Magic, Angels and a New World

SAYAP - GRAFIK NOVEL MELAYU

2012-01-20T14:22:00.001+08:00

Konsep Asal : Rogue, Liza

Skrip : Hazo/ Liza

Art : Lobak Oren / McLelun

TanahKarya Sdn Bhd and KL Motion Picture Company dengan bangganya ingin mempersembahkan novel dan novel grafik kami Sayap. Sayap adalah bahagian pertama dari pada rangkaian novel grafik Sayap, Batu dan Kayangan'.

Sayap was conceived by Rogue and Me, six years ago, at Mutiara Damansara and since the conception, we have tried to round up some talents that would realize the novel. Pasukan kreatif terdiri daripada saya dan Rogue, pelukis-pelukis yang sangat amat talented iaitu Lobak Oren (Zulfadhly), Rogue dan McLelun/Lun. Penulis terdiri daripada saya dan Hazo Mahyuddin.

Walaubagaimanapun disebabkan komitmen kerja dan selainnya, kami tidak dapat menyiapkan projek ini. Our team shall be focusing to complete this project in the next coming months.

The Synopsis of Sayap is a per below but before that , here are some pages from graphic novel. Its all been translated to English but shall be translated back in MALAY for publication.

The picture above is Tanggang Syahrun Kudar, a very famous film star. He still has ciri-ciri tak sedar diri and one day, shall be turned into stone. This will be in 'BATU'

Tira hand-glides and soars through the air and are tailed by some of her 7 winged sisters

Tira being left again by her winged sisters. Bye. Huhu.

Tira meets the venerable statesman Tan Sri Kancilamada who appears in the form of a kancil on earth.

The scrawny Prof Bandang Indrawasih dan Bawang Butih (perasan tak rambutnya seperti bawang putih. But maybe we should colour her hair white..emmm) But yes, Badang will be a hunk later.

Here's the synopsis in Malay

SAYAP adalah kumpulan cerita-cerita dongeng melayu yang dimodenkan dan dikumpulkan menjadi satu trilogi yang menarik. Bahagian pertama di panggil 'SAYAP', bahagian kedua 'BATU' dan yang ketiga adalah "KAYANGAN".

Secara amnya, SAYAP mengisahkan tentang puteri kayangan yang ke-7 ( daripada dongeng Puteri 7) iaitu Puteri Tira Kecubung Arorawinata.

Seperti dongengnya, ketujuh-tujuh puteri kayangan turun ke Bumi untuk mandi tetapi semasa di bumi, puteri ke-tujuh kehilangan sayapnya yang disembunyikan oleh seorang lelaki dan tidak boleh pulang ke Kayangan.

Dalam novel ini 'SAYAP' disembunyikan oleh Tanggang Syahrun Kudar ( daripada cerita dongeng Si Tanggang) seorang selebriti dan bintang filem hebat di Nusantara! Tira kemudiannya jatuh cinta dengan Tanggang dan akhirnya bertunang tengan Tanggang. Apabila kakak-kakaknya datang kembali untuk membawanya pulang ke Kayangan, Tira menolak untuk pulang ke Kayangan.

Akan tetapi, Puteri Selasih Mayang Huri( Puteri Gunung Ledang), anak kepada tycoon Dato Megat Bijan yang memiliki LEDANG MEDIA CORP, menggoda Tanggang dan akhirnya melarikan diri bersama Tanggang. Terkejut dan kecewa dengan berita ini, Tira dilawati oleh Tan Seri Kancilamada yang menjelmakan diri sebagai seekor kancil yang bijaksana ( dongeng Sang Kancil) yang memberitahunya yang Sayapnya yang dikhuatiri hilang sebenarnya selama ini disembunyi oleh Tanggang dan sayapnya telah di bawa oleh tunangnya bersama-sama dengan Selasih Mayang Huri.

Dengan bantuan Prof Badang Indrawasih, Tira Kecubung bersama dengan Prof Badang Indrawasih memulakan satu pengembaraan seluruh dunia mencari Tanggang dan sayapnya yang hilang.

Synopsis ( english)

Set in a modern setting, ‘Sayap’ tells the story of the seventh princess ( of 7 Puteri fame) who we named Tira Kecubung Aurorawinata, search for her long lost wings.

Once upon a modern and concrete time, Tira Kecubung and her 6 fairy sisters went down to earth for a bathing escapade at the Kota Tinggi waterfalls, they were spied upon by the handsome movie star, Syahrun Tanggang Kudar (of fame Tanggang).

Besotted by Tira’s good looks, Syahrun Tanggang later on, stole Tira’s wings causing her to be stranded on earth as her sisters ascend to the magical kingdom of Kayangan. As the fairies are only allowed to descend earth every solstice, Tira is left on earth for a full six months. Tanggang works his magic on Tira and they fall in love. When her sisters return to bring Tira back to Kayangan, Tira refuses. Tira and Tanggang gets engaged to cement their ever growing love.

However, Tanggang is later seduced by Puteri Selasih Mayang Huri ( daughter of owner of Ledang Media Corp) and runs away with her, bringing Tira's wings together with them.

Tira is visited by Tan Sri Kancilamada or Sang Kancil and is shocked to discover that Tanggang has hidden her wings all this while and now has run away with it.

Believing that Tanggang was put under a spell, Tira seeks the help of Professor Badang Indrawasih to find her wings. They embark on a wonderful journey to search for her beloved Tanggang. However, a long the way, Tira begins to reassess her feeling for Tanggang and start developing feelings for the kindhearted but scrawny Badang.

Anyway, Sayap is important to us because we love Malaysian folklores and dongengs and we aim to showcase that in whatever way to preserve the stories.

But importantly, Sayap is proof that we have AMAZING local talents to develop awesome stuff!

MDEC ( thank you so much ) has acknowledge this by giving us a grant but of course we need more grants and funds to complete this project :).

Jangan Malu Cakap Melayu ( Part yang second last)

2012-01-18T12:35:00.000+08:00

Note 1 : I just discovered, i had written this article and have never published it. So, bear in mind, THIS ARTICLE IS 1 YEAR OLD. So i just adjust sikit2 di tu agar dia lebih contemporary..

Note 2 : Read earlier Post for better understanding of this post.

Note 3 : ada part-part yang telah di-over-dramatize untuk memberi pengalaman penceritaan yang lebih efektif.

Note 4 : My first blog for 2012.

Note 5 : Cikgu Jamian is a dear teacher to me regardless what i say in this article. cant get a better teacher than that. :)

Note 6 : Ever since my last article, i have reframed myself from cursing because its so negative. Hence, 'eff' would mean 'freaking' or 'falafel' but not the 'fu**' word.

.....bersambung dari Jangan Malu Cakap Melayu (part 2)

Before you start reading, kalau belum baca lagi part 1 and part 2, bacalah dulu. You wont understand it kalau tidak.

Okay. Where were we? Daripada Part 2 tahun lepas kan.

Ayuh refresh.

Ahhhhhh.. Where we left off was, when I was in A-level and linguistically confused. Basically, Cikgu Jamian telah menghancurkan kebolehan aku berbicara inggeris dan berfikir dalam bahasa inggeris 100%.

Untuk pengetahuan mereka yang tidak mengetahui apakah itu A-Level- A-Level adalah peperiksaan ala-ala STPM gitu tapi untuk budak-budak yang nak masuk Universiti kat UK. You can cater the subject to what you want to major later in Uni. For example, i took Law in A-Levels and then took majored in Law in University. But kalau korang nak ambik subject yang tak berapa matching seperti Calculus in A-Levels and then take Law in University, pun tak jadi masalah tapi i hate maths soo...bleargh.

Basically, di tempat aku buat A-LEVELS, ada dua group :-

Pertama, group yang hard-core Malay yang kebanyakkannya, datang daripada SBP (sekolah berasrama penuh)

Kedua, group yang berbelit-belit cakap Inggeris. The second group ni adalah group dari Lembah Klang atau dari Tunku Kurshiah College or from MCKK..

Time 'A-Level' ini lah yang buat aku menyedari bahawa aku bukanlah sebahagian daripada geng 'belit-belit' seperti mana yang aku selalu bangga mengkategorikan diri aku. In fact, aku pun dah tak sure aku group yang mana, tapi yang hakikinya, aku bukan 'belit-belit' anymore.

Fenomena ini berlaku kerana simply, aku dah mula start thinking in Malay and not english. Jadi, when youre in a place where everybody speaketh english, the 'language processing' becomes slightly longer by .000001 seconds.

Ada beberapa process yang aku terpaksa lalui kalau somebody speaks to me in English. Basically, aku kena translate balik apa yang aku dengar dalam english ke melayu dan kemudian ke english balik... It gets really sweaty.

For example :

The scenario, my friend whom we shall call 'Student Belit2' whispers to me and gossips in ENGLISH :

STUDENT BELIT2 : Did you hear, A was screwing B in one of the empty dorm rooms on Level 2 and got caught by the warden?

Biasa, aku dah boleh terus faham tapi thx to Cikgu Jamian ( yeah you Mister!) , aku terpaksa literally translate dalam otak aku dari English to Malay.

My translation of what she said, in my mind, from English to Malay :

STUDENT BELIT2 : Kau dengar cerita tak yang A projek dengan B kat bilik kosong tingkat dua? Kantoi dengan warden siot..

Then i would formulate an answer in Malay IN MY MIND then translate it back to English like the below :

ME : Tak berabuk ke?

Translated back to English and vocalizing it to STUDENT BELIT2

ME : Isnt it a bit dusty in there?

Then she answers :

STUDENT BELIT2 : You think?

Then i process her answer to Malay. Which is :-

STUDENT BELIT2 : Kau rasa?

Then i formulate a cool answer to accompany the mood of the conversation. In Malay, i would say :-

ME : Nauzubillah..

Then i formulate a respond in English : -

ME : OMG

I hope that's not confusing.

So that's how it went in A-Levels. By the time, i finally got to the UK, i was basically translating all the time in my mind.

Pada tahun pertama belajar kat UK, kami terpaksa belajar 4 malatapelajaran undang2 - criminal, contract, tort dan constitution. Walaupun ada 4 matapelajaran yang berlainan, gang tutorial bagi keempat2 mata pelajaran tersebut adalah sama.

Geng aku yang aku ingat masa tu, selain daripada Norashikin( kawan baik ku yang a highflying, legal beagle kat Petronas), seorang minah salleh yang nama dia Kate dan seorang lagi minah saleh yang entah apa nama dia, seorang mamat Nigeria yang aku lupa nama dia apa tapi he's such an awesome fella dan tiga orang pelajar lelaki dari Israel yang aku percaya dengan sepenuh hati dua daripada tiga pelajar Israel itu mempunyai keinginan untuk tembak aku mati dengan Ak-47 pasal time tu aku pakai tudung.

Ironically, mamat yang aku rasa nak bedil aku adalah mamat yang aku secretly fantasize about. Namanya adalah Bendan. You know, the sort of fantasy dimana dia dan aku bercinta dan akhirnya menyebabkan negaranya dan semua negara Islam aman damai. Blussssh :)

Budak2 dalam kelas aku semua bright-bright dan pandai belaka terutama Kate, seorang Mamat Nigeria (whose so frikking cool but tak ingat nama) dan juga Bendan, jejaka Israel idaman ku itu. Dan mereka semua bercakap dengan amat insightful dan laju. Mamat2 Yahudi kalau bercakap akan stress semua perkataan dalam ayat dan seolah macam nak keluar air liur. Diaorang tak kisah pun slang diaorang banyak gurgling tapi konfiden diaorang memang over the top lah.

" Silenczzze .. hak tui.. conztituteszz..ptui..acceptanzzze..hak tui.. ptui ptui"

" Butzzzz there izzz no offer, sirrr.. hak tuii.. "

You gotta respect org israel ni.. Dia bulldoze aje english ni, asalkan dia top of the class. And aku patutnya take note. Aku patutnya blasah aje dan confident aje tapi because of the my language processing issue, i was feeling a bit low confident.

And law was not an easy subject. Then lah... Kalau aku ambik law skarang, definitely aku rasa aku boleh score. Tapi then, at 19, i felt it was overwhelming.

This is how bad it was. Ada one time, dalam tutorial conveyancing, secara random aku di pilih oleh tutor untuk jawab satu soalan tutorial. Bear in mind, we get these questions 2 weeks before to prepare. Secara kebetulan, aku memang tak prepare apa-apa untuk minggu tu pasal, i dont know why (.. man, i was so wtf)

So, tutor aku, yang juga lecturer tanya aku,

"So Lisa whats your answer?"

Aku pun proses. Dan proses aku lama sikit pasal aku lihat Bendan telah mengangkat keningnya dan sekali membayangkan aku rabak ditembak senapang automatiknya..

Tutor : "Come on lisa"

Aku pun nervous, maka aku jawab "Im sorry, i didn't get that question. It was really hard'

Tutor : "Lisa, its a 'yes' and 'no' question?!! Pick one!"

Erk.

Oh bloody crap.

I answered, "er.... Yes???"

Tutor : It was 'No' !

Me : ( dalam hati ) Bangs*t!

Dan ketika itu aku lihat Bendan gelak kecil. Awww .. so cute.. that is if he wasnt going to shoot me..

Walaupun aku tak prepare tapi kalau aku boleh faham cepat, aku rasa memang aku boleh jawab dengan cepat. Tapi of course that didnt happen.

The language barrier made me feel and look dumb.

But i wasnt the only one yang rasa and feel dumb. Antara orang Israel yang tiga orang tu, ada seorang yang english dia memang berterabur tapi ya amat friendly. Compared to his countrymates yang ada 30 orang kat dalam kelas aku, aku rasa dialah yang paling tak hensem. Dia tak de lah tera sangat dan pasal tu lah dia kawan dengan aku.... Selalu lah bercerita dengan aku pasal negara dia dan girlfriend dia dan negara dia dan kilang bapak dia..

'Majority of my workerzz are muslim...hak tui... In fact i zelebrate Ramazan wit dem every year... hak tui...'

So walaupun aku rasa aku macm dumbass, i sailed thru 1st and 2nd year dengan markah yang average sehinggalah aku berjumpa dengan Michael, mamat dari Korea whom i wont forget pasal dia SUNGGUH BAIK HATI.

Yes.. Michael.

Michael dari Korea yang sungguh tinggi dan lanky dan i like to stress again, BAIK walaupun lisan Enggrish sangat berterabur.

Dulu aku tak de lah rasa Korean's ni Baik sangat pasal masa aku blaja sekolah rendah kat US, aku baik dengan adik beradik Korean yang nama mereka Ji Min & Ji Hyun yang sungguh comel.

Diaorang memang comel because diaorang putih dan kiut miut. Just like those Korean dramas. Serious.

Tapi jangan lah terpedaya dengan kecomelan mereka pasal diaorang ni sungguh competitive pasal study. Penat tau tak!

Masa aku kat US, aku memang gila competitive dengan si Ji Hyun ni pasal dia pandai dan selalu dapat perfect score 100. In the US, we had pop quizzes all the time especially for maths and the best part is we check our own answers. If youre dishonest, confirm tiap2 kali dapat 100%. Bila time quiz aje, muka Ji Hyun jadi evil gila dan mengacau jiwa gila. If i had the courage, i would tell her "I get it Ji Hyun, you're smarter than me eventhough your eng-ge-rish is questionable but yeah. I said it. You're smarter than me! So, let's get that pass us and serve me the frikking Kimchi!!

(Note : Oh yeah, by the way , masa kat USA aku tak sedar diri dan cakap english berabuk gila so itu yang aku jadi competitive maut.)

Tapi tak per, through out the years. I have matured and after watching Winter Sonata, i realized the beauty in all you Hangul people especially Kan Jung Sang of Winter Sonata and Soon Seong Heon ( aka Oppa aka Park Hae Yong aka P-kun ) and Kim Tae Hee (aka Le Seol) of My Princess. You people who don't care about Eng-ge-rish but still live in a civilized and modernized society like Korea that can compete with Steve Jobs' Mac and I-phone with your Samsung Galaxy Tabs and what not.

Oh yeah.. lupa lak. We were talking about MICHAEL dari KOREA from my university in wales.

Michael is the nicest dude ever. Michael memang major double quadruple class act. He was nice because he allowed me to borrow his papers and all his tutorial work. And he taught me a lot of stuff in law.

Dan walaupun Michael cakap ENG-GER-RISSH memang berterabur wtf dan slanga Koreanya sungguh pekat sehinggakan aku makan masa nak faham apa benda dia nak convey, tapi lecturer2 aku semua suka kat dia dan his written english memang sangat Superb.

Dia berani tanya soalan in Eng-ge-rrishh dalam kelas, kalau kena soal selalu jawab dengan tepatnya dan assignment2 Michael would normally get 80 and above whereas on average, semua orang yang IQ biasa-biasa, dapat 50-60 sahaja.

Michael mengajar aku yang aku tak perlu malu dengan bahasa aku dan its okay if you have a slang. Yang pentingnya adalah substance dan faham concept. And michael has so much substance. Michael tahu aku memang struggle gila in my studies dan dia memang tak kedekut ilmu.

Dah lah dia tolong aku pastu bila aku minta pinjam kertas jawapan, dia photocopykan untuk aku kertas jawapan yang kosnya 5 pence satu helai dan as a student, that's still a cost. Lepas tu, letak cover plastik lagi yang kosnya 75 pence!! And that is why dia pandai - pasal dia murah hati! So, jadilah murah hati.

Disebabkan bantuan mamat Korea yang baik hati ini, assignments aku tiba-tiba aje dapat markah 70 & above ( time periksa i didnt do so well though hehe..) Sayang sekali aku kawan Michael masa aku third year.

Kalau aku jumpa lagi awal, aku boleh cakap hands down aku boleh score gila tapi malangnya aku baik dengan dia 3 bulan sebelum periksa.. Damn!

So, the gist of the story yang aku nak convey kat sini adalah self confidence sebenarnya.

Cakap aje english. Tak kisahlah slang macam mana pun.

Sebenarnya, yang pentingnya pemahaman. Kita tak perlulah nak slang2 sangat ala-ala british dan american pasal tak guna gak kalau kertas periksa law dapat 62 markah aje padahal the Israelians dan Koreans yang slang negara sendiri tak faham tapi dapat 90 lebih. Ceh.

Last part would consists of my Trip to EUROPE and working in Terengganu!

Lagu 'TAPAK KASUT'

2011-04-23T12:52:00.000+08:00

I wrote a song. Yeah me.

Inspired by this :

Hell yeah, im angry.

My advice to whoever did this :-

1) Nobody has died sitting on a toilet seat.

2) If the rims has stains, ever heard of wiping it off with a tisu, or do 'PLIETS'. Yeah.. google that! Its good for your thighs!

I wrote this in anger. Marah tau! Marah!

I wrote the lyrics, Kye wrote the song, Ciecie/Huda/Zonda provided the voice.

Ambik ni.

TAPAK KASUT

Satu hari aku pergi,

Jamban perempuan di Midvalley,

Aku lari sekuat hati,

Tahan air dalam pundi

Jambam semua sudah penuh,

Cuma satu macam free..

Masuk situ aku lihat,

jamban duduk bukan cangkung

Aku pun ready untuk landing,

Tapi tiba mata aku nampak sesuatu.

Apakah itu???

Tapak kasut

tapak kasut

Tapak kasut

tapak kasut

Kurang ajar siapa cangkung atas jamban duduk,

Tak takut kah kaki terpelusuk

Tak takut kah kenasumpah!

Kau ingat punggong aku ini,

Mahu cop tapak kasut freee..

Tapi apa akan daya,

aku sudah tidak tahan,

Aku landing hati berat,

Tapi lega air surut dari pundi,

Tapi tapak kasut itu melekap di punggong aku..

Saiz lima

Siapa dia saiz lima

Kurang ajar siapa cangkung atas jamban duduk,

Tak takut kah kaki terpelusuk,

Tak takut kah kena sumpah!

~~~

If you wanna hear the whole song, sila tengok Dahlan Steady in Astro Warna. Episode 8. Peace :)

Saktikala : Mahsuri

2010-08-24T23:47:00.000+08:00

This is for the kids...

Conceptualized and animated by our talented friends from Purpleflame.

Voiced by the behind-the-scenes people in KL Motion Pictures/ Tanahkarya.

Watch the first episode on Mahsuri, here :

http://www.saktikala.com/

Cipta! for Astro TVIQ - Its so cute!

2010-08-24T23:22:00.000+08:00

We at KL Motion & TanahKarya love children (let me qualify - er... well behaved ones.. haha...) . That's why we can't resist putting children in our programmes. And we love creativity and crafts and inventions....And that's why we proposed Cipta!. So, when TViQ approved Cipta!, we were incredibly happy to get to work.

Cipta! is 10 mins programme/filler that we produced for Astro TViQ. Cipta! is an art show and its about creating arts and crafts and inventions with stuff laying around the house.

Cipta! is hosted by the deliriously animated KN and supported by the two darlings - Aqeen and Amirul Daniel.

And its in MALAY. Yeyyyyy!

Original idea by Rogue and meself, concept/scripting by Hazo, directed by Amirul Fadhli, art direction by Nydal, camera works by Pali Yasir, SFX by Rogue and executive produced by Sharifah Noraidah/Jihan Abdul Razak and me-self.

Premiere date for Cipta! is 28 Sept 2010, 11am at Astro TViQ.

Jadi anak-anak, sediakan kertas dan gunting dan gam dan segala macam .. dan mula men'Cipta!'

Its not Dunia Surau or Surau Baru, its Geng Surau!

2010-08-03T13:56:00.000+08:00

A recent chat with somebody :

SOMEBODY : Geng Surau ni amende?! Kau buat Dunia Surau ke apa? Kah kah kah..

ME : Ala-ala lah.. tapi aku fokus pada org at surau lah..

SOMEBODY : Sama tak dengan Dunia Baru?

ME : Adalah sikit..

SOMEBODY : So, kelakar lah?

ME : Suppose to be komedi lah tapi kau tengok lah! Kau komenlah klakar dia jadi ke tak. Aku mana boleh komen produk sendiri..

SOMEBODY : Apasal kau tak letak nama 'Surau Baru'.. Kah kah kah kah kah..

ME : Cehh.. (Roll eyes)

SOMEBODY : Dunia Surau Baru?? Wakakakaka.... Dunia Surau Baru Reunion?? Kah kah kah kah..

ME : You're such a child...

Of course lah there will be similarities dengan Dunia Baru. It came from the same source. Duhhh.

The major-major similarities is the song 'Sepohon Kayu' - my fav lagu nasyid ever (selain dari Asmaul Husna ). Madihah from Dunia Baru always sang that song through out the whole season and it was in the movie ( which created quite a ruckus).

For 'Geng Surau' it became the theme. Oh well, I totally dig that song.

Other than that, the only similarity is the storytelling and some familiar faces like Anita Baharom there as well as Zazleen Zulkafli.

'Geng Surau' adalah sebuah projek bersama KL Motion dengan Pena Creative Sdn Bhd, milik Puan Hajjah Ziela Jalil, and Astro Oasis.

Executive produced by Nik Naeimah and Rohayah Ibrahim, directed by myself andi was assisted by two other directors aka Kye (Syed Khairul Fariz) and Johan Bahar. Script was provided by Shamsul Haszraei and myself.

Casts includes Beto Kusyairy, Razak Ahmad, Sherie Merlis,Azhan Rani, Ustaz Nazeri, Intan Nor Saina, Anita Baharom, Mat Over and many more.

Geng Surau adalah hasil dari evolusi perbincangan dan kehendak Astro. Saya rasa agak teruja dan terkedu pun ya kerana cerita ini keluar time pertikaian sebuah masjid di Ground Zero di amerika Syarikat. Kebetulan? Ketika orang-orang islam Amerika ingin membangunkan sebuah pusat komuniti dan surau di sana, kisah Geng Surau sedang dilaksananan.

Anyway, how did 'Geng Surau' come about?

Pada awalnya, Astro Oasis wanted a sad story.

Maka, saya pun draft lah kisah sedih tragis nangis.

That was struck out. Oh well...

Astro wanted something lighter.

So i dug my old old folders and gave them two stories and one of them was called 'Jalan Daud.

Now, here's the irony :-

Originally, 'Jalan Daud' was about a ex-delinquent who returned home and centered on group of men who congregated at a small mosque. For Astro purposes, we amended the story and TOOK OUT any surau/ masjid elements because we wanted to give more fokus to community issues and taubat issues.

Both proposal were struck out.

Astro then said they wanted a story about a small mosque/surau.

Laaaaaaa.. (tepuk dahi) Silly me.. haha.. 'Jalan Daud' was about a bunch of surau guys!!! I shouldnt have taken the surau element out.

So, apa lagi, saya pun bagi original proposal. And alhamdullilah they liked it.

Why i would coincidentally have a proposal on a bunch of surau guys is, ever since forever, i always wanted to do a surau story. Dua pendorong - my late grandfather, an imam in our village and my late father, a diplomat in Washington D.C.

Walaupun my father didn't portray himself as somebody who was extremely devout (no kopiah nor did he sport a beard), he was knowledgeable in the religion and a great observer. Everything he observed he illustrated and wrote commentaries. I found his papers after his death.

In one of the papers, i found hand illustrations of mosque and churces. His observations were about fungsi Masjid. My father said that during the Prophets pbuh time a mosque functioned as a place of education, a community center and of course, a place of worship. However, now ( at that time it was 1983), a mosque merely functioned as a place of worship and nothing more.

Staying in America allowed him to see the contrast and compare. The small town we were staying in had many places of worship aka churches and that the churches functioned as a community center. The community was rather close knitted and the churches organized many activities to the surrounding community on a consistent basis.

He wrote, that is something he says we should revive for our mosques in Malaysia one day. A mosque should be prosperous, like during the time of the Prophet pbuh. And one day, if he had the chance he would make things right. He didnt live to see that day. He died at 43 years of age.

Now we get to do it with Geng Surau.

Why not do a preachy drama? Comedy serves a purpose.

And if anybody can pick up from what were trying to relay, then Alhamdullilah.

"Steady everybody!"

Sayap

2010-07-29T02:49:00.000+08:00

The greatest magical adventure ever.

Coming soon soon soon.

Opie Sudah Gemuk _ Dunia Baru Reunion

2010-06-10T16:04:00.000+08:00

Dunia Baru Reunion is a web-series for gua.com.my. Dunia Baru was launched a month ago tapi because right after Dunia Baru, i embarked on yet another project and then another without stop ( i swear i need a holiday), i wasnt able to blog this. So, here's my blog on DBR.

The full 20 eps can be seen at http://www.gua.com.my/.

So, sesiapa yang berminat silalah click the link.

Anyway, we've received a lot of queries about Dunia Baru which i shall answer in full as per below :

1) Why is it not on TV?

Let's just say, the station has moved on to bigger projects.

2) Kenapa tak continue season 4, pastu barulah buat reunion?

The original plan was of course to have a season 4. In fact the whole synopsis and story outline for season 4 was written. The fourth season would sum up what happened to each character. Unfortunately, the show was cancelled.

But of course, we weren't ready to thrown in the towel so, we went around selling our comic soul to the world and finally we had a taker in the form of Gua.Com.My.

However, to cram season 4 in 20 eps of 5minute each, was a bit of a waste. So, instead of wasting the season 4 storyline, we thought we save it and create the story about what happens to the gang after college.

Lagipun, as i mentioned up above its a five-minuter. Rugi kalau buat Season 4 dalam 5 minit per episod. Rugi.

3) Kenapa pelakon asal ramai tak dikekalkan ?

Jawapan Pertama :

We called all of them tetapi siapa yang ada dalam DB reunion adalah antara yang dapat commit. Yang lain tu, well .. we tried to get them in but they couldn't commit.

Disappointed, yes.

Very disappointed , not really.

We wrote the story to suit which ever pelakon yang bisa memberi komitment. Adif and Erika couldn't make it.. so, we ditched their story out..

Almy couldn't make it - we changed her story & switched the actors.

Iqram couldnt make it - so we had to reduce his story, and i stress again, HAD TO reduce his story, which of course, directly efffecs Madihah's storyline.

Rio, played by an actor named Fikree is untraceable so, forget it.. We get another Fikhree and we gave him a different character called Azlan.

We would love to have all the original actors back but i guess, they all have moved bigger things in their life and you can't really blame them.

Jawapan kedua :

Stories should imitate life. Like life itself, you shall meet different people at different phases of life.. Some shall stay, some shall exit.

Similar to DBR.

4) Why is Opie fat?

Jawapan Pertama :

Why not?

I was fat once. S*&t happens and we just take things in as best we can.

5) Why is anak Madihah, Atina extra sengal?

Well, one day, i was in a cafe somewhere in Mutiara when i observed for a full 45 mins, a little 2 year old boy.. Let me stress that again, TWO YEAR OLD BOY, ordering his parents around whilst holding a tantrum which includes frolicking on the marbled floor (or was it just cement?), making that 360 degree turn lying on the floor whilst stomping his tiny little feet, jumping up and down and basically making a multiple imprints on the glass door with his tiny little oily fingers and spit..

And his mother basically only chirped, ignored his ranting, and even help usher the little screaming monster in and out of the cafe, following his every command.

And i thot to myself.... Nauzubillah and alhamdulillah for the experience and lets make a story out of this.

6) Hows the cast? Diva tak?

Out of all the genres that i have tried, personally, i find comedy by far the hardest to do.

And i've worked with so many actors. Mainstream and non-mainstream.

Trust me on this. You can either over do it, under do it or not do it at all.

Its not easy to make people ketawa kah kah kah.

To deliver comedy effectively, actors need precise comic timing.

And the original Dunia Baru casts Elyana, Wan Elyas, Anne Ngasri, Anita Baharom, Zazlen Zulkifli, despite how far they have gone in this world, are a humble lot of young actors who have that and can deliver comedy.

The new faces aka Fikhree Bakar, Beto Kusyairy and Tania Hudson are equally talented.

And yes, the cast was a pleasure to work with.

Diva? Not at all.

Puterapura

2010-05-07T23:50:00.000+08:00

Puterapura adalah project terbaru KL Motion untuk RTM.

Puterapura adalah kisah 'pelanduk dua serupa' and was aspired by Mark Twain's The Prince and the Pauper'. One of my fav childhood tales.

Why we called it Puterapura - well, putera is prince and pura in malay is pretend. Get it?

Anyway, the story was line produced by Hazo, directed by Johan Bahar, scripted by Shamsul Haszraei, cinematography provided by Kamal Hazizi and art by Amet.

It stars a host of talented stars :-

1) Raja Sadif/ Malik is played by kind soul Anding Indrawani. Its a pleasure to watch him switch roles effortlessly..

2) the beautiful Melissa Maureen in her first ever ultra gedik hik hik role as Puteri Afsun Sari. Siapa cakap dia tak boleh berlakon?! Meh sini.. (gulung lengan baju)

3) Jalalludin Hassan plays the gentlemen Sultan Alfian. Nobody can deny this..

4) Beto Kusyairy plays the ever so sly yet charming Alang,

5) the ultra ultra cliche (purposely) scheming bad guy role played by Riz Ainuddin ( Raja Ammar) and his sidekick Bendahara ( Zain Ruffedge)

6) Razib Salimin, plays the electrifying and ever sooooo macho old blind master.. :)

There's a score of other actors like Kismah Johar, Mariam Rahman, etc.

Its a really fun story. You'll love it.

Puterapura is a half hour, 13 episod drama series and shall air on RTM.

Hooperz - Two years later

2010-04-23T08:15:00.000+08:00

Hooperz is finally out. Along side big mammouth features such as Clash Of the Titans, Iron Man and Kick Ass..

Takutnyaa.. Nibble kuku jari..ggegege..

We've been waiting for Hooperz to go out dan walaupun it went out together2 dengan Kick Ass( feature by Matthew Vaughn who is my fav director ever since Stardust & Layer Cake. He produced Guy Ritchie's earlier movies as well and married to Claudia Schiffer), we're grateful.

We're grateful its out, we're also grateful we were given the opportunity to understand movie making more and we're grateful as well as obliged,that Primeworks has been kind enough to give us much limelight (undeservingly we feel, since we did alahai so little..).

Hooperz was a project that was shot in June 2008.

It was conceptualize at an R&R on the KL-Seremban highway in 2007. Initially, i just shared an idea of how netball was such a makcik, political, dramatic, hormone infested game which made me once swore of the game for life.. *&&^%#.. Just thinking about it pun gets my heart pumping ..hehe :p

But the producers liked it. So, they told me.. Develop it lah. The idea further developed, funnily enough by 'men' at Kedai Mamak Madinah.

Kye came out with the title, Iqbal Putra came out with the initial story concept - hence the name Iqbal and daughter Atylia. Originally Iqbal was suppose to be a football coach, but after much ado, we thought of being a lil crazy and make him a failed astronaut instead memandangkan planet itu bulat seperti netball.

Iqbal came with me for the pitching session at Primeworks and pitched it, yes - to a panel of LELAKI and voila it was accepted.

Im sure you can spot the irony - girls story yet male involvement..

Of course, the initial idea was for us to produce the movie. However, KL Motion Picture was only 2 years old at the time and never ever produced a movie. So the old and wiser Primeworks Studio said no to us producing it ourselves. I myself never directed and was only a writer (my first directing stint was 2 months later).

Hence, we were told by Primeworks to get a partner to produce the movie. We were happy enough to do so, because, honestly, we just wanted to learn and i think the best way to do that is to do so with an experienced partner..

So, we went to renowned MhZ Pictures. MhZ pictures led at that time by Rosnah Kassim, Odeng and Ujang - had a strong art department and did a lot of Yasmin Ahmad Movies. After talking to them, they agreed.

After much deliberation and after seeing Sheikh Munasar's show reel, which looked impressive, Rosihan Zain@Dhojee the E.P, who had always liked trying new directors ( he was the guy who was responsible in identifying and recommending Kabir Bhatia for Cinta, Wan Azly for Budak Kelantan, Naeim Ghalili for Susuk), decided to take him on. We gave Sheikh Munasar a reference which was Kamikaze Girls. He then gave us a further reference which was a Thai movie 'Citizen Dog'. However, due to some reasons, none of that transpired but that's okay.

Anyway, after MHz took the reins, we pretty much let go. I wrote and amended the script. We wanted a story that people outside Malaysia would identify as a Malaysian movie. I was influenced a lot by Juno and Stardust at that time. I like the twist in the story in Juno - you think Jason Bateman was the nice guy but he's not - so itulah kenapa adanya karektor Nik..

After the script was done, we basically let MhZ steer the boat during most of the pre-production and production. You cant have too many kepala. Karam kapal...

We couldn't do much pun because we were also prepping for another project at that time which was a serial drama for Astro called LIMA and a serial comedy called Ceraiya for Gua. I was writing Lima ( which was my first ever ever directing stint in August 2008) and also writing and producing Ceraiya at the same time then.

Besides, MhZ had basically had all their grounds covered.

I basically observed the script-reading 4-5 times, went to see the shooting 2-3 times.

After the shoot was over, we were called back in by Primeworks to help do the website and help slice off more minutes from the first draft offline edit.

For any movie, the magic is mostly done in post ( i quote J.Lo okay). So, Dhojee worked his magic. Any pembetulan, enhancement, CGI semuanya berlaku in the post. Award winning Akash Singh was the editor for Hooperz. I could see it wasn't easy. Dhojee then reeled in Black from Imagebox for the CGI. He got Pacai to come in to do the music score. Dhojee and his team, reeled in local talents to provide songs for the film including A.P.I, Luscious,our star Intan Nor Saina and newbie Kayant dan bermacam-macam lagi talent (beli lah soundtrack)

And what you see on screen is a result of that effort.

My harshest critics are my sisters. They provide me what we would call, brutal, 'sock you in the stomach', 'tak bagi chan' kind of honesty. You know, the kind of honesty where you feel like disowning them.. hehe..

But surprisingly enough, as we walked out of the theatre, both my sisters and nieces said they loved it. Im shocked.

I know not everybody will love it. But do go watch Hooperz for the experience. Sometimes it good to try something new.

Anyway, again MhZ and Primeworks - much thanks. We have learn much from all of you. It was indeed kind of you.

Nota terakhir : GO WATCH THE MOVIE.

Valentine Query - Seriously, pernahkah anda menggunakan perkataan 'Cinta'?

2010-02-14T14:56:00.000+08:00

Note :

1) This note might be frowned upon because it is in both BM and BI.

2) This note maybe frowned upon those people who can use the word cinta.

It's Valentine's again. Since i feel like updating this blog on a night which coincides with the eve of Valentine's Day ( which i've never really celebrated..haha), perhaps i should be writing about love hubba hubba hubba..

No worries. I won't explore the history of Valentines or the religious and political aspects of Valentines and all things serious. We have the intellectual bloggers and writers from Malaysian Insider/Malaysiakini or other serious blogs out there to do that. Instead, memandangkan i'm a scriptwriter/director, what i shall write about adalah penggunaan perkataan 'Cinta' dalam dialogue sehari-harian dan skrip untuk filem/drama.

But first, sebelum saya akan bersusah payah menerangkan perihal penggunaaan perkataan cinta ni, kita perlu memahami serba sedikit tentang love in the Malay context. Lucky for me, my friend Nadge, just tweeted something about it. So i dont have to bersusah payah explaining in detail, the breakdown of it. Yey.

Anyway, Nadge tweeted, ' Malay civilisation had correctly identified 3 kinds of human love. Reflected in #sayang general, #kasih family, #cinta spousal-sexual'.

I think that was brilliant. To categorize what is basically 'love' into the different type of categories and tagging a name to it? Wow!

I can imagine young malay poets or pelingpularas once upon a romantic time ago, as they watch their cocks (as in chicken okay) fight and bleed in the arena, whilst they discuss about the types of love, catalogueing them into kasih-cinta-sayang, adding these words into the Malay vocabulary.

However, whilst i totally think cataloguing of love is brilliant, i have a slight problem with the usage of the word cinta. Walaupun Cinta is the malay word for ‘being IN love’ aka spousal-sexual love, I can’t seem to make the word ‘cinta’ work in any love professing dialogue. Yup, I can’t seem to make ‘Cinta’ a verb. To me, it shall always be a noun. Hence, why, I prefer to use the word ‘sayang’ which is both noun and verb.

I have tried to use this celebrated word in some of my love professing scenes and dialogues but comes off corny and ends up deleted.

And everytime, and i mean everytime, i watch a Malay drama on tv and hear an actor use the word 'cinta' in a dialogue, with the intent of expressing their innermost desires of wanting and having and loving and receiving to another actor, it makes me cringe to the point of permanent facial distortion as well as.. excuse my French.. PUKE!

Ill give you an example. This is a malay drama I watched on TV ( character’s names are changed)…The scene is Bunny is professing his love to Hunny.

~~~

Bunny dan Hunny berada dalam kereta.

Bunny yang sedang memandu kereta, tiba-tiba menghentikan kereta dan mengeluh.Bunny tiba-tiba mengalihkan pandangannya ke Hunny yang duduk dikerusi co-driver. Bunny dengan romantisnya, mengambil tangan Hunny.

BUNNY

Hunny, aku dah jatuh cinta dengan engkau.

Hunny ukirkan senyuman dan mengerut-ngerutkan dahi, mata dan segala urat facial yang supposedly mengekspresskan happynya..

HUNNY

Bunny…. aku pun cinta pada mu..

~~~

P-uke!

I don’t know about you lah but the presence of the word ‘Cinta’ doesn’t seem to work for me because it makes the sentence, simply sounds strangely corny…

However, replace ‘cinta’ with sayang - that works!

Or, make them say it in indonesian slang… That also work!

I do think, other than me, there are other forces out there who are trying to un-corny-fy the word 'Cinta' but - i'd like to memberi sepatah kata nasihat to those who do .. Urbanizing it will not work! Putting 'i' and 'you's does not make it less corny.. !!!

Example :

BUNNY

Hunny, i dah jatuh cinta dengan you!

HUNNY

Bunny, i pun cinta pada you.

Ya Allahhh….

Why? Why??? Whyyyy??!!!

~~~~~~~~

Anyway...

Why the word 'cinta' doesn’t seem to work for me because as a scriptwriter, when we write dialogues, the dialogue written must be as close to reality as possible.

And the thing is, does anybody out there really use the word cinta? Really??

If anybody does, please tell me how it’s done. I sincerely and honestly am curious to know cara bagaimana untuk mengaplikasi perkataan cinta sebaik mungkin dalam dialog because in all honesty, I have never used it in real life.I have had a string of relationships (hihi) and one very serious one but I have never professed my ..er ..love using the ‘C’ word.

Sayang – yes, Love – yes.. but Cinta? Nope… but I do use it as a bahan ketawa..hehe..

And it’s not just me. I have asked around. I asked my friend..

Aku : Z, kau pernah tak beritahu laki kau yang kau cintakan dia?

Z : Apa jadahnya? Ewww.. Kampung lah kau ni!

From my friend's response and some other responses, in general I find that my circle of friends and the people surrounding me, do not really use the word ‘cinta’ to profess their love.

Itu lah sebabnya, if any of you have seen my previous work, anda akan perasan yang bila part-part menulis dialog cinta, saya tidak akan sekali-sekala menggunakan perkataan cinta unless kalau saya berniat untuk membuat scene tersebut kelakar.

Contohnya,

BUNNY

Auw.. Auw..Hunny, tolong .. tolong aku.. Aku sakit..

HUNNY

Kau okay ke?! Kau sakit?

BUNNY

Aku jatuh..

HUNNY

Ya allah..kau jatuh kat mana? Bila?

BUNNY

Aku jatuh cinta..

HUNNY

Blah lah wei!

~~~~~~~~~~

Eventhough you won’t be hearing ‘cinta’ in any love-professing dialogues in any of my projects, it doesn’t mean you won't be hearing the word at all.

Tell me how it is used and ill try to use it.

But in the meantime, ill use it as a noun.. a theory .. a concept. I’ll use it to further to further differentiate and describe the levels of love. Perhaps in something like the below dialogue..

HUNNY

Aku rasa aku sayang kat Bunny..

FUNNY

Kau cinta ke sayang kat Bunny?

HUNNY

Cinta kot..

FUNNY

Aku pun..

HUNNY

Apa?!?!

~~~~~~

I’ll be directing my first feature, finally! And guess what it’ll be about? J

2010 Guide

2010-01-04T23:04:00.000+08:00

Its a bit too late to say Happy New Year but its my blog and i can do and say anything i want whenever i want. :)

So happy new year!!

And at the outset of this grand new year, i'd like to begin it with some quotes which shall serve as a guide to me and who knows, maybe to you. I did not arrange it in any particular order or so that it would make sense.

One, the Quran says 'Read' [96:1]***

Tun Mahathir vouches reading. And although we produce a lot of TV programmes for you to watch, we vouch Tun's view.

In a recent article, whilst Tun never discourages watching television, he encourages reading. The man says ".. reading improves communication. A person who watches television cannot learn to communicate; a person who reads books can. And communication is one of the weaknesses in human society. The ability to convey your thinking to another person is a communication skill."

So watch tv but don't forget to get some quiet time to read.

Note : The context of reading here is the literal context. Whilst it would mean to the intellectual mind 'furqan' aka read our surroundings and differentiate rights and wrong, for this note it just the normal reading of books.

Two, WWF says save the tigers.

Since as per the chinese calendar, this is the Tiger year, lets hope tigers flourish this year.

There are only less than 3000 tigers left in this world.

Life is about balance. At the beginning of the century, there were 100,000 tigers. Now there's 6 billion human being vs 3000 tigers. Balance? Really?

Three, the late Ghandi says there are basically seven blunders of the world :

1. Politics without principles,

2. Wealth without work,

3. Pleasure without conscience,

4. Knowledge without character,

5. Commerce without morality,

6. Science without humanity, and;

7. Worship without sacrifice.

Four, American president, Teddy Roosevelt quotes in 'The Man in The Arena';

"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

Yeah. So shut up and start being doers. People who talk without action adalah amat-amat merimaskan.

Five, Nil desperadum aka 'Do not despair' because

“Verily, with hardship, there is relief” (Quran 94:6)

A Jodoh Story in Kuala Lumpur (part 1)

2009-12-05T12:40:00.000+08:00

Jodoh had a lot on her hands in Kuala Lumpur. 2 days before yesterday, 25 couples tied the knot all around KL – Brickfields, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, Bangsar, Damansara. It was a Saturday. The following day, weddings again were bountiful. There were altogether 36 weddings all around Kuala Lumpur – 14 in Setiawangsa, 2 in Bangsar, 12 in Kepong, 8 in Ampang. And that was exclusive of the 20 weddings in Ampang, Selangor.

But come Monday, jodoh productivity rapidly declined – save for one case i.e. the case of Dr Ganesh, a resident at Hospital Kuala Lumpur. Long time bachelor Dr Ganesh, 44 years old, finally decided to settle down and finally pop the question. The juicy bit – it wasn’t to his long time girlfriend Swari, the nurse in Ob/Gyn but instead to pharmacist Poovan who worked at a pharmacy in Jalan Ipoh. It was a blow to Swari but everybody in the hospital knew Swari and Ganesh were a bad match simply because nobody liked Ganesh and everybody loved Swari. But they could only talk on corners and only Jodoh took action to rectify the situation. No doubt Dr Ganesh was a great surgeon but he was a bit pompous and speak wonders about himself to anybody who would listen. And Swari was a great listener. She was the kind so selfless that she would listen to anybody’s woes. Jodoh had to step in and worked its magic. Swari would be devastated but Jodoh knew that Swari would be better off without Ganesh. Way better.

But Jodoh had a more challenging project. It was the kind of project that entailed childhood friendship that bloomed into the kind of love that only death could do them part. It was a project between Zahra and Amir.

At one glance, the union between Amir and Zahra would seem impossible and downright absurd. They were different in many ways. Zahra was from Pontian, a small town in Johor that was named after Malay vampires (Pontianak) and Amir was a KL boy or to be more detail, Amir was a TTDI boy.

For the non-KL dwellers, when a person identifies himself as a TTDI boy, a certain image conjures up in their mind. The TTDI boy/gal was the quintessential product of the Federal Territory. The TTDI boy/gal was the symbol of modern Kuala Lumpur.

TTDI was short for Taman Tun Dr Ismail, an upper middle class residential area, couched between Bandar Utama, Damansara Utama, and Mutiara Damansara, which was developed in the suburbs of Petaling Jaya, Selangor. The residential area was first open in 1974 by developing arm UDA with the noble intention of becoming a residential melting pot where “Malaysians of various races are brought together … with plenty of opportunities for neighbourly interaction,… their children grow up together, and mix freely in schools and on the playing fields, they will think of themselves and of each other as Malaysians rather than Malays, Chinese or Indians"

And when it opened, other than the nice houses and the intellectual sounding roads, many raced to be a part of that dream. Amir’s parents were one of those many.

A TTDI boy or gal by definition would be somebody whose family moved to TTDI was born or raised there. She/he may not necessarily school in the nearby schools. In the 1980s, some parents chose to send their children’s to non-coed school in KL such as: - St John’s, La Salle or Victoria Institute if they were boys and if they were girls, they 'd be sent to to either Convent Bukit Nenas, Bukit Bintang Girls School etc.

Whatever schools they went to, the TTDI child had a certain air about them. Somehow you would get an impression that a TTDI offspring were raised without any dysfunction. The same way the Taman Tun Dr Ismail was planned and the same manner in which the streets were arranged - was the same way the families in TTDI functioned Without chaos and dysfunction.

The TTDI offspring fared well in academics, generally knowledgeable, physically better looking because of the access of better foods in KL, and culturally sensitive due to the racial mixture. They had full backing from their parents in whatever they did; financially and emotionally. And best of all, they could talk to their parents and discuss about everything. Yes, everything.

It was a new phenomenon in Malaysia. Nobody ‘talks’ to their parents, then. That’s what made these TTDI kids so stable and Stepfordlike.

Amir’s parents were not originally from KL. Amir’s father, Karim was from Dungun, Terengganu. He had a very old school upbringing. His father, Haji Yusof, yielded a rattan whip and if he didn’t do well in studies, the whip would land on his rear. No discussion. Haji Yusof delivered his affection via whip. If no whip was swung, he was please.

After passing his O’Levels, Karim accepted the government’s scholarship and read Electrical Engineering at the Technical College (Universiti Technology Malaysia) located at Jalan Weld (aka Jalan Raja Chulan now). He graduated his diploma with flying colours and the government offered him a scholarship to do his degree in Sussex, United Kingdom.

But let’s not venture into the details of Karim’s educational voyage, as this is the story of Amir – not his father. Now, unlike Amir, Karim’s love story was pretty straightforward. Whilst waiting for the bus to return home, he met his wife, Kalsom who was also waiting for the same bus. Kalsom worked as a telephone operator for the nation’s telecommunications company. She had the blackest and waviest hair and he was immediately enchanted. He approached her and the rest was history. Karim did not go to the United Kingdom alone.

Upon their return, with 2 children in tow, Amir being the youngest at that time, they stayed in Kuala Lumpur’s jewel, Kampung Baru before moving to TTDI.

On the other hand, Zahra was born in the small town Pontian, Johor. She was the first child of 4 siblings. Her mother was a clerk at the Land office in Pontian.

Zahra’s father Zainal, was an out of work bum who loved watching TV whilst picking the hardened and callous skin of his toes. Zainal fared from a well to do family that owned many lands in Pontian. When Zainal’s father was alive, he would cultivate the land with pineapple, cocoa and coffee and they would survive from their produce. His wife, Zainal’s mother spoilt all her sons and out of love, never allowed Zainal and his brothers to work and help their father and they never learn the art of hardship. Zainal married Fatimah because his mother considered Fatimah the prettiest girl in Pontian at that time and she wanted good looking grandchildren. Fatimah had just finished her ‘O’ levels and just landed a job as a teacher. She was told to quit and though hesitant, she did so as she assumed that Zainal was rich.

After Zahra’s birth, her grandfather died. And amazingly, so did all the pineapple, cocoa and coffee. None of his sons had the knowhow how to managed the fields and Fatimah knew that Zainal was a loser.

To survive, Zainal and her brothers sold pieces of their land, bit by bit until they were none. Zainal was lazy and did not have the feel to work. He was developing himself into a bona fide bum. Money was becoming scarce, the screaming matches were getting more frequent but yet, her parents continued procreating until Zahra had 4 younger siblings.

But Fatimah had a strong spirit, brains and 5 children to support, so Fatimah took up a job as a clerk at the land office and that’s where she worked to support her children. Her father continued to come and go, as he likes. And truth be told, Zahra preferred if he wasn’t around. All he did was to argue with her mother from dawn to dusk – disturbing Zahra and her siblings. Worst, he refused to divorce his wife and threatened to physically hurt her and the children if she left him. Everybody knew that they were merely empty threats which wouldn’t amount to anything. But Fatimah never took action against her husband and remained married to him. Zahra realized that her mother loved her father too much to leave him and was subconsciously enjoying all the fighting and make up sessions. And as twisted as it was, that was what drove Zahra and her siblings to do well in their studies. Zahra wanted out and couldn’t wait to leave one day.

That was also a part of Jodoh’s plan because if Zahra did not do well in her SPM, she wouldn’t be able to get the scholarship to study abroad and she wouldn’t be able to go to Kuala Lumpur to do her A-Levels and meet Amir.

Hence, it was critical that Zahra went to Kuala Lumpur.

Jodoh had made many arrangements prior for Zahra to meet Amir but they all failed.Misrebly.

The overriding destiny instruction to Jodoh was that Zahra and Amir were to meet in Kuala Lumpur and to be married in Kuala Lumpur. The details of their love story should have be as the following: - Pen pals when they were 11 years old, then their friendship would bloom into love by the time they were 18 and they were later to be married to one another by 29.

But none of these details transpired. None.

Now they were both already in their mid 30s and they were still not married to one another. Nor fully acquainted.

It wasn’t that, Jodoh had been sloppy. But sometimes, things don’t go as plan. Plans executed. Effort was exerted. Results however were disappointing.

For example, the first time that Jodoh arranged that they would cross paths was in the early 1980s when Zahra went on a school trip to Muzium Negara located at Jalan Duta in Kuala Lumpur. Had the plan gone right, Amir would bump into Zara whilst both of them were observing the museum display on the Sultanate of Malacca. They would notice one another, strike a conversation, exchange addresses and became penpals. But instead, Amir’s youngest brother had a bad stomach that day and puked on the floor in the museum, forcing his father to usher his family out of the museum to prevent chaos. Zahra reached the display right after the incident but the putrid smell repelled Zahra and her friends to even approach the grand display.

The second time, Zahra and Amir cross paths was only 8 years later in college. Both had won scholarships to study abroad and were sent by sponsors to a college in an obscure and new industrial area in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur.

Zahra was sent to this college by her mother and her siblings. Her father, who did not know of his daughter’s success, was nowhere to be found and hence, they went without him in his old Toyota. It was bad enough that the car did not have air-conditioning and that they had to stop the car every half an hour due to the car’s over-heating, but what made the trip worst, was Zahra’s mother sermon about the importance of self respect and chastity. How she could speak for 5 hours non-stop was beyond Zahra. If only her mother realized that the point on chastity which was repeated 1001 times, was already drilled into Zahra’s mind by the first time, thanks to the graphic nature and creative but embarrassing play of words, that would have made her stop.

However, the talk on chastity wasn’t as bad like the part that they got lost. After the straight but long drive on the Johor Bahru – KL highway, they finally arrived in the Federal Territory. When they passed TUDM’s airport at Jalan Sungai Besi, Zahra’s sibling cheered. The old military airport was a landmark that they were in KL.

But then, they got lost.

The old Toyota somehow took a wrong turn somewhere and instead of going on Jalan Chan Sau Lin, they somehow managed to get on Jalan Loke Yew instead and thereafter a number of other winding roads which got Zahra and her mother ultimately intimidated with the scale of Kuala Lumpur. It was 100 times bigger than Pontian and it was the first time her mother drove into Kuala Lumpur. Whilst Zahra and her mother scream to one another about the directions, it was only then when the younger siblings began acting out. Yup. Not during the smooth trip on the highway, not when they stopped at the R&R’s to rest or the gas stations to refill. It just had to be when they all were lost and confuse. One wanted to pee, one wanted to vomit, one was crying , another was hungry. This ultimately drove Zahra crazy but her mother was determine to get to this Cheras area. Albeit the winding roads.

So, the old Toyota sedan shimmied passed Dewan Bahasa and Pustaka on Jalan Hang Tuah, then the Old Railway station, the blue National Mosque, Dayabumi, Dataran Merdeka and suddenly, they were on Jalan Parliament. Zahra furiously scoured the maps for directions and they took a flyover and ended on Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, the famous Globe Silk Store, the Colloseum restarant and after making so many rights and left, they ended on Jalan Pahang and later Jalan Ipoh and later, Kepong. More fights ensued between Zahra and her mother but good sense made them ask a pump attendant at the Petronas Station and finally made their way to Cheras and finally to Zahra’s college.

On the other hand, Amir was sent by both his parents. Amir was sent off with a wonderful celebration lunch (lasagna and laksa all made from scratch by his mother). The whole family laughed over lunch and Amir was excused from washing dishes as he had to pack. Then he had a peaceful trip in his father air-conditioned and noise proof Mercedes. And even though college was only 30 minutes away, Amir slept like a baby in the car. Regardless the distance, upon arrival at his new college, his mother wept over their departure and passed him the keys to her trusted Proton Saga.

“Amir, this is so you can come home anytime for my cooking. Anytime tau? Jangan lupa semayang... Jangan lupa Mama..” Then she wept...

Amir consoled her mother but, in Amir’s mind, the car was the key to a new phase in Amir’s life. Amir was about to embark on ‘a some kind of wonderful’.

As Amir's mind played out 'the some kind of wonderful', scored with the sound of Amir’s mother wept incessantly, in the background about 8 metres away from Amir's family was Zahra’s family. Zahra was tending to the overheated Toyota and fanning the carburetor. As much as she hated her family, she was sad to send her mother and siblings away. Of course, none of them showed their true feelings. Her family wasnt the type.

Amir and Zahra did not realize each other’s existence this time being bogged down with family and all but, it was okay as they would cross paths a few hundred times after this, as they were in the same college.

The first time they actually realized each other’s existence was during orientation at the Badminton Stadium in Cheras . Amir was one of the spectators of the women’s volleyball game between his class and Zahra’s class. But Amir wasn’t really watching the game but what he was really doing was aiming his focus on one of Zahra’s classmate, the long legged, sweet Nina. Amir stood near the referee for a frontal view of Nina. Nina was a terrible player but Amir didn’t care. She was hot. As he was admiring Nina’s awkward and uninterested pose in the volleyball court, Nina abruptly turned her head to him. But her face turned into panic and at that moment, she shouted..

“Zahra!!!”

And that was when Amir first noticed Zahra, when she did her legendary move that would be the talk of many years to come....

(To be continued…)

Do you like babies?

2009-08-07T00:48:00.000+08:00

I like babies. Especially newborns. They're small, cute and mesmerizing. I can spend hours just looking at them in fascination and saying 'awwwwwwwwww'. Procreation is a damn wonder.

Normally, I prefer not to make commentaries on social issues. This time, i have to make an exception because it's happening almost every other day.

Yes.. Kebelakangan ini, terlalu banyak kisah 'buang anak' yang dipaparkan di akhbar-akhbar tempatan. Mainly about knocked up mothers (mostly teens up to pre-adult) yang diam-diam telah mengandung, beranak dan setelah melahirkan anak, membunuh anak tersebut demi menutup malu daripada ibubapa/sedaramara/kawan-kawan dll.

There's something really disturbing about that....

One girl flushed her child down the toilet, one drowned the child in a pail, one girl stuffed her baby in her bag till it suffocated to death and the latest the a baby eaten by a komodo lizard ( not exactly on my list of top10 animals).

I have my two cents opinions on this subject matter but i shall not divulge them. Mainly because im not a mother yet and have no authority on this as it involves parenting and i dare not comment on something i have no first hand experience on.

Whatever it is, there is always somebody to blame for any heinous acts. Always. Samada secara langsung atau tidak, semua orang yang berkaitan bertanggungjawab. Not just the mother.

Saya mengagak gadis-gadis muda yang termengandung ini membunuh anak yang dilahirkan mereka atas dasar takut. My sister, a mother of six, says that the fear basically renders these girls ability to differentiate what is wrong and what is right (Furqan). What is right is to not disappoint their parents and people around them and what is right is to cover their tracks by murder.

Jadi sekiranya ada diantara pembaca blog ini ter-mengandung dan tak tahu siapa nak minta tolong - well, you can contact me. Its a scary world out there. If you really need the help, i know you'll find the way to contact me. Kami akan cuba membantu dalam apa cara yang termampu kalau tiada aral yang melintang.

Just promise me, don't take the life of your child. There are a lot of childless couples in Malaysia. Perhaps we can give them that chance to be a parent.

Our very own Rambos - the Senoi Praaqs

2009-08-05T12:40:00.000+08:00

Before i start this post, my deepest condolences go out to to family of Yasmin Ahmad and Michael Jackson. Thanks for making the industry more colorful and vibrant and your touch shall be missed. Al-fatihah.

~~~

For my THIRD post of 2009, I shall write about what i'm currently writing which is another epic drama for Astro and KL Motion Picture, which is a story based on the Senoi Praaq aka the orang asli elite commando troops and the title of this drama is Layang & Lembing.

Senoi in Semai language means Orang.. and Praaq means Perang. Pretty cool huh.

Again, we're really lucky to get this story because i think, on the basic level without any of my tampering and entertainment injection from me, it is already a beautiful story! It's challenging in terms of story, visuals as well as, emotionally... Well, that's what i think lah...

Nevertheless, although its mainly about the Senoi Praaq, the story is set in the mid 1940s to the mid 1960s and in writing the story, we can't run away from the communist insurgency and emergency years aka darurat..

Now here's the problem.

The communist insurgency and emergency years aka darurat or what i normally refer to as 'Merdeka-Darurat-Komunis-Bla-bla-bla' times was my LEAST favourite subject in the world.

Hated it.

Really hated it.

A lot.

Well .. lemme rephrase..i USE to hate it.

You see, although history was my favourite subject in school, i basically hated that part of history. I didnt find the japanese occupation interesting, i didnt find the communist insurgency interesting, i didnt find the whole independence process stimulating.

But I did and still love the 15th century Malacca's Sultanate Era, and heck i don't mind the Mat Kilau stuff, sejarah nusantara..yada yada yada..

But when it came to 'Merdeka-Darurat-Komunis-Bla-bla-bla', i immediately shut out. I did not care for that era.

In fact, fyi, i had to memorize basically anything that had to do with the 1940-1960's era and kemerdekaan because that period made me .. .yawn... sleep in class because.. it was damn uninteresting... bleargh!

But rule of thumb in my life at that time, if i dont understand it, just frigging memorize it because i had one aim. And the aim was to get an A1 for history. So i memorized! I memorized so hard without understanding anything, that after SPM i totally forgot about history. Hehe..

Note to Cikgu Noraini Panot, my history teacher, if your reading this from beyond Melaka -Muar boundary : Its not you! Its the subject matter..

In fact my un-fascination with the Merdeka-Darurat-Komunis-Bla-bla-bla, continued after SPM, right thru my studies in the UK, the work years, the crazy wtf years and up to now..

Im embarrased to admit but i know a bit more about Indonesia and American history in that 1940-60s era rather than Malaysian history. Shame on me!! Shame!

In fact, had anybody ask me before this project, about the Merdeka-Darurat-Komunis-Bla-bla-bla, i'd probably nod along, furrowing my eyebrows so i look a bit intelligent and interested.

But, thankfully, alhamdullillah for our last epic project aka Warkah Terakhir - my interest began to peak...It was not such a bad era after all.

And now that we're doing this Senoi Praaq aka Lembing dan Layang project and after doing my own research, i realize... heck, Merdeka-Darurat-Komunis-Bla-bla-bla,is really interesting stuff. Not bad man.. not bad..

Maybe i should have given in a chance in history class and paid more attention rather than sleep my way through form 4 and 5 ( i had a serious sleeping problem. I will talk about that 1 day)

Anyway, i'm in the midst of writing. As i said its a tough story and we want to make sure its portrayed in the most honourable way possible and that to make the viewers, who were like me, understand more about the Merdeka-Darurat-Komunis years.

Anyway again, We met the head of the Senoi Praaq squadron which was Bah Ayob @Md Nor at Pengkalan Hulu in Perak and the stories he told us was really really wow. It was so wow, my mouth was gaping in amazement as i was hearing him tell his heroic tales and i'm pretty a fly flew into my mouth without me realizing it. Yum.

We also met his son, Inspector Ramli, a well spoken man and incredibly knowledgeable. And he lent us this book about the Senoi Praaqs that i was trying to get from Amazon and all the book dealers in the world tapi apparently nobody delivers to Malaysia..

Anyway, the point is, I'm amaze. Im amaze that we have heroes like them on our soil and ...

..tu aje lah...

ohh.. and the fact, that i no longer hate the Merdeka-Darurat-Komunis years....Ill make you proud Cikgu Noraini!

Warkah Terakhir - Rosli Dhoby

2009-04-06T13:29:00.000+08:00

'Warkah Terakhir' is an eight episode epic television serial drama adaptation on the life of Rosli Dhoby. It shall appear in June on one of the Astro channels to be told later.

Set in the 1940s and early 1950s, 'Warkah Terakhir' stars a host of talented and dedicated new and veteran actors/tresses. The 28 year old Beto Kushairy was tasked to star as the 15-17 year old Rosli Dhoby and he is supported by Nam Ron, Melissa Maureen, Anita Baharom, Ramli Hassan, Sherry Merlis, Sazzy Falak, Shahrolnizam, Wan Azly, Riz Ainuddin, Fikri Bakar, Azhan Rani, Ameerul, Sani Sudin, Rosli Sako, Azlan Komeng, Juliana Evans, Kismah Johar dan many many more (my apologies for not posting all your names but there are too many).

The drama is 80% in the Sarawak dialect. Hence all actors and actresses have trained for a full 2 months to obtain the lingo. However, its easily understandable since the roots of the language is Malay. But if you still dont understand, we have subtitles both in Malay and English.

Shot almost entirely in Perak with the exception of two locations ie Pudu Jail and Seremban Old Library, Warkah Terakhir is produced by KL Motion for NSK and Astro Entertainment. Production design is headed by Black and cinematography by Pali.

Some facts of the story had to be exagerated a bit for entertainment purposes, of course done with the approval of Encik Bolhassan Bin Ainy, the son of Ainy Dhoby the brother of Rosli Dhoby. Some of the exaggerated bits included the age of Ainy Dhoby and some other elements.

KL Motion Picture Company shall upload the new trailer on their facebook by next week.

Jangan Malu Cakap Melayu (part 2)

2009-01-01T23:41:00.000+08:00

Note 1 : Artikel ini akan ditulis dalam kedua-dua bahasa melayu dan inggeris.
Note 2 : Wtf is 'What the eff'
Note 3 : Wtmf is 'What the mother eff'
Note 4 : ada part-part yang telah di-over-dramatize untuk memberi pengalaman penceritaan yang lebih efektif.

.....bersambung dari Jangan Malu Cakap Melayu (part 1)

Apa-apa pun, keputusan arwah ayah saya untuk menghantar saya dan kakak saya pulang ke motherland malaysia mungkin ádalah keputusan yang saya merasa amat wtmf kerana disebabkan Cikgu J., guru Bahasa Malaysia tingkatan Dua Bestari.

Ya. Cikgu J.

Bayangan Cikgu J, cukup membuat saya menggeletar ge-ge-ge-ge..…. (shiver) Cikgu J (yang saya andai dalah seorang yang berketurunan Jawa melalui namanya - spekulasi yang saya garap melalui kemahiran deductive reasoning saya), merupakan individu tenaga pengajar bahasa malaysia yang serious tak bagi chan langsung dan sering membuat saya melakukan perkara-perkara diluar kerelaan diri saya seperti public speaking, berpantun dan bersajak di hadapan orang ramai.

Malah, saya rasa Cikgu J, saya percaya, telah menjadikan saya satu KPI bagi dirinya. His personal performance Appraisal probably looked like this :

Objective : Ajar budak US yang berambut besar dan suka tidor dalam kelas tu (i believe i had jet lag for almost 4 years), cakap melayu macam orang melayu.
KPI : 1. Zero pelat amerika 2. % of susunan ayat betul 3. % of penambahan malay vocabulary dalam penggunaan bahasa melayu seharian.
Tools : Apa-apa yang patut.. (ketawa gangster)

Of course, that's my overdramatization, pasal KPI's dont exist until end of 1990s.

The thing is, Cikgu J. treat saya seolah saya langsung tak boleh cakap Melayu. Which is sooooo not true. Saya tidak pernah lupa berbahasa Melayu malah saya berbahasa melayu di rumah disebabkan ibu saya dan adik-adik saya memang tidak fluent bercakap English.

Saya berikan satu scenario di rumah saya di McLean, Virginia, USA:

Mak : Kau kemas bilik kau ni! Dah besar panjang tak reti-reti nak kemas bilik. Kau ingat Mak ni kuli kau ke, hah? Kerja asyik nak menyerak aje!
Me : Mom, you don’t understand me!!

Yes, Malay was alive in the suburbs in USA. Tapi, yes, saya pun tidak dapat escape daripada terkena angst teen syndrome macam teenage2 lain kat amerika itu.

Of course, Cikgu J doesnt know that and thinks im freaking useless in malay. Oleh yang demikian, dengan cermin mata besar frame besi yang agak tinted yang dianggap stylo ketika itu dan muka yang sungguh sinister itu, Cikgu J (yang seriously, tidak memahami konsep ‘ Give her a break’ atau ‘ Just let it go, damn it…) telah mengenakan deraan malay-sual yang bertubi-tubi. Setiap hari di bilik guru di tingkat ground floor, Cikgu J akan menggosok kedua tapak tangannya sambil mengeluarkan ketawa yang kuat (jenis yang menggunakan muscle perut) dan merancang cara-cara untuk meng-torment saya melalui pelajaran Bahasa Malaysia untuk SRP.
Segala jenis taktik digunakan untuk me-melayukan saya seperti (i) memaksa saya menjawab soalan ketika saya sedang khushuk membuat mini-vandalisation doodle art atas meja bangku kayu saya, (ii) memaksa saya menyambung pantun (cis!), (iii) menulis dan membaca sajak ( effing abhor this!)in public dan (iv) sudah tentu yang paling kronik and i really effing hate this one - adalah memberi syarahan di hadapan class. Saya masih ingat lagi.. long sigh.. membuat latihan syarahan dihadapan kelas di mana topik yang saya pilih adalah mengenai kepupusan binatang tetapi sepanjang syarahan tersebut, hanya tiga perkataan berdetik dalam kepada saya iaitu, yes you guessed it – wtf. Ini disebabkan oleh rakan-rakan kelas saya yang obviously tidak tertarik dengan what i had to say because i was soo effing crap dan juga kerana saya telah detect ada mata-mata yang telah separa katup, disebabkan migrasi mereka ke dunia subconscious. Sudah tentu, saya mula gabra disebabkan ini. So, secara naturalnya, I went on and on and tidak lama kemudian dan with full consciousness, saya mula bercakap pada kelajuan 160km sejam dan menukar syarahan tersebut kepada bahasa inggeris.

Yes, Cikgu J. was not amused. Hehehe..

And as i walked back to my desk, yang terletak di paling belakang kelas and of course on that particuar day, it was a looooooooooong walk back, saya memberi ketenangan pada diri saya kerana sekurang-kurangnya, saya fikir, walaupun syarahan saya sungguh wtf, at least saya memberi Cikgu J. small talk dengan isterinya ketika dinnertime malam kelak. 'Awak tau tak manja, budak U.S tu memang mangkuk....'

Jadi, setiap sekali masuk waktu bahasa malaysia saya akan mendoakan agar berlakunya sesuatu( yang sudah tentu non-fatal dan tidak bahaya) kepada Cikgu Jamain seperti tayar pancit ke, terbasah seluar di bahagian seluat yang tak sepatutnya, Cikgu atau pelajar histeria ke? You know, sesuatu yang menghalangnya dari masuk kelas. Tetapi oleh sebab, saya tidak tahu lagi teknik-teknik law of attraction (aka the secret atau power of the subconscious mind), Cikgu Jamian akan tetap melangkah masuk.

Anyway, Pantun after wtf pantun, syarahan after wtf syarahan, sajak after sajak. Wtf after wtf, saya lambat laun mendapat C3 semasa peperiksaan SRP.

Honestly, somehow, that sinister old man, had played some part in my malay language because i can remember details of his torcher. Dan walaupun dia tidak mengajar saya BM selepas form 5, saya medapat C3 untuk SPM - which is still bad but not so bad lah.. Saya percaya itu pun disebabkan adanya soalan esei 'wawancara' dalam soalan peperiksaan SPM. ( And note : i believe this was the first hint of scriptwriting). Of course i was disappointed because i was in that angst mood to prove the world, that this broad aint stupid and because me and friend Gina, wrote it in our capsule of list of targetted subject that BM would be A1 ( we buried that list of SPM target results somewhere in the vicinity of SMS Muar. Cant remember where tho.) Apa-apapun saya menghembus sigh of relief kerana apabila SPM dah habis! Kerana saya masih tak sedar diri, saya sungguh gembira dengan hakikat yang saya boleh pegi ke UK untuk belajar Law dan tak payah cakap Melayu selama-lama-lamanya. Yahoo!!!

Tapi, all was not rosey and my plan to never ever ever speak malay again would not happen...kerana sebaik sahaja saya menjejak kaki saya buat A-LEVEL , saya telah culture shock!

Firstly, rupanya lebih ramai yang tera bercakap inggeris dengan lebih laju dan lebih slango dan juga lebih banyak vocabulari dan mereka tidak perlu pun pergi ke luar negara untuk bercakap demikian!!! Oh My gawd!

Kedua, tiba-tiba saya menyedari lidah tidak lagi dapat menggulung 'R' dengan effortlessly seperti manusia America yang lain....dan sambil memberus baju dengan sabun Fab di bilik air, saya praktis diam-diam....

Attempt 1 : "You know, rite.."
Attempt 2 : " You know, rite."

Wtf

Attempt 3 : "you know, Rrite..'

Finally..Phew. Still Got it.

Dan ketiga, yang paling 'hit me in the crotch' dan 'wtmf' adalah apabila di konfrontasi oleh manusia-manusia terutama yang dari KL, yang bisa berbicara inggeris dengan sungguh effortles, the worst had beset me...

Yes. When confronted with another fast speaking malay, i realized began translating what i had to say from MAlay to english..

And images of Cikgu J began looming again.. The man had done his deed.

Damn you cikgu J - i was beginning to think in Malay!

Ohhh tidakkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk!

Bersambung ke JAngan MAlu Cakap melayu (Part 3)

Jangan Malu Cakap Melayu (part 1)

2008-12-27T00:10:00.000+08:00

Note 1 : Artikel ini akan ditulis dalam kedua-dua bahasa melayu dan inggeris.
Note 2 : Wtf is 'What the eff'

Beberapa hari yang lepas, saya telah berpeluang untuk berjumpa dengan beberapa sasterawan negara demi membentangkan beberapa cadangan kami. Seperti biasa, saya membentangkan cadangan kami dengan penuh semangat yang tidak ingat dunia, terlebih teruja dan kadangkala, ketawa sendiri sebagai satu mekanisme untuk menutup malu apabila tersasul cakap.

Setelah menghujani penonton di kawasan dihadapan saya dengan air liur, entah beberapa minit setelah perbentangan saya selesai, saya ditegur oleh Dato B.

Dato B : You dont speak Malay ke?
Me : Cakap...
Dato B : Liza, you should speak Malay more tau because you nak bentang pada orang-
orang yang titikberatkan bahasa melayu.
Me : (actual thinking) Oh crap.. what is wrong with me!
Dato B : Lebih-lebih lagi, you are in this industry..
Me : (actual thinking) Tripple crap... (telling myself)..speak malay, you retard!

Punyalah penguasaan dalam bahasa melayu saya amat lemah sehinggakan, saya nak kutuk diri sendiri pun dalam bahasa inggeris.Apabila saya ditegur olah Dato B. mengenai pertuturan saya yang kurang sempurna dalam bahasa melayu itu, saya merasa amat-amat teramat malu terutama kerana saya berada dalam industri yang mmenitiberatkan penggunaan bahasa melayu.

Saya pun pulang ke ofis dan mengadu kepada rakan kongsi syarikat saya.

Me : You tau tak ...Dato B cakap kita tak leh cakap Melayu?
Rakan Kongsi 1 : Ayah Alwi pun cakap benda yang samalah, Liza!
Me : (thinking) Oh crap...

BTW, Ayah Alwi is Syed Alwi the man responsible for the wonderful play 'Alang Rentak Seribu' May God bless his soul/Semoga roh Ayah Alwi dicucuri rahmat.

Apa yang membuat saya lebih malu/marah pada kecacatan bahasa saya adalah kerana syarikat kami sedang berikhtiar untuk menjadikan bahasa melayu 'cool' balik. Rupa-rupanya, aku pun cakap melayu tersekat-sekat macam sembelit jek. wtf.

Secara jujur, saya paling pantang bila seorang yang berkerakyatan Malaysia bilang 'My malay is so bad'. Wtf. Kau belajar apa bahasa tu kat sekolah.. Apahal tak boleh cakap Melayu....Ada beberapa jenis rakyat malaysia yang pernah mengeluarkan statement yang mengatakan mereka malu dengan bahasa melayu:

Rakyat Malaysia A : I wish i could write like you but Malay is so bad... (sambil cedok sambal belacan)
Rakyat Malaysia B : I'm being interviewed tomorrow but my malay is so Baddddd.. Oh Noo, what am i going to do?
Rakyat Malaysia C at a Starbucks in Balakong : Can i have one CaRRRRRRamel Machiatto? Venti, yeahhhhhh? (penekanan kepada 'r' seperti orang-orang America demi menghapuskan slanga Melayu)
Rakhyat Malaysia D: .. WhateveRRRRR....(penekanan kepada 'r' seperti orang-orang America demi menghapuskan slanga Melayu)
Rakyat Malaysia E : She's so nice, RRRRite!....(penekanan kepada 'r' seperti orang-orang America demi menghapuskan slanga Melayu)

Sebenarnya, tidak salah menggunakan slanga Melayu ketika berbahasa inggeris. Bahkan orang-orang Perancis, Germany, China, India dan lain-lain negara menggunakan slanga masing-masing semasa bertutur bahasa inggeris. Of course ada 'exception' to the rule iaitu Deejay/veejay channel radia/video di nusantara ini sahaja yang laju bertelo Amerrrrican/British memandangkan MTV dimiliki Amerika Syarikat..

Hmmm.. tapi actuallynya, saya pun pernah menjadi seperti A.B.C.D.E.F juga di atas. And i'm still like that sometimes. Kalaulah saya menjadi karektor utama (Scrooge)dalam filem Christmas Carol (dalam kes ini Dendang Idulfitri), dimana saya ditemukan dengan Ghost of the Christmas Past(dalam kes saya ini, Hantu Idulfitri Masa lampau) dan saya dibawa balik ke zaman ketika saya muda, saya pasti akan berbisik pada Hantu Idulfitri Masa Lampau, ' Mengadanya budak nih!' Hantu Idulfitri Masa Lampau akan membalas, ' Memang.. '

Tetapi, kadang-kadang harus juga aplikasikan juga slanga mat salleh ni. Especially, kalau saya masuk Starbucks dan saya dilayani oleh Barista yang sungguh berlagak dan menekankan slang Inggeris -KLnya semasa saya nak mengambil order saya. Dalam situasi sedemikian, saya pun menggulung lidah saya dan mengeluarkan slang saya itu. Biasanya aku cakap Melayu jek nak order air ni..

Tetapi, saya ada sebab kenapa bahasa Melayu saya menjadi sungguh 'wtf'

1)i had to keep up with the yuppie crowd. Saya pernah bekerja di syarikat-syarikat international yang secara umumnya bercakap inggeris dan dimana apabila saya tersebut 'Alamak', saya di tenung seperti saya telah melakukan jenayah besar.

2) Satu per empat daripada hidup saya dibesarkan di luar negara. Brace yourself - ini merupakan justifikasi yang agak panjang. Biasanya, saya tak suka sangat nak sentuh sejarah hidup saya kerana malas dipersoalkan tapi demi 'drilling' down the idea of today's topic, okaylah...

Saya sempat bersekolah di sekolah pra-sekolah (pre-school) di UK, sekolah rendah dan sekolah tinggi di Amerika Syarikat dan akhirnya melanjutkan pelajaran di universiti di UK. Saya tahu perasaannya menjadi pelajar berbangsa Asia semasa bersekolah di Churchil Road Elementary School. Saya pernah dicemuh kerana berkulit sawo matang dan bercakap dengan slanga Melayu oleh pelajar-pelajar di Amerika Syarikat. Malah seorang rakan saya di sana yang berkerakyatan Amerika tetapi keturunan cina pernah memberitahu saya 'My dad says i shouldnt be friends with you because you have an accent'. Wtf. Of course, at that time, i didnt know any curse words so all i could think of is 'Alamak!'. Lepas tu, balik rumah - nangis.. (Come on, i was just 10 years old. Cruel thing to be said to a child)

Nasib baik saya seorang yang agak mesra rakyat, kerana gadis berbangsa taiwan itu lambat laun menjadi kawan karib saya (padan muka ayah dia haha). Tetapi kerana kenyataannya yang sungguh menghina, saya terpaksa memperhalusi slanga american saya. Susah hidup kat Amerika Syarikat kerana saya bukan bangsa america dan beragama islam. Tetapi apa-apapun, saya amat suka bersekolah di sana kerana ianya memang seronok dan Mr Bott adalah cikgu yang paling best. ( I will talk about how fun the education system in America one day). Disebabkan peperiksaan SRP di Malaysia, ayah saya telah menghantar saya dan kakak saya pulang ke Malaysia ke sebuah Asrama Berasrama Penuh yang secara dasarnya sangat-sangat Melayu. Masa tu memang saya rasa 'wtf' dan terkejut beruk. Terutama setelah berada tiga tahun diU.S, sukar bagi saya dan akak saya untuk sekali lagi membuat peralihan bahasa. Secara terus terang, saya sudah selesa tinggal disana dan terlupa kami harus pulang ke Malaysia. Dah lah, anak-anak expatriate Malaysia yang dihantar pulang ke mana-mana sekolah Asrama Penuh secara amnya, dianggap oleh pelajar-pelajar di sekolah asrama penuh sebagai 'anak-anak orang kaya yang spoil dan mangkuk dalam pelajaran'.

I was not spoil and was not mangkuk dalam pelajaran ( i admit, i was at first though. hehe..) Tapi bosan sey dianggap bodoh dalam pelajaran.. tapi lagi bosan bila asyik kena ejek 'berabuk'..

And that's part 1... to be continued.

Is it Roslie Dhobie, Rosli Dhoby or Rosly Dhobi?

2008-12-22T10:40:00.000+08:00

Honestly, i have no idea.. In some old court transcripts it's Roslie Dhobie...
Some articles spells it minus the 'e' but adds in the 'y' in either the first name or surname. Some articles depict the name having no 'y' nor 'e'... In other words, ikut suka hati aje...

So, because of that, i've decided to 'ikut suka hati' too and 'bantai aje' the name through out the whole script. Besides, the final product is a television drama so, i won't be forcing the fellow actors stressing the 'e' in the name..
I can imagine the scenario if we had...

Beginning of Scenario

Actor : Kamik sik mahu, Rosli! Sik mahu!
Director : Anddd CUT! Boleh tak you stress the 'e' in Roslie.. Cuba sebut sikit?
Actor : Roslii?
Director : Stress a bit more..just a bit more..
Actor : Rosliii?
Director : Better! Okay, lets try again.. Andddddd ACTION!

End Of Scenario.

You see, not much difference kan? Hence, to be loyal to all articles and transcripts and whatever , i have Roslie, Rosly or Rosli is 'berterabur' all over the in perhaps episode 1 - its Rosly.. and in episode 2.. its Rosli..

Anyway, lets go straight to the point. Sebenarnya posts ini ditulis dengan tujuan untuk menerangkan serba serbi mengenai projek terbaru KL Motion Picture Company, bersama-sama dengan Astro, iaitu sebuah projek epik yang berkisarkan seorang pejuang negara bernama .. yes you guessed it.. Rosli Dhoby.

Rosli Dhoby was a sixteen year old young malay-melanau student who with much panache and ado, had thrust a melanau blade into the abdomen of the newly arrived British Governor Sir Duncan Stewart George, in protest of the cession of Sarawak to the British government. Rosli, at 16, was hung to death 4 months after the event. Imagine that...16 years old. What would we know at 16?

Apa-apa pun. Personally, i like the story. It's a story of hope, love, family, passion and spirit. We will be shooting in January and it's a tough project because there are a lot of factors involved which i shall explain in later posts.

At this point of time, our E.P- Kye is growing a lot of white hair as he reads further down the script, which i wrote. Heh heh..
The director (who is also the scriptwriter) is also growing a lot of white hair as she realizes what she has to translate from script to screen...
But both hopes that the white hair is worth the effort.

InsyaAllah.

Wear Sunscreen - Baz Luhrman

2008-10-29T21:38:00.000+08:00

One of songs by one of my favourite directors which i take to heart..

Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen) - Baz Luhrman

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it.

The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…

I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not
understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.

But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and
recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before
you and how fabulous you really looked….

You’re not as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing
bubblegum.

The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you

Sing

Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss

Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes
you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with
yourself.

Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you
succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your
life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they
wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year
olds I know still don’t.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.

Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe
you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky
chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t
congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your
choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever
own..

Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for
good.

Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the
people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you
should hold on.

Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and
lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you
knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live
in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel. Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will
philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize
that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were
noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders. Don’t expect anyone else to support you.

Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will
look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who
supply it.

Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of
fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the
ugly parts and recycling it for more than it’s worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen..

If i promise to miss you, will you go away?

2008-10-27T22:19:00.000+08:00

That got your attention hah?

That, for your information is, a quote from a book i bought, entitled 'WIT & WISDOM', in BORDERS two days ago at RM5!! 5 rm! 5 ringgit!!

I know! What a bargain, right?! It has all these funny quotes... It's such a cool book cause its got pics of animals ( i love furry animals) and the corresponding quotation for each picture. Its so funny, i keep laughing as i flip through it. Like there's this one quote that says ' I got all the money ill ever need.. unless i buy something!' Hah hah hah..

But it was not easy to find. In fact, i was late for a open house because of this. Hehe...

But there were so many books.. and put WOMAN + BARGAIN together.. that ultimately means .. TIME.. a VERY LONG TIME.. and CREDIT CARD.

But, to get the bestest(warning: there's no such english word) of bargains, you gotta be a patient bargain shopper like me. Heck, deep down inside me is that little fat girl in Cardiff ( who apparently likes to cook lasagna) and most importantly an avid bargain shopper who could find that loads of treasures which includes a 20 pence horoscope book under a pile of stinky clothes and books at a Car Boot sale. The 20 pence horoscope book, which i'd like to remind friends who remember, was a source of my ridicule for quite some time, BUT i was not fooled because, i caught them ...all of them who ridiculed me for that purchase, reading that little horoscope book. You know who you are, people..

Anyway, the reason why im updating my blog right now is for the below reasons:

One .... Mala, a friend of mind, said im such a lazy blogger..
Two .... I'm taking a break from the Indon language. Im helping a friend out reviewing a script in Indon... Its such an inconsistent language where they add 'in' behind every base word..

I shall put forth an example. For this i shall use the malay word KENAL. Kenal, in English is defined as 'to get to know'. Now, in indonesia, they'll say 'Kenalin' .. In Malay, we say 'Kenalkan'! So.. its basically IN vs KAN.

Let's give another amusing sentence. The Indons like to mix and match. Here's one sentence ' Udah deh, jangan bikin gue ilfil.."

Translation :

"Oh stoppppp guys.. dont make me get ill feelings..."

Yup. Ilfil is ILL- FEELING.

Lucky for me i got a business partner yang boleh cakap indon. hehe.. So, sonang idup.. (now that is bahasa negeri sembilan. Lets not go there!)

Three.... I'm bored.

Four .... I'm sick. The real kind.. Im sweating like a pig right now and my head's actually spinning. I hate being sick.

Thats it for today. Blogging is so hard work.

And now, i have to rest because im sick.

Slicing Down the Minutes

2008-10-20T02:28:00.000+08:00

Today, i will speaketh of editing a film. (my shakespearean language is so off)

For those of you who do not know, i hereby present you the shot definition of editing which is... "The process where the film is assembled by the film editor and made into sense by assembling the pictures as per the screenplay ( visual script)"

Anyway, we were tasked to slice down 55 minutes of Hooperz the movie, a co- production between GBSB, KL Motion Pictures and MHz. 55 minutes may seem peanuts to some, but experiencewise, slicing off 5 minutes is to me, gruelling and a task which most of the time, takes 5 hours.

So, i made calculations in my head. 55mins/5 minutes would equal to 11 sessions of 5 hours edit which equates to 44 to 55 hours which if divided by 5 hours work per day would equate to .. la da dee la dee dum..er.. roughly 11 days of work. Are you following me? Its okay, you need not too cause basically just understand this - we need to do this in 11 days but we need to work double time that and get it done by Friday.

Of course, we had our other work to the clients so, i cant really give 10 hours a day to do that.. I had lotsa of meetings, 5 proposals to review and send, 1 agreement to read, 2 scripts to write, 1 treatment to write, wash my curtains, move the book racks in my new study, and exercise some more! Plus i wont be able to visit my mother this weekend which would also equate to long SMS's in capital letters from my mother ( she has yet to learn how to un-capitalize) telling , or practically shouting, to me that money is evil. evil.. evil... Long Sigh..

However, we decided to masuk malam and work till morning. And from Monday, we manage to finish and slice off the 55 mins yesterday, the 6th day. What a feat!

So, we're pretty happy. The story's way tighter. To do this, we had to work with Akash Singh - a towering man of punjab descent with broad shoulders and lotsa hair on his arms but yet humble and has an eye for detail. And now, i know why Akash won best editor for Cinta in Filem Festival Malaysia in 2006 and also, won best directing for short film in the same festival. Ya, dia menang banyak duit.

Now, its a matter of putting in the songs. Yey..

A Breakthrough.

2008-09-26T03:52:00.000+08:00

Finally. A breakthrough. Been writing project 'icantsay' and promised you-know-who-you-are the script yesterday but didnt get it delivered yesterday.

Yeah.. yeah.. yeah.. i can hear it now ...you-know-who-you-are's childish yet in mannish tones rhyming 'Liar.. liar.. sweatpants on fire!'

But after much ogling and many migraine attacks, i have finally made a breakthrough and to my glee, have found what shall the heart of the story shall be. That's progress.

Now i just have to piece it in .. FAST..

Note:

1) Always try to remember the number of painkillers you have eaten, before swallowing another one. It'll burn a whole in your stomach. Sakit siot. And puasa becomes gruelling.

2) Imagine the animals you have at home ( in my case, cats) as the horses your characters ride on.

3) Promise yourself one ep Gilmore GIrls after every 5 page for motivation. And for further motivation, slip in a Lipstick Jungle sekali-sekala ( Robert Buckley is so Blonde Orlando Bloom.. yummy yum yum)

You just gotta watch Ceraiya..

2008-09-04T00:06:00.000+08:00

Anybody who likes Dunia Baru... Tapi adult version. Well, watch Ceraiya! Its a major riot and kelakar. For a person who never laughs at her own products , this actually made me laugh.

If you wanna see Tony Eusoff & Melissa Maureen in a more comedic and mass role - here's the place..Directed by Chunk Azizi Adnan, written by me, edited by Akash Singh and executive produced by Kye aka Syed Khairul Fariz - its a riot.

Basically, i wrote the script and outline of the story but Chunk added more siotness and mengarut element to it, making it just fahnee!

Tengok.. tengok dan tengok.. go to www.gua.com.my. Rugi tak tengok..

LIMA

2008-09-01T15:47:00.001+08:00

Lima is a serial drama series produced by KL Motion Pictures (of course) for Astro Ria. It's my first ever directing feat. Initially, i wasnt suppose to direct but the original director had other obligations and hence, had to take off.

In a hazelnutshell, Lima is a 12 episode sob story serial. It stars talented stars such as Nam Ron, Irma Hasmie, Watie Elite, Wan Azly, Intan Nor saina, Anita Baharom, Anding, Sari Yanti, Kak Normah Damanhuri, Riz Ainuddin, Fikrie Bakar, Beto Khusyairi, Zarin, Marisa Yasmin, Zazli, Along Effendy and a many more talented actors and actresses..Of course, a huge part of the story was carried by young child actors namely Aqeen, Farah Nadia, Syainie Aida, Syazwan and Dania.

Lima was executive produced by Kye, DoP by Pali Yasir and his ever so patient team. I was assistent by Reen Emran, sound was taken care by Rashid, conty was taken care by Mas, Wardrobe and Makeup by Fina and Along, the art dept was a young crew consisting of Faris, Dath and gang. The whole team was product manage by Azie, Mujeed, Shuk, Izal and few others. Have i missed a name. And and the post is supervised by Amirul and another person, i cant mention due to national security reasons.

It was a 26 day shoot.. i basically directed for 22 days full. Crazy scheduling.
Sound problems. Weather problems. Name all the problems anybody might encounter during a shoot, you got it.

Lotsa problems outside the shoot which related to the story. Freaky huh.. Yeah.. it was. Its so freaky that my older sister refuses to watch it because of the the consequences that could occur due to the law of attraction...

Anyway, yes, law of attraction has indeed invoked some, freaky circumstances on set..
Examples :

1) The character, Suha played by Irma dies.
There was an actual death during
2) The accident.
There was an actual accident during the shoot.
3) The severed finger.
One of team's nephew severed his finger
4) Management disputes.
Lots of this.
5) The prison.
Haha.. if you only knew..

Professionally, it was a huge learning curve. I basically had to slide upwards the learning curve a.s.a.p. Tak sempat pun nak baca the extremely detailed book on directing which my brother sent me. So my directing was based on, my personal observation of other directors at work, commentaries by Nora Ephrons and Nancy Meyers and knowledge from some filmmaking for dummy book i read once upon a time.

Personally, i was slightly robotic on auto cruise mode during the whole shoot. I became rather unfazed with the happenings around me and slightly slow to react to whatever happenings outside the shoot and any unnecessary incidents. I realized that i had to take vitamins because i was consistently sleepy on the set and had volumes of nescafe (courtesy of Mujeed) which altogether, messed up my diet. I downed 8-10 cups per day and whenever, i get the occasional 'Light Coke', i was as giddy as ever. In short, i was caffeine saturated. I don't smoke so that's the furthest i go. Hehe..

I soooooo missed the gym. And I missed my 2 remaining gym sessions.I so missed my cats. My house looks like a furry combat zone with cat hair and Light Coke tins placed merata. I didnt have the energy to take out the 5kg vacuum cleaner out to vacuum up all the cat hair. My plants are sickly looking due to lack of water, my eyebrows have grown berserk, my hair looks skanky and my teeth has a hole in it ( which i fixed today and found out i have another hole). The dentist says i have nice teeth tapi 'sayang'! Because of that statement, tomorrow im going again to scale and polish all my teeth and to fix the other hole. Best of all, i lost my voice. The hailer came sllightly to late.

Nevertheless, it was an interesting experience.

Most importantly, is regardless of all the complaints above - had i done a good job? I think - so so aje. I could have done better...Due to the timing and all other problems, i had to rush the shoot. I wish i had more time on my hands.

Bella raih 2.6 penonton

2008-06-27T08:51:00.000+08:00

Two weeks ago, i was invited to a majlis keshukuran for Bella by TV3. I was wearing jeans and not baju kurung because ugh,long story.

Basically, on this Majlis Keshukuran, i have to commend this particular event because TV3 held onto their word.

Anyway on Bella, well firstly it was a huge risk for the people in charge of the Akasia slot to run away from the adaptation from Brazillian soaps format. Hence, giving me the opportunity and flexibility to write. But they did it and it paid off.. Whoa. Honestly, the first ten eps was a bit slow and i was like really frikking nervous and so was the Akasia people. But it picked up as i believed it would.

Anyway, I remembered during the initial discussion with GBSB and TV3. The GB & TV3 people i.e En Johary, Jai and the two Kak Siti's was saying that should Bella achieve 2.5 ratings, a kenduri doa selamat will be held. And it achieved 2.6 and they did a kenduri selamat PLUS they invited me! In a country like Malaysia, where writers are considered bottom rung hence rarely invited to these occasions. (Not that i mind so much because im never a party goer cum socialiser), this is a major acknowledgement. Its sad to say, here, writers are unworthy.

Theyre just the individual behind the pc screen churning out the ideas and provide the blue print of the story whilst their back ache and their vision blur..

It happened to me several times and in fact, it happened to me recently with this other production and worst, i even hold higher rank in that one tapi what can i say.. melayu memang mudah syok sendiri dan lupa. Tak per lah. Sometimes, you just gotta remind yourself how and why you get certain opportunities, be a bit grateful and be a bit selfless. God has a way of turning the wheels of fate. Karma bites. Emo sikit pagi hari ni.. hehe..

So, for Bella - thanks TV3 and GB. Im so terharu. So so so terharu...

Here's an article in Berita Harian dated 27 June 2008 about Bella...

BELLA PIKAT 2.6 JUTA PENONTON

Oleh Serimah Mohd Sallehuddin

DRAMA bersiri Bella yang mengisi slot Akasia berjaya mencatat jumlah penonton tertinggi 2.6 juta. Angka itu adalah yang tertinggi pernah dicatatkan slot berkenaan yang sebelum ini pernah menayangkan Manjalara dan Spa Q.

Lebih membanggakan lagi, Bella tidak mengambil format daripada Amerika Latin yang digunakan dalam drama yang mengisi slot Akasia. Sebaliknya idea berkenaan adalah milik anak tempatan seratus peratus.

Pengurus Kumpulan Pengurusan Jenama TV3, Johary Salleh Abul Rahim, berkata kejayaan itu jelas membuktikan anak tempatan juga mempunyai kemampuan setanding produksi luar. Bagaimanapun, dalam masa terdekat TV3 masih lagi berpandu kepada format telenovela kerana kejayaan yang sudah dibuktikan di negara asal drama berkenaan.

“Bella adalah drama pertama daripada slot Akasia yang tidak berpandu kepada format untuk slot ini. Drama ini adalah idea asal penulis tempatan. Pengarah Bella, Adam Hamid juga berjaya memenuhi kehendak yang diingini TV3.
“Bagaimanapun, TV3 akan tetap berpandu kepada format itu kemungkinan sehingga 2009. Walaupun Bella sudah berjaya, format juga penting kerana kebanyakan syarikat produksi memperuntukkan sehingga lima dan enam bulan untuk menyiapkan drama sebanyak 60 episod.
“Melalui format yang kita perkenalkan, tempoh penggambaran boleh dipendekkan. Selain itu, pengarah juga boleh mengikut sistem produksi luar terutama dari segi pengurusan pelakon,” kata Johary yang ditemui di majlis doa selamat meraikan kejayaan drama bersiri itu.

Jelas Johary lagi, isu mengambil format tidak seharusnya timbul berikutan format daripada Amerika Latin itu sudah digunakan sejak setahun yang lalu bermula dengan Manjalara, diikuti Spa Q. Sementara drama bersiri terbaru, Ezora turut menggunakan format yang sama.

Sementara itu, Adam Hamid pula berkata, kejayaan mencatat jumlah penonton tertinggi antara drama lain bukan dicapai dengan mudah. Katanya, dia menghadapi terlalu banyak dugaan terutamanya apabila terpaksa menyiapkan drama sebanyak 60 episod dalam tempoh empat bulan.

Oleh kerana ingin menyiapkan penggambaran dalam tempoh yang ditetapkan pihak TV3, kerja penggambaran dilakukan dengan agak tergesa-gesa dan berakhir hingga lewat malam setiap hari.

Adam berkata, dia juga harus peka berikutan penggambaran tidak dibuat mengikut turutan. Selain itu, dia juga harus memastikan mood setiap babak konti supaya penonton tidak keliru.

"Saya tidak sangka Bella mencatat kutipan penonton yang membanggakan kerana penerimaan penonton pada episod terawal agak perlahan. Episod 1 hingga 10 kurang mendapat sambutan tetapi saya faham kerana itu adalah perkara biasa untuk sebuah drama baru,” katanya.
Majlis kesyukuran yang diadakan di Restoran Puteri itu dihadiri bintang utama Bella iaitu Elly Mazlein, Ako Mustapha, Azhar Sulaiman, Iqram Dinzly, Irma Hasmie, Yatt dan ramai lagi.

Achtung - Hooperz is in Progress

2008-06-12T23:12:00.000+08:00

Yup.. yup.. yup..

Hooperz has started production from 9 June 2008 and shall end 18 days later.

So far, things are on track. I wish i could set myself in front of the monitor and watch the magic of movie making but unfortunately, i can't be there all the time because ive got so many things to do at the office.

And today, i'm burning up like a furnace and my nose has ran away. I meant, i have a runny nose..omg! has my illness affected my humour?(shocking gasp)

Anyway,I've downed 1.5 liters of water in the past 1 hour because i feel im evaporating and my eyes are dry and sore. If only the cellulite in the body would evaporate..IF ONLY. But, i aint worry cause i can 'secret' my cellulite away.

Sidetrack: Mariana Hashim has remarried and Sue Anna Joe has married. And both occassions, we could not attend as it clashed with Hooperz schedule. Congradulations to both. I wanna marry too..

ill upload pics of Hooperz later. Leceh lah..

Bella TV3 - The End

2008-05-16T22:01:00.000+08:00

I surely hope that i made the Bella viewers cry buckets of water watching the ending of Bellla. I know, a lot of people weren't in agreement with my sad sad ending but, i thought it was the most logical ending.

The most important thing was to touch audiences emotions. And to do so, i had to play on 'regret'.

It was not easy writing the ending because i was in the happy, teenage Hooperz boppy Mood so, to revert back and be depressed, victimized and vindictive was really tough. But i did it and left it up to the e.p, director and casts to execute it..

Anyway, on the production, there were hiccups here and i hoped that it was done not so in a rush as it could have been better but, overall, it was okay.
And the cast all did a great job.

No Senda-Senda Islam here...

2008-04-24T15:20:00.000+08:00

I was just reading some blogs saying that DBTM mempersendakan islam.

Really?

Before the fact, i had a feeling that somebody will bring up the matter.
But, everybody is entitled to their own opinion. In fact, if they want to hold long debates on the matter, please proceed.

A few facts..

Firstly, if they are familiar with my writing, i like to emit messages subtlely.
Secondly, i believe in the power of prayer - the key to fulfillment.
Thirdly, 'Sepohon Kayu' is a song. It is not Quranic verses. And not a lot of people have heard the song. so, was it wrong that we popularized it again.
Fourthly, the lyrics in the song clearly state that its an invitation to pray. Imagine more than 200,000 people watched the movie. More that 200,000 people heard the verse ' Walaupun Hidup Seribu Tahun, kalau tak sembahyang apa gunanya..' sang by teen icons Elyana and Pierre.

So, now... if we made a 100,000 teenagers hum that song, is that so wrong?

The May Lee Show

2008-04-15T10:01:00.000+08:00

I do not get this show. I seriously don't get the concept of a middle age korean american woman sporting a thick american accent and speaks like a teenager.

i try to give it a chance but i cant.

i don't fricking get it...

Hollywood does make bad movies

2008-04-13T16:40:00.000+08:00

Watch 'Silk' starring Keira Knighley and Michael Pitt.

Or better still, dont watch...

Hooperz is at its 4th draft, finally.

2008-03-26T19:07:00.001+08:00

Hooperz is made from :-

satu, Netball So-so Experiences in Carigali. It wasnt so bad. We won actually but man, it was so political... I like volley better.

dua, Green Tea Latte (testing hari tu and then because the starbuck people accidentally cleared my mug before i habis minum, they gave me a new one.)

tiga, Nescafe Kosong in Mammouth Glasses ( letak Equal to reduce sugar intake)

empat, Caramel Machiatto

lima, Starbucks Black Coffee yang sungguh tak best ( lupa bawak duit hari tu)

enam, lotsa tuna in a can (malas nak keluar makan. Yeah i keep cans in my house. Too lazy too cook. That's all i buy nowadays plus Fruit and Fibre cereal. At least i have food in the house)

tujuh, lotsa mcdonalds (malas nak keluar makan lagi)

lapan, kamikaze girls

sembilan, Juno (its not a movie i would watch over and over again tapi i thought it was interesting)

sa-puloh, lots of lying still and staring at the ceiling ( i do this a lot)

sebelas, 10 year old reader's digest. ( i have a bunch. I read 'Laughter, the best medicine' almost every day before i sleep.)

dua belas, lotsa Bickering with Dhojee (peace bro! i know you sometimes wanna clobber my head.. ditto. nasib baik i pompuan.. hehehe.. This should be number 2 actually)

tiga belas,Slight reconciliable differences with Iqbal( peace bro!)

empat belas, Lotsa Imogen Heap ( in particular Goodnight and Go, Cant Take it In, Hide and Seek. I played only these songs while writing the movie.Lupa. plus Dewa Dewi by Ahmad Dhani)

Lima belas, Outing with nieces and nephews ( Love that new song. What was it? Watermelon.. watermelon..papaya papaya ...( to the beat of 'are you sleeping bro john))

enambelas, Rug from ikea which now decorates my loving room. I contribute this purchase to Dhojee's overwhelming input on Hooperz which consequently made me lie a lot on the floor which consequently made me suffer these headaches which consequently made me hop to ikea and consequently made me purchase a rug.

Tujuh belas, Ugly Betty 3rd Season ( the writers in Hollywood apparently had a strike which halted the production of Ugly Betty halfway)

Lapan belas, Fight with family pasal tak balik raya cina.. hehe..

Sembilan belas, Mot, of course. His prancing around gives me inspiration.

Dua puluh, my late dad's favourite phrase.. kata-kata itu doa..

Apa-apa pun, i am very happy its done.

Not One Less - Zhang Yimou

2008-03-17T11:22:00.000+08:00

I really liked this movie. It was very honest. Gritty.

The Magical Country and Arthur

2008-03-15T17:31:00.000+08:00

Firstly, i need a new mouse.

On to the blog...

My nieces Elisa, 9 years old and Sofea, 12 years old, have recently been bitten by the writing bug.

They too want to be writers. Cute huh?

Anyway, they wrote a story each

Elisa's story is titled 'The Magical Country'. And although Elisa's language was tunggang terbalik and the story was 1 and half pages long, the effort was cute. Basically its about a boy named Verus who found a weird thing ( dun ask me what. She didnt describe it) and opened the door of the weird thing and went into a totally different world. There was some fighting action and the baddies had green blood.

Sofea's untitled story was about Arthur who fell into hole and met a warlock who had a cat ( i hope she wasnt insinuating me) and went from one adventure to another and finally wins the princess. I asked her to change the name Arthur to something malay.
She also had great ideas for the stories.

My nieces are largely incluence by Roald Dahl and Cerita Rakyat ( our books when we were young.

Im proud of them. Imagination is an Adventure of the Mind"

Tough Script So Far

2008-03-14T20:43:00.000+08:00

Currently writing/rewriting a movie. It's the toughest story so far ive ever written.

Got a freaking back ache and the pizza's freaking late and i freaking got sore fingers, a norm for writers. I wish i could think the freaking words on the freaking screen. (as you can see, im trying to reduce saying 'f**k' a lot ever since my recent adoration (is there such a word) of Southpark. Im freaking tainted after ive watched Southpark.

Listening to Imogen Heap's 'Cant Take It In' as my theme for the movie

Great dreamy song with lyrics.. like = laaa...laaa lalalala laaa laaa' and etau..etau..etau ( dont ask. Dunno know what that freaking means)

Read Stardust

2008-03-14T20:40:00.000+08:00

I read stardust.. But never really completed the book. I was like scanning and scanning.

10 pages a day since last week to get further details on the movie.

I like the movie better but i still love the idea of the story.

Bella Spoiler

2008-03-11T20:09:00.000+08:00

Yes.. i purposely made her a little gullible.

Even the most intelligent woman, when they're into somebody, they can do pretty stupid things.

Example : me. Well, not anymore.

Anyway, i liked writing the last scene when Bella got killed by Zahar. Farahiya tulis first bit and then i adjust a bit. Of course, i was never murdered by my ex. But i can imagine me being killed by my ex. hehe.
The feeling sama aje lah kot. Merayu-rayu lepas tu, and despite the dramatic pleadings, your hopes of family and love and bla bla bla bla gets YANKED away just like that. Kapow! ( or Ka-pooooo-wee! pun also can)

Hihihi... See, im a scriptwriter so i have to be very dramatic. You should see me scolding staff. Very drama queen like. hehehe.. and it aint not act.

Only i wish i was the vengeful type. Turn me into a goddess and seduce everybody away...

SIAPA TADI KATA ORANG MELAYU TAK PANDAI MENULIS? Hah? Hah? Hahhhhhh?

Wish Lish to BN and BA

2008-03-11T18:13:00.000+08:00

Dear All New and Old Administrators of the Government of Malaysia.

To BN -
1) Start working. Please treat us nicer. Don't turn us away when we ask for help.
2) Be fair.

To BA -
1) Start working.
2) Be fair.

Ad Lib Nightmare

2008-03-04T10:59:00.000+08:00

"Cinderelllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" coos Zahar to Bella.

"Cinderelllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" coos Zahar to Bella again.

Myself and my writer, Farahiya, wrote this drama called Bella. I mentioned it in an earlier blog. Ive checked everything she writes and "Cinderelllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa" was one of those things that did not pass the inspection of Wan Hasliza.

I didnt write it and she didnt write it. So who the hell wrote it?

Yes. It was an adlib thingy.

I understand that when people are in love, it necessitates them to call each other something endearing. But "Cinderelllllaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"??!!

What??!!!

I'm so freaking humiliated. I would never write a dialogue like that.

Oh God!

In fact, that doesnt happen in reality. Unless my feet was a size 2 lah, then befits the name Cinderella.

I mean, heck. If my love interest called me cinderella, i divorce him that instant.
No lah.. Maybe set him aside and say, ' You smoking pot?'

BELLA SPOILERS:
=Burn baby burn baby burn baby burn.
And no, dato ismail is not alive.

South Park Lyrics - Mr Hankey and Taco Flavoured Kisses

2008-02-21T16:46:00.000+08:00

MR HANKEY THE XMAS POO

We've all heard of Rudolph and his shiny nose, and we all know Frosty whose made out of snow. But all of these stories seem kinda...gay, 'coz we all know who brightens up our holiday.....

Mr. hankey the christmas poo, small and brown, he comes from you. Sit on the toilet here he comes! Squeeze and twean your festive bums. A present from down below, spreading joy with a Howdy Ho! He's seen the love inside of you, 'coz he's a peice of poo! Sometimes he's nutty, sometimes he's corny, he can be brown or greenish-brown (Mmm Mmm!) But if you eat fibre on christmas eve, he might come to your town.

Mr. Hankey the christmas poo, he loves me, I love you. Therefore vicariously he loves you (I can make a Mr. Hankey too! phrrrft)

Cartman: Well kyle, were is he?
Kyle: Ugggghhh. He's comin'
Stan: Come on dude push!!!
Kyle: Uggggghhh. I'm trying!!
[Mr. Hankey lyrics on http://www.metrolyrics.com]

Stan: Wait wait wait!! I can see his head!!
Kyle: Ugggghhh!!!! Here he comes!!!! (phhhft)
Mr. Hankey: Howdy ho! I'm Mr. Hankey the christmas poo! Seasons greetings to all of you, let's sing songs and dance and play! Now before I melt away! Here's a game I like to play. Stick me in your mouth and try to say: Howdy Ho Ho, yum yum yum, christmas time has come!!!

Sometimes he's runny, sometimes he's burnt, sometimes he's practicly water!! Sometimes he hangs of the end of your ass and won't fall in the toilet 'coz he's just clinging to your sphincter and he won't drop off so you shake your ass around, try to get him to drop in the toilet and finally it doooooeeees!!!!! (cough)

Mr. Hankey the christmas poo. Christmas leaves, he must leave too. Flush him down but he's never goooooooone!!!! His smell and his spirit lingers oooooooooonnnnnn!!!!

Howdy Ho!!!!

TACO FLAVOURED KISSES

[dialogue]
Music industry man: What kind of song do you want?
Jennifer Lopez: Something hot and spicy!
[melody comes on]
Jennifer Lopez: Spicier.
[melody changes]
Jennifer Lopez: Spicier!
[spicy melody comes on]

[Jennifer Lopez (aka Eric Cartman's left hand)]
Burrito. Taco taco. Burrito. Taco. Taco taco.
Don't think just because I got a lot of money,
I'll give you taco-flavored kisses, honey.
Fulfill all your wishes
with my taco-flavored kisses.

Taco taco. Burrito burrito. Taco taco.
Fulfill all your wishes
with my taco-flavored kisses! Taco taco.

Dunia Baru Screenplay Book

2008-02-20T18:14:00.000+08:00

I'm crying blood just editing this, Jo (No3)??

Lift

2008-02-20T18:11:00.001+08:00

Where the *&^%% is it, Jo(no2)?!!!!!!!!!!!!

As of today, Im calling you, Frank. Confuse. Banyak sangat Jo.

Hooperz

2008-02-20T18:10:00.000+08:00

Gastronomically cool!

Oh My Goat

2008-02-20T18:04:00.001+08:00

A dry subject matter can be made into a cool subject matter...

You rock,Jo( No 1)!!

Bella

2008-02-20T18:03:00.001+08:00

Picking up.

You guys want conflict? I'll giv ya frikin' conflic...

Aint no happiness and sunshine in this story now..

Alauddin

2008-02-20T18:02:00.003+08:00

This is already cool.

Kick ass story..

Sayap

2008-02-20T18:02:00.001+08:00

This is getting cooler and cooler.

Janin - Offline

2008-02-20T17:58:00.001+08:00

Hmmm..

Mammoth Cup of Nescafe

2008-02-20T03:44:00.000+08:00

This is nescafe in gelas air yang biasa digunakan untuk air buah on my messy desk. Asked Azni (she's a dear) my assistant to order Nescafe from downstair.

Then the mamak came up and brought me this. Huge mammouth besar gedabak glass of nescafe which cost Rm2.90.

Question : Now why would somebody give me a mammouth glass of nescafe when i asked for the normal one?

Answer
a) Forward thinking Assistant anticipated that i would be thirsty;
b) Forward thinking Assistant just wanted to trick me and lock me up in my room with my mammouth nesacafe and never bother the other staff until office hours dah habis;
c) Mamak understands customer needs;
d) Mamak trying to charge extra.

I dun wanna know. Really.

Anyway, listening to Gita Gutawa's Sempurna. Sweet song. Makes me wanna hubba-hubba.

South Park is damn fah-neeeee..

2008-02-17T00:08:00.000+08:00

South Park is so hilariously funny but i dont recommend for the faint hearted to watch it. Watched 1 or 2 eps dulu tapi tak pernah sampai habis and never gained by interest. Reintroduced to it last year tapi tak sempat nak tengok jugak pasal sibuk. And if anybody knows me, i memang susah nak ketawa. I watched Borat without even laughing. Not even a peep. The guys say its because im a girl. Girls dont laugh at guys jokes.

But South Park is a guy thing. So why am i lauhing. So explain that.. haha

Im watching South Park as a commercial break for my writing. The subject matter for Bella and Janin Novel is so evil, aku asyik pening aje. I have to be in the evil mood when im writing and that's so tiring cause im deep down very nice ( ye ker?) Bila dah pening menulis, i hafta pasang South Park.

Don't watch South Park if you're righteous pasal banyak sangat benda outrageous as well as profanities, featured every 2 minits. Have to watch it with open mind. I like it because banyak element mengejut. Its really funny cause its unexpected. The jokes are original and mindblowing. The creators are brilliant.
Eric Cartman - damn your so evil!

Today, as i was watching an episode of South Park, i fell off my chair just laughing at one of the episodes. More like ketawa 'hahaha', tepuk-tepuk peha, then slide (my office chair at home), crash, boom, bang. Sakit siol. Nasib baik its not in public.

The second last time i fell in public was at this airport with 'ManwithnotevenCMS' (whom i have forgiven. Forgiveness is a sign of maturity, not stupidity. Dengar tu, Rogue!) But he just walked on. Barua tol. I was so upset with myself because i was 33at that time, and i was still tripping over things, falling here and there everywhere. And i fall a lot! Kalau 24 cute lah, tapi kalau dah 33 - ya Allah. I felt slightly depressed at that incident. I remembered, i was moaning the whole week after the incident, "what's wrong with me?" Worst, the week after i fell at the airport, i was waking in Mines and i took a wrong step and just tumbled down the stairs kat tengah the mines. Bahaya betul tangga tu. The steps were tiny and steep. That fall memang sakit gila...

I always divert from main point.

My point here is South Park - damn funny.

Project 'Sayap'

2008-02-15T11:35:00.001+08:00

I and my business partner, Rogue, in Tanah Karya Sdn Bhd, have officially embarked on a project called 'Sayap'. That's the working title for the time being.
The story's more important at this point of time so, nantilah we'll come out with a better title later.

I'm so excited about the story. Its a graphic novel and it will be visually beautiful.

Me and Rogue just had a business meeting about the storyline during a 3 hour breakfast and i have a really good feeling about the story. Its got everything in it.

Once i finish Bella and Hooperz, ill start working on this.

Dunia Baru Season 4 or will it be Dunia K...? Hehehehe

2008-02-14T11:23:00.001+08:00

On DB3:-

Its ended. Feroz did a good job,kan? Cuma cameraworks tu buat kepala i pening sikit..

The kids were fantastic. Almy's improved from before but i wish Almy downplayed her acting a bit.

But, all in all, i think it did well. FEroz was spot on with the ending. Elyana was superb as always. She's just matured as an actor. I love the fact that she is able to convey expression with just a slight twitch of her mouth, eyes. She's very good.
And i like how Fiqrie portrayed Rio. He's quite 'spot on' with the acting. I wish he didnt dye his hair. When a guy dyes his hair, i always get a graphic portrayal of them sitting in a hair saloon for 4 hours. That's so..er..so.. metrosexual.

I think some people we're unhappy with the ending. Like my friend YM me and said 'Why didnt you end it like properly? End Rio and Opie together!'

There are reasons for that.

Now, since i like Rio so much, im seriously considering for Rio to... la la la la la..

ON DB4...

It still in talks. Im still developing storyline. No kata putus yet from stations nor GB...

Outline of the story is already in my head and on paper already.

Its going to be damn hilarious if i can pull this one of like 1,2,3.

Somebody just called me and asked me, if Opie was going to be seduced by some junior who will be played by Anding. Huh???

I was like 'what? sapa cakap tu?'
'Orang baca kat internet.'
'Oh ye ke? no lah...'

I tak berapa encourage kalau orang laki muda go for older woman. I believe its best that the men are older than the woman. Baru perempuan senang nak hormat sikit.
REspect goes a long way in marriage/relationships. I myself went out with younger guys TWICE (during my courting days) and i felt SO freaking awkward.

Hmmm...Then again....that is an interesting idea... Maybe, we can try that! But not with OPie lah kot. Maybe with Suzanna?

Anyway, my plans for DB4, there will be more new characters, that's for sure. And it'll be, insyaAllah, cool!

One viewer would like Anizah to end up in Tajol. I like that but not yet. Not yet.
Anizah and especially Tajol, have a long life up ahead.

Dunia Baru The Movie di Pawagam.

2008-02-08T13:47:00.000+08:00

The movie's out.Reviews are mixed! Some people hate it, some people dont. Some people like it, some peole love it.

The hazards of being a scriptwriter is you subject yourself to the publics comments easily. So, to be a scriptwriter, youve got to take everything with a pinch of salt. Bukan garam halus tau, tapi garam kasar !!

Comments can be really harsh. I just don't appreciate the ones with profanities. Tolong lah. Have a bit of class lah. Aiyo. I think people who use profanities have negative lives. So, i dont lose a bit. I really hope they realize how bad it is for them. The more they use it, the more they spiral down

Regardless, DB and DBTM was a strategic experiment for KL Motion myself. The resuls of the movie shall basically give us understanding of the ever so volatile market.

And i still got a lot to learn. I wish i could work with my favourite, favourite directors Ridley Scott, Rob Reiner, Nancy Myers and writers Nora Ephron and now ( Mr Matthew Vaughn). Bila lah tu??

Anyway, yesterday my emotions were highly depended on viewers comments on DBTM.

9:06am - Positive comments. Yey!!
3:27pm - Kye calls and says OU is sold out.Yey!
4:05pm - Negative comments. "ohh like that ahhh..Arghhhh.. "
4:28pm - Woohooo!
4:59pm - Really?? It cant be that bad.
5:05pm - Arghhhhhhhh
6:09pm - Yeyyyyy!!
6:10pm - Puke.. Puke.. Puke..muntah wekwek ( I was sick yesterday)
8:00pm - Yeyyyyy!
9:00pm - Yeyyyyyy!
10:00pm - Ouch!! Mot attacked my foot..

I've got my own views about the movie. Of course, i didnt get everything i wanted as per the script but i cant do much about it. I wasnt the director. But the script book's coming out so, i hope that would make me deliriously happy.

I need a little Stardust and Charlie Cox is so hot

2008-01-18T17:46:00.001+08:00

Im so addicted to Stardust. Its been 13 days since i last watched Stardust and i need a bit of Stardust daily just to keep on moving.
Its just basically a great movie but im a bit disappointed coz it didnt do well in the box office. Its okay Mr Vaughn and Mr Gaiman. Ill support you guys.

And Charlie... He's younger than my brother and im like 36.. but he's so cute.
Feel like those days when i was head over heels in love with John Taylor of Duran-duran...

Man, im so ancient..

Charlie, if you read this. I support your career. Just dont turn gay or end up with a female artist i totally despise like.. like.. er..

Wow, i dont hate anybody.

That's so mature...

Dear Stardust Makers,

2008-01-14T20:00:00.000+08:00

(aka) Mr Neil Gaiman and Mathew Vaughn)

I loved the movie i just cant get enough. It's the kind of movie that i love to watch, i'd love to make and worry i dont have the time to make.

I loved everything about the movie - the music ( Ilan Eshkeri), the story, the CGI, the casts ( charlie Cox, claire Danes, robert De niro, michelle pfeiffer etc...), everything...

It was just genius. And i cant get enough of it.

God Bless you all for your ingenuity.

Just For Now Lyrics

2007-11-24T15:05:00.000+08:00

Im listening to Imogen Heap and Frou Frou now. Very new age. Great lyrics.

Here's 'Just For Now'

(Just for now) (x6)

It's that time of year,
Leave all our hopelessnesses aside (if just for a little while)
Tears stop right here,
I know we've all had a bumpy ride (I’m secretly on your side)

How did you know?
It's what I always wanted,
You can never have too many of these
Will ya quit kicking me under the table?
I'm trying, will somebody make her shut up about it?
Can we settle down please?

It's that time of year,
Leave all our hopelessnesses aside (if just for a little while)
Tears stop right here,
I know we've all had a bumpy ride (I’m secretly on your side)

Bite your tongue
Deep breaths
Count to ten
Nod your head
(sniff sniff)

I think something is burning,
Now you've ruined the whole thing
Muffle the smoke alarm
Whoever put on this music
Had better quick, sharp, remove it
Pour me another
Oh, don't wag your finger at me

It's that time of year,
Leave all our hopelessnesses aside (if just for a little while)
Tears stop right here,
I know we've all had a bumpy ride (I’m secretly on your side)

Will ya get me outta her, Get me outta here, Get me outta here (repeats til end)
Just for now
Just for now (repeats)

Muung

2007-11-20T13:55:00.000+08:00

Isnt that cute? Muung is truly cute.

If i told you, how it originated, you'll just think KL Motion consists of a bunch of weird people. We are actually..

And i tell you its going to hubbatastic.

After brainstorming with the blokes at KL Motion Pictures Company Sdn Bhd, i can say for sure that Muung shall be one of a kind.

Its going to be really funny..

Dunia Baru 3 dah keluar

2007-11-20T11:40:00.000+08:00

Saw it yesterday, during a casting session which i had to join coz the tv was in the casting room.

Anyway, the camera works is slightly different. Very experimental but a lot of zooming in and out. But i guess its very 'the office' kinda style. Im okay with that.

But a slight misinterpretation of character. Opie's a bit rougher than what i want her to be. For example, originally, Opie was suppose to jump on Suzanna's bed and leave her dirty foot marks on the sheets. I thought that be cuter because, Opie is not vindictive. She's not the type to do something so outrightly vicious. She's the girl next door. So, characterwise, she wouldnt throw out Suzanna's clothes from teh closet unless, Suzanna started it first.

Director's perrogative i guess...

Other than that, its okay. I was actually quite nervous because i thought personally the first episode was just okay. All the excitement starts in the second episode actually. So, you know, how important it is to hook people with the first episode. Dah lah, masa tengok tu, Aishah, our little assistant producer, gelak sikit aje.. cis..

Anyway, I just hope the rest of the characters are not misinterpreted.

All in all, Feroz did a good work. He's one of the best directors around and we do have to remember he, did have to take over from Yeop Hitler. So, he may not be so familiar with the characters..

Okee doke. I better start writing this Bella thingy..

Dunia Baru Musim Ke-3

2007-11-12T19:07:00.000+08:00

Dunia Baru 3 will start airing on 19 November 2007. Yippee..

Am i excited? Well.. im more anxious about preparing the accounts for KL Motion right now, so i cant really think. Ive lost one electric bill amounting to Rm1k ++ and im going berserk just looking for it. Damn! Damn! Long sigh.. longer sigh.. damn..damn..*&^##@@#

Okay, nuf of the cursing.. Ive always hated accounting. I got a C for it during A-Levels. My excuse for the C was i had 3 huge bisul ( I swear!) occupying my left eyelid during the exams that forced me to wear a patch like a pirate (.. Aye!) and of course, having half of your eye sight blocked out limits your abilities to calculate properly. Hehe.. Actually, i was just hopeless in accounting. Tu sebab i took law..

Anyway, ter-detract pulak from the main subject. So am i excited? Well, biasa aje lah kot.. I really haven't had time to even ask how the production went was and im less jakun. Im sure that Dunia Baru 3 will turn out fine under the capable hands of Jalena and Feroz Khan. Yes, M.Hitler Zami has moved on to bigger things ( Movies) and i hope he does well. And im glad, that Jalena chose Feroz Khan out of ratusan directors out there. Ive always liked Feroz. He's a cool dude. And i like his touch.

Honestly, at this point. Im more worried about the fourth season. Well actually, being the prollific writer that i am, ive got a story for the fourth installments for Dunia Baru and my idea for the next Dunia Baru Movie.. ( sabar-sabar sikit ya Cik Liza.. Movie pun tak keluar dah ada idea untuk movie ke 2.. hehe..)

Anyway, lets story a bit about the 3rd season. Manalah tau ada orang nak tau.. But then again, does anyone read my blog other than the talented Sue Anna Joe..( see Sue Anna.. ive mentioned your name again.. what does that say about what i think about you... muaah!)

I had dreams for Dunia Baru..ideas.. especially on Adif and Erika..

In my dreams, Erika moved into Opie's house and there was a lot of jealousy here and there between Opie and Erika, with of course, Opie doing most of the silly things. ( that partly happened in DB3). I also wrote in the story whereby Ummi, Pierre's found out that Adif was in love and she absolutely went berserk. Ummi , of course thought, Erika had casted some spell on him and brought Adif to the edge of the world to this religious old man where he had to undergo some funny rituals.

Sounds funny huh? Well - scrap that. SCRAP IT, I SAYYYY.. that will never happen. Well not in this season.. maybe season 4.

You see, Dunia Baru third season was written with a lot of limitations..

1) Pierre Andre was going to be busy with his directing pursuit so, i was advised to limit his character a lot.
2) Baizura aka Erika, was also busy with her studies so, no can do.

But the thing about scriptwriting is, you can always create new things. You just have to think hard.... And i think hard when it comes to writing.. ( the accounting bit aje, i tersangatlah lemahnya)..

So, in comes Rio.. in comes Chichi..

A romantic angle for Tajol.. Yey. I like him..

More stories on Suzanna and Opie. And of course, revive Yusof a bit.

These are the main new characters for Dunia Baru season 3.

Who plays them? I will only know on Monday, 19 November 2007. I would have found out tapi, as i said, i have some accounting to do..I should have hired a bookeeper earlier.

Okay, i said my peace. I shall return to my accounting..

Good luck Madihah, Adif, Opie, Tajol, Darius, Anizah, Erika, Sariah, Suzanna, Chichi and Rio! May the DB wit stay with you...

Everyday's an adventure.. Embekkkk...

2007-11-05T08:13:00.001+08:00

The thing about life is you never know where it'll take you. Well, last week it took me to Bentong, Pahang at Best Goats and Farm where 163 goats welcomed me with open feet...

I went with Jo ( juara) and Razak. I was late because i had to send this heart wrenching email to one of my clients.

Then i slept the whole way to Bentong. And slept all the way back. With all the head action.. i swear, i must have looked hilarious.. Tapi, bila dah mengantuk tu, i dont care!

Isnt he a cutie? I swear in real life - lagi cute!! This little kid goat virtually ran out to greet us as we arrived there...Anyway, this little goat is a boer goat. And they reputedly taste good.

Honestly, im not vegetarian, tapi i just kept thinking ' how can anybody eat anything so cute?' Why? Why?? Honestly, had i brought my huge striped laundry bag, i would have shove that kiddie in the bag and force Mot to befriend him... It's a cycle of life i suppose but the farm was a slaughter house and the goats all awaited death. That was pretty chronic...

The owners told us, never to name the goats, to prevent attachment. I dont care .. I name this goat - Lancelot.

Comel ek? Memang comel...

Anyway, this project is part and parcell of a top secret project that im involve in. che wah! Because im involved in it, its going to be great. Yes.. i have high regards of myself, despite the fact that i have a lot to work on.

And down there is Juara.. or Jo.. crouching down to get a fantastic angle on the goats for his family photo album, i guess..

And here's Quickie. He's the main stud.. He's the goat with zillion of sperms.. He's pushing Razak, the King of this goat house...

It was pretty cool and agriculture seems fun. I dont minding a herd of sheep and goats one day.. but i do mind the slaughter. Im very emotional and can get highly attached. The sight of a cow running away from slaughter, which i witnessed 3 years ago, made me teary eyed and until today, i think of the poor cow that was made into a steak, rendang.. etc. Sedih tol.

I wish that we can make meat from stones or sand or whatever..

So, ill leave it up to the brave to handle the slaughter and what not..

Okee doke. I have said my peace. Goodnite.

JANIN ended 29 October

2007-11-05T08:12:00.001+08:00

The production of Janin ended 29 October but i was so busy last week, tak sempat nak post.

MOT is short for MOTION

2007-10-17T23:21:00.000+08:00

Mot is not short for Comot. Its Short for 'Motion'. Sheesh.. brapa kali nak cakap.. Mot is a straycat which i found in KLCC. He's not siamese cat with lotsa fur. He's just a normal cat who loves flowers. I kid you not. I have given up on growing plants or flowers as he tends to eat them raw and destroy them out of love.

Mot at 1 month- peekaboo

Mot at 3 months - manjanye..

Mot at 6 month - Skinny and Scraggly

That's my 4th plant which Mot has destroyed. For Hari raya, he had devoured two stems of roses and two stems of orchids. He does plastic flowers too. He doesnt eat them. He just looks at them.

Mot at 9 months - regal

Mot now.. 1 years old - the businessboy

A Successful Raya

2007-10-17T22:18:00.000+08:00

The KPI for a successful Hari Raya Aidilfitri in the Wan Zainuddin family is defined as ' zero' number of times our mother complains and cries about how ungrateful and unreligious her children are.

Mothers are like that. They are sensitive little creatures. They want the best for everybody and its hard for them to let go. She would like for her adult children to follow everything she says but unfortunately, we're grown ups and due to that, discord is inevitable.

For many years, 'something' would happen during raya to make Mak ( our mother) unhappy. And an unhappy Mak would mean a rambling Mak.

Few steps were taken by us to achieve such a feat pre raya, raya and post raya.

1) When her religious sermon is turned on the dvd at maximum volume, leave it on! Do not change to Astro.

2) Ask stupid questions on anything even though you know the answer and have asked the same question the year before. An example, ' Macammana mak masak ketupat ni?' She'll repeat the same answer even though its been answered 30 time before.

3) Rush to the kitchen 2 hours before any meal time to set the table and try to cook.

4) Rush to the wash the dishes after mealtime

5) When she makes fun of you in front of relatives, smile even though you feel like crap.

6) Whenever she says anything annoying, smile and change the subject.

7) Always be concern about prayer time in front of her. Make a fuss out of it.

8) Talk about religion.. a lot.

9) If you are a female in the family, do not arrive home after 9pm if you go out with your friends. That will equate you to a prostitute.

10) Do not turn on MTV or any other channel that exhibits unnecessary flesh as well as kissing or illegal contact between men and women.

11) Always know when her indonesian drama's are on. Never change the channel during that time

12) Always turn on RTM1 during Azan Maghrib.

13) Dont wear shirts that fall above your waist that exhibit your ass even though your ass is covered with your jeans.

14) Dont slam the door. That annoys her.

15) Give her money and even though she turns it down, force her to take it.

16) If she wants to visit any relative, go.

17) Laugh at her jokes.

18) If she tells you to eat Gano pills, eat it. Dont question. Its for your health.

And, those are our tips for making our mom happy during Hari raya.

We shall be using recycling it next year but hopefully, i have a husband to do that for me next year. Penat siot bodek sendiri.... For sure..