A fond farewell

How do you adequately pay tribute to a singer that has such a hold of your senses when so much has been written about him already? How do you do justice to the exceptional vocal magic that he possesses? And how do you articulate the many high points and countless hours of pleasure that his singing brought?. Worse of all how do you bid a proper goodbye – albeit for a short while – to such a wonderful emissary both of music and in personal character – an ambassador who has positively touched so many lives not through trashy, over the top buffoonery but simply by being himself?

It is quite impossible to effectively wrap all that has happened  into one neat package. There are just too many instances, images and moments that are precious and unforgettable to say definitively that any one of them defines the special connections that David has forged with us. The tapestry of David’s journey with his fans all these years does not easily lend itself to being  woven.

I suppose the only meaningful way to pay homage to what David has meant to us is through his music. And in this, there is one piece of music that really stands out for me which – with its message – I think is a very fitting expression of what has transpired in recent days.

I don’t know whether it was by intent or by accident but for one brief 3 minute interval in the past the clueless folks at American Idol somehow got David. They understood him and saw where he was coming from and it resulted in a sublime recording in the studio version of ‘Think of Me‘. This song as all of you must recall was during Andrew Llyod Webber week on American Idol where David and his fellow contestants had to tackle stage musical numbers. It is an iconic number from The Phantom Of The Opera and performed by a female soprano.

But in David’s tender male tenor voice the song has been given a smooth contemporary pop feel. It’s evocative without being sappy, the emotional impact is sustained without the histrionics of lesser vocalists and although the arrangement is simple the vocals are no less powerful.  It was such a mature performance – far more than his 17 years at that time.  It’s a travesty that he has not been given more credit than he deserved for his beautiful interpretation of a classic.

It is also a shame that he has never sung this song in public since he graduated from American Idol. I hope that in the next 2 years as he embarks on his mission he will revisit some of his past performances and realize that in this song he really came into his own and displayed the potent vocal talent that has not surfaced much since then – largely due to the quality of material that he has had to deal with. In this rendition he truly lived up to his reputation of someone ‘born to sing‘. I hope that somehow David will find that same voice again, or at least some producer with a keen ear, in the near future as it is a shining example of his ability to weave pure gold out of hay.

Recall those days, Look back on all those times

Think of the things we’ll never do

There’ll never be a day when we won’t think of you..

Hasta leugo David…. for now.

Wait

Would you hate David Archuleta?

Maybe ‘hate’ is too strong a word. What about ‘disappointed’, ‘appalled’, ‘shocked’ ? To the point that you would throw away all his cds, posters and pictures in your collection?

Many of you are his fan not only because of his music and voice but his clean-cut, goody two shoes image. He’s kind, considerate, loves his family, dog, goldfish, Thai food and provides all the politically correct responses when asked about any issues. He’s non-confrontational, non-controversial and in the eyes of many – plain dull. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t have the legions of fans of say a Justin Bieber? What if David Archuleta goes through a metamorphoses overnight – a second onset of puberty and turned into a braggart, loud-mouthed brat? Would you remain his fan?

We are surrounded by public figures who are not exactly Mother Theresa incarnate but still enjoy a huge following.  A few cases in point:

1) The late Amy Winehouse won a truckload of Grammys in 2008 for her album ‘Back in Black’. She had a history of drug and alcohol abuse plus erratic behaviour which very often turned violent. After she won her Grammys, Natalie Cole – Nat King Cole’s daughter-remarked that Ms Winehouse didn’t deserve to win those awards precisely because of her behaviour. Was she right?

2) Chris Brown beat up his girlfriend one night after a heated argument. Chris was among the brightest of stars in the music industry before his appalling behaviour. His die hard fans rallied to his cause and instead laid the blame squarely on the shoulders of his girlfriend whom they accused of being a pushy **tch. Were they right in their attitude?

3) Serena Williams verbally and very nearly physically abused a line judge at the 2009 US Open womens’ final. It was painful to watch a supposedly professional tennis player go at the line judge in that manner. Of course she denied uttering any of the heinous remarks that was caught by on court microphones. Afterward she made a half-hearted attempt at an apology ( noticeably it was not directed to the line judge ) to her fans ‘if’ she had upset them. All was forgiven and she continued her merry way. Was it right that she got a mere slap on the wrist for her transgressions all in the name of “let’s move on?’ and the fact that she is Serena Williams?

Is right for us to expect our idols to be Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Theresa and Santa Clause all rolled into one? Public figures are after all mere human, flawed and carrying their fair share of chinks beneath that glossy exterior. Are we just to enjoy their particular fields of excellence and forget that they are quite often really awful people?

Should public figures be held to a higher moral standard? Perhaps even unfairly so because really, who among us are so perfect? While we ourselves cannot claim to be angels then we have no cause to expect any more of our idols.

All of us are taught from young to be honest, upstanding members of society. Family, friends and society exact a heavy toll on any missteps. However when it comes to public figures we are, on the whole, ever willing to free the reins of our moral strictures and suspend judgment because of who they are; famous, brilliant, glamorous.

Would you do the same for David Archuleta?

Zero Gravity II

Zero Gravity

RCI travesty

No other words can be used to describe the dung that the RCI has dished out with their decision on the ‘suicide’ death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock. Like so many national inquiry that this government has attempted, the final outcome leaves a bitter taste in the mouth and merely compounds the mistrust and misgivings of the general public towards the government. The cynicism is racked up exponentially as the public is yet again exhorted to accept as ‘truth’ another truckload of excrement.

Dogtown and Malaysian Diaspora

The above seems wildly incongruous doesn’t it? Well bear with me and you’ll see what I mean.

The other day I was watching the Nat Geo channel on Astro about this group pf people who call themselves Best Friends Animal Society who run an animal shelter facility in the American desert dedicated to the rehabilitation of sick, injured and abused animals particularly dogs.

In the episode I was watching that day the facility was presented with a rather nasty and vicious female mixed breed dog called, amazingly, Vivien. Vivien was rescued from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and she had a fear based aggression towards people. Even though she was housed in a cage, she would charge at anybody who approached growling and snapping with her teeth. Her handler had the unenviable task of rehabilitating Vivien so that she can get rid of her aggression and therefore eventually be eligible for adoption.

To cut a long story short, it was amazing watching the trainer turn Vivien around with a mixture of love, reward and firm handling into first accepting him and then other strangers who worked at the facility. By rewarding behaviour that was deemed as good and acceptable the trainer let Vivien know what was expected of her. Slowly but surely through many weeks Vivien’s aggression and suspicion towards people and situations she didn’t understand was toned down considerably until a point came when she actually wagged her tail upon seeing her trainer and the others at the facility.

In effect Vivien’s behaviour was turned 180 degrees by rewarding her with tidbits IF she behaved the way she was expected to. Although she wasn’t physically ‘punished’ if she didn’t respond correctly, nevertheless she quickly associated food and words of encouragement from the trainer with the correct behaviour.

What does this have to do with the Malaysian diaspora you may ask? Plenty.

In the recent Sarawak state elections, the Chinese community let their feelings known by voting for the opposition DAP which gained more ground in Sarawak at the expense of the other Chinese based, Barisan component parties. This immediately prompted calls to ‘punish’ the Chinese community for not voting for Barisan from a columnist in UMNO controlled newspaper Utusan Malaysia and soon other columnists in The Star and New Straits Times echoed the same sentiment “The chinese community can’t hope to have their cake and eat it too.”

Recently the MCA in a misguided attempt to cower and strike fear in the Chinese community went further by implying that they (MCA) had no legitimate call for government positions if they didn’t have the support of the Chinese. It was a pathetically thinly veiled threat and one that was endorsed by the Prime Minister himself.

So to come back to my story about Vivien the dog. The Chinese are now to be treated much as a troublesome dog would be i.e. you want rewards? Then you had better behave.

You want concessions? Business opportunities? Better life? Education? Then you had better tow the Barisan line.

Never mind the systemic corruption, institutionalized racism, exclusionary policies, religious persecution, disrespect and heinous calls for blood baths, keris waving and other shenanigans that goes on in government. These are the real issues that the Chinese are voting against. We are a practical and pragmatic race and we are under no illusions that the Pakatan Rakyat can ever form a credible government to reign over Malaysia. So the next best thing is to let our voices and concerns be heard through the ballot box.

Unfortunately this is increasingly not the way that the Malaysian Chinese are  using to protest for more and more of them are voting with their feet rather than with a tick at the voting centers. In a recent World Bank report on the Malaysian Diaspora there are apparently at least a million Malaysians who are living abroad. Among them you can count the highly educated, skilled, experienced and wealthy. All assets that Malaysia is in dire need of as it attempts to achieve high-income status by the year 2020. We need talented people to drive our development but they are leaving in droves and it’s highly doubtful that they will ever return.

The author of the World Bank report also writes that no amount of policies and schemes to woo talent back to Malaysia will work if the fundamental issues that compelled them to leave in the first place are not ironed out. When these are resolved effectively then the problem of brain drain is automatically dealt with. But will our government take heed the lessons and suggestions that are contained in the report? Don’t hold your breath.

One government  that is listening and rubbing it’s hands in glee is our neighbor to the south – Singapore. In the same report it is claimed that Singapore absorbs 57% of talent that flows out of Malaysia. Singapore prides itself as being a talent hub in the region and takes full advantage of the largess from Malaysia . It’s not a surprise then that with with this pool of talent to tap into, multinationals have no qualms about parking their investment dollars in Singapore as evidenced in the years 2007-2009 when FDI into Singapore actually increased to US$47 billion compared to a reduction to US$13.8 billion for Malaysia in the same corresponding period.

As a result of the dunderheads that are running rampant in Putrajaya, Singapore can rest  assured that they will never run out of  able bodies and minds to manage their industries.

A bend in the road

Life throws you all sorts of curve balls doesn’t it? It’s an endless shifting of tectonic plates, negotiating twists and  turns along the journey not knowing what’s coming ahead round the corner. Depending on the speed in which you are traveling you may go round the curve in one piece or careen off the bend crashing into the unknown ravine that lies ahead. Athletes who run the 200m sprints at world level know this all too well. The best runner and eventual winner is invariably the best at negotiating that tricky bend while speeding along the track at full throttle.

Such a shift has occurred in Archieland and though it wasn’t a complete surprise, it’s still a bummer! After a stellar start to his recording career with his debut album and platinum selling single, it seems the same is now on the skids after having been ‘dropped/released’ from his label. It doesn’t matter how one spins the story; whether it was a mutual parting of the ways or that it was a good decision on David’s part to “cut the ribbon if it starts to fray.” The headlines all read that David was dropped from Jive due to the lackluster sales of his 2nd pop album. A damning indictment of mediocrity and failure on David as an artist. That darn bend came up on David  and he failed miserably in handling it successfully.

We may contend that Jive did zilch in promoting David and his music – an assertion that does have it’s merits – but Jive will come out of this smelling like roses because they are the ones with the money and therefore calls the shots. It is to their tune that young artists like David must dance for they are the pied piper with the clout. Money is the final arbiter and the bottom line must be obeyed at all times. It is a business after all – and the music business is finding it particularly hard to make money nowadays – so singers on the roster must bring in the bacon. Toni Braxton once said it very succinctly – “Singers are a dime a dozen and record companies have a dollar.”

The music business in these present times is more about presentation than true substance. Sexual proclivities, controversies, edgy personalities and brashness are the trend setters more so than the music. Unfortunately David fits like a square peg in a decidedly craggy hole here. Jive and gang simply do not know how to market David in an environment of such incongruous elements. And they don’t have the patience. The revolving door is turning all the time and David’s number was up.

Maybe it’s an accident of timing that David has come along when the music industry is in such a state of flux.  Fans are fickle and their purse strings are tighter than ever. There was a time when artists routinely sold a million or more of their CDs and fans stuck with them through thick or thin. But that’s not the case anymore and unless you have a  truly maverick persona you don’t stand a ghost of a chance of staying in the minds of  fans. One literally has to stick out like a sore thumb a la Lady Gaga. In David’s case he doesn’t have it – let’s face the brutal fact here. He may sing like an angel but that’s not what the majority of music fans wants. They want drama! They want razzmatazz! And sweet-as-honey-pie David Archuleta has neither.

We can applaud him all we want for standing up to his principles but that doesn’t sell records. Am I advocating that he sell his soul? No, not so much as a complete capitulation but at least an accommodation, an adjustment, at the very least a compromise. In life we have to do this all the time and that bend can be very unforgiving. Adjust to it’s angles and inclinations or you will find yourself by the wayside – “If the mountain does not come to Mohammad then let Mohammad go to the mountain.”

So now what? Will David decide to go back to school? Start his mission as required by all LSD male members? Unless he makes a decision about his music career quickly the music industry will go inexorably on and we’ll all be left wondering about the potential of a music talent that never quite caught on. And that would be a real shame.

Rhythm Of Love

Romantic relationships has been the inspiration for many of our greatest works of art and music. Somehow the sweet ache of loving someone ( and very often losing them ) brings out the artistic and creative soul in us like no other human emotion. In our minds and hearts words and images tumble together in a whirlpool of angst, melancholia and hope resulting in a creative flourish that is truly a thing of beauty. The overwhelming tide of lovelorn and  adoration that washes over us compels us to express them in the most glorious manner – hence a monument like the Taj Mahal would never be if not for the intense love of an emperor for his favorite wife.

Recently I came across a song called “Rhythm Of Love” that came out in 2010 by a group that goes by the name of ‘Plain White T’s‘. This is the same group that produced the mega hit “Hey There Delilah“. This time around though the duty of lead vocals has been assumed by band member Tim Lopez who wrote ‘Rhythm Of Love’. As I normally do with any song that catches my fancy, I did a little research into the song because very often the background story of a particular song is very interesting and entertaining. The reason(s) for its genesis can be even more compelling than the song itself.

‘Rhythm Of Love’ is no exception. It came about as a result of the writer’s regret in calling quits on a relationship that somehow wasn’t given the chance to bloom. In the words of Tim Lopez himself:

“It was written for this girl that I was dating while we were making our last album out in Malibu. We have a lot of history; I’ve known her since I was 11 or 12. I wasn’t really emotionally available to her at the time. I hadn’t completely gotten over my divorce, so when the band left on tour, I decided it wasn’t right to try to keep the relationship going so we called it quits. It was only over the last year or so that I’ve realized what I walked away from. The song was an attempt to rekindle things and win her back. She’s currently dating someone else, and I’m happy for her. But in case it doesn’t work out… who knows?”

Here’s a video of the song:

It’s a deceptively simple love song. But with a catchy melody and sung in Lopez’s folksy style filled with hope and longing, the song is a beauty and touches one right in the heart. Songs like these stays in your mind, gets your feet tapping and stands the test of time because it deals in the most noble and grandest of emotions that humans can express – love and it’s many enchanting rhythms.

 

iCity – Shah Alam

I was at iCity, Shah Alam over the new year weekend. I had heard much about the place and so decided to take a look for myself after doing some research on the net.

Frankly I was disappointed with the place as much of the light displays were not working. Nobody has bothered to carry out any maintenance work to repair and/or replace any of the faulty exhibits. Typical Malaysian standards or lack thereof.

It’s frustrating to walk around amidst a sea of darkened Christmas trees that were supposed to be ablaze with lights but instead standing forlornly around badly needing repairs not only to the LED light bulbs but to the structures itself. The open areas where most of the displays are situated were littered with rubbish – another typical Malaysian habit. Again nobody has seen fit to clear up the discarded plastic bags, bottles, food containers and candy wrappers that are laying around.

This is what iCity is all about? Not a very attractive image to present to tourists and potential investors. It’s not a surprise then that many of the commercial lots have not been taken up.

Overall the place looks unkempt, unfinished, poorly managed and unattractive. And they’re charging RM10.00 now. Big thumbs down!

These are some of the pictures that I managed to shoot: