(click to read synopsis!)
scripted by
Alfian Sa'at (who is such a master of the written word with a really brilliant mind), it was a really thought-provoking play on faith and love, as its tag line suggests. while it mainly explores the issue within the context of Islam (and Christianity, but to a much smaller extent), its underlying theme is most definitely universal, to both believers and the faithless.
to quote the co-director,
Zizi Azah, in her message printed in the programme booklet:
"There is somewhat a beautiful irony in this (challenges faced in the process of creating the production) as Nadirah speaks of the uneasy place where people negotiate crossroads and navigate the most important things to them. Faith and love. Things that are intrinsic, intangible and yet difficult truths that are always instinctive and largely illogical."
i don't know how to make of it, actually. it teases (for the lack of a better word, and '
test' is a tad extreme) your faith, so on one hand, you can't help but to have questions about certain aspects of the religion, and on the other hand, you can't help but to have questions about the whole concept of religion altogether. as i did, which is pretty major.
i think the most pivotal scene which really got me thinking, was when
Nadirah and her mum,
Sahira, were addressing the issue of her mum's impending civil marriage to
Robert. which of course, is not recognised by the Islamic law and hence is
haram (forbidden). and that's where the conflict between religion and love occur. unwilling to accept Robert and his Christianity into the house, and not wanting her mum to commit a sin and be condemned in the afterlife,
Nadirah sternly reminded her mum that "
There's only room for one God!". to which her mum replied at the end of the scene with a very poignant line:
"How do you know it's not the same God?"
(and Neo Swee Lin's delivery of it was impeccable)
apart from that, there's the rather casual yet powerful analogy drawn between the different religions and the different football clubs, and how at the end of the day, it's all about 'the beautiful game', and not about which football club you so choose to support. really neat and intelligent, i must say.
oh, and Nadirah's less-than-pious BFF,
Maznah, (who is a total Minah college omg, but seriously rocks cos she injects so much fun into the play, with her catty remarks to the central
ustaz of the play,
Farouk as the President of the Muslim society, who always
tegurs her liberal ways, and her crush on the Turkish person and all that jazz - she is the bombz la) actually said something rather deep to her in the midst of the chaos:
"How do you love God
when you can't love another human being?"
seriously, these impactful lines are such food for thought. but really, if you think about it, the fundamental thrust of every religion is that it is The Truth. and when you compare the Abrahamic religions especially, the parallels amongst them are too significant to brush off. and then of course, the second line begs the question, if you can't even love another being, who is God's creation, how do you even try to love the great Creator Himself? hmmm.
anyway, i think i shall just keep all this brain-racking to myself la, haha. i shall just note down some thoughts on the overall production...
as a whole,
Nadirah was an amazing play which provides
much a lot of food for thought. (and no closure, as
Mary would lament! xD) the script, direction, cast, sets and simply, the entire production was just really gooood. loved the nuggets of humour and jabs at certain groups of people (the Malaysians, Chinese scholars, etc.). and i must commend
Neo Swee Lin and
Siti Khalijah especially on their impressively convincing portrayals of the mum and daughter respectively.
however, i must admit that i have three issues with the characterisation of (1) the mum, being portrayed as a tad too flighty in my opinion. and (2)
Farouk, seemingly plagued with the
hubris of the Classical tragic hero, which i guess could be perceived as his passion for his faith. and (3)
Nadirah, being portrayed as a naive and unthinking Vice-President. i mean, as a VP, i would expect her to be smarter than to portray herself as a mere messenger of
Farouk's views. again, perhaps it's aimed at showing how a majority of us who are born into our religion, tend not to challenge and clarify doubts about our own religion, and instead just passively/obediently follow the words written in our own Holy books/texts/scriptures. yet more food for thought, i know.
so, anyway, it was good. OH, and yes, it was written by
Alfian as a tribute to the late
Yasmin Ahmad, the genius filmmaker, which explains why her signature culture/religion clash is just really all over this play. and without a dout, i think it is a most fitting and well done tribute, so kudos. and instead of lamenting the loss of a great mind, let's celebrate the fact that her legacy is being carried on la,
Mary! (:
and hmmm, somehow, it's a stinging reminder about my own
iman, now that we're only into the second day of the new Islamic year (
2 Muharram 1431H). how timely right. it's time to review/reflect and plan for a fresh start.
well, have a meaningful and fruitful new Islamic year my fellow
brothers and
sisters! heh
- Thursday, December 17, 2009
if i give my gun away when it's loaded
this is still by far one of the most hauntingly beautiful songs i've ever heard:
and this is still by far one of the
loveliest (pardon the pun; i really couldn't help it!) photos i've come across:
the whole notion of love being a blurry and often uncertain pursuit. =/ perhaps i'm reading too much into the photo, but well, i really love this photo anyhow. and it's been my wallpaper ever since i stumbled upon it a few months back.
by the way, the past few days of outings have been awesome. (: updates are coming
soon, heh.
alright, have a great day people! =D
- Sunday, December 13, 2009
six years on...
primary six class reunion/outing!
an entire day out with my primary six classmates.
picnic by the beach, played ball, soaked up the sun, watched Zombieland, and lots of catching up. (:
(tsk tsk tsk, sneaky girls! xD)
(: (: (: (: (: (:
- Tuesday, December 08, 2009
project room clean-up!
okay, so today was a most productive day. and considering that it's the holidays, i think i totally deserve a pat on the back, thank you very much. (:
well, for one, i finally got down to clearing up my two years' worth of notes and school literature (haha!). actually, more so of tidying up - taking out the unnecessary parts, refiling and reorganising everything. initially, i had been so excited to just dump all the physics/chemistry/maths notes especially during the As period, but i realised that i don't really want to get rid of them just yet. there's some sentimental value in them and maybe i could pass them down to my relatives/juniors anyway. so they're now well-organised in lever arch files, with the exam papers in a smaller ring file.
BUT, i only managed to tidy up the jc side of things, so there's still part II tmr for the primary and secondary school stuff omg. mother tiring and sian, but it's all worth it to get my room organised and tidy! (:
oh, and my bro and i finally got the Starhub 2Mbps internet running on my pc! it's pretty much only for my use, while the Singnet 3Mbps one is shared among the other three siblings. and i also have a dedicated Starhub phone line through this internet connection, so it's kinda cool. not bad at all, though the download speeds sucks majorly. oh well! life's like that - you win some and you lose some.
in any case, this week's mainly a stay-at-home programme, before the partying and get-togethers begin next week, so i shall enjoy every minute of it. while planning my primary six class gathering as well, haha! xD which i really hope will be a success.
by the way, the prom entry is on its way. i've started, but am lazy to get the photos uploaded onto the post, so just wait for it patiently la. it'll appear eventually, and you can admire everyone's gorgeousness on that night then.
alright, have a smashing week y'all! (:
OH, and yes,
SYLVIA RATONEL FOR SINGAPORE IDOL THE THIRD! =D
- Monday, December 07, 2009
Viva Glam: Grad Nite '09
Swissotel The Stamford
Raffles Ballroom
5 December 2009
it was indeed a night to remember - from the pre-prom at
Fairmont (once again, thank you
Angie's dad for the accomodation!), to the gala itself, and of course, to the post-prom chill-out. (:
though i must say i'm a little bummed that i didn't touch half of the food served, since i went on a photographing spree after the third course was served (as did majority of the rest), i guess the 88bucks (!) was worth it to see the school population decked out in their finest for that one special night and take photos to serve as memories with people that have mattered to me in my two years of junior college.
so here, i shall present photos, mostly of groups of awesome people who really have made my junior college life such an awesome experience. (:
OH-NINE-SO-SEXY! (:
since Jun Han and Ming Jun weren't in the class photo
class girls! (: minus a certain Yap Eng Lian
class boys! (:
since we looked just so good, ala a Power Couple working the red carpet xD
BB (MANLIEST xD) HOUSE D! (:
2FIVE! (:
RJ DIVAS LIVE! =D
(you guys fill my life with rainbows, haha)
mats who've been there for me for six long years. (:
awesome council pals! (:
minahs, who make my life so much more wonderful! (:
love these two post-prom photos.
and of course the people in it too! (:
and cos she's Prom Queen and my friend - Ong Yan Han!
i guess you could say that the
RJC/
RI(JC) and effectively, the
Raffles chapter of my life has finally come to a close.
to be honest, i didn't expect it to be this anti-climatic actually. perhaps the reality that i won't be seeing my classmates/schoolmates as often again hasn't sunk it. okay, it really hasn't. after all, it was only a few weeks back when we were all taking the A-levels
after our graduation ceremony. haha
in any case,
Thank You to everyone who has been with me on this truly amazing journey - the sexy 09S06C, manliest BB HouseD, 28ths, Malay batchmates, Isle Indians, Reddotters, 01 scouts and everyone else who've been part of it.
as they say,
a goodbye isn't painful unless you're never going to say hello again. so i really hope that our paths do cross again one day, my friends. and till then, take care! (:
- Friday, December 04, 2009
apyls: three years on
today's reunion/gathering was kinda good in a way. well, after all, we did have record attendance! =D only three couldn't make it, so that made it a party of thirteen. which is seriously quite a feat. and we all have Bryan to thank for that. so THANK YOU BRYAN! (: plus, it was nice to finally see a good turnout even after three years! so we are kinda awesome la, right.
and haha, just when i thought that school was no longer a topic of conversation since we've already graduated from rj/hwach/acsi (hello Marissa!) - how wrong was i! the main topic of conversation of the dinner centred around university apps, internships, scholarships and everything else related to our next stage of education. so well, safe to say, school will certainly be the topic of conversation for quite a while. and being the only one at the table who's really only considering our local universities, i couldn't help but feel as though i've somehow lost my ambition and drive. or perhaps, as i console myself, my ambition is just not the same as theirs la, which is a fair way of looking at it, i guess. in any case, i refuse to brood over it. so there. (:
oh yes. by the way, Swensen's ION is so secluded la omg. and it's not exactly even part of the ION building, hmmm.
alright, i'm turning in already. nights!
oh yes, second btw - PROM IS IN 41 HOURS! =Dand a third btw, especially for
omgsianz/Rafiq!, here's a neat summary on what inspired that awesome green bow tie on me in that Facebook photo:
(it was basically a House armband for the interhouse competition period)but of course, attention to the bottom left part of the page please! xD thanks
Yutian dear for that most flattering write-up. (:
- Wednesday, December 02, 2009
feel good times! =D
the past two days have been nothing short of
AWESOME. (:
but perhaps it's no pain no gain indeed, haha. i woke up this morning with aches at various parts of my body especially the back, a bruise on my right elbow, a bruise on my left knee, a blue black on my right knee, and one blister and abrasion on each foot.
how
wonderful, right. and it's all thanks to the ice-skating session with
Natalie Ong and
Wang Ye yesterday. oh, and i forgot to add - a bruised bum, courtesy of the many falls. well, despite the numerous battle scars, i must say that i think i sort of get the ice-skating technique la. (i had better did, else, the falls were for nothing!). but in any case, bowling over ice-skating any day please.
Louis and
Tri joined soon after for lunch at Pastamania!, and we caught up quite a bit with each other la. and that was pretty much it for the awesome Part I with the House D.
Part II was basically
Haris' birthday surprise, which was awesome. (: kudos to
anak Ghani jr aka
Amelina, and
Haliim for coordinating everything. chilled out a lot at his house, ate food, and relived the 01 Scouts den days of carrom, haha. his parents, especially his dad, are wonderfully nice people; they're so welcoming and hospitable, so it was all good. oh yes, and the Secret Recipe cake was pure chocolaty goodness! YUMZ. xD baik ah ammer!
anyway, the day before, on Tuesday, we had a birthday surprise for
Hanif! (: coordinated by his lady,
Hidayah, and
Fawaz. we went to Vivo (some time) after Physics Paper 1, on the pretext of prom-shopping. but hmmm, actually, we didn't do much window-shopping even, before the celebration la. had the whole surprise business at the roof-top place. and Hidayah baked a chocolate cake, decorated with those small sweet silver spherical things which spelled his name. totally adorable right! xD
so i guess you could say it was a good two days with my
mat friends la. they can be so nonsensical and omg so-full-of-sh*t at times, but it's still nice to know that i can relate with them, somehow, heh.
(will post pictures when i get hold of them alright!)
by the way, now that As is over, i'm left without an aim in life, at the moment. at least until NS comes round. ): haha, sadness la.
but hmmm, nvm la. i shall just work towards PROM! and my Primary 6 class reunion. which should keep me occupied until next week, haha.
happy day everyone!