Sunday 20 February 2005

Zai and Sri Mersing on a cold winter's night...

Last week, there was a group of us chatters with Pok Ku holding court yet again. Six am in London, and maybe 2 pm in Malaysia and there's Karina in Melbourne, don't know what time it was there...but Pok Ku treated us to music and songs from his Pok Ku Radio Pencen. And we listened and he spoilt me with repeats of my request : Just Once as well as Olivier Newton John's Hopelessly Devoted to You. For that, thank you Pok Ku.

That experience spurred me on to experiment with this new venture that I am about to do and subject you to a bit more than reading what I write.

Well, I have always loved radio. It paints a better picture. I did twelve years of radio and yearn to do more. Last year,I did an interview with a dear old friend, Zainol Cik Salleh, whose enthusiasm for lagu asli Melayu knew no bounds. A designer and an artist, he lived in London for 25 years before deciding that he wanted to go home. In his own words: it was lagu asli Melayu which led him by the hand back to learn more about it. Do listen to the interview and if you dont like it...just switch it off. But I learned a lot from him about the beauty of lagu-lagu Melayu asli. It takes thousands of miles away from home, for me to appreciate what we have.

I remember those days, in the cold winter nights, we'd gather at a friend's place and Zainol would treat us to some asli gems, like Sri Mersing. And I'd duet with him, Patah Hati and always give up when I hit the high note. There were nights when he'd call me and say,"Hey, do you remember this line?" and he'd sing for me.. and together in the middle of the cold winter's night, we'd try to remember lost lines of a nearly forgotten song. If not for Zai, I will never know. So, if you can bear this, please click the link below:
Zainol-Pulangnya seorang perantau

This was first broadcast on www.rantauan.tv
Thank you to Bro Ming for putting this together and thanks iJun for putting it on Realplayer.
And lastly, thank you Zai.

22 comments:

MA said...

Kak Teh : on the way to the ferry, we passed by the NST office. I can almost imagine Kak Teh naik lancha pi ofis..hehe..(based on your description in the VD entry)

Kak Teh said...

mak andeh, thanks for the lawatan balas. But did I mention NST office? LOL! Good guess!

Sunfloraa said...

Kak teh! I love the interview. The sound quality is brilliant and I agree with him about after spending some time abroad, its weird that we have to readjust back to life in Malaysia.

Kak Teh said...

sunflora, I am so glad it works!! and yr broadband is very fast. I believe zainol's interview hits us most cos we are away from home.

Anonymous said...

gilerr...sedihnye lagu tu :(

Anonymous said...

kak teh, the interviewer tu your voice ke? wah was so husky ...nice for bed talk

iJun said...

Mana Realplayer file nya?

Kak Teh would make an awesome replacement for the computer voice-over on the Starship Enterprise.

To Paul Atreides:
I really enjoyed Dune both the movie and the mini-series. Do you get many sandworms there?

realitylane said...

Very good interview, kak teh! how appropriate.

btw it's sydney kak teh, sydney. not melbourne.
now where is that pok ku. I want my dose of Radio Pencen for the day...

Anonymous said...

I've fallen in love..

not with Zainol but with the lady interviewer.

he he kidding la, Awang G, don't come back home just to kill me (kill other people also) he he.

That was one nice interview.I do enjoy it. Where can I channel to it?

See, orang kedah selalu cari orang Terengganu for anything that is asli. Kang Awang kang.

Yasmin's Mummy said...

Sorry off topic kak teh.. i saw in yr profile that you love P. Cornwall's books. Best ke?
On yr prev post, the lady singer/compere/model is Camelia, not Camilla. Kak Teh ni teringat Camilla P.B. ke?

atenah said...

waaah, rasa nak teghiak kak teh....mengasihani diri sendiri yg jauh ni. btw, kak teh punya sora very sexy lah, reminded me of adibah amin's voice in those radio dramas. KT, KT, you are very2 talented. 1 more thing, sejak bila jadi read head ni?

Kak Teh said...

paul atreides: ya lah...kak teh lah tu. Mana husky pulak!
iJun: nanti kak teh suruh kawan pasang sebab tadi kan kita ada assignment sepanjang hari dan malam?
karina: sydney??aaah tak apalah di australia jugak, kan?
eh, eh kampo: thanks. awang takmarah.
Oh you can actually go to www.rantauan.tv
yasmin;s mummy: kak teh memang suka P cornwell - she is really good - but be warned - difficult to put down! and camelia - yes, I realised my mistake.
atena: adibah aminnnnnn???
anyway, as for my red head...hmmm dah abt 4 tahun dah dok macam ni!! this has been my avatar eversince my foray into the internet world.
atenah:

Kampong_Boy said...

hah...bila kak teh interbiu? tak ceghita pun... :(

atenah said...

kak teh nak gi tengok cik siti wan kembang ye? jgn lupa blog ok

atiza said...

With a voice like that, no wonder you got to be in the movies..

Kak Teh said...

ish budak kampong ni! kan kak teh kata dalam article tu - kak teh interview tahun lepas untuk rantauan.tv.
atenah: entah pi ke tidak - mahai sangat! baik beli coat baru.
atiza: hisssshhh!

shidah said...

huish....am trying to imagine kak teh thru the voice.....'classic!'

Awang Goneng said...

Awang G to d'arkampo: ;-)

lacrema said...

Hi Kak Teh,

I am not a regular blogger nor do I read blogs that often. I have some of my favs such as bustamann, macvaysia, zsarina, ehleena etc. I came across yours from bustamann actually. I was so surprised that you are doing postgraduate studies in Malay literature. I am doing exactly the same in SOAS. Well, actually one of my courses is Traditional Malay Literature and yes, I do read Hikayat Raja Pasai, Sejarah Melayu, bits and pieces of Hikayat Isma Yatim, Tajussalatin and Syair Bidasari. It's nice to know that a fellow Malay is taking up pretty much what I'm doing here. I would like to know more about your studies. I am really interested on the medieval malay concepts of 'keindahan' in particular. My professor here in SOAS is Vladimir Braginsky. He is one of those profs who put forward this idea of 'keindahan'. It's a good topic to discuss as well. This morning he showed me his very recently published book called 'The Heritage of Traditional Malay Literature' which is on the market now. This book is a compilation of the historical survey of genres, writings and literary views of various extant malay literatures. Well, I would like to hear more from you. Salaam.

Bustaman said...

I heard the interview and have given you my comments. I grew up with asli songs. My dad played the violin and the mandolin and sang all the songs that Zainal sang.

Unknown said...

Kak Teh,

I salute this Zainol. He has good voice, and I like his reasons for choosing Malay tradisional song.

Listening Lagu Asli is like going back to your roots. It manifests our culture and character.

Kak Teh said...

shidah: tengok redhead tu...then imagine!
AG: janganlah macam tu!!
lacrema: Braginsky? SOAS? must talk!
Pok Ku & jiwa: yes, love lagu asli as well. Thanks for comments.
Am glad i am able to share the beauty of lagu melayu asli and zai with all of you.