IDEAS' 5th Anniversary

In conjunction with the Institute of Democracy and Economic Affairs' 5th anniversary tomorrow, which also coincides with the late Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj's birthday, a public event was held at Memorial Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra this morning. I knew about IDEAS since it's inception as I have been religiously following Tunku 'Abidin's article since he first started his column in 2008. Somehow I seem to miss their public events year after year so when I saw the announcement of this year's event, I immediately registered as I did not want to miss the chance of being part of their anniversary event. 

My two cousins were supposed to go with me but they couldn't make it last minute so I went to the event alone. Those who know me would agree that I'm that introvert who is uncomfortable being in unfamiliar places, meeting new people but this time round I thought I'd give it a go and see how I'll cope with the situation. Funny how I can sing on stage in front of a few hundred people in the audience without being nervous but when it comes to being alone in a public place, I tend to get a bit too anxious.

I arrived at the venue at 8.45am and made my way to the registration counter and later had light breakfast at one of the tables with a group of Marketing students from Inti College Subang. At about 9.30am, we entered the auditorium and I found a seat next to a girl whose name is Shanuja. Coincidentally, she came alone so we introduced ourselves and exchanged ideas on issues such as the education policy and shared travel stories too. She is in the midst of writing a paper for the IDEAS Autism Centre together with a few other people. While waiting for the arrival of the VIPs, we were entertained with traditional Malay music by Pusat Kebudayaan UKM.

Right after the VIPs arrived, we sang the Negaraku in the original 1957 Merdeka Day version as in this video below. In secondary school, I led the 'Negaraku' and Lagu Negeri Selangor 'Duli Yang Maha Mulia' at the school assembly every Monday together with an alto, tenor and bass singer from the school choir. I have never sung the song as emotionally as I did on this particular day.

Opening speech by President of IDEAS YAM Tunku 'Abidin ibni Tuanku Muhriz

Welcome remarks (IDEAS' activities throughout 2014) by Wan Saiful Wan Jan

A moving tribute to her Tok by YM Datin Sharifah Menjalara Hussein which brought me to tears especially nearing the end. Click for the full text of YM Lara Hussein's speech : "Tunku : A Voice from the Heart"

' He would always say to the millions of Malaysians, "Take each other as you are. Accept your weaknesses as well as your strengths." '

Dr. Razeen Sally, IDEAS Chair of Political Economy and Governance

Panel discussion comprising Dr. Razeen Sally, YB Datuk Nur Jazlan, Dr Sufian Jusoh and Datuk Noor Faridah Ariffin moderated by Wan Saiful Wan Jan

The event ended with the cutting of cake by the VIPs namely Tunku Besar Seri Menanti YAM Tunku Ali Redhauddin ibni Tuanku Muhriz, YTM Dato' Seri Tunku Ahmad Nerang ibni Almarhum Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al Haj, YTM Dato' Paduka Tunku Khadijah ibni Almarhum Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al Haj and Tun Mohd Dzaiddin to commemorate Tunku Abdul Rahman's 112th birthday.

During lunch, Shanuja and I met even more new friends (Dr. Helmy who is IDEAS' Health Advisor, a few A Levels students from Taylors Subang, a girl named Umi who just graduated from New Zealand and Farah who is doing TESL in MSU). Meeting young and enthusiastic people from different backgrounds (Law, Actuarial Science, Education, Medical) was really interesting because the people I normally meet up with are in the Accounting field so the conversation gets kinda boring at times. Later, we went over to Tunku 'Abidin's table to get his autograph and a picture with him. 

Tunku 'Abidin Muhriz, writer of 'Abiding Times' , 'Roaming Beyond the Fence' and 'Conservatively Speaking Freely' columns which I have been reading since I was in Form 4. Talked to him about family history and I found out that his ancestors are of the Alhabshi branch of the family (I assume on his mother's side) from Hadhramaut, Yemen. We went on to talk about music and how I think it plays an integral role in being able to unite people after I mentioned that I am a singer songwriter.

COO of IDEAS, Tricia Yeoh. Congratulations on your wedding!

What are the odds of meeting a person who was born in the exact same hospital as you? This is Henry, 3 years my junior. Hospital Pakar Puteri JB represent.

Shanuja and I left to explore the Memorial hurriedly as my dad was already waiting at the lobby and she had to rush back to Seremban to do some last minute preparations before she flies off to Jakarta the next day. We said our goodbyes and hope to meet up over coffee one of these days.

The Proclamation of Independence

The Dining Hall

Shanuja and I

Met these girls during lunch, I was very impressed by them. Netusha and Shanuja (orang Soghomban) and Amanda (Klang Mali)

EDIT :

I have always wanted to write a song about Malaysia but most of the time it's left unfinished in my lyric book. The next morning there was this melody in my head when I woke up, I knew I had to get a pen, paper and my guitar to pen down the lyrics and figure out the rest of the melody. It took me about 5 hours to finalise the lyrics and melody, then an additional 8-9 hours to record the audio, video and find photographs of amazing Malaysians that I have crossed paths with to give more meaning to the song. I present to you a gift for my fellow Malaysians, a song entitled 'Tanah Tumpahnya Darahku'.

Music has always been my way of expressing my thoughts on certain issues as I'm not quite a good writer (you can tell when you read my blog heh) so I tend to write lyrics instead. This is my way of contributing back to my fellow Malaysians hoping that they would be inspired by the message that I'm trying to convey through this song.