Tuan Senang Besar : Stopped in the middle of a run

@TeeAssBee on Twitter or Tuan Senang Besar on Facebook was a man I get to know from social media. Yesterday, he was no more. This is an account on how he existed or what I perceived of him and it has a lot to do with how social media connects us.

Kharis, his real name died on 13th of October 2011 while he was running somewhere near his house. I got to know the news through Twitter upon waking up at 8am. It was from @rafairahman (who will hate me linking his name here) about not believing that Kharis is gone. I didn't too. I asked my wife to really read all the tweets coming in while I took a shower. I came out of the shower seeing my wife making a call. She hung up and she said, through Abby Latif, another twitter friend, the news was confirmed. I told my partner and office that I am taking the whole day off. 

I stayed awhile at the morgue and saw his remains, saw friends started to turn up (mostly from social media) and I followed the whole event until the moment his remains were on the way to the cemetery. As I have my own family matter to take care off, I didn't follow the funeral procession. Between the morning until the moment of send-off, you can see how well-known was this person. At 35 he had touched so many life. I wish I could say the same about me.

When I first met him I was afraid to talk to him or more like didn't find the need to talk to him. It was at Las Vacas, a butchery which serves cooked steak too which I have been hunting all my life to exist in Malaysia. It seems that they have existed two or three years before 2010, the year I discovered them but if not for social media and @TuanSenangBesar (his tweethandle then) I would have never discovered it. It seems he was also the one who set up the Twitter account of @lasvacas and then relentlessly promoted it. If not for it, I wouldn't have known a few other people from Twitter. And to think that, the night before the tragedy struck

#RockKapak is the hashtag we created among a few friends on Twitter who appreciates good music which mostly comes from the rock scene in 70s and 80s, from rock band long forgotten. The Online Pub was where we held the gatherings every Thursday and Sunday. Those who had the gall to sing did and @TeeAssBee's favorite was Kamelia from Sweet Charity. 

He is also a good eater. Unlike most who knew him through running and his exercise regime, I met him more at the eateries than anywhere else. I did doubt some of his preference but as a fellow eater, I can appreciate his eclectic taste in food. As for his exercise regime which seemed to have made him a few friends, I only trekked with him once with a Twitter group which trekked nearly every weekend (once).

If you read or talk to anyone else, it was never easy to say good thing about his demeanor. He asserted himself until you feel he was a snob. I guess it was just his way of making a statement. I can relate as a fellow person who is as big as him, who realised you will never get the world delivered to you on a silver platter, you fight for it and you stand your ground. 

I never had long conversations with him or I can claim I know him as a great friend. However, a young man died at nearly the same age as me. That affect me a lot...

#RIPTSB

Here are other blogs which posts are dedicated to him :

His blog : TSB in Bolehland

The Cosmic Abyss by Abby Latiff

Rambles of My Head and Heart by Lotfi Ismail

Spin Masters 2 - Generation gap : Tea Dance

I was invited to see the production of Spin Masters 2 at the Zouk KL on one fine Saturday on invitation of the production company, Kyanite TV. It was interesting due to several reasons including that I never seen a reality television production (or maybe any TV production for that matter). The Spin Masters 2 which is has been shown on Astro Hitz and kinda on repeat every day since Wednesday, 20th July 2011 was won by DJ Ramsay (the guy in the green t-shirt in all the photos) from Penang who played an amazing set.

During the event, I was seated among the media and in the middle of it, I had a conversation with a journalist from Fluxxed magazine which covers nightlife events and she was covering the event due to the unique nature of the competition and the main prize being a trip to the Ministry of Sounds in United Kingdom for the winner to spin and show his prowess there for an hour.

When the conversation steered towards tea dance, I immediately feel the generation gap when she asked me "What is tea dance?". I bet not many young Malaysians know what is the concept of tea dance which is quite popular during the 80s and 90s. 

It was an afternoon discotheque sessions which allowed schoolkids in Klang Valley to come into discos (as it was then known and not clubs like what it is known now) and basically have a good time. It will starts around 3pm and would lead up to 7pm, just before the real disco session for adults starts. One of the best well-known discotheque in town was located in the recently announced to-be-taken-down Atria, Picaddily. Picaddilly did try to make a comeback in 2006 but it didn't take off.

From that conversation, I realised that we have moved towards a new era of clubbing with table in the middle of floors and people drinking hard liquor which can never be afforded by schoolchildren. I am not sure whether it is a good thing or just a phase in how to get wasted as fast as possible era.

And from what I heard about tea dance, it is still in existence but nowadays it is serving a different kind of crowd. The maids and construction workers on their day-off on weekends.

Samsung SMART TV Launch

A few weeks ago in April, I was invited to witness a new revolution in television watching. I did asked myself how smart can a television be as internet seems to be hogging the limelight when it comes to television. It seems that Samsung is one step faster in adapting that as the SMART TV system is not juts about the television. It is also an entertainment system, a computer system you can hook to the television, the 3-D glass that you need to view your favourite show and of course, sound.

As we registered, we were given a 3-D viewing piece for us to see how 'real' television viewing can be. Needless to say, being the blogger we are, we were already playing around with the buttons on it and trying out the spectacles. 

The event was graced by Mr. Yu Jai Sul, the Managing Director of Samsung Malaysia, who pointed out "As we enter a new era of immersive experience, Samsung has redefined the visual elements that make our TVs the centerpiece of any room". Although he is pointing the obvious, it cannot be denied that it is true that rarely does a house does not have a television. Even if you do not watch television, you will use it as a place for you to play video games in so many consoles and use it like I do, as a computer.

A launch gimmick follows with Mr Yu and Dato' Lee Chong Wei breaking a wall to show the new experience coming to your home and then we were presented with the new television and entertainment system.

It was quite impressive and you can just reach out and touch the persons inside the screen (Don't you just wish that?)

The 3D experience is thanks to Samsung 3D LED TVs with stunning clear 3D pictures with the world's best panel technology and proprietary image-improving techniques. The world's fastest unique double-rate frame transition technology reduces the picture frame transition by 50 percent to enhance the viewing quality of 3D content. There is also '3D' sound so that you will run aware scared when the goes in the television says "Bo!"

Brand's 14-Days "Get Smart" Challenge

The first entry for this blog post was done at 7 am on 30th March 2011, a wet Wednesday morning and I am up, doing some work in my office. I was up since 4.30am as I had to send my wife to LCCT, the low-cost airport, as she is going on a long overdue holiday with her. I didn't sleep after sending her but went straight to my office. And yes, it was helped by the 4th bottle of Brand's which I started to take on 26th of March 2010.

On 27th March 2011, a Sunday, I did something I never did before. An adrenaline rush sport which consist of doing flying fox, balancing myself on steps made from pipes nearly 50 feet from the ground and sliding down trees. I am not those who did all these when I was in school, which was more than 20 years ago but I can just described it as fun. The adventure I had was courtesy of the Skytrex-Adventure at Taman Pertanian. Below are some pictures of what I did that day. Drinking Brand's again helped me.

As I handled a few businesses at any one time, I also have to divide my time to manage them properly. And that is not all. I am also a very social animal. I usually don't go home before it is 1 o'clock in the morning. Every Tuesday, Saturday and (just recently) Sunday, I always hang-out at a bar in town listening to music of old being played by a favourite father and son band. Although relaxing in a bar may need that much brain muscle but needing to wake up at 6am and go to work, does make a supplement like Brand's important in my life. As on some days, I give seminars which are based on the books that I have written while I am writing a new book.

Every weekend, for the past 3 months, I have been trekking jungles around the Klang Valley and as it is usually done on Sundays, I need to divide my time between these activities and living a proper balance wok-life relationship.

Then last week, starting from Sunday, 3rd of April 2011 until last night, 10th of April 2011, anyone in Malaysia would have caught the F1 fever. What a fever it was. Parties were held every single day and as someone who tried to use this opportunity to network with as many people as possible, it did take it tolls. The pictures below are just some of the parties which I attended. Yesterday, the day of the race where I woke up at 6am to trek the Gasing Hill, have lunch, hang-out with a few friends while we watched the F1 race, then drove to Sepang for the final STYLO event before joining my friend for what we called our #rockapak session, I am so tired that I could have just take a day-off today. But, I didn't.

The 14-Days "Get Smart" Challenge was not really a challenge as it actually helped me living my already hectic life. The event on 25th March where Brand's announced its new ambassador in Rynn Lim had helped realised how Brand's is the supplement that I need and should have taken long ago.

And it seems that its benefit is scientifically proven too. Dr Paramjeet Singh, the Senior Manager of Brand's Health Science Centre, Regional R&D, Health Supplement Division as seen above showed us what is inside the concoction which made it beneficial. It has ProBeptigen, an active compound that independent scientist help improves memory and mental concentration.

At that event, we had the good Dr. Paramjeet Singh, multi-talented pop singer and composer, Rynn Lim and even General Manager of Cerebos (M) Sdn. Bhd. to answer all our questions on the benefit of Brand's Essence of Chicken and also how Rynn Lim was going to take up the challenge of composing and finishing a song in 14 days from that launch day.

Check out Rynn Lim's progress in his challenge at this Brand's Smart Living Facebook page.

In case you want to get a bottle of Brand's Essence of Chicken, it is sold in 6-bottle packs of either 42gm or 70gm at RM24.20 and RM39.20, with the limited edition Brand's '14-Day Get Smart' Challenge packs come in a special 14 x 70gm bottle pack priced at RM70.90.

Michael Buble in concert

A late post...

The banner announcing the concert was up a day before

Michael Buble came to Malaysia, performed and captured the hearts of his fans (mostly women) with his performance on 13th March 2011. I was there, I enjoyed it and I think he did managed to connect with his fans on a different level than a few other artistes I have attended their concert before. And this was on a rainy night and at a venue rarely used as a concert venue in Malaysia (though very much near my own house)

Only a fan like my wife would want a picture with his poster even in the rain

Expensive concert t-shirts anyone?

The first I heard of him is when he was to release his first album and the joke was on how to pronounce his name. Buble? Bubble? I even got his first album for free in some obscure press conference which I actually forgot as soon as I attended it. That was either in 2002 or 2003. As I said, I only remember it obscurely...

The lighting was amazing

At the concert that day, he walked from one end of the stage to the other end, he tried to reach a few of the fans sitting in front, he comes down from the stage and walk to a mini stage at the centre of the hall. When he introduced his band, he named the band-member and then he make jokes, while explaining how and why that particular person is on the band. He then let the band play a jamming session. His band is like the big band of old. 

He was up there....

...then he was down there

The opening act of Najwa is also a good one and although it was raining that night, the hall was totally full. Michael Buble also announced that he will take a break after the concert and as he is already engaged, rumor has it that he will be married soon.

He was at this stage...

...then he walked to this smaller stage

All the best to him either on being a married man and on his musical journey....

Lat, the Kampung Boy - The Musical

When I heard of this project for the first time, it was through the comedian Kuah Jenhan of the Malaysia Association of Chinese Comedians fame. He was co-writing the musical with Harith Iskander. I was tempted to see it because I have grown up with Lat's comics like I did with Dandy and Beano, both British comics of old which I was told is his influences. I was expecting to see the story which I have seen in this comic comes to life.

Lat, the Kampung Boy - The Musical is what I expect it to be and a bit more. It did bringing the character of Lat and other characters, which I have read in the comics more than 30 years ago, to life and it also tell the personal story of Datuk Mohamad Nor Khalid. So, it has to tell the story which you expect to see and then wham!, it hits you with another side of the cartoonist.

The characters can be seen at two places when you enter Istana Budaya, the place they are staging the show. It is in every nooks and crannies of Istana Budaya lobby. The father, the mother, the school, the kampung house and a few scenes which will make you just want to snap a few pictures, like so many fans did. The cartoon is also used on the set but not that many of them (which is a shame). Then you will see the characters being embodied by the actors on stage. It is surreal up to a certain point.

I love the cast. Awie is great as an adult Lat. The kid who played Lat when he was in his kampung, Kota Baru and then in Ipoh, both in Perak. Frankie was there when he made the transitions from his tin mine laden (where monster lives!) kampung to the town where he learned about his musical inclination. Atilia, whom I always love hear her sings, is great as his wife, Pae, short for Faezah.

My only complain is the timing. Either they didn't planned it well or there are too many sets for them to manage. It started a bit late (at 8.40pm), has a 1 hour and 30 minutes of 1st Act, has a 20 minutes interval (which I personally think is too long) and then a 1 hour 2nd Act. I was already bored by the 2nd Act as I am not watching the cartoon anymore but the real life of the persons (Datuk Lat and his wife were there on that third night) who were actually sitting 3 rows in front of us. It is not that the musical is bad or the acting is bad, mind you, but it did feel a bit dragging in a bit.

I consider Douglas Lim is the saving factor which brings comic relief whenever he is on stage as the adult Frankie. He did put in a few snide remarks with reference to politics and will be familiar for those who have seen his stand-up comedy before.

However, as a musical goes, it is well executed and the sets are amazing. At the end of it, I know more of Lat than I have known before and I am amazed how someone from a rural kampung in Perak can be as popular of him. I consider him to be brave enough to allow his name to be used as he is still alive and well (some of the musical did touch on his characteristic and some conflicts in his life). And the merchandising is great. I even get myself a t-shirt which I consider to be cheap.

Go watch this musical which is still being staged until 5th April 2011. Experience Lat, the Kampung Boy and know the story of this national treasure.