ONLINE media followers might recognise Fahmi Fadzil as the host of PopTeeVee‘s The Fairly Current Show on “quirky and current affairs in Malaysia”, uploaded every Thursday. Apart from this, Fahmi is also an award-winning performer, writer and design studio operator. An active member of Five Arts Centre, he was named Most Promising Artist at the […]
Found in Malaysia
Resisting the force-fitters
By Nick ChooRafidah Abdullah (all pics courtesy of Rafidah Abdullah) AFTER graduating from University of Malaya with a Bachelor of Laws degree, Rafidah Abdullah entered the entertainment field as one of the original presenters of 3R, an infotainment programme for young women. She began writing scripts for 3R and went on to write for other television programmes […]
Culture shock in KL
By Shanon ShahUpdated 12.30pm on 11 July 2011 (All pics below courtesy of Elaine Pedley) DANCER/choreographer/actor Elaine Pedley has been performing professionally since she was 15. A performing arts graduate from Universiti Malaya, Pedley has since appeared in award-winning theatre and dance productions, including Curfew!, Spilt Gravy on Rice, Bunga Manggar Bunga Raya, and Cuckoo Birds. She […]
Malay? Chinese? Just Nancy!
By Koh Lay Chin(All pics below courtesy of Nancy Shukri) NANCY Shukri is the Member of Parliament for the Batang Sadong constituency in Sarawak and Wanita Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu secretary-general. Formerly the political secretary to Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, she was active in the Sarawak Federation of Women’s Institute (SFWI) and various non-governmental […]
Choosing to stay
By Ding Jo-AnnWill Quah (all pics below courtesy of Will Quah) WILL Quah believes Malaysian television audiences are a lot cleverer that they’re given credit for. “I’ve heard high-ranking producers and executives say time and again that Malaysian audiences aren’t ready or are too stupid to understand certain issues — like politics, race, religion, wit and international […]
Different from other Chinese
By Nick Choo(All pics and footage courtesy of Tan Sooi Beng) TAN Sooi Beng, Professor of Ethnomusicology at the School of Arts, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang, is an educator, composer, musician, author, music activist and ambassador. She joined USM as a lecturer in the Department of Performing Arts in the School of Humanities in 1980. In […]
Better Malaysia, worse Malaysia
By Ding Jo-AnnPerforming in Bunga Manggar Bunga Raya; Five Arts Centre, 2007 (Pic by Phillip Craig; all pics courtesy of Mark Teh) INTRODUCING Mark Teh with a short sentence is not easy. The director–educator–producer–performer–researcher says he tries not to place his various pursuits in a hierarchy. “I suppose I function more like a historian, more than anything […]
“Do not insult our intelligence”
By Koh Lay Chin(All pics below courtesy of Sheila Majid) ONE of Malaysia’s most beloved singers, Datuk Sheila Majid has been wowing fans with her jazzy and R&B-flavoured brand of contemporary pop since the 1980s. From the release of her debut album Dimensi Baru in 1988 to the bestselling Legenda in honour of the late Tan Sri P […]
“Bukan Melayu betul”
By Ding Jo-AnnBilqis Hijjas (all pics below courtesy of Bilqis Hijjas) BILQIS Hijjas has come a long way since her first dance lessons. “My mum sent me for ballet lessons with a girl up the road, who ended up as Linda Jasmine [Hashim] from Akademi Fantasia,” she says. “[Linda] was 14, I was six, and our lessons […]
“A country that works for everybody”
By Deborah LohHannah Yeoh (all other pics courtesy of Hannah Yeoh) LIKE many young politicians in Pakatan Rakyat, Hannah Yeoh became one out of necessity. Opposition parties needed young professionals to stand as candidates in the 2008 elections, and Yeoh, then 29, felt she had a duty. Political life and work as DAP’s state assemblyperson for Subang […]
