Why Don't I Remember This Stuff?

Just for fun, I spent the past weekend hunting down old Malaysia Hari Ini videos that I once co-hosted and compiling them into a playlist. I must have hosted a couple of hundred episodes of Malaysia’s No. 1 morning show, but the funny thing is -- I don’t actually have any proper archive of them. No hard drive. No personal collection. Nothing “for kenangan sake”.

It was a different time back in the 2010s. Not everything was easily recordable, and although Media Prima had an internal system where we could watch all programmes on demand, I never made it a habit to save even the “big” episodes. And tonton -- the portal I co-launched -- didn’t keep full episodes of MHI back then either.

So here I am today, scrolling through videos uploaded by random people on YouTube. Nostalgic? Definitely. Fun? Absolutely. But also a bit shocking because the videos made me go, “Eh, I interviewed THAT person?” or “I actually did THAT on the show??”

I’ve always credited myself with having a pretty good memory. While I may not be able to list every single person I interviewed throughout my media career (and trust me, it was A LOT), I usually remember the moment when I come across an article or video. But I guess age is catching up (haha), because quite a few memories have slipped through the cracks.

Case in point: I have absolutely no recollection of interviewing our current Deputy Prime Minister II, YAB Datuk Amar Fadillah Yusof, back when he was a deputy minister.

I mean, I clearly remember interviewing most of the politicians who came on MHI -- including the other DPM, Zahid Hamidi, as well as KJ, Ahmad Maslan, Mukhriz Mahathir etc -- but this particular interview? Zero memory.

But that’s the beauty of being on MHI. We got to meet and talk to people from all walks of life: politicians, celebrities, trend-setters, business icons, cute kids with big stories, and ordinary Malaysians with extraordinary experiences. It kept us on our toes -- we had to stay updated, stay sharp, and constantly refine our interviewing game because every day brought someone new.

So go ahead and check out some of these interesting interviews that I can hardly remember doing! There are dancers, martial artists, lawyers, bands -- the works!

Sami Yusuf -- Still Inspiring, Still Impacting the World

In November 2012 I interviewed Sami Yusuf, who was striking in his eloquence and clarity about making a genuine impact in the world. Since then, he has gone on to become one of the most prominent figures in global spiritual/world music. 

He’s sold over 45 million albums worldwide and amassed more than one billion downloads/streams. His music spans multiple languages (English, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Malay, Azerbaijani) and styles — from Sufi and Persian classical to Western orchestral and folk traditions. 

Beyond music, Sami has deeply committed to humanitarian work: he was appointed a World Food Programme Global Ambassador against hunger in 2014. He’s also used his craft to bring people together, promote peace, culture, and spiritual unity across continents. Mabruk, brother!

Menangani 'Breaking News'

 

Kurang dua bulan dalam 2025, sudah pun banyak insiden 'breaking news' kita saksikan di media sosial dan siaran berita seperti CNN dan Al Jazeera. Kita boleh lihat news anchors memang perlu tenang dan profesional walaupun dalam melaporkan tragedi.

Teringat dua siaran 'breaking news' di MHI dulu (walaupun MHI adalah sebuah rancangan bual bicara pagi, tapi perlu sentiasa bersedia untuk membuat liputan berita tergempar.) 

Yang pertama, ketika kapal Mavi Marmara diserang rejim zionis Israel dan beberapa anak kapal terbunuh. Di atas kapal itu juga terdapat beberapa orang rakyat Malaysia, termasuk wartawan Astro Awani. Pagi kejadian tu, saya bersiaran dengan Wardina. Waktu itu memang rasa sangat marah, sedih, risau dan takut untuk pihak keluarga mereka yang ditahan. Tapi bila kamera dah on, kena suppress emosi dan fokus kepada menyampaikan berita dan seberapa banyak info yang mungkin.

Dalam earpiece boleh dengar producer dan kru sibuk mendapatkan info terkini dan cuba hubungi pakar yang boleh berkongsi pendapat dan mengecam perbuatan tentera Israel. Sepanjang 2 1/2 jam bersiaran tu memang rasa nak luahkan apa sebenarnya dalam hati, tapi yang lebih besar dan penting adalah tanggungjawab yang diberikan untuk menyampaikan maklumat kepada seluruh rakyat Malaysia yang tertunggu-tunggu perkembangan terkini insiden itu.

Peristiwa yang kedua, tragedi Lahad Datu. Bila askar kita terbunuh, saya bersiaran (tapi tak ingat rakan setugas). The whole nation was simply in shock. Who were these people killing our soldiers?? Again, it was an extremely emotional broadcast. Tapi perasaan peribadi kena tolak tepi. Yang penting, kena sampaikan info, isu dengan jelas without making any big mistakes. It goes without saying that the stakes are simply very, very high when you're doing 'live' news or talk shows.

The MHI Effect

 

I posted this a couple of days ago on Threads and was surprised to see that it gained over 1.3 million views (at the time of writing). Seriously, never thought something I copied and pasted from a facebook post that I put up a few years ago could really resonate with people. 

What's even more heartwarming was reading the positive and wonderful (and funny) comments and reactions. MHI during those years really left a good impression on our viewers, Alhamdulillah. Apparently, it was THE source of information and latest news and happenings for many. Our conversations and interviews also cheered up people first thing in the morning and even made some constantly late for work or school! Oops...

Also interesting to know was how it appealed to 3 different generations in a single household, with most of those who commented fondly recalling how they were still in school when their parents and/or grandparents would switch on MHI for everyone to watch/listen to.

It's been a while, but I just want to give a major shout out to my co-hosts and the awesome production team! Memang berbaloi all the effort made by everyone, year in and year out!

Goodbye MHI. Au Revoir Media Prima.

I'm writing this on a Monday afternoon, which can only mean I'm either on leave, or I'm in between jobs. And if you do follow me elsewhere in the social media realm, you'd know it is the latter.

Yup, last Thursday was my last day as an employee of Media Prima, a company I've been through so much with for the past six and a half years. And if you know me only through my hosting gig on Malaysia Hari Ini (MHI), I humbly invite you to click on the "gua.com.my" and "tonton" tags positioned on the right of your screen to see some of the stuff I've been humbly part of.

I might write more about some of the more memorable experiences I had there, but for now, I just wanna say my deepest thank yous. First up, to the top management of MPB including the group managing director and the chairman. And of course, my immediate boss, Ahmad Izham Omar, the CEO of Primeworks.

Izham and the Primeworks HODs threw me a farewell do at One World a week before my last day, which was a complete surprise. I was told to attend a meeting with the sales group, but it turned out to be my farewell. I actually wanted to meeting postponed at the last minute!

And before that "meeting", my own new media team along with the marketing communication side also bid farewell to me, where everyone took turns to feed me cake. Hehe.

Then, it was my "old" colleagues of Alt Media's turn to give me yet another surprise when they ambushed my department meeting to say their goodbyes. I must say that I did pretty well holding back my tears on all these occasions.

And finally, I said my goodbyes last Wednesday to the team and audience of MHI, the morning talkshow on TV3 I've co-hosted for the past three years. I came closest to bawling my eyes out then, but seeing how everything was unfolding on NATIONAL TV, I restricted myself to a couple of sniffs.

I also had a nice lunch out with two of my closest buds at Kokopelli but keeping in mind where I'll be going next, we knew this wasn't really a goodbye.

Again, I just wanna thanks to everyone for your kind support and cooperation all these years and thanks for the warm goodbyes, gifts, cakes and balloons. May God bless all of you always. Till we meet again...

Fitness Inspiration: Ahmad Faiz Ariffin

Half my age, Ahmad Faiz Ariffin is my current fitness inspiration. I first spotted him on an fb group called Malaysia Muscle and was basically shocked to find out that he's only 20 years old! Also found out that he has three younger brothers, all of whom have been converted into gym enthusiasts by Faiz himself.

And so, I thought it was a good idea to invite Faiz and the whole posse to MHI and share their inspiring story. They were a bit nervous this morning, this being their first "live" interview on national TV, but it turned out good in the end, I thought. Well done, boys!

Faiz himself is a well-mannered, well-educated young boy with clear goals and obviously, the necessary drive and determination. He first got hooked on to the gym some three years ago, and decided to give body building a proper go. And so far, he's chalked up some top 3 finishes and even a title in the junior category of local bodybuilding competitions.

Faiz is also doing his ACCA at Sunway University College and is known as a humble and down-to-earth lad. And oh, with such a physique, modeling gigs have also been coming his way. In school, he was into chess, track & field and martial arts, and basically excelled in all.

I also told him about my own fitness goals, and he was kind enough to offer me any help needed. So, I might just take up on his offer and drop by the gym he goes to in Tmn Tun one of these days. Hello, bigger biceps!

You can read more about Faiz HERE and HERE

Larian 40 Taman 100km: We Did It!

The journey came to a glorious end last Friday (11 Jan 2013), and I wanna say right off the bat, thanks to everyone who made it happen! From the first run at Taman Bandaran Kelana Jaya, to the final one at Taman Persekutuan Bukit Kiara. Fuh, 40 parks in one year. I had my doubts, to be honest, but to finally complete it is absolutely satisfying.

I always knew that the final run would be something very special, and when the MHI producers agreed to do a series of live crossovers on the day, my job was to also deliver good content, in addition to the final run.

At the park were Ally, Nadia and myself, and we started off by introducing the park itself and on the wonders of exercising. We also interviewed national marathoner Shahruddin Hashim who shared with viewers some very valuable running tips.

A couple more crossovers featured warm-up sessions and also an interview with a Jabatan Lanskap official, the department responsible for maintaining most of the parks in the country.

 

Then it was time for the run. After a simple countdown, more than 30 of us made one shortened round around the park, all captured "live" by the cameras.

And with that, Larian 40 Taman 100km came to and end. Overall, we did approximately 118kms and covered nine different states in the country and also visited London, Melbourne and Singapore.

Thank you again to everyone and keep on running!

MHI 2013

We ushered in the New Year yesterday by debuting a new, fresher-looking set. Feedback has been very positive, and along with the new-look will come a much more reinvigorated feel in terms of content and presentation. Yup, that's our New Year's resolution indeed!

On a personal note, it will be my fourth year doing the show. I've grown and learned a lot myself since making my debut in 2010 and hope to contribute even more to the brand this year. And yes, thank you for all the continued support, our dear MHI audience!

Sami Yusuf's Salaam

This morning on Malaysia Hari Ini (MHI), we welcomed back international "spiritique" artiste, Sami Yusuf from the UK. I say welcome back cos this was brother Sami's second visit to our set, the first time back in April this year.

And this time around, he's here to launch his latest album, "Salaam". The album is exclusively licensed to Arteffects International and and has 16 tracks including the popular duet with Dato' Siti Nurhaliza, "You Came To Me".

When asked about the simplicity of the concept of "salaam", the very foundation of Islam itself, Sami said that it is indeed very timely to remind us all of the message of peace, something that is promoted by every religion in the world.

I just wished that we had more time to talk about the music, but brother Sami also mentioned the song "It's A Game" which is now re-released in response to the Prophet Muhammad movie that sparked controversy recently.



If you're reading this today (2/11/2012), you can meet up with him and get his latest album "Salaam" at KL Sentral later at 4pm. And there will also be a meet & greet session tomorrow at Royale Bintang, Damansara at 2pm.

You can also watch the interview again on www.tonton.com.my (search for Malaysia Hari Ini)

Selamat Hari Raya!

Just a few more days to go before Hari Raya arrives and I just wanna wish everyone Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir Batin! It'll be a different Raya for me this year; new crib, but won't be going back to JB at all. In fact, I'll be on-air the first three days of Raya before flying off to somewhere nice with the fam.

So don't forget to watch Malaysia Hari Ini this Sunday for something extra special!

Sami Yusuf On MHI, Will Stage A Concert In Malaysia

Time magazine hails him as "Islam's biggest rockstar", and this morning, Iran-born British "Spiritique" artist Sami Yusuf was a guest on Malaysia Hari Ini. Sitting together with us was also Indonesia's own nasyid star Opick.

Indeed it was a great thrill and honour to have Sami with us especially since we've been playing hisAsma Al Husna music video countless times on the show. Honestly, I never thought that one day he would be joining us on the show!

Sami was here to promote his upcoming fourth album, Salaam. And even better news for his fans, Sami will be staging his first concert in Malaysia on the 14th of July! So mark that date on your calendars people! He also revealed that tomorrow, he would be recording a duet with our very own Dato' Siti Nurhaliza. How cool is that?

Here are excerpts of the interview:

Q: Nasyid is popular in Malaysia and the region in general. But you call your brand of nasyid as "spiritique". Are you surprised, or not surprised by the success of spiritique which has travelled far and wide across the world?
A: I have a different opinion on the whole concept of Islamic music and Islamic art. I believe we have Islamic sacred music. I don't think it's the correct word to use just because we have some Islamic words in it, that's my opinion. I believe there's good art, and there's bad art. There's good music, and there's bad music. I personally didn't know what nasyid was. I come from a classical background and my father's a composer. The only nasyid I knew was when someone gave me the music of Raihan. That was when I got to know what nasyid was. For me, it's been an absolute pleasure since 2003. I've been blessed by God. I get to travel around the world, greeted by heads of state, performing at arenas and stadium. It's been daunting and surprising at the same time. And I'm very honoured to be here in Malaysia. The concert in Malaysia in July is going to be an absolute pleasure.

Q: You were born in Iran and grew up in England. What was that experience like?
It's beautiful. It's amazing to know the traditions of the east and west. England's a beautiful country with a lovely history. Our national dish is the curry! It's a great thing to know different cultures and backgrounds. The more you learn, the more you realise that we're quite identical on the macro level. One thing I try to do through spiritique is to remind us of that. That we are, ultimately, one human family. And this upcoming tour of mine is about that, about salaam and unity, and bringing people together.

Q: How have you yourself grown as an artist and how have your success and travels impacted your own life.
A: That's a good and complicated question. Well, the more I've travelled, the more I've understood that we are very similar. And as I get older, I have a deeper sense of appreciation for everything traditional. Traditional music, culture, everything. I find myself being at odds with the modern world. But I think that fundamentally, the power of music is a great way of bringing people together. I have been fortunate and blessed to be part of that experience.

Malaysia Hari Ini 2012 Promo

MHI @ Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai

I might be wrong, but I think it was the first time ever that Malaysia Hari Ini (MHI) TX-ed "live" from my home state Johor, last week. Yup, we did a full show on the campus of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Skudai last Friday and it turned out to be another fun and enlightening broadcast.

Drove down to JB on Thursday and my first thought when I entered UTM was, like seriously, wow! I think the last time I was here was 20 years ago, and I don't remember the campus being this lively and lovely with horses and stuff (I'm not kidding!). There are even parks and trails that I would love to run one day.

We're put up at the Scholar's Inn, a hotel within the campus grounds. It's undergoing some major renovation works but the rooms proved to be a pleasant surprise.

It was a 2-bedroom apartment for me with a flat-screen TV, air-cond, kitchen with some cooking essentials and very comfortable beds. It's open to the public, so you might consider staying here if you're ever in JB.

Of course, that Thursday night, I just had to take my peeps out for some Johor food. But seeing how time was tight and there was still a bit of work to be done, we couldn't really go makan-hopping and settled at just one place; ZZ mee rebus tulang.

Apart from the mee rebus tulang, we also had satay and otak-otak. Everyone agreed that the food was awesome; I mean, the tulangs were left just, well, tulangs.

The next morning, it was time to rock n roll.  In case you didn't know, our broadcast was done in conjunction with UTMost Imagination 2012, the UTM Innovation and Creativity Festival. So there were loads in store for visitors to the 4-day carnival with some amazing stuff on display.

The Carnival, as well as our broadcast was done at the Padang Kawad. We got there around 6am, and the production crew was in the final stages of making sure everything was ready for the TX.

Like I said, it turned out to be a fun and enlightening broadcast. We interviewed the Vice Chancellor, Professor Dato' Ir Dr Zaini Ujang, played with some sumo robots, heard some interesting music, discovered some new inventions and even flagged off a non-conventional bicycle race between the UTM bosses.

The university also invited angkasawan Mejar Dr Faiz Khaleed who tested out something called the Multi Axis Simulator.

The atmosphere was great and personally, I always enjoy doing a show with a "live" audience as you could feed off the energy from the crowd.

After the TX, we were then invited to have some breakfast, Johor-style. Which meant lontong and fried tempe with sambal kicap, among other stuff. Hehe. Thanks for the hospitality UTM!

I stayed back in JB for the next couple of days as the fam joined me for some R & R. Food pics will be shared soon, but before that, have a look at these shots we snapped as we left JB city yesterday.