The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio
The Star Online: Entertainment: TV & Radio |
| Posted: The famous cartoonist celebrates 50 years of making Malaysia laugh. Here's the irony. Datuk Mohammad Nor Khalid, or Lat, is probably more instantly recognisable as a cartoon in his own works than as himself in real life. Those who grew up with his regular cartoon column in newspapers and his popular books such as The Kampung Boy, Town Boy, Keluarga Si Mamat and others would attest to that. The spiky-haired chubby boy with the beady eyes and toothy grin is now a timeless Malaysian icon. Schoolchildren in the 1970s and 80s emulated Lat's style of drawing and few who grew up in those times would deny that they also tried their hand at drawing that chubby boy. He started his career in the 60s as a cartoonist for Berita Minggu. He has a knack in capturing everyday scenes of Malaysian life, everything from the popular "bas mini" and durians, to politicians and other famous folks. Lat was already working as a reporter when he was given the task to draw a regular cartoon column. He remembers his chief editor at the time "was a very strict fella, real conservative and he wore a suit every day and I was in my early 20s, with very long hair and very hip, and I didn't know how we could meet half way." In a transcript provided by National Geographic Channel, Lat said: "But I had the audience, the people in mind, and how to reach out to those people who read the newspapers, people of various ethnic groups." He started off drawing about weddings, because "you can't go wrong with weddings, everybody attends a weddings." In between, he slipped in drawings about football, eating habits and bus rides. Soon, he became popular and was like "wah, a rock star". His fans then started requesting that he draw about politics. "But it was a subject which at that time I didn't really follow," says Lat, "and what I did was I started to draw caricatures of prominent Malaysians and politicians, and that's how I started to draw Tan Sri (Abdul) Kadir (Yusuf) who was our head of the Anti-Narcotics Bureau, and he was (Law Minister). He was easy to draw, very slim, and when the drawing came out, he told people 'I'm going to get that Lat one day', which meant he liked it." Later he also drew then Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak, and he got an earful from his chief editor who told him, "Wah, this is our Prime Minister. Young Lat, you want to go to jail? You cannot draw the Prime Minister." But Lat wanted to attract a larger readership, and when he eventually drew Tun Abdul Razak, his readers responded positively. He remembers one incident when Muhammad Ali and Joe Bugner were being hosted by the Prime Minister. He was on the late shift as a crime reporter, and he would draw his cartoons after he had done his rounds. At about 5am, his editor arrived at the office. "I was ready with the drawing and told him, 'Here, you better use this drawing, it's going to be a hit in the papers. This is specially for you'," Lat recalls. "He used it because at that time (because the chief editor) was sleeping. So it came out at 11am. People went crazy. There were the Prime Minister, Muhammad Ali and his opponent, kicking each other under the table." Then came the Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad era, and by that time, Lat was at the height of his popularity, and he could literally draw anything he liked. He drew about the Look East policy and the introduction of the punch-card system. But prophetically, he drew the national car when Proton had not yet been in existence. But his version had the roof of a traditional Malay house. Then it came to drawing Tun Mahathir. "With Dr M, the nose became bigger and bigger," says Lat. "Eventually when it became big, it looked funny to me, and it looked like him, although he's a good-looking man ... Eventually I ended up with a big nose, and a mouth that was right behind the nose, instead of underneath the nose. Some of the people close to him did tell me that he complained, 'Why does he draw my nose too big?'. I said that's my style." Lat remembers his childhood when the country was still young, and there was the "Speak our national language" campaign everywhere. He remembers singing the Gunakanlah Bahasa Kebangsaan song for fun or when he and his family were waiting at the railroad crossing in their car. He remembers his days growing up in Ipoh, Perak where he had friends from different ethnic backgrounds. He advises young people today to mingle more with people of various races and to understand each other. Asked what he thinks of Malaysia celebrating its 50th anniversary, Lat says: "My first cartoon was in 1963 ... Ya, we should celebrate. Fifty years is special, it's so special." Catch Lat and other famous local personalities in Malaysia: Through The Decades premiering on Sept 16 at 9pm on National Geographic Channel (Astro Ch 553). |
| X Factor seeks a larger audience Posted: To be competitive, you have to make changes ... and that's exactly what Simon Cowell is doing on The X Factor. Women rule when it comes to the panel of judges for this year's edition of The X Factor. Longtime judge and curmudgeon Simon Cowell will have to deal with three female judges in Kelly Rowland, Paulina Rubio and Demi Lovato. "It's been fun," Cowell says. "It's exactly what I thought it would be. We said at the time, it's a girls' world at the moment in the music business. So many girls doing so well in the charts, we thought the panel should reflect it." Unable to avoid adding a jab, Cowell smiles and adds: "But be careful what you wish for." What he's really wishing for is a group of contestants – male and female – who will attract viewers to the reality music competition show. And, it's very important the judges find a talent that will go on to fame and fortune. As far as Cowell's concerned, none of the music competition shows can survive if they don't eventually launch a huge star. "You're making a promise, essentially, to the contestants that you're going to try and turn them into real-life artistes or the show finishes. It's not a guarantee, but that is your commitment. Otherwise, it's just a game show," Cowell says. The most important part for Cowell is what occurs after the final voting. He points to the success of One Direction, a band Cowell put together during the British version of The X Factor, as an example of the success he's looking for with winning acts. Changes in the judging panel – L.A. Reid and Britney Spears are off the show – is one way Cowell is trying to make The X Factor the kind of competition he wants. He compares the panel last year to a dinner party where the invited guests don't turn out to be as interesting as expected. Lovato's making her second appearance on the judging panel. She jokes that everyone told her you can't say "no" to Cowell, but she took it as a matter of national pride to go against the British judge. "But also this. I guess, being 19 last year, I had a naive sense of confidence. I wasn't intimidated by him as people normally would be. And then this year, I'd done it all last year. So we have such a great friendship now. That's just how we are with each other," Lovato says. "And this year, I'm not the only one that does that. That's what makes this season stand out more. He's up against three women that will absolutely do the same thing. "The way I like to put it is – last year the banter between me and Simon times three." Joining Lovato in her verbal jousting with Cowell are Rowland, a singer and former member of Destiny's Child, and recording star Rubio, who is considered one of the most influential contemporary Latin artists working today. Tweaks to the show come out of Cowell's competitive nature. The Voice, NBC's singing competition series, has become the top-rated programme in the genre. Cowell would love to see The X-Factor as the leader. "I don't think any of us on this panel ever take part with the idea that you're going to lose. You have to be competitive. You have to make changes. "You have to try and make the show better. You listen to the fans, the viewers, and I work hard. It makes it fun," Cowell says. "I'd love to be No 1. If you've got a good panel and you've got good producers, which we have, the format is more fun. "And then you get that one or two special contestants, and it can change everything because that's really what it's all about." – The Fresno Bee/McClatchy-Tribune Information Services The X Factor airs every Thursday and Friday at 6pm on RTL CBS Entertainment HD (Hypp TV Ch 616) |
| Wong Cho Lam has a fighting chance Posted: Playing a kung fu master is a tall order for Hong Kong comedian Wong Cho Lam. Wong Cho Lam may be well-loved for his ability to tickle our funnybones in slapstick comedies, but the Hong Kong comedian says he enjoys writing more than acting. "I have always wanted to develop my creative writing skill," the 33-year-old star said. "Inbound Troubles has given me the opportunity to do that and has been my most exciting writing project yet. We are already working on the sequel." The 33-year-old star will be performing excerpts of this TVB project at his similarly-titled comedy gig at Genting's Arena Of Stars next Friday, with Ivana Wong, Chu Mimi, Tommy Wong, Xiao Po and Corinna Chamberlain. Wong sounded very tired in a recent phone interview from Hong Kong as he had back-to-back shoots that went on all night with hardly any breaks in between. He is currently working on Patrick Kong's romantic comedy Delete Lover as well as Roy Chow's martial arts flick Rise Of The Legend (also known in Chinese as Wong Fei Hung). Wong acts in Princess And Seven Kung Fu Masters where he plays one of the seven kung fu masters cum tailor who practises some super needle-and-thread kung fu with a pair of scissors. "Every one of the seven kung fu masters has a special skill. For me to play a kung fu master with such unique skills is already quite a tall order, especially since I have not got a martial arts background," said the actor who found filming to be especially challenging due to the action sequences. "But, more amusing is the fact that a bunch of comedians get to fight some real action stars and actually beat them up. And, many of them are actually international martial arts champions," he said referring to action stars like Sammo Hung, Dennis To, Philip Ng, Xing Yu, and Jiang Luxia who play the villains in the movie. "My character eventually falls for a girl known as Snow White, who is played by newcomer Kimmy Tong. And he has to save her from a bunch of baddies, so that's where the fun begins," quipped Wong, who also plays the dorky yet outlandish IT specialist in The Midas Touch, which is currently showing in cinemas nationwide. Princess And Seven Kung Fu Masters was written, directed and produced by prolific Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Jing who has directed some 200 movies in his career. The slapstick comedy, which was released earlier this year, also features other big names in Chinese comedy such as Sandra Ng, Eric Tsang, Yuen Wah, Ronald Cheng and Xie Na. Set in the North-East region of China during the early years of the Republic era, the story begins when the people are suffering from the power struggle among the local warlords, bandits and Japanese invaders. The only place with no issues plaguing the people is Lucky Town as it is protected by the seven quirky kung fu masters who reside within. When the seven masters learn of the secret plan hatched by the Japanese, they resolve to fight against the invaders. Princess And Seven Kung Fu Masters airs on Sept 15 at 9pm on Celestial Movies (Astro Ch 322). You can also catch Wong Cho Lam at Inbound Troubles at Genting's Arena Of Stars on Sept 20 at 8.30pm. Tickets are priced at RM800, RM480, RM400, RM330, RM260, and RM160. For reservations, contact Galaxy (03-2282 2020/galaxy.com.my) or Resorts World Genting (03-2718 1118/www.rwgenting.com). |
| You are subscribed to email updates from TV To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan