By MISTIKA IDRIS

Photos by CARLOS RUBEN DOURADO

brats@thestar.com.my

NOT many teenagers can say they’ve had the opportunity to spend a spectacularly glamorous night rubbing shoulders with some of Malaysia’s best performers at the performing arts scene’s biggest awards show.

However, for us BRATs, it’s all part of the job.

A couple of weeks ago, we had the opportunity to attend the 11th BOH Cameronian Arts Awards at Stadium Merdeka.

Making our way into the stadium, we saw local stars dressed to impress in retro outfits. It was all part of a tribute to the pop yeh-yeh era of the 1960s, which contributed so much in shaping Malaysia’s pop music scene of today. 

The night was graced by Datuk Norliza Rofli, director-general of the National Department for Culture and Arts; and Caroline Russel, CEO of BOH Plantations, who said “Malaysia’s performing arts scene sure has a lot of umph!” And boy, was she right.

The awards ceremony was kicked off by singer-songwriter Amir Jahari, who composed a song specially for the night called Inspirasi. It also featured exuberant performances by Kakiseni’s 1960s dancers.

The hosts of the event were Harith Iskandar, legendary Malaysian stand-up comedian, and Edwin Sumun, who’s better known as his drag queen alter-ego Shelah. The two livened things up with their spot-on comedic timing, which had the audience roaring with laughter.

There were also performances from pop yeh-yeh icon Datuk L. Ramlie (who sang Siapa Bilang Aku Tak Sayang), Fatimah Abu Bakar, and Melissa Saila, who performed an interpretive poetry song inspired by Usman

Awang and Tan Sri P. Ramlee. All the performances were accompanied by live music from Dendang Remaja.

After the event, the BRATs got the chance to speak to some of the stars in attendance, including actress Sofia Jane, who was still giddy after her huge win for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Teater Kompilasi Nam Ron.

“I am very thankful for all the support I have received and the people I have been fortunate enough to meet on this journey,” said Sofia.

For young writers and journalists like ourselves, it was truly inspiring to witness the passion all the nominees and winners have for their art. Even more inspiring were the tributes to legends of the performing arts, such as

P. Ramlee, Datuk Krishen Jit and Datuk Usman Awang.

First-time nominee for Best Musical Performer (for The Producers) Safia Hanifah said: “These people inspire us. These were the people who entertained us back then. Without them, we wouldn’t even be here. We wouldn’t be inspired to be in the arts.

“They have always brought people together by telling stories, stories about us. And that is why we can never stop telling these stories – and telling them well!”