SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI

I would like to wish all my friends, relatives and readers Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri dan Maaf Zahir Batin. For those outside Malaysia, I wish them all Eid Mubarak.
After a month of contemplation, jihad against all that is sinful and compiling brownie points, tomorrow (1st October 2008) is when everything falls into place - a celebration of our victory.
I'm hardly what you may call pious or even religious, but what I try to do is to go through life without doing harm to others, by being honest, by doing good things, helping the needy and loving my family.
I have friends from all walks of life - Muslims, Christians, Hindus, atheists, Buddhists, Taoists, agnostics, Malays, Indians, Chinese, Eurasians, Westerners, males, females, in-betweens. As long as they are my friends, I treat them as they treat me.
We should not hate anyone because of their color or creed. We should not detest them because of their religious inclinations. For example, I know of many Muslims Malays that are untrustworthy, and I also know of many non-Muslims whom I would also trust more.
It is a funny world.
We need to make this world a great place for our children and their children. They face uncertain times - and these uncertain times are not the makings of religion or race - but by men who have attained positions by varied means and have made the climate as such. We need them (our children) to be prepared, to be good citizens and good people. We need them to grow up and be more civil, honest and truthful. But it is up to us to make sure that the world they live in is somewhat ideal for them.
With that, once again, to those whom toes I have trod on, slighted in any way, I humbly apologise and ask for forgiveness. Let's start anew and hope that tomorrow begins a better future for all of us.

PAUL NEWMAN - ACTOR/ICON - 1925-2008

I'm not going to write much about Paul Newman. Even as I'm writing this, tributes are pouring in by the thousands in many other blogs all over the world. But I will say that the movie world will be a sadder place without Newman.
In fact, just two days ago, I was watching Color of Money directed by Martin Scorsese. Tom Cruise seemed insignificant compared to this screen giant.
Amongst my favourite Newman movies include Cool Hand Luke, The Sting,
Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid (one of the best buddy movies ever made), The Verdict, The Hustler, Road To Perdition and Absence of Malice.
Rest In Peace, Butch, I do hope what you said (as John Rooney in Road to Perdition) isn't true:
"There are only murderers in this room! Michael! Open your eyes! This is the life we chose, the life we lead. And there is only one guarantee: none of us will see heaven." .

FIRST HARI RAYA PRODUCTION FOR TV3

During my first year as a producer in TV3, we always thought of producing things that were different from the usual fare you saw on TV. So when the station's first Hari Raya came in 1984, we at TV3, wanted to be different even when it comes to getting the Prime Minister's message on air.
I decided to get the management to agree to allow me to shoot the then Prime Minister,Tun Dr Mahathir, and his wife, Tun Dr Hasmah, at their official residence. I didn't want us to take the official feed from RTM - with the PM behind the rostrum reading a prepared text.
I wanted the people or the public to get a glimpse of Tun as a father figure, without the trappings of authority.
Surprisingly, we got the greenlight to do just that. So, about two weeks into Ramadhan, we were allowed to go to the official residence of the Prime Minister and I got to direct this great man. It would be my first of many contacts with him.
When we reached the house, we decided that the living room would be where we would shoot the Prime Minister.
What I wanted was for Tun and his wife to be seated on the sofa with a table in front of them. On the table, I wanted a stack of Hari Raya cards that they had received from the rakyat.
When Tun appeared in the same room, it was like a dream come true. My hands must have been wet and clammy when I shook hands with him. I cannot remember much of the details, but Tun and his wife were already dressed in baju Melayu and baju kurong, and they were very much at ease.
They waited for my directions - jeez...imagine me directing the Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Anyway, I told them that I wanted them to talk to the public in the most informal manner. Greet the public, pick up a card or two, read them, and then wish the viewers a Selamat Hari Raya.
The moment I most remembered was when Tun Hasmah shed tears reading one of the cards before wishing the viewers a wonderful Raya. That was something we couldn't have planned.It was a gem.
The shoot took about an hour. Just like that, it was over.
When the Raya message was aired over TV3 on Raya, I remembered it causing quite a stir. The Ministry of Information and RTM must have popped a blood vessel. We had upped the ante. We caught them with their pants down and they didn't like it.
For the first time, the Malaysian TV viewers were given a glimpse of the Prime Minister and his wife in a different light, and it was brought to them by the first private TV station in Malaysia, and not RTM.
Somehow, that didn't ring right for many parties. So, it was the last such message from the Prime Minister. Since then, it was always the official bland Raya message behind the rostrum in between flags, over and over again. Don't know why they don't want the PM to be seen as just another human being, as another Malaysian.
Whatever the reason was, the memories I took home from the shoot will always be amongst my most treasured moments as a TV producer.

BILIK NO. 13 - EPISODE ONE

BILIK NO. 13 - EPISODE TWO

BILIK NO. 13 - EPISODE THREE

BILIK NO. 13 - EPISODE FOUR