Wednesday, April 22, 2009

My HUJAH Experience

So I've not really made any mention of this cos frankly, I didn't know how things were going to turn out. Anyway, sometime last week, I got a call from the producers of TV9's current affairs talkshow, 'Hujah'. Of course I thought they were looking for a suitable guest for the next episode. But surprisingly, the show's big boss thought I should give a shot at moderating/hosting the show. Gulp!

So I had a think about it and thought, what the hey, let's give this a shot. The topic of discussion: "Apresiasi Seni Teater: Betulkah Bersifat Elitis?" And so a good part of last week was spent researching the subject matter and talking to myself in front of the mirror (haha!).

On Monday, we then had a mock run, where a bunch of us pretended it was the real thing for training purposes :) I was nervous, but I think it went OK. Just OK.

And so last night, it was time for the real thing! My guests were 3 theatre practitioners, Fahmi Fadzil, June Tan and Shannon Shah.

I have to say that when showtime actually started, I was a nervous wreck. The intro that I had memorised felt too heavy to leave my mouth. And so I had to put down my head and read off the script for the bit.



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But once the 3 awesome guests were in play, it felt more comfortable and everything was pretty smooth sailing till the end. PHEW!

So overall I must say it was an awesomely valuable experience. Not sure if I'll do it again, but thanks to those concerned for the opportunity in the first place. I had a blast!
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If you wanna have a look, simply surf over to http://www.tv9.com.my/ and choose HUJAH under "Catch Up TV", or you can also click HERE

3 comments:

diamond baby said...

Overall it was very entertaining , a change from the heavy politics it has become. It is Hujah after all and not Hujah Politik Malaysia.

The panel may be known by fellow theater hardcore but its a shame that say, Fauziah nawi or Faridah Merican or Ramli Ibrahim could not be one of your panel... the public could relate to them as theater activist.

The guy on the right is quite theatrical at times.... I suppose comedy is also part of theater

In the end, is theater elitist, just for the/ enjoyed by a little bit more matured, intellectual, polished homosapiens. .. i believe yes. Good directors have tried to enter the domain such as my old friend .. Ahmad Idham with Impak Maksima.. I think he did a good job. You don't wanna bring the standard of theater abreast with cinema.... that would be quite easy... let Prof Mydin do one.

My honest opinion about theater:
Education... . as they all agree but was not clear why education is at fault.

Let me try..

I've always believed that drama is good as an educational tool. That's why LDDS of English College, Johor Bahru produced such strong characters. Drama is a form training that promotes of self confidence, public speaking, anti-shyness, good memory, showmanship and skill to translate emotions etc. With Drama in schools we start teaching what life is about or how life would be early in our lives. It helps us to become more expressive, argumentative and dare to be blunt at times. That is why Drama is very important in the education system in the States and UK. For those who like it sooooo much they would pursue this as a career..... for those who don't … won't BUT since they’ve also received training from school, they learn to appreciate it more, thus creating such an industry is automatic. Got supplier and got demand maaa..

Maybe in Islamic Malaysia especially in schools of mixed gender, this may be sensitive so they throw out the idea altogether so that everyone will aspire to become engineers, doctors, accountants and other boring stuff.. we had drama during the colonial period, and look at how these people stood up for themselves and fought for Independence. ... they were ready to speak out, able to think what's best for them, argue constructively and laugh at one another in a professional manner... they could also take the mickey at one another and not make a police report but give one back!!

So there ... a bit long but my 2 cents worth lah.... anyway... Good Job Your Honour !!!

M.Zul said...

thank u for the feedback bro!!

honestly, i was nervous as hell during the intro. semua tu dah memorise, but when nervousness set in, i turned to reading the script. in fact, i took out one whole para, just so i'll get to the q&a section faster!


and i share your sentiments on the subject as well. i guess about the education bit, what the guests meant mainly was to have theatre as A subject in school. or part of BM and BI, so everyone will get some sort of asas in theatre. we know how people always fear something that they don't know, so kalau from school they are exposed and actually take part in theatre, even if they don't pursue it later in life, there would at least be familiar with the fundamentals of it. it won't be too alien to them.

Anonymous said...

Very nicce!

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