By Zedeck Siew Tell us about yourself. Did you, like any other good middle-class child, have to pick up a formal musical instrument? Yes, my parents insisted I attend piano lessons, beginning at age seven — although they had to drag me kicking and screaming the first few years. I got bored easily, and got […]
By Tan Sooi Beng Cultural identity formation and national belonging in the contemporary age is complex. Most Chinese who are born overseas no longer look to China as their homeland, and the ethnically Chinese who now live in Malaysia are no different. Malaysian Chinese who have visited southern China — wherefrom their forefathers originated — […]
By Kakiseni So the Yang di Pertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan, on the occasion of his 84th birthday, handed out 1441 royal gifts in the forms of titles and certificates to outstanding Malaysians, as is his wont (last year, he gave one to Datuk Faridah Merican, much to our collective delight). Not that a mere […]
By Jenny Daneels “Next time I say I want to do something like that [M! the Opera], please bang me on the head, will you?” says Saidah Rastam. We are in Scat Productions. Her show opens in two weeks and she is busy putting together a tape to make up for the fact that many […]
By Antares On opening night of Monkey Business, director Krishen Jit wasn’t sitting like a stone deity in the foyer with an inscrutable look on his face, as is his wont. He was recuperating from another cardiac arrest in the National Heart Institute. However, those involved with Five Arts Centre seemed quite cheerful as they […]
By Jerome Kugan Five Arts’ humble beginning in 1984 was a dismal time. According to co-founder and veteran theatre director Krishen Jit, there was no concerted effort to produce local work in English that speaks of contemporary concerns. “Even though there had been works staged by Syed Alwi, K Das, Edward Dorall and others before […]
By Antares Two years ago an email was circulated on the APA list and around the arts community requesting inputs and feedback on the possibility of everyone pooling their resources to set up a new arts centre and performance space in Sentul West. Sentul West? I suppose some folks reacted with a few sniggers at […]
By Shanon Shah There was a moment during Rhythm in Bronze: Wujud Antara that struck lightning through history. It was when the shigu drums in the instrumental piece written by Tan Sooi Beng broke into an explosion of thunderstorms and cracks. The piece entitled ‘Perubahan’, the audience was told, was written in 1999, in the […]
