Malaysian Art & Literature

That's Damia Uzma, my daughter. It may sound absurd, but I'm willing to trade my life for her should anything bad happen to my lovely daughter. I've read a graphic novel titled "Death : The time of your life". The story is about a mother negotiating with Death to take her life in exchange for her son's . Now such sacrifices finally made sense to me.

I've always been fond of Neil Gaiman's work. But he's not known over here. Pity...

The picture below shows a musical instrument called the 'Kompang'. This musical instrument falls under the category of Membranophone. The shape of Kompang is like a shallow drum with animal hide fused together with wooden framed by nails.

A group of people are needed in order to make music out of the said instrument. Sometimes playing Kompang is accompanied by singing. Normally, Kompang is played during Malay wedding ceremony or any other grand ceremonies which involve Malay traditional custom.

This picture was taken at my brother's wedding ceremony. Each Kompang player usually receives a minimum of 5 Ringgit Malaysia per person for his or her service. Normally they are summoned to play at 3 to 4 wedding ceremonies per day. Since wedding ceremony in Malaysia are seasonal, you won't make a career out of it! :D

p.s. To hear Kompang music, check out this website :

http://www.musicmall-asia.com/malaysia/instruments/kompang.html

You get to check out other Malaysian music too!

I was born in Batu Gajah, Perak and raised in Ipoh. Most of my childhood and teenage life were spent in Ipoh. Ipoh is a very peaceful city. I guess it's because the majority of the citizens over here are pensioners. Still, there are huge departmental stores and hyper markets over here such as Jaya Jusco, Tesco and Macro (co-co-co!).

One of the most beautiful and artistic locations you wouldn't want to miss should you decide to visit Ipoh is Ipoh Railway Station. Known as 'Taj Mahal of Ipoh', I guarantee that you will be awed. In fact, Anna and the King film (a remake of The King and I) was shot over there.

Check out this website : http://www.cuti.com.my/Sub/Perak/guide_ipohrail.htm for more info.

He's my favourite artist. Not only he's a good friend of my sister, brother Suzlee is a very talented and prestigious artist, yet very humble and down-to-earth person. An A-Class Masterpiece (I'm not talking about Merc).

Suzlees admirable and refined artworks are now compiled by many art lovers, for their collection, from in and out of Malaysia, including the UK and USA. Private collectors, private galleries, the Art Foundation, VIPs, ministers, art schools and Royalties are amongst the collectors. Overseas Union Bank (Malaysia) used Suzlees paintings for its Millennium Calendar 2000.

Salutations!

Check out his outstanding paintings at http://suzlee99.tripod.com/

Abd. Latif Maulan is one of the great contemporary artist in Malaysia. Born in Pahang, this great artist has tremendous skill in fine art. While I do not know him personally, I'm very fond of his work. The picture below is his newest piece titled Stress Night. Although the mood in this painting is quite grim (like the title itself), Mr. Latif still managed to make this painting mesmerizing (of course, there's a naked woman in it!).

In that grim mood, there's still tenderness and fragility. I like it!

Check out Mr. Latif's other great work at http://www.latifm.com/. You won't be sorry...