Hope - is it worth your while?

I'm feeling very, very blue this week. Firstly because of Cosry, secondly because of the unfairness of it all and lastly because I could not decide on whether to attend MawiFC's gathering. First of all... I have to put on happy thoughts before I proceed... its just absolutely vital to remain sane... and my darling nephew is just the antidote I need ...

That's better... now, lets start...

Cosry... those who knows, know how much I've willingly parted with my hard earned cash just to attend the do. In fact, I didn't even plan to attend this event if not for my early plan to attend AF3's Reunion Concert (which was originally scheduled on the 28th of August)!!! By the time the reschedule to 2nd September was announced, I've already bought my ticket for the Cosry show... and by then it was too late to change my travel and leave plans...!!! Waaaahhh!!!! All these hectic changes, all these painful heartaches just because of my desire to see Mawi up close and personal (oohh!!! dare I hope??!!).

All throughout the Cosry show and Mawi's performance in particular, I remembered thinking that I might as well see it through the projection screen. Sad to say, Mawi's still too brand new to be able to command (through his performance of course) the entire room to sit and listen. Everyone's too preoccupied to get his picture (yours truly included) and no one's actually paying THAT much attention to his singing or what his songs are trying to relay to the audience. Again.. sad to say, I enjoyed Josh Groban's video clips during intermission more when compared to Mawi's solo performance. Why? Because I've seen the exact same performances every week for the last 9 weeks during AF3's concerts. I wanted to hear him sing Seroja live, wanted to hear him sing Memori Cinta Luka again... the only two songs that managed to bring tears to my eyes everytime I hear him sing. Anyway, other than that AND the lower than expected food offerings, everything else was quite entertaining. Dee was brilliant albeit his jokes were in need of a PG rating. Moon didn't do much and Dayang was just okay for me. The star of the night were Anuar and I'm not even a big fan of him!!! Managed to dab a tear or two when he sang Sesucinya Cintamu... *sigh*... if only Mawi had managed to do that, I would've came back home a happy gal...

Unfair? Why? Because I came from far to see him and spent quite a lot to get that exact chance to do so and yet one particular freeloader got to spend time with not one, but ALL THREE of the singers!!! But who am I to complain about this right? Cos I am an outsider and I would've done the same if I was in their shoes. Anyway, I'll try to be more positive next time I got the chance.

Lastly, shall I go or shall I NOT go to the gathering? They'll be more than 1000 people there, all vying for the attention from a single Mawi. Not to mention the extra special selected few called the VIP, VVIP and VVVIPs. And who knows, somewhere out of the blue, Maestro might accept another show for Mawi on the 4th and as per the case during Cosry, another MIA session will pursue... waah!!! This is the pessimistic me showing...

At the end of the day, one thing's for sure... even if I do get to meet him, what the hell am I going to do with him? Take pictures, signatures? That's SOOOOoooo cliche yah...? To go or not to go... I'll let Shakespeare decide but one thing is for sure... hoping is futile and is especially hurtful when the thing we have hoped for, are not met...

Alam Misteri ... how distant are we from them?

I've taken a new resolution in conjunction to the new month of Rejab. Why you say? Because I've been given 'THE' shock of a whole lifetime when I checked my credit card and bank statements!!!! All because of Akademi Fantasia and Mawi specifically. It was a very cold dose back to reality, something which I haven't been in touch with for quite some time now. So here goes...

Sometime late last month Brunei was shocked with news about mass hysteria episodes experienced by students in an all girls high school in the capital. The local paper reported parents were promptly asked to bring their girls home and lessons were immediately cancelled. Religious authorities and activists were called and the reading of Surah Yassin ensued.

Now.. the REAL story begins...

Facts: I used to study in that exact same school, in the exact same building block more than 10 years ago. Now that school is just a 5 minutes drive away from my office and my dad, he teaches at the neighbouring high school, a mere 5 minutes walk away. And to jitz it up more, my best friend's daughter is currently a student there!!!

It all started when reputedly several students started playing 'Spirits of the coin' in one of the school's restroom. Now, I've always known that one particular toilet in that particular building block was creepy... or shall we say berpenunggu... so I was always very, very careful when I used that restroom. Anyway, these girls did something quite daring, they used their blood to call the spirits!!! As it turns out, spirits, phantoms and apparitions started to possess students, initially only several were affected spanning several days however all hell broke loose on the 28th, when more students became possessed and coupled with others hit with hysteria (I would be too when all those spooky stuffs is happening in front of me). To date, the phenomenon has not subsided, in fact, more cases are being reported till now.

Now based on several accounts from friends and relatives who were present thoroughout these chaotic events;

1) One possessed girl recalled names of families living in the school's area back in the 50's. Evidently the spirit that possessed her had lived in that area and know the girl's relatives. Ironic thing was, only the girl's father knew this fact.

2) One of the school's tea lady was also possessed; students witnessed her trying to enter the school library by knocking her BODY against the library door. Some even witnessed her jumping up and down, in the manner similar to a chinese vampire we see so often in the movies.

3) The same lady was heard saying, "Jangan kacau rumahku!!", when someone wanted to take pictures of an old abandoned house at the back of the library. The voice was not her known voice!

4) One student actually witnessed a tall and black appariton, approaching one of her friends with a semblance of a smile plastered on its face. She promptly pulled this friend of her and the appariton immediately vanished.

5) At one time, efforts to catch the 'leader' was wasted when right when the ustaz was about to get his hands on the 'leader', the magrib azan was heard and all the spirits scrambled away in a frentzy.

6) While recital of the Quran and yassin took place at the girl's high school, the spirits has started to move to the neighbouring primary school. 20 students (less than 10 years old) were reportedly possessed. One staff member from that primary school recall seeing spirits sitting on the school's railing, from one end to the other, white cloth waving from outside the classrooms.

7) 4 students from another neighbouring high school (this is where my father works yah... an account coming directly from my dad), had witnessed several apparitons, possessing 2 of them while the other two fainted from the scare.

8) Latest hearsay, 2 of the earlier possessed students from the girls' high school has passed away.

All these led me to further believe that Allah is the definite Almighty. Whether these apparitons are in fact 'jins' as per mentioned in the Quran or in fact, are just 'iblis bertopengkan jin'... one thing is definite; we are not alone in this earth. There's a fine line between the two very different communities and once that line is breached, the ball is no longer in our hands. Because like it or not, 'they' can see us BUT we cannot see 'them'. That in itself is a point in their favour.

Ironic thing is now, if we really, really look at it in a different point of view, we're just like the AF kids. The 'other' community are able to look into every detail of our lives even sampai ke dalam jamban... so, if you even dare to think about it (let alone imagine it), will you be getting any peaceful night's sleep? Well... just a thought....

Juara AF3... MAWI...!!!!!

Syukur Alhamdulillah!!! Agaknya berita kemenangan Mawi dah menjadi tajuk utama in practically ALL blocks of space on the web and on papers everywhere!!! Or at least THAT's how I feel it should be!!! I didn't start off AF3 as a Mawi fanatic, just his normal supporter, but after an incident 3 weeks ago, I've confirmed my stand as a true blue Mawi fanatic!!! And boy am I GLAD I am one!!!

Tak payah lah nak sebut pasal konsert final (I'm sure dah banyak dah dok buat review), but this, persembahan Mawi during both songs can't be expressed in simple sentences. I'm not good with words but cukuplah aku kata dengan sokongan lagu-lagu yang sedap merdu, penjiwaan dan kelunakkan vocal yang cukup rasa, Mawi has given me enough proof that my investments on him is worth every penny!!!

What I want to highlight now is during IMBASAN. I'm SO HAPPY to see that he have not lost his humility though he's been confirmed a winner!!! Aku terlalu gumbira dia mengaku dah ada tunang, cerita macam mana dia boleh bertunang, cerita pasal nama tunang dia... terlalu terharu sebab dia tak cuba pun nak tutup kisah peribadi dia selepas habis AF. Some will say, he's still new so give him time to act like any other typical Malaysian artistes... but surely... if he's already this truthful at this early stage, its definitely a very, very good start to his carier. All I can say now is... good choice CKin (I'm carrying my own basket here)!!!

Well done Mawi... Well done Mawi's fan... This is not the end... the journey is just starting, be prepared and jangan hangat-hangat taik ayam pulak ye... both on Mawi's side and supporters... me included.

WORLD!!! Be ready, Mawi's coming...

What are my days going to be like now that I can't look forward to Saturday nights' concerts anymore? Mawi's expression here matched mine now... All the best to us all...

Kerana Dia... Mawi.

I remembered seeing pictures of the top 20 AF3 students and I remembered noticing Aidil. In terms of looks, he stood out compared to the others, even the girls. Even prior to hearing them sing, I read somewhere to watch out for Reza because his voice are truly manly. I was quite keen to hear Idayu sing because I was told her singing is absolutely out of this world.

Come Trek Selebriti's first exposure, I totally forgot about the others... Aidil, Reza and Idayu was overshadowed by Mawi's short rendition of Intifada. I was hooked then and I never looked at any other AF students since.

The moment Aznil announced 'Selamat Jalan Mawi...' at the Prelude Concert, I thought hmm.. okaaayyy... I'll be sabotaging AF this year!!! And for one whole week I didn't watch the AF3 diary at all!!! For one whole week, I dedicated my time to touch base with anything related to Mawi... tape Muzik@Ria, Trek Selebriti (just the part about Mawi no less) and joined Mawi's Yahoo group and Mawi FC. I've gone completely gaga 1000 times over.

AF3's first concert was nothing to look forward to. I remembered thinking, what the hell just tape it to catch a glimpse of Mawi on TV and I promptly went and go attend some company function. But around 11 pm, my friend called and said something's up and that I should return home quick!! I knew it.. I just knew Mawi's gonna get in and the rest is history some might say.

Sadly, as weeks went by alongside the phenomenon called Mawi, another much more frustrating environment cropped up... Mawi Fanaticism and its corresponding anti-fanaticism. Amidst the heated exchanges, the condemnation of Mawi's performances, making excuses for his mistakes not to mention detailed dissectation on every single one of his actions in diary and during concerts, lies one single painful truth... 'Kempen Berbudi Bahasa' has become a total failure!!! Even Adlin sebagai teraju utama dalam iklan layanan masyarakat itu has joined the dark forces (ala-ala Star Wars lah ni!).

And now, only days before the final, the war still continues.

What else is there left to say? AF3 was suppose to be an entertainment program... in that 'ini semua hanyalah hiburan' should have been imbedded in all of us. But how can it be just another entertainment program when one left feeling humiliated by the very personal attack one anti-Mawi dished out time and time again? How can it be called hiburan if it only meant that one has to remain silent just so that one do not get bombasted in blogs and channel @15? In short... 'Where is the love??'

I never thought I'd say this but I can't wait for AF3 to finish. I'm so tired of having to keep quiet, to refrain from expressing my support for Mawi, to hold back the fact that I like Felix purely because he's Mawi's best friend, to just nod in conversations when Idayu's perfect vocal are discussed while in fact I thought she's just another Rosma.... I don't like confrontations not because I'm timid, but because I respect that AF is by far, the best entertainment program Malaysia has ever produced and that all these degrading exchanges should not taint the legacy that is Akademi Fantasia.

Anyway... at the end of the day, all these are reflection of how the community really is... masyarakat majmuk still trying to get along, divided not by race or religion, but by opinions, mentality, moral and decency.