Hope yet for both Asli and Ghazal
Ahmad SobriPublished: Apr 6, 2007 6:46 AM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 10:21 AM
For those who had the opportunity to watch Ahmad Jais's scintillating 'Bahtera Merdeka' concert last week at the Istana Budaya in Kuala Lumpur, they must have been amazed at the talent this country still possesses.
This world-class performance put together ably by Ali Bakar show-pieced a medley of Asli and Ghazal songs which the 71-year-old Ahmad Jais presented effortlessly to a spellbound appreciative audience. Many, after the concert, must have left with a feeling that not everything in Malaysia could be bad in these trying times.
In particular, Ahmad Jais's rendition of the song 'Sri Banang' with SAtan playing the accordion with Pak Ngah was mesmerising to say the least. The National Symphonic Orchestra conducted by Mustafa Fuzer Nawi was outstanding and the excellent performances by saxophonist Razak Rahman, singers Azlina Aziz, Yusni Hamid and newcomer Haziq just reinforced the view that there is hope yet that Asli and Ghazal may live on in the Malay cultural dominion under threat by MTV and especially Islamisation.
Just as we were leaders once in sepak takraw, true Malay cultural values and traditions including our songs and music appeared to have taken a beating in the 1980s when emphasis instead was placed erroneously on Arabic culture when Arabic clothing and greetings were deemed to be the politically correct thing to do by Muslims in this country.
But Ahmad Jais, in red suit and white shoes, survived, thrived and indeed may yet show that one's cultural roots cannot easily be wished away nor surrogated simply by an act of Parliament. This man, almost forgotten in this world of rap and MTV, is highly committed to his profession.
Born in Kapar, Klang, he was based initially in Kuala Lumpur and then Singapore before he decided to return to KL. In his own words, he had only songs from the radio from 'Seberang' (meaning Medan, Sumatra) at that time to guide him in his efforts to perfect his skills in keroncong and asli songs.
What's important he says is 'Mereka cuba cantikkan benda yang sudah cantik' (They try to beautify something that is already beautiful). And this apparently drove him to perfect his songs and music.
This man was fittingly given a standing ovation for it may be men like him that may yet save the culture and heritage of the Malays before it is drowned out in today's socio-cultural sea of ambiguity.
This world-class performance put together ably by Ali Bakar show-pieced a medley of Asli and Ghazal songs which the 71-year-old Ahmad Jais presented effortlessly to a spellbound appreciative audience. Many, after the concert, must have left with a feeling that not everything in Malaysia could be bad in these trying times.
In particular, Ahmad Jais's rendition of the song 'Sri Banang' with SAtan playing the accordion with Pak Ngah was mesmerising to say the least. The National Symphonic Orchestra conducted by Mustafa Fuzer Nawi was outstanding and the excellent performances by saxophonist Razak Rahman, singers Azlina Aziz, Yusni Hamid and newcomer Haziq just reinforced the view that there is hope yet that Asli and Ghazal may live on in the Malay cultural dominion under threat by MTV and especially Islamisation.
Just as we were leaders once in sepak takraw, true Malay cultural values and traditions including our songs and music appeared to have taken a beating in the 1980s when emphasis instead was placed erroneously on Arabic culture when Arabic clothing and greetings were deemed to be the politically correct thing to do by Muslims in this country.
But Ahmad Jais, in red suit and white shoes, survived, thrived and indeed may yet show that one's cultural roots cannot easily be wished away nor surrogated simply by an act of Parliament. This man, almost forgotten in this world of rap and MTV, is highly committed to his profession.
Born in Kapar, Klang, he was based initially in Kuala Lumpur and then Singapore before he decided to return to KL. In his own words, he had only songs from the radio from 'Seberang' (meaning Medan, Sumatra) at that time to guide him in his efforts to perfect his skills in keroncong and asli songs.
What's important he says is 'Mereka cuba cantikkan benda yang sudah cantik' (They try to beautify something that is already beautiful). And this apparently drove him to perfect his songs and music.
This man was fittingly given a standing ovation for it may be men like him that may yet save the culture and heritage of the Malays before it is drowned out in today's socio-cultural sea of ambiguity.
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