Pak Su Mat, 1939-2005

By Bernice Chauly It is with profound sadness that I write this. I received a phone call last Friday morning (24, June 2005) from Kuala Besut informing me that a dear friend had died. Pak Su Mat was unknown to many of us. He was the third husband of Cik Ning, the last great Makyong […]

Postcards from the Edge

By Lor Yew Mien Demonstration at Putrajaya Sometime in October last year Noon. Putrajaya Position: Volunteer for KOMAS Job Task: Document the demonstration against the Goods and Service Tax and the handover of a memorandum “No GST! No GST!” the line of 15 people chanted, holding their placards firmly in front of them. The placards, […]

Taking On New Meanings

By Dr Mohd Anis Md Nor Passionately academic and handy with anecdotes about every dance practitioner in this country, Dr. Mohd Anis Md Nor is a walking encyclopaedia of Malaysian dance history. Highly respected as a professor of ethnochoreology and ethnomusicology at University Malaya, he has been, for the last six years, the adviser for […]

The Classical Challenge

By Lisa Ho Decked with flowers and fruits in their hair to personify temperate seasons, the nymphs standing outside The Actors Studio Bangsar were unfortunately not enough to persuade many more people to give the Young KL Singers’ latest concert a try. At least not the evening I was there. In the past, the songs […]

The Thinking Man

By Adlin Rosli Azmyl Yunor – Tenets (Rapid Ear) Is there some strange community run by Neil Young, Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan over in Bangi that we didn’t know about? Judging from Bangi-based singer-songwriter Azmyl Yunor’s Tenets EP, the answer is possibly yes. The music in this CD-r release (with colour-copied-inlay cover) sounds uncannily […]

Abducted Traditions

By Aris A Ya’acob A grey cold April evening had descended on Exeter, England, along with the news of Krishen Jit’s untimely demise. I had arrived with an air of sadness and expectation. Before me, stood the grand old building, Crossmead Conference Centre, where over the next few days I shall meet with academicians and […]

Return to Nature

By Dr. Zakaria Ali The newly established Alpha Utara Gallery, 83 China Street, Penang has just opened its Inaugural Exhibition, beginning the 28th of May, running to the 10th of July 2005. Khoo Sui-Ho owns the gallery, and has invited Chong Hip Seng, Eric Quah, James Sum, Tan Lye Hoe and Tang Hon Yin to […]

Not About Winning Competitions!

By Lisa Ho There used to be a time when any intelligent discussion on choral singing would result in covert thuggery and uncouth fisticuffs. These days, incidents of uncouth fisticuffs are mainly confined to the realm of opera (also: vegetable-throwing and spitting) while intelligent discussions on choral singing find a suitably peaceful platform at the […]

The Taming of Ning

By Benjamin McKay Subtitles not required A friend here in KL recently suggested to me that my view of Malaysia might be a little askew. For over two years now I have immersed myself in a study of your old Malay movies from the 1950s and 1960s as part of my doctoral dissertation. She suggested […]

Tun Mamat Naik Lif

By Isham Rais Tidak berapa lama dahulu saya telah diundang oleh geng Kakiseni untuk merewang ke Kampung Pinang di Taman Medan, Petaling Jaya Utara. Saya telah agak biasa dengan kawasan ini. Pada pilihanraya yang lepas beberapa anak-anak muda dari kawasan ini telah datang untuk menyertai kumpulan teater jalanan Universiti Bangsar Utama (UBU). Anak-anak muda dari […]

Farewell My Contemporary

By Kakiseni Saidah Rastam is not one of Malaysia’s best kept secrets. Her cutting-edge music has a reputation beyond our borders. She has been invited for the second time by Goh Boon Teck, director of Singapore’s Toy Factory Theatre Company, to compose with his company. This time, it is for a contemporary theatre piece based […]

Welcome to KLPac

By Kakiseni Paparazzi This is what KLPac looks like as you approach it: An angular contemporary structure with two 103-year-old brick façades A former train warehouse with funky glass walls A studio for exhibitionists and voyeurs A playground for kids of all ages under a big Malaysian sky A lantern in a garden Technical director […]

What A Virgin Needs

By Lim How Ngean One might expect celebration galore to usher in the very first audience members to the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre. But all is quiet, nay, peaceful. On this calm evening, cars ambled bumpily down a winding, mud-and-gravel road to come suddenly to a complex with the most contemporary architecture of steel, […]
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