Lenka Came to Town!

Date: August 4, 2009
Location: Ballroom, Concorde Hotel, Kuala Lumpur
Event: Lenka's press conference in conjunction with 'Lenka Asian Promo Tour'

Talk about having one of your dreams coming true!:D

It all started one fine day when I was returning from our work assignment at the Parliament together with my colleague. As usual, we were stuck in the traffic jam along Jalan Travers when the radio suddenly played a song that instantly caught my attention.

It was love at first sound.

In fact the singer's voice reminded me of a younger, more sugary version of Jewel!:)

And the DJ later mentioned the name of the singer: LENKA.

The song? Trouble Is A Friend.

I LOVE.

In fact, I love the song soooo much, I actually bought her CD a few days after that - no small thingy, as I normally only buy CDs of the singers whom I'm really, really addicted to, like Shakira.


Lenka's self-titled debut album, featuring the hit songs "The Show" and "Trouble is A Friend"

And oh, if you guys have never heard of her song "Trouble is A Friend", check out this super-cool video that's just been released a few days ago. The earlier version of this song's video clip was made shadow puppet style (cool!), but this new version is wayyyy even more COOL!:D



Anyway, when I found out via her Facebook fan page that she's coming down to KL, I was naturally elated!:D In fact, I was planning to catch Lenka's showcase at One Utama on Sunday, August 2, but had to cancel last minute as I was down with fever. But God was ever sooo kind to me, as I managed to cover her press conference, yippee!!! Even happier that I managed to get her autograph on my CD, double yippee!!!

All in all, the only thing that I can say is: Syukur Alhamdulillah...:)

By the way, here are some photos that I took during the press conference:


Lenka answering a question from a journalist (check out her silk batik outfit!)


Lenka receiving a set of 'dokoh' - i.e., a traditional, three-tier Malay necklace - as a present from Sony Music Malaysia's MD, Adrian


Lenka wearing her brand new 'dokoh - isn't she LOVELY?:D

Anyway, here's the video on Lenka's press conference in KL that we did. Enjoy!



My next mission: Meet SHAKIRA in person!:D

AL-FATIHAH: W.S. RENDRA (1935-2009)

Those who are really close to me know that I love poetry - be it writing, reading or appreciating them (poems). Hence, the news of Indonesian poet, WS Rendra's death on the night of August 6 - after undergoing treatment for a month for conorary heart disease - came as a sad shock to me. After all, he is well-known not only in his native country, but also in Malaysia as well. But then again, Allah loves him more...

In his memory, I would like to share one of his works with all of you (together with the Engilsh translation of the poem), especially to all the poetry lovers out there. Al-Fatihah.

KANGEN

Kau tak akan mengerti bagaimana kesepianku
menghadapi kemerdekaan tanpa cinta
kau tak akan mengerti segala lukaku
kerna luka telah sembunyikan pisaunya.
Membayangkan wajahmu adalah siksa.
Kesepian adalah ketakutan dalam kelumpuhan.
Engkau telah menjadi racun bagi darahku.
Apabila aku dalam kangen dan sepi
itulah berarti
aku tungku tanpa api.

-WS Rendra-

And here's the English translation for my non-Malay speaking friends (forgive me, if my version does not do justice to the original one...)

YEARNING

You will never understand about my loneliness
having freedom without love
you will never understand about my wound
because the wound has already hidden its knife.
Just imagining your face is sheer torture.
Loneliness is fear in paralysis.
You have become the poison in my blood.
When I am in yearning and in loneliness
that means
I am the heating stone, without the fire.

-WS Rendra-

Remembering Natrah: An Interview with Datin Fatini Yaacob (Part III)

Oh gosh, I've been sooo busy lately (not to mention sick - literally!) to even upload the videos that we've done!:P

Anyway, here's the video on our interview with Datin Fatin Yaacob, the writer/researcher on Natrah @ Nadra Maarof, or her Dutch name, Maria Hertogh, saga. The whole interview took more than one hours, so we had to be quite selective in terms of which soundbytes we wanted to use, as Internet speed & bandwidth-related concern didn't allow us to upload the whole interview.

By the way, my favourite part is Part 3, where Fatini shared with us the TRUE LOVE story shared between Nadra and her first husband, Mansor Adabi. I was trying sooo hard to stop my tears from falling upon listening to her story...Sedih gilerrr, okay...:(

Anyway, would like to share the end results with you guys! Semoga kita dapat mempelajari sesuatu daripada kisah hidup arwah...

Regards,
-elly-

'A LESSON IN RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE AND RESPECTING HUMAN RIGHTS'



'HOW IGNORANCE OF THE LAW LEADS TO A LIFETIME OF MISERY'



'SHE SUFFERED HER WHOLE LIFE...'