There was a period from the late 70s till early 80s where I listened to Malay radio a lot. The song, Kuda Hitam "Black Horse" is one of the songs that I had liked since I was a child. This evergreen Indonesian song has lyrics that stay true to the traditional, Malay-styled nature of imparting advice - non-confrontational, courteous and analogous. Sounds simple but isten to the song carefully.
The Malay language is simple yet intensely clever. They say that to know the language is to know the culture. How apt.
I especially like this version sung by the legendary songbird, Hetty Koes Endang.
Kuda Hitam
Kuda hitam aduh... kuda hitam
Tak dihitung namun berbahaya
Lari tenang aduh... pelan-pelan
Tau-tau bisa nyampai keluan
Gadis manis aduh... kulit hitam
Hidung mancung agak... berbahaya
Tenang-tenang aduh... menghanyutkan
Tau-tau bisa bikin kejutan
(chorus)
Kalaulah naik kuda hitam
Lari kencang nafas pun panjang
Kalaulah punya pacar hitam
Walau hari panas senyum senang
Jangan marah aduh abang-abang
Hati-hati hidup di dunia
Jangan pandang aneh pandang ringan
Aku nyanyi bukan sembarangan
I'm a Singaporean and I hold my pink IC proud. But when a party chants Majulah PAP, Majulah Singapura at election campaigns... I Malu-lah, Singapura! (Singapore, I'm embarrassed).
I believe Zubir Said wrote the National Anthem for Singaporeans, not for any political party.
Majulah Singapura (original Malay version) Mari kita rakyat Singapura Sama-sama menuju bahagia Cita-cita kita yang mulia Berjaya Singapura Marilah kita bersatu Dengan semangat yang baru Semua kita berseru Majulah Singapura Majulah Singapura Marilah kita bersatu Dengan semangat yang baru Semua kita berseru Majulah Singapura Majulah Singapura
Onward Singapore Come, fellow Singaporeans Let us progress towards happiness together May our noble aspiration bring Singapore success Come, let us unite In a new spirit Let our voices soar as one Onward Singapore Onward Singapore Come, let us unite In a new spirit Let our voices soar as one Onward Singapore Onward Singapore
"In search of the missing ingredient".(page 1/2) *MANJA magazine, April 2011.
"In search of the missing ingredient".(page 2/2) *MANJA magazine, April 2011.
*The New Paper, 24 March 2011. Photo by Marcus Mok. [PS: hey, I'm not 45, yet ...hehe :P]
"Sanif incorporates Malay perspectives in filmmaking". *Berita Harian, February 14, 2011.
*Manja is published by MediaCorp Publishing, Singapore.
*Berita Harian is published by SPH Publishing, Singapore.
*The New Paper is published by SPH Publishing, Singapore.
At Pesta Perdana 2011 (presented March 4), the drama series, Ayah @Rumah "Stay-home Dad", was awarded "Best Director, Drama" for Sanif Olek and "Best Lead Actress" for Sharon Ismail.
It was nominated in the following categories
1. Best Drama: Ayah Kat Rumah
2. Best Scriptwriter: Muzafar M Yusof
3. Best Director: Sanif Olek
4. Best Actor: Osman Sulaiman
5. Best Actress: Sharon Ismail
6. Best Child Actor: Akid Fauzan Boey
Thank you Papahan Films for getting me involved in Ayah @Rumah. I take the award back to that meeting Raihan & myself had at maccas Bras Basah, where we first discussed the direction that Ayah @Rumah should take.
I share this award with Hady A Hamid - the other deserving director!! (We directed alternate episodes).
To Osman and Sharon for working their a*** off on this production, yes they did! To Akid and Nazrie too. To the production crew + technical crew + interns (...too many to mention here, but you kickass mofos know who you are!) for putting it all together. To Yane and his crew for the sofa and World Cup.
It was hard work and much sacrifice. It was not perfect. But the laughter kept us all together :)
THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I'M TRULY HUMBLED!!
Post-script:
This award was presented before the "live" event, ie pre-recorded (...WTH!). Would ceremonies such as the Oscars/Emmys/Baftas/Arias have done that to this award category?
Note:
This is the 2nd consecutive award for myself in this category, ie Director, drama series. The first was in Pesta Perdana 10 (2009). In 2005, I received the same award but for a Special Drama category.
This is an appeal to assist funding to complete the still-in-progress feature film, "Ramuan Rahasia" [The Missing Ingredient]. Production commenced in 2009 but has stalled due to insufficient funds. Read on for funding details..
"Ramuan Rahasia", blends spicy food, classic Nusantara Malay songs and unrequited love into a digestible contemporary platter. The film not only entertains, your monetary pledges will support to document a cultural collage unique to Southeast Asia.
THE FILM
If music be the food of love, play on...(Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Act 1, Scene 1)
"Ramuan Rahasia" is inspired by food films such as Ang Lee’s Eat Drink Man Woman, Lars Halström’s Chocolat, Gabriel Axel’s Babette’s Feast and Alfonso Arau’s Like Water For Chocolate.
Thus in "Ramuan Rahasia", the dish used is Sambal Goreng, a signature Malay dish. To further anchor the work in the regional social context, evergreen Nusantara folk songs such as Si Jali-jali and Sayang di Sayang, have been incorporated which will be sung by and give greater dimension to key characters in the film.
"Ramuan Rahasia" also pays homage to the musical film genres directed by the late P Ramlee and M Amin at Shaw and Cathay-Keris Studios respectively.
THE CINEMATIC PROJECT
Potentially the first full-length Malay-language feature film made in the country in forty years, imagine "Ramuan Rahasia" as the meeting of Zhang Yimou's Raise The Red Lantern peppered by Mira Nair's Monsoon Wedding with a dash of Robert Benton's Kramer vs Kramer.
Rahim Razali, a legend in Southeast Asian Malay cinema, heads the list of well-known talent.
The cross-cultural components that make up "Ramuan Rahasia" taps on the ready Malay-speaking audience in 'Nusantara', where a majority totalling 370-million reside in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia alone. The film situates itself as speaking from the centre of the Nusantara. On top of that, the cross-cultural themes in the film are a magnet to the Malay diaspora and lovers of Malay culture around the world. The universal theme of love lost and reconciled should guarantee it a wide potential audience.
THE FUNDING
The project needs S$300 000 more to complete. This fund is required to film the remaining 10 days of shoot, including post-production costs. The initial 65% was filmed out of Sanif Olek's own resources.
Transaction methods PAYPAL acct: sanif.olek@gmail.com
Post Office Savings Bank (Singapore) a/c no: 085 827 227 All currencies in Singapore dollars.
BASIC $10-100
Immense gratitude and appreciation
PREMIUM I $200-300
Signed script.
PREMIUM II $400-500
Signed DVD + Credit on website
PREMIUM III $1000-2000
Signed DVD + 2 tickets to the premiere screening.
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER $4000-5000
All of the above + Thank you credit on film
CO-PRODUCER $10 000
All of the above + Opening credit on film
PRODUCER $50 000
All of the above + Opening credit on film
AMEEN will screen as part of Sinema Showoff! Curator’s Picks (Season 2010). Date: Tuesday, Dec 21,
Screening time: 7.15pm sharp.
Venue: Sinema Old School, 11B Mount Sophia, Singapore 228466
Admission is Free. Tickets are available online tix.sinema.sg or at the door on a first come first serve basis.
Screening will be followed by Q&A. Media links here and here.
I have been asked this question many times from many Singaporean filmmakers who are just starting out, don't have the 'connections' or rich parents. Or others who wonder why I'm slogging on making films when I can just remain doing fun television programmes. I wish I have the perfect answer, below are extracted from the latest one I posted on Imran Ajmain's Facebook post. I've attempted to respond the best I could.
The Question. How do young Malay people interested in film and video find out about doing something?
What kind of projects that you see happening elsewhere could we emulate for the SG scene for indie movie-makers?
Because of censorship & funding, and just about the lack of scarcity for content, Indonesian film-makers burst into a straight-to-DVD frenzy, and going strong til today. Can this happen in SG?
My response.
You NEED to COMMUNICATE your STORY to your audience. Tell them WHAT YOUR STORY IS ALL ABOUT. If you YOURSELF are able to tell your story in ONE LINE effectively, you have managed to engage your audience 80% to your story.
For example, you must be able to tell "My story is about Jack who wants to go up the hill to fetch Jill a pail of water", not "My story is about Jack's frustration going up the hill to find water for Jill". We already know it's frustrating to go up the hill, on top of that to carry a pail of water. We WANT to know HOW Jack manage to fetch that water for Jill.
What is so unique about your film?
Ask yourself these questions - why would you want to watch another half-past six MATRIX when Hollywood has done it perfectly? Why would you want to watch another Godfather when the one done by Francis Ford Coppola is considered the TOP 5 best film of ALL TIME in the world. Why would you want to watch another INFERNAL AFFAIRS when even the one remade by Martin Scorsese (The Departed) is considered inferior to the original done by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak in Hong Kong?
I feel that "wannabe" film story tellers are so fearful of how people would react to their work. Or how their film would look like. I've mentioned this and I'll mention this again. STORY is king, and I believe this applies to to making music/poetry as well. When your CONTENT is good and effective, people will be drawn to it NATURALLY lah.
Technology CANNOT assist you when your storytelling is zero. Good example of impressive films with flawed storytelling - Spiderman lll, X-Men lll, 90% of Michael Bay's films, Gangs Of New York, Matrix lll, etc...
I observe that a lot of people are worried more about technique and style than CONTENT. Technical gimmick and eye candy CANNOT hide flawed storytelling. Your HDSLRs and REDs can come later, much later, after your STORY.
You want to be innovative? Fine. Go to film school or at least study the fundamentals about structure. Quentin Tarantino learnt about linear storytelling so that later he could start breaking some rules.
The late P Ramlee (father of Malay cinema) said, "Seni itu adalah kerja Tuhan maka lakukan dengan bersungguh-sungguh dan penuh keikhlasan" (Art is God's gift, thus practice it wisely with sincerity).
Yes the only way to get your film noticed is film festivals. Don't get disappointed if the first film festival you sent your film to gets rejected. Different film festivals have their own niche and target audience. One of the reasons your film gets rejected could be the theme in your film is not suitable for the film festival, or that the film festival's programmer is simply NOT into your film, not that your film might be bad. Otherwise EAT HUMBLE PIE and make another one, and another one, to improve on your storytelling.
Oh, your family and best friends are not exactly the best people to judge your work.
For my views on censorship, kindly read this article. On government film funding, check the Singapore Film Commission's website (which you can google/bing/yahoo).
I'm still self-funding my films. Either my stories are engaging that many of my collaborators may have volunteered themselves to see that it gets made (and I'm truely humbled), or they are too nice to tell me my stories suck (which I'll be upset as they're not being honest)! Either ways I still love them - after all this industry is about constructive criticism, no?
Just do it, the rest shall fall into place.
On that note, this film, Ramuan Rahasia, is seeking funds to complete.
These "Rumah Kita' video advertorials were part of the Community Matters Public Education Media for Community Leader's Forum FPE 2010 by MENDAKI. 9 videos were screened. Participants were encouraged to engage effectively on self-reliant and empowerment following the video screening. Videos are conceptualised and co-produced by MENDAKI/CLF and Cokelat.
