My Unscripted Life

Very few people would admit this. Not even those who have been staying in Kajang all their lives. A few years ago I would have been one of them. Steadfastly denying that I ever have any kind of affection towards this simple, yet complex pekan. But I’ve travelled all over Malaysia, (I’ve been to all the states but Sabah) and although I currently reside in the capital of Selangor, surrounded by well-kept hedges, spacious sidewalks and clean streets, I still crave for the hustle and bustle of Kajang. Well, years have gone by, and Kajang is no longer a pekan. But it still has all the charms of one. Why I still love that place:

1) I can still visit the same grocery store I have been going to since I was 2 years old. (Chuan Lee at Jalan Reko)

2) Take a walk in town, and I’m bound to bump into someone from school. I know everyone, even if I don’t know their names

3) Czip Lee!! The biggest and best bookstore in a 50km radius. It has everything from badminton rackets to play doh. After years of pilfering through my pockets, they now have enough money to open another shop in Bangsar!

4) Everywhere you turn, there’s plenty of chinese, indians and malays. The only place where you’ll ever find a healthy mix of all the races. Not to mention a smattering of the occasional portugese, javanese, indonesian, bangladeshi and phillipino. (Ok, so maybe not so occasional!)

5) If you’re a student, this is tuition heaven!! There’s a tuition centre on every block! Personally, the best one I’ve been to is Pusat Tuisyen Mewah (named after the hill ok..) run by Mr. Umar himself. Miss Mr. Fakir for some reason. Danced the banghra every chance he got.

6) Food!! The best satay in the world is here! Don’t ever dare come and tell me you’ve had better in Muar or something. If so, you’ve never had Kajang satay. Hj. Samuri is overrated. All the satays in Kajang are almost the same.

7) Fastfood heaven too. We have two KFCs, two Pizza Huts, one Shakey’s, one Dominoes, Kyros Kebab, 1901, Delifrance, and a dozen bakeries.

From town, I can walk to a dozen friends’ house. Chico, Jia Mun, Evelyn, Phui See, Baby’s old house…:P

9) Most of all…it’s home…

Er…what else ah? I have class in 5 minutes…so I’ll get back to you. Pictures next time!!

Very few people would admit this. Not even those who have been staying in Kajang all their lives. A few years ago I would have been one of them. Steadfastly denying that I ever have any kind of affection towards this simple, yet complex pekan. But I’ve travelled all over Malaysia, (I’ve been to all the states but Sabah) and although I currently reside in the capital of Selangor, surrounded by well-kept hedges, spacious sidewalks and clean streets, I still crave for the hustle and bustle of Kajang. Well, years have gone by, and Kajang is no longer a pekan. But it still has all the charms of one. Why I still love that place:

1) I can still visit the same grocery store I have been going to since I was 2 years old. (Chuan Lee at Jalan Reko)

2) Take a walk in town, and I’m bound to bump into someone from school. I know everyone, even if I don’t know their names

3) Czip Lee!! The biggest and best bookstore in a 50km radius. It has everything from badminton rackets to play doh. After years of pilfering through my pockets, they now have enough money to open another shop in Bangsar!

4) Everywhere you turn, there’s plenty of chinese, indians and malays. The only place where you’ll ever find a healthy mix of all the races. Not to mention a smattering of the occasional portugese, javanese, indonesian, bangladeshi and phillipino. (Ok, so maybe not so occasional!)

5) If you’re a student, this is tuition heaven!! There’s a tuition centre on every block! Personally, the best one I’ve been to is Pusat Tuisyen Mewah (named after the hill ok..) run by Mr. Umar himself. Miss Mr. Fakir for some reason. Danced the banghra every chance he got.

6) Food!! The best satay in the world is here! Don’t ever dare come and tell me you’ve had better in Muar or something. If so, you’ve never had Kajang satay. Hj. Samuri is overrated. All the satays in Kajang are almost the same.

7) Fastfood heaven too. We have two KFCs, two Pizza Huts, one Shakey’s, one Dominoes, Kyros Kebab, 1901, Delifrance, and a dozen bakeries.

From town, I can walk to a dozen friends’ house. Chico, Jia Mun, Evelyn, Phui See, Baby’s old house…:P

9) Most of all…it’s home…

Er…what else ah? I have class in 5 minutes…so I’ll get back to you. Pictures next time!!

Very few people would admit this. Not even those who have been staying in Kajang all their lives. A few years ago I would have been one of them. Steadfastly denying that I ever have any kind of affection towards this simple, yet complex pekan. But I’ve travelled all over Malaysia, (I’ve been to all the states but Sabah) and although I currently reside in the capital of Selangor, surrounded by well-kept hedges, spacious sidewalks and clean streets, I still crave for the hustle and bustle of Kajang. Well, years have gone by, and Kajang is no longer a pekan. But it still has all the charms of one. Why I still love that place:

1) I can still visit the same grocery store I have been going to since I was 2 years old. (Chuan Lee at Jalan Reko)

2) Take a walk in town, and I’m bound to bump into someone from school. I know everyone, even if I don’t know their names

3) Czip Lee!! The biggest and best bookstore in a 50km radius. It has everything from badminton rackets to play doh. After years of pilfering through my pockets, they now have enough money to open another shop in Bangsar!

4) Everywhere you turn, there’s plenty of chinese, indians and malays. The only place where you’ll ever find a healthy mix of all the races. Not to mention a smattering of the occasional portugese, javanese, indonesian, bangladeshi and phillipino. (Ok, so maybe not so occasional!)

5) If you’re a student, this is tuition heaven!! There’s a tuition centre on every block! Personally, the best one I’ve been to is Pusat Tuisyen Mewah (named after the hill ok..) run by Mr. Umar himself. Miss Mr. Fakir for some reason. Danced the banghra every chance he got.

6) Food!! The best satay in the world is here! Don’t ever dare come and tell me you’ve had better in Muar or something. If so, you’ve never had Kajang satay. Hj. Samuri is overrated. All the satays in Kajang are almost the same.

7) Fastfood heaven too. We have two KFCs, two Pizza Huts, one Shakey’s, one Dominoes, Kyros Kebab, 1901, Delifrance, and a dozen bakeries.

From town, I can walk to a dozen friends’ house. Chico, Jia Mun, Evelyn, Phui See, Baby’s old house…:P

9) Most of all…it’s home…

Er…what else ah? I have class in 5 minutes…so I’ll get back to you. Pictures next time!!

Very few people would admit this. Not even those who have been staying in Kajang all their lives. A few years ago I would have been one of them. Steadfastly denying that I ever have any kind of affection towards this simple, yet complex pekan. But I’ve travelled all over Malaysia, (I’ve been to all the states but Sabah) and although I currently reside in the capital of Selangor, surrounded by well-kept hedges, spacious sidewalks and clean streets, I still crave for the hustle and bustle of Kajang. Well, years have gone by, and Kajang is no longer a pekan. But it still has all the charms of one. Why I still love that place:

1) I can still visit the same grocery store I have been going to since I was 2 years old. (Chuan Lee at Jalan Reko)

2) Take a walk in town, and I’m bound to bump into someone from school. I know everyone, even if I don’t know their names

3) Czip Lee!! The biggest and best bookstore in a 50km radius. It has everything from badminton rackets to play doh. After years of pilfering through my pockets, they now have enough money to open another shop in Bangsar!

4) Everywhere you turn, there’s plenty of chinese, indians and malays. The only place where you’ll ever find a healthy mix of all the races. Not to mention a smattering of the occasional portugese, javanese, indonesian, bangladeshi and phillipino. (Ok, so maybe not so occasional!)

5) If you’re a student, this is tuition heaven!! There’s a tuition centre on every block! Personally, the best one I’ve been to is Pusat Tuisyen Mewah (named after the hill ok..) run by Mr. Umar himself. Miss Mr. Fakir for some reason. Danced the banghra every chance he got.

6) Food!! The best satay in the world is here! Don’t ever dare come and tell me you’ve had better in Muar or something. If so, you’ve never had Kajang satay. Hj. Samuri is overrated. All the satays in Kajang are almost the same.

7) Fastfood heaven too. We have two KFCs, two Pizza Huts, one Shakey’s, one Dominoes, Kyros Kebab, 1901, Delifrance, and a dozen bakeries.

From town, I can walk to a dozen friends’ house. Chico, Jia Mun, Evelyn, Phui See, Baby’s old house…:P

9) Most of all…it’s home…

Er…what else ah? I have class in 5 minutes…so I’ll get back to you. Pictures next time!!

I’m not going to elaborate more on what happened that night. It’s been repeated too many times already. But I think Yasmin Ahmad took the words right out of my mouth…

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Imagine “Sepet” without her. Imagine “Gubra” without her. Heck, imagine this pathetic film industry without her.

I don’t know about you, but I, Yasmin Ahmad, cannot imagine any of the above. To me, she is one of God’s greatest gifts for my work, alhamdulillah.

And no matter how much they rant about how “kurang ajar” she was on the night of FFM19, as far as I’m concerned she was nowhere near as kurang ajar as the people who
crucified her.

I mean, for goodness’ sake, they even cursed her father and mother. Call me old-fashioned, but insulting someone’s parents does not figure in my book as decent civil behaviour.

And she’s only 20. How old are these people again?

When I arrived at Putra World Trade Centre that night, the show was already over. Sharifah Aleya rushed up to me and said, “Your daughter’s in a bad state. Some people have been shredding her to bits.


I ran to Nani and found her in tears. With a trembling voice that could melt the stoniest heart, she cried, “Mak, this would have been a wonderful night for you, but I had to open my stupid mouth. I’m so sorry…

I held her in my arms and said, “You won, baby. Don’t worry about me. You won and I’m just so proud of you.” And with that, she wept and wept on my shoulder, ruining what could’ve been the perfect kebaya for the night.

The girl made a mistake, dear friends. Who among us hasn’t, at some point or other in our lives? And somehow, I don’t think condemning her will make God forgive us for ours. Forgiving her, on the other hand, might. “It is in forgiving that we are forgiven.”

Insyaallah. Now I’m planning to make a film called “May 13″. Can anyone here guess who will be in it?

I’m not going to elaborate more on what happened that night. It’s been repeated too many times already. But I think Yasmin Ahmad took the words right out of my mouth…

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

Imagine “Sepet” without her. Imagine “Gubra” without her. Heck, imagine this pathetic film industry without her.

I don’t know about you, but I, Yasmin Ahmad, cannot imagine any of the above. To me, she is one of God’s greatest gifts for my work, alhamdulillah.

And no matter how much they rant about how “kurang ajar” she was on the night of FFM19, as far as I’m concerned she was nowhere near as kurang ajar as the people who
crucified her.

I mean, for goodness’ sake, they even cursed her father and mother. Call me old-fashioned, but insulting someone’s parents does not figure in my book as decent civil behaviour.

And she’s only 20. How old are these people again?

When I arrived at Putra World Trade Centre that night, the show was already over. Sharifah Aleya rushed up to me and said, “Your daughter’s in a bad state. Some people have been shredding her to bits.

I ran to Nani and found her in tears. With a trembling voice that could melt the stoniest heart, she cried, “Mak, this would have been a wonderful night for you, but I had to open my stupid mouth. I’m so sorry…

I held her in my arms and said, “You won, baby. Don’t worry about me. You won and I’m just so proud of you.” And with that, she wept and wept on my shoulder, ruining what could’ve been the perfect kebaya for the night.

The girl made a mistake, dear friends. Who among us hasn’t, at some point or other in our lives? And somehow, I don’t think condemning her will make God forgive us for ours. Forgiving her, on the other hand, might. “It is in forgiving that we are forgiven.”

Insyaallah. Now I’m planning to make a film called “May 13″. Can anyone here guess who will be in it?

‘What will your obituary say?’ at QuizGalaxy.com

That’s nice. To go away suddenly.

I don’t think it’s Prince Charles that will miss me though, but flattering all the same.

‘What will your obituary say?’ at QuizGalaxy.com

That’s nice. To go away suddenly.

I don’t think it’s Prince Charles that will miss me though, but flattering all the same.