Seribu tahun

This is one local song that I so fell in love with. Really. The music, melody and lyrics give me the goosebumps, however, the mtv failed to capture the true essence of the song.

This is a beautiful song - it made me visualise a beautiful epic film to go with it. It reminds me of one movie that I used to watch featuring the late Christopher Reeve and the elegant Jane Seymour. The title of the film is

Somewhere In Time and the byline captures it all - "He sacrifice life in the present to find love in the past." It's like waiting seribu tahun for that love, and in the case of this movie, it's literally finding love in a different century, crossing time through a thousand years. It's does not make common sense - the time travel thing - but then again, true embodied and passionate love should not make sense after all, isn't it? Anyway, it's a movie.

I could figure a Malay movie of this nature - transforming love into another century. It will feature that guy who played Haikal (Razif Hashim) from Gol and Gincu and perhaps the enigmatic Tiara Jacquelina in an aged make-up effects. Of course, we would have a cameo appearance of Imran Ajmain as some bloke from the past in his polished baju kurung Telok Blangah and samping kain pelekat with high songkok.I'm sure he will look regal!

Of borrowed titles...

I was seating on the red couch with hubby next to me watching tv quite absent-mindedly one evening, when suddenly, this Malay drama's trailer with English voice-over captured my attention because of its title. My jaw dropped as I turned my attention towards hubby and my eyes just opened wide.

"Yes, it is..." was his non-chalant respond, almost knowing what I might have ask eventhough I have not spoken a word.

I shook my head, heaving a longggg sigh.

"Oh well, darn, knowing them (very well), they'll definitely do it despite...(shaking head again)...whatever." If I was a juvenile, I was contemplated to make the letter "L" with my fingers on my forehead. But I merely shook my head, and just kept my peace.

So here I'm blogging, and decided not to keep my "piece."

Once, way after I had left the company, I was asked by the executive producer on my thoughts if they were to have a new season of Jeritan Sepi. Yes, I'm talking about Jeritan Sepi, the highly successful and award-winning social drama shown on MediaCorp TV12 Suria, which premiered in 2001. The first season of Jeritan Sepi won the ‘Most Popular Programme’ Award in Suria’s Pesta Perdana 5. This Award is based on the viewership figures of all programmes shown on Suria in that year. The series also sets a record as the highest ever rated programme of 8.2% P4+ (viewers 4 years old and above) which is equivalent to 306,000 viewers, since the channel’s launch in 2000. For more info, click here.

"It's a possibility," I answered, as I thought of a third season of Jeritan Sepi but of course, the new team needs to sit down and peel all the issues and problems and see how the story can develop where it was left off after the second season. It will not be an easy task.

"But what if it's an entirely different cast and different storyline...?" asked the executive producer.

"Errrr........."

I cringed at the thought, as I know, this was not the first time that they had borrowed popular titles. And though it was not the idea of the executive producer to borrow the popular title, it looks like it's a battle that she'd rather not get into with "unchanged minds" of some people.

Borrowing a popular title does not make a popular drama - even if it's the second season of the show. Look at Felicity - the popular American teen drama flopped in its second season. This is exacerbated if the entire casts and storyline were entirely different. What's more if some of the key personnel who were instrumental to its success in the first season where not part of the new team. Even a young kid understands this equation.

Popular Title = Popular Drama (Wrong!)
Borrowed Popular Title = Drama when current cast and storyline has nothing to do with the original show! Duhhh?!

It's excruciatingly painful to see this unoriginality stemming from one of the more experience and perhaps wise production team. And the most tiring, it's their inability to comprehend a simple formula, and their overriding egoistism as if they know all, when yet in fact, they don't seem to have the slightest clue or simply refuse to accept a simple logic. And they are running a station for the consumption of the masses.

Even during the first season of Jeritan Sepi, the then people at the station was not completely convinced that Jeritan Sepi could make it on its own, so it decided to ride on a previous popular drama - Selagi Ada Kasih - the one featuring Eda Farida as the kidney patient. As a result, if viewers can recall, Jeritan Sepi's opening title was tagged as Selagi Ada Kasih - Jeritan Sepi.

Because of the unprecedented and phenomenal success of Jeritan Sepi season 1 - it overshadowed the previous success of Selagi Ada Kasih - Jeritan Sepi was given the green light to stand on its own in season two, but not without every single somebody out there from the station and even outside agencies wanting a piece of the successful pie. The second season which was aptly and simply titled Jeritan Sepi, however did not make it at the "box-office" like the first season as it became a case of "too many cooks spoil the soup".

Now this so-called third season is titled as Jeritan Sepi - Memburu Kasih. Why not just "Memburu Kasih"? Doesn't the new team have the confidence and the ability to ensure that their new story of gambling, elderly neglect and a Malay/Muslim couple living the high life of women, sex and booze can perhaps be a success if all the ingredients are right? Why borrow popular titles time and again?

It seems that lessons were not learnt from a previous mistake of borrowing the popular Rahsia Perkahwinan title. The first season of Rahsia Perkahwinan featured the award-winning veteran actor S Effendy who jollied his CPF money with a Batam girl leaving his heck-care-in-appearance wife bitter. The second season, which was a totally new cast and storyline, featured singer-turned-actor Fauzie Laily as the unconvincing new stepfather, and Rahima as the wife who refused sex with hubby. The second season did not make it. The second season did not usurp the previous success ratings of the first season of Rahsia Perkahwinan. The simple truth and logic is out there. Open thou eyes. There's no one else to blame - not publicity or the viewers - it's just a simple logic.

It's time to get over borrowing. Move on. The days of Miss Universe is over! If you know what I mean.

The road less travelled

Robert Frost, entitled "The Road Not Taken"

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.