An Ordinary Man by Edwin Thumboo, which extolled the virtues of the common person. He also read his own poems as well as a well-known Tagalog piece entitled Awit Ng Maria Clara (A Song for Maria Clara), by the Filipino nationalist and martyr Dr. Jose Rizal. In all instances, the readers provided translations of the poems in English where necessary.

Dato' Dr Ghulam-Sarwar Yousof wrapped up the event by saying that although the event did not take place on a grand scale, it was significant and meaningful. It was a gathering of people seriously interested in the art of poetry. Many of them were exposed for the first time to the languages and styles in which the poems were presented. He expressed hope that there will be many more such events with readings in the many beautiful languages of the world in which great poetry has been and is still being written.