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Straits Times
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Concert review: Malay pop acts gather to celebrate the songs of lyricist Habsah Hassan
The Dari Sudut Hati, Habsah Hassan concert featured Malaysian and Singaporean artistes performing the songs written by Malaysian lyricist Habsah Hassan (centre, in black). PHOTO: ESPLANADE – THEATRES ON THE BAY
Straits Times
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Theatre review: Teater Kami's period authentic adaptation Salina is trapped in time
Ariati Tyeb Papar plays the titular character in Teater Kami's staging of Salina as part of Esplanade's Pesta Raya - Malay Festival of Arts 2025. PHOTO: COURTESY OF ESPLANADE -- THEATRES ON THE BAY
Straits Times
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Pesta Raya 2025: Celebrate the best of Malay arts and culture with Esplanade
Here is a closer look at the main attractions, from a landmark theatre production from Cultural Medallion recipient Atin Amat to a celebration of a pop icon's body of work. PHOTOS: ESPLANADE – THEATRES ON THE BAY Pesta Raya 2025: Celebrate the best of Malay arts and culture with Esplanade SINGAPORE – The Esplanade's Pesta Raya – Malay Festival of Arts has become a fixture of Hari Raya festivities after more than two decades. Its 24th edition, to be held from May 9 to 12, will showcase the best of Malay arts and culture. Besides ticketed shows, there will be free programmes at the arts centre's various spaces. Look out for Pesta Pasar, the biggest outdoor marketplace to date at the festival with more than 35 stalls curated from the region in collaboration with Me-You Market. Here is a closer look at the main attractions, from a landmark theatre production from Cultural Medallion recipient Atin Amat to a celebration of a pop icon's body of work. Teater Kami's Salina travels back to 1950s kampung Ariati Tyeb Papar and Fir Rahman star in Teater Kami's staging of Salina. PHOTO: ESPLANADE – THEATRES ON THE BAY Director and playwright Atin Amat has hung on to the set of the 1950s kampung drama Salina for more than 30 years. The set will be reused in the restaging of her adaptation of the Malay-language novel as part of Pesta Raya 2025 – Malay Festival of Arts from May 2 to 4. Theatregoers who caught Teater Kami's stagings of Salina in 1993 and 1997 will thus recognise bits of Kampung Kambing (or Goat Village in Malay) at the Singtel Waterfront Theatre. The props will include trinkets the Cultural Medallion recipient salvaged from the bygone Sungei Road Thieves Market and a tempayan (stoneware jar) from her old kampung home. In Salina, the story's titular protagonist fights to survive in the aftermath of the Japanese Occupation in Singapore. Forced to become a sex worker while supporting her unemployed lover, Salina lives in a squatter village converted from a goat pen where 'the walls are thin and the roofs are leaky', a setting Atin has tried to recreate faithfully. READ MORE HERE Malaysian songwriter Habsah Hassan started her music career in Singapore A concert featuring songs by Malaysian lyricist Habsah Hassan will be held at the Esplanade Concert Hall. PHOTO: ESPLANADE – THEATRES ON THE BAY It is apt that the first concert dedicated to the songs of Malaysian songwriter Habsah Hassan, who has written lyrics to more than 1,000 songs sung by stars such as Siti Nurhaliza, will be held in Singapore. Held at the Esplanade Concert Hall on May 2, Dari Sudut Hati, Habsah Hassan (From The Heart Of Habsah Hassan) features Malay pop veterans and her frequent collaborators such as Jamal Abdillah, Rahimah Rahim and Salamiah Hassan singing the hits Habsah wrote in the last five decades. 'I'm very moved by the fact there will be a concert of my songs held in Singapore because that was where I started writing,' the 75-year-old tells The Straits Times in a recent Zoom interview from her home in Kuala Lumpur. READ MORE HERE Hafidz Rahman goes beyond comedy with one-man show about Bollywood obsession Singaporean performer Hafidz Rahman plays a Malay man obsessed with all things Bollywood in My Name Is (Not) Khan. PHOTO: ESPLANADE – THEATRES ON THE BAY Singaporean social media personality and performer Hafidz Rahman is best known for skits during which he plays characters such as Bonda Bedah, the middle-aged Malay woman with an acid tongue. For his next live performance, a monologue titled My Name Is (Not) Khan, he will debut a new character – Harith, a Malay man obsessed with all things Bollywood. Despite his reputation for comedy, Hafidz says the audiences should not go into the performance, which is staged in English, and expect a stand-up show. 'It's a very fun show, but it is not a stand-up comedy set,' he tells The Straits Times, adding that the performances explore themes of Bollywood, race, microaggressions, meritocracy and racism. READ MORE HERE Indonesian choreographer Hartati revisits history Dancers will move through paddy hay and interact with it in Indonesian choreographer Hartati's work, Jarum Dalam Jerami. PHOTO: ESPLANADE – THEATRES ON THE BAY The last time Indonesian choreographer Hartati, 59, was in Singapore, it was for the grand opening of the Esplanade in 2002. She was the choreographer for the then-Singapore Dance Theatre's Reminiscing The Moon, which was directed by celebrated Indonesian dancer Boi G. Sakti for the opening festival. 'It was fascinating,' Hartati, who goes by only one name, says of the project. 'I took my three-year-old daughter to stay in Singapore for 1½ months with the team.' READ MORE HERE Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Pesta Raya 2025: Hafidz Rahman goes beyond comedy with one-man show about Bollywood obsession
Singaporean performer Hafidz Rahman plays a Malay man obsessed with all things Bollywood in My Name Is (Not) Khan. PHOTO: ESPLANADE SINGAPORE – Singaporean social media personality and performer Hafidz Rahman is best known for skits during which he plays characters such as Bonda Bedah, the middle-aged Malay woman with an acid tongue. For his next live performance, a monologue titled My Name Is (Not) Khan, he will debut a new character – Harith, a Malay man obsessed with all things Bollywood. Despite his reputation for comedy, Hafidz say s t he audiences should not go into the performance, which is staged in English, and expect a stand-up show. 'It's a very fun show, but it is not a stand-up comedy set,' he tells The Straits Times, adding that the performances explore themes of Bollywood, race, microaggressions, meritocracy and racism. 'At the end of it, audiences should walk out of the theatre feeling entertained by what's happening. They will be entertained by the spectacle of it all, but at the same time, there will also be a sense of relief that someone else is voicing out the uncomfortable things that we talk about in the show.' The show is inspired by hi s lo ve for Bollywood, the Indian film industry and cultural phenomenon wildly popular with local Malay audiences due to its celebratory nature, he says. He also points out that early Malay films were helmed by directors from India. 'The sensibilities have always been very Bollywood, and we grew up on that.' While he wrote the pl ay, he chose to work with director Rizman Putra. 'I feel like to have a directo r, someone with a different perspective, is very important because I am talking from a personal space, so I need someone to help me to frame it in terms of motivations and to always ask me questions.' The performance will be multisensorial an d inv olve scents, as Hafidz plans to do some onstage cooking. 'As I'm talking to the audience, I'm making samosas,' he says. The show is part of Pesta Raya – Malay Festival of Arts 2025, the annual Malay arts festival organised by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. While Hafidz first made his name through online sketch show Lepak One Corner, which features skits by him and fellow content creator Zuhairi Idris, comedy is not the only thing that he is known for. In recent years, he has also gained a following producing content online, as well as live shows, based on horror stories. His foray into the supernatural started during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, when he decided to share stories of ghostly encounters on a podcast that he had just started with Zuhairi. It became a hit with their listeners and led to horror plays staged at venues such as The Arts House. In 2023, he earned a Best Actor nomination at The Straits Times Life Theatre Awards for his role as a mistress of ceremonies-cum-bomoh in Teater Ekamatra's supernatural-themed satire Make Hantus Great Again. One of his latest projects in the genre is Cherita Hantu, a self-published 234-page paperback comprising the scripts of horror plays. The first run of 1,000 copies sold out within three weeks, earning him the No. 2 spot in ST's Bestsellers list in early February. 'It was a surprise because I was very hesitant to print 1,000 copies. I thought that nobody was going to buy a compendium of scripts,' he says. The next few months will be busy. In July, he will act in The Necessary Stage's (TNS) History, Whose Story?, an interactive youth theatre show about Singaporean historical figures written by Cultural Medallion recipient Haresh Sharma, and co-directed by Sharma and TNS associate artist Deonn Yang. Hafidz is planning another edition of Lepak One Corner's live show, Lepak Live, in September, and will be involved in an upcoming reality television series on Mediacorp's Malay television channel Suria, Berani Lakon (Dare To Act). He also teaches drama at secondary schools in Singapore, something he has been doing for a decade. Book It/My Name Is (Not) Khan Where: Esplanade Recital Studio, 1 Esplanade Drive When: May 1 and 2, 8pm; May 3, 3 and 8pm; and May 4, 3pm Admission: From $32, go to More on this Topic Pesta Raya 2025: Malaysian songwriter Habsah Hassan started her music career in Singapore Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Straits Times
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Pesta Raya 2025: Indonesian choreographer Hartati revisits history
Dancers will move through paddy hay and interact with it in Indonesian choreographer Hartati's work, Jarum Dalam Jerami. PHOTO: ESPLANADE – THEATRES ON THE BAY SINGAPORE – The last time Indonesian choreographer Hartati, 59, was in Singapore, it was for the grand opening of the Esplanade in 2002. She was the choreographer for the then-Singapore Dance Theatre's Reminiscing The Moon, which was directed by celebrated Indonesian dancer Boi G. Sakti for the opening festival. 'It was fascinating,' Hartati, who goes by only one name, says of the project. 'I took my three-year-old daughter to stay in Singapore for 1½ months with the team.' On May 2 and 3, Hartati takes centre stage with her choreography at the Esplanade's Pesta Raya – Malay Festival of Arts. Jarum Dalam Jerami, which translates into Needle In A Haystack, is a long-awaited homecoming to the Esplanade. 'I am thrilled because I can finally present my own choreography again at the Esplanade,' Hartati says over Zoom. Her piece is an attempt to understand Indonesia's contemporary realities in the wake of President Suharto's resignation in 1998. In the work, Hartati considers the importance of stepping back, reflecting and finding a sense of calm amid the initial euphoria. First staged in Sumatra for the 2022 Matrilineal Festival, the piece draws inspiration from, and is a response to, her mentor Gusmiati Suid's Api Dalam Sekam (Fire In The Husk). Gusmiati's performance reflected on the final years of the New Order, which refers to the regime of President Suharto. Hartati taps the Minangkabau dance traditions she grew up with in West Sumatra, but the most eye-catching aspect of the show is the set, which will be filled with hay. And not just plain dried grass, but also 200kg of paddy hay, specially sourced and transported to Singapore after a six-week search. 'Regular hay, which resembles long grass, is too dusty and lacks the texture we need,' says Hartati. The paddy hay is more than mere backdrop or a prop. It is part of the choreography and philosophy of the performance. 'With paddy hay, the specific leg movements will have more power too,' she adds. The nine dancers will move through the hay and interact with it during the dance, which also draws attention to the labour of rice farmers. Rice, she notes, is a symbol of life and a staple in many Asian cultures, which is something essential yet often overlooked. 'What I hope to share with the Singapore audience is an invitation to reconnect with the cultural roots that shape who we are. As Asians, our traditions are not just our heritage, but also our strength,' she says. Through this work, she hopes audiences will pause to honour the unseen hands of those who cultivate the land, carry forward ancestral knowledge and be reminded that their everyday existence is built upon collective care and inherited wisdom. 'Returning to the stage in Singapore feels meaningful and energising. It allows me to reconnect with m y artistic practice and share it with a wider international audience,' she says. Book It/Jarum Dalam Jerami Where: Esplanade Theatre Studio, 1 Esplanade Drive When: May 2 and 3, 8pm Admission: From $28 Info: More on this Topic Pesta Raya restages iconic theatre work Salina, celebrates lyricist Habsah Hassan Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
