Ayat-Ayat Cinta

Hubby and I watched the DVD last weekend, and lo and behold, hubby tearied during the hospital scene whereby Fahri was holding Maria's hand. [Was thinking to myself, sedih bangetke?, as usually hubby is not turn on by soappy stuff] However, I have to admit Fahri's acting (the cries), was really heartwrenching!

"It was a realistic and a good movie." Hubby said at the end of it.

I did tear myself but because I was feeling more for Aishah, the self-sacrificing wife.

At night, during our pillowtalk, I told dear hubby, "When a woman gives consent to the husband to take a second wife, it is because she wants to make him happy and make the family happy, but that does not mean, she will be happy."

As usual, hubby's response is hmmm.

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!

All that I want, is just another...

What shall I blog about? Reflections and resolutions ...nah. It was an uneventful start to the new year. No reflections, no resolutions... just a fancy do. I rebonded my hair for the first time. I would still like a nice crown under my hejab without the unruly kinks, and yes, I'm pretty delighted with the outcome. It wasn't about vanity, it was about not having a bad hair day. Yes, I could have a bad hair day eventhough my hair is covered.

That aside, I didn't ponder about 2007, but I guess now that I am writing this, I am beginning to think about the shape my life has taken this year. I went back to becoming FTWM in March but in an industry totally different from what I used to be in. It was more sane, I guess, clocking in sane number of hours, and leaving on the dot or even lesser than the exact dot. Some people may think that I have caved into the rut of the admin lady - the one who does not care about the grand vision of the company, who just need to do her part and off she goes home to her loving husband and child.

Hey, but I do have a grand vision, a vision of a good life for me - that without a doubt. If you believe in Maslow's Hierarchy of Human Needs, the higher we move up the ladder, the more self-actualization we want. And I believe, I'm selfish enough to make it all about ME now. Yes, ME! Like the song goes, "All that I want, is just another..." (FILL UP YOUR OWN WORD).

I have had some great fulfilments in my career in the last decade, and though there's more higher peaks to scale in that area, I'm happy to leave it for the others. But if I do decide to climb that same peak again, it has to be different. It has to be about a cause, a personal cause. A cause that will lead me to the right path and direction, not necessarily the highest peak.

That's fulfilment.

Someone is reminding us just in case we forget

ummahfilms

Ekstra!

Pesta Perdana 9 Ekstra is making a rerun tomorrow at 7.30pm on Suria Channel just before the actual award show itself which will be telecast at 9.30pm.

Ekstra is only half an hour and features Diva N Huda presenting 9 reasons why you should watch Pesta Perdana. Peppered with some wicked humour, it takes a jab at the nominees and nominations of Pesta Perdana. I would call it sindir-sindir sayang. There are certain things that I could possibly be brutal with but it's not too nice to dry your dirty linens for all to see and you still have to sayang the hands that rock the cradle, if you know what I mean. The first watch was entertainingly wicked but I don't know how the second telecast will feel, after all we already knew the winners of Pesta Perdana 9.

Have fun watching and give me your constructive feedback.

Silver Screen Star ... Wahid Satay.

I took Mak's hands and quickly descended the steps of the TV Theatre to where Pak Wahid Satay was seated with his beloved wife. Fortunately for me, there were no one there to cajole or congratulate Pak Wahid, and I immediately took that opportunity to ask him for a photo. He obliged willingly taking out his trophy from the blue box.

Anugerah Perdana Emas, the most prestigious award of Pesta Perdana that honours an individual for his or her lifetime contribution to the world of television, radio, music or movies was presented to Pak Wahid Satay, a silver screen star of the 1950s and 1960s. Despite knowing that he will be receiving the award some three weeks before the show, one cannot deny the elatedness in his expression and words. When his name was announced, he kissed his wife on her cheek on national tv, much to the applause and standing ovation of the audience at the theatre. In his acceptance speech, he was too overjoyed to be totally coherent and after he left the podium, he was dancing cheekily on stage and the camera managed to catch him with his antics.

According to the Straits Times, this 77 year old actor was lauded as the Jerry Lewis of Malaya, thanks to the slapstick humour in many Cathay-Keris black-and-white films of that era. Among his film credits would be Chelorong Chelorong, Jula Juli Bintang Tujuh, Badang, Bawang Putih Bawang Merah, Che Mamat Parang Tumpul, Pontianak, Anak Dara, and many more. Perhaps (and I've yet to check this out) it was through the film Satay, that earned him the tag Wahid Satay as we know him today. Born Abdul Wahid Ahmad, he is just one of a handful silver screen stars that is still living in Singapore. Among his comrades is S Samsudin, one of the Bujang Lapuk trio, in which I still adore to this day. Others that I know and making Singapore their home includes the First Queen of "Air Mata" (tears) Neng Yatimah. We also have the anggun Hashimah Yon, whom I remembered as the lady who was killed in an accident in Anakku Sazali, because Sazali (P Ramlee) refused to marry her after having her. Then of couse, we have another actress Salmah Ibrahim, and Zainon (Fiji) who has left the limelight.

I hope that there could be more awards, or events to honour these silver screen stars for what we have now - tv stars and not movie stars - pales in comparison to the contribution that they have made to our local film scene during their time. Have the Singapore Film Festival forgotten them? Just because they are not Zoe Tay or Fann Wong or Gurmit Singh for that matter. But they do matter.

Between Sepet and Gubra

I was kind of disappointed. Perhaps I have set my expectations too high to the critically acclaimed films especially when Sepet has won the Best Film in the 18th Malaysia's Film Festival and Best Asian Film at the 18th Tokyo International Film Festival. I have never followed the works of Yasmin Ahmad, but having an award-winning contemporary female director, it definitely earned my top must-see list especially when there's so much slapstick movies made these days.

Perhaps it's the director's way of telling the story - the romance of a not-so-typical and yet typical Malay girl to a very Beng-looking and yet not-so-typical Beng. The underlying theme is clear, but the approach is so gentle, too diluted that it is not gripping enough. It does not really stretch the minds, or the OB marker, based on my standards. Perhaps to a very typical Malay audience, some scenes may have sounded the disapproval alarm, especially when Orked's mother and dad were both clad in sarongs. Dad, bared chest and mum, chest high. Another scene had them both sleeping, still sarong clad. This could be one of the reasons that Sepet and Gubra have not been shown on Malaysian tv screens.

Gubra was a bit more daring in her way of stretching the intimacy of Malay couples on screens. We had Orked, this time married to Arif, upset when her husband did not wake her up so that they can shower together. In order to make Orked happy, Arif scooped her off the bed playfully and into the shower. Artistically, the shower episode was not seen but we can hear their delightful screams and wails. It wasn't sexually suggestive but more playful fun, but then again, that's something new in Malay movies. The next scene was in the car, where Orked kissed her husband on his cheek. And I did not count how many times after that, that Arif kissed his screen wife Orked on the forehead or chin. Though there was one angry scene, there was a lot of peluk between them. And after the credits was over, we saw Orked in bed with Jason's brother (can't remember his character name for now), the one with the failed marriage to a Singaporean.

What I liked best about Gubra is perhaps the way Orked confronted her husband's lover. That was admirable, and something most scriptwriters may not have considered. You only knew of how hurt she was during the bedroom scene, but of course, like I mentioned above, it was full of embraced as the husband tried to win her back. There were two plots in the show, totally unrelated to one another, both with differing themes, but one thing for sure, what Yasmin would like you to accept is "do accept others for who they are and their differences is something that we could love". But Gubra looks like someone who wants to ask you to accept too many human's idiosyncracies in one movie, that it looks like it's coming from a disorganised mind after a while.

A multi-racial relationship is nothing unique or queer especially between a Malay and a Chinese in this part of the world. But how a story can be compelling and romantic is another. It was not really diabetically romantic, but then the subtlety is lost. I don't know anything much about Yasmin and her fascination for all men Chinese. Yet one cannot help in figuring it out especially when she also had a scene in Gubra where a Chinese nurse fell for Orked's larger than life Malay domestic helper. Then what is it again that had her made Orked and Jason's brother attracted to each other that Orked had to seek him out and finding them later together on his bed, with Orked's face hiding in his muscular bod. I hope it will not be the start of 'kissing', more daring 'sleeping' and 'embracing' scenes in future Malay movies. Because I was caught by a slight surprise that there was a cheek kissing scene in "Cinta", directed by Khabir Batia, and performed by on screen couple Rashidi (Vanida's husband) on Rita Rudaini. Hmmm, are we seeing more daring moves?

Next on the plate is "Mukhsin", the third sequel to Orked's life, this time flashbacked to the days that she was a young girl. I would still watch it though (because it will be better than all the not-so-kelakar comedy movies), but I hope it will be more engaging and scraping the bottoms of my cerebral, rather than just hovering at the top.

What's the dilemma?

After watching Gol and Gincu, the Malaysian tv series about modern Malaysian teens grappling with issues of friendships, BGRs, futsal etc in a private college, my husband commented, "It's too modern."

Last night, the show's theme came across vividly what the show is actually about, The Malay Dilemma. A book written by the former Malaysian Primer Minister, Mahathir Mohamad was given airtime when the heroine, played by MTV VJ Fazura, opened the book in her hands. She was grappling with her modern identity vs her love for her more "cultured" boyfriend who is into Malay theatre and poetry. Aside what's reel, the reality is her reel boyfriend's real name is Mohd Pierre Andre. There were also other casts with similarly westernised names like Ashraf Sinclair. Maybe they were of mixed parentage. Or perhaps the Executive Producer of the show is the ex-PM own's daughter.

What Gol and Gincu potrayed may not truely reflect the whole of Malaysia, but at the same time, it is not uncommon in the Malaysian city landscape. Go down to places like Bukit Bintang and Bangsar, and you'll know what I mean. Perhaps I may be outdated, and there are more "happenings" than one could really imagine in a country known to be Islamic. I know, because I have lived there for 5 months and it was enough to give me a culture shock despite being of the same ethnic group.

When I was in university, I had a visiting Malaysian professor in my political science tutorial class. Being the only Malay in that class, he would often shoot questions at me, for the purpose of garnering my interest or just plain sadistic, I don't quite get him. And me, being politically apathetic, would just go into nonsensical babbling mode as long as I provide him some kind of responses. Funny, his own article would on occasions mildly criticise his country's political landscape but he also suggested to me that if I see a gathering of big names and they are sipping tea with a teacup in their hands, it means they are drinking wine. Should I believe this man? I didn't until of course I lived there.

Drinking liquor, though haram, is still practised by some Muslims. Even when I was visiting China, and visited many Muslim Chinese homes, some have bottles of liquor in their houses. This is also true in some Malaysian homes, and some of whom are people of high profiles. I'm sure it happens in Singapore too, but I have not seen a home with liquor yet but when it comes to drinking, heard and seen them many times. While doing research for a tv programme, the only contact I had in Singapore was with a Malay/ Muslim couple who owns a bar - tiny, dark, murky and patronised by Malays. I also went into a lounge own by a Chinese man but operated and runned by his Malay "mummy" and other Malay hostesses.

Sometimes we tend to sweep things under the carpet when the reality of our society is just such. If someone says that it's hard being Malay or Muslim and yet modern, then what about those Muslims living in non-Islamic countries, and yet able to keep their faith truthfully as they could.

It's strange that in societies or countries known to be Islamic or have better Islamic infrastructure, we, Muslims and/ or Malays tend to be lost. And by some kind of Divine intervention, we managed to find our truthful path when we are in a non-Islamic surrounding. Subhanallah, may Allah continue to guide us.

Alabama - It's not a desert! And it's not in the mid-west!

The time in Alabama now is 11.40 pm on a Thursday night. 13 hours behind Singapore. For those uninitiated, Alabama is not about cactus and cowboys! It's forests and hurricanes.

Hubby cook rice today. He actually bought a mini rice cooker for US10 but in the end, his friend, who bought a US16 rice cooker wanted to exchange with him. It's too big, his friend thought and maybe the bigger rice cooker will be useful to him if we are coming over later. Hubby fried a sunny side up too. And before he could decide what else to "cook", (yeah cos he never does that in Singapore) a neighbour who brought his wife and kid along gave him a bowl of tomyam soup. Not bad eh.

Hubby is posted to Alabama, USA for the next 6 months to a year. This new posting has impacted my life very much...the decisions that I have to make and the issues that I have to deal with here in Singapore. Hubby, I wished you had been more open and communicate truthfully about the issues before you leave... it's mind boggling really, you know what I mean. That's something you have to work hard on, dear.

I handed in my resignation today, because I will probably be joining him in Alabama in a month's time, to be ... guess what... a homemaker! I don't know whether I should be excited for my new job posting. If truth be told, I'm going there with my son because I want to support him emotionally in his new endeavour. But I do feel a bit.... can't find a word for it... just received my masters and not working, had to give up this new research associate position that is so exciting and maybe a stepping stone to something more, won't have my own income. Yeah, that's going on inside me. But I just tell myself, that InsyaAllah, if there is rezeki, if it's mine, it will be mine. And despite feeling a sense of loss in many ways - I don't go, I feel lost. I go also, feel lost. So let's be lost in Alabama, and maybe the winds (hurricane!) of change will hail me in another direction. A good one, I hope.