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New Year Resolutions Part 2

December 31, 2011 at 4:00 pm

It is the last day of 2011! If you have no plans, make your way to ENCORP Strand! As stated in yesterday’s post, the Malaysia.com team posed a series of questions related to New Year, especially the ever famous New Year Resolutions, to Julie Woon and Megan Tan, the two lovely emcees for Mystical Eve 2011. They went out and sought some answers from your average Malaysians. The following is the last five questions we posed and the respective answers by the interviewees.

Adam Zain was kind enough to tell us what he thinks about New Year resolutions


Interviewees

JF: Judith Flora, Orchan
DL: Dennis Lau
R: Roshan
AO: Andy Ong
SY: Su Yi
AZ: Adam Zain
JA: Jern Ai
BL: Barbara Lam
SC: Su Ci
LT: Lyn Tan

Jern Ai

What are your New Year’s resolutions for 2012?
JF: To be able to complete my Masters course and get married.
DL: To be able to realise my long time goal of an upcoming concert / showcase, to continue making more good music, music videos and movies. But most of all, I would like to pray for world peace!
R: To be honest… I do not understand the concept. WHY should anyone wait till end of the eyar to change their ways? If you do not like something about yourself… then do something about it IMMEDIATELY!
AO: I have not made any at the moment.
SY: Probably to have a better management of my finance :p
AZ: I feel like a party pooper for saying this but I’ve reached the stage of not bothering with resolutions. Self-improvement and goals should be set at anytime of the year and at any frequency. Plus I am not smart enough to come up with original resolutions.
JA: To be more up for going out with friends at night even if I have to work the next day… and save up to furnish my new apartment!
BL: I will stop replying to funny jokes that I hear by saying LOL!
SC: Same as every year – to be a royal princess legally! CLEARLY, New Year’s resolutions are meant to be broken. Hahaha…
LT: Work on continuous improvement in all aspects of my life

What is your idea of a perfect New Year’s countdown party?
JF: A party that is filled with performances such as singing and dancing to lighten up the joy of the coming New Year
DL: Bubblebath with Champagne
R: Being able to spend it with my mom and my family members, as it is my mom’s birthday, so we normally have a party for her.
AO: Being with the people I love and making great memories!
SY: Spending it with the people that I care and the company that I enjoy
AZ: Chilled out with the closest people in my life and avoiding the crowds.
JA: To be surrounded with family and friends at a fun yet low-key gathering.. lots of yummy food, dancing, music and laughter. Maybe even Twister or Taboo!!
BL: Fireworks, free flow and great friends around!
SC: A secret-no-cameras-allowed-type-of-lingerie-party? :p
LT: Being with loved ones. Have endless funny conversations and do all things fun all night long. No matter where you may be, it’s the company that matters the world.

One of our willing interviewees, Barbara Lam


Are New Year’s celebrations too hyped up?

JF: They are, since this is only done once in a year.
DL: Yes, actually I feel that’s the same with birthdays. I am not so hyped up about it unless I am involved musically with it.
R: YES… without a shadow of a doubt. But I guess for some people it is a big deal!
AO: Nope. There is a lot of people that want to reflect and celebrate the end of the year, and it is also a great change agent for those looking at making changes in their lives.
SY: Yes!!
AZ: Yes they are. It’s the same thing everywhere! I feel the need to gather an unnecessarily large group of people into a club and do our own countdown an hour before it’s even New Year’s eve just to troll with other people’s party plans.
JA: Depends on where you go to. Sometimes places jack up the price of things and label it “New Year’s eve food/drink/venue decorations” or something like that. But if it is done right, it can be amazing!
BL: Yes
SC: Not really… it is always good to welcome a brand new year with brand new hopes and dreams. A New Year always makes me feel like I get a second time around to do things right.
LT: Nope, I mean it is the NEW YEAR. It is another chance for all of us to get it right. So yeah… hyping it up is just about as perfect as it can be.

Su Ci

What do you hate about New Year parties?
JF: When people get drunk and they cannot recognise what is going on and instead cause commotions.
DL: Usually, it is the traffic after the new year parties that turns me off.
R: The ending… it is sad that parties have to come to an end… sigh!!
AO: The crowd and the traffic
SY: Crowd control and road traffic
AZ:It is the trail of traffic they create hours before New Year’s eve. People lose their minds sometimes and just leave their cars wherever they can find a spot just to catch a performance / fireworks.
JA: That my best friends cannot share it with me because they are busy with their own families. I have yet to have a New Year’s eve party that everyone I love is in the same room.
BL: Traffic jams
The day after. (the mess to clean, the whole ‘what happened last night?’ reaction when you wake up, the hangover!! yelch!)
LT: Mad traffic lockdown. Oh and the major whirlwind of a mess that it made. I feel bad for the people who have to clean up after the parties.

Lyn Tan

What do you love about New Year parties?
JF: I love the fireworks that is put on every year.
DL: The wishes blessings that we share and receive from strangers around us.
R: The fact that it is the start to a new year and another 365 days of living my life to the fullest!!
AO: Just being with the people that I love and making great memories
SY: People watching… I like observing how other people dress.
AZ: As long as you are with the right company, New Year eve parties (or any party for that matter) is going to be pretty good.
JA: Haha watching aunties and uncles try to groove to BEP’s Boom Boom Pow or Kesha’s Tik Tok (it’s like a train wreck… so awful but you cannot look away!). That and getting all dolled up to party-hearty! Perfect time to showcase that new dress you have been keeping for such an occasion.
BL: The next day is a public holiday!
SC: Washing away past years’ regrets and mistakes and moving forward with a new hope for change. Maybe for the first day then you will realize it’s any day like always.. hahahah!!
LT: Fireworks! And I love how on this significant annual event, everybody would just let their hair down and be joyful. It is like every man’s birthday!

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Mystical Eve Interview: Pop Shuvit

December 23, 2011 at 2:00 pm

Two members of Pop Shuvit were spotted at the Mystical Eve Countdown Party press conference recently. AJ and JD were kind enough to answer the questions we lined up for them. Enjoy!

M.com: How does it feel to be invited to perform at the Mystical Eve Countdown Party?
JD: Definitely excited. I am really excited because we have never played here before in a new environment. Usually, New Year’s eve parties are always held at the usual places, so this year it is going to be different and better!

AJ: It is also going to be our 11th year playing together as a group. I’m happy that we are still being invited to play for New Year’s eve after so long!

Pop Shuvit, the great Malaysian indie band is set to perform during Mystical Eve at ENCORP Strand

M.com: What are your New Year’s resolutions?
JD: The million dollar question…
AJ: For Pop Shuvit, it would probably to get a Grammy, as we have always been aiming for one. We aim big, so every year we try to get closer and closer to that.
JD: So we probably set one huge and unrealistic goal, but along the way we probably set smaller goals. So every year we set those little goals which brings us closer to our big goal of winning a Grammy.

M.com: Do you have any personal goals or any personal resolutions?
JD: *Jokes* I want to be a solo singer-writer like Reza Salleh! Or maybe I want to do a K-Pop album and sell millions! *laughs at his comment*

M.com: Or maybe you do not believe in resolutions?
AJ: Personally I don’t, but it is good to have something like that. Like in my case, me and my wife are expecting our baby in 3 months’ time, so I want to be a good daddy and provide for him as much as I can.

M.com: Based on your experience, has any of your New Year’s resolutions came true in the past?

JD: Hmm… normally by January 31st I will be like, ‘What did I put as my resolutions this year?’. *laughs*

M.com: Any plans in store for the coming year? As the group Pop Shuvit?
JD: Despite all personal stuff, for the group we plan to take our music and expand it internationally. Our brand new album is out, it’s called Cherry Blossom Love Affair, so we will try to promote and get it distributed by some of the regional factories in Indonesia and the Philippines. We also hope to secure a lot more tours in United States and Europe as well.


M.com: If Pop Shuvit fans in Malaysia would like to get their hands on your latest album, where can they go to get it?

JD: The album is currently being sold in any major record stores like Rock Corner or Speedy Video. It is retailing for RM29 at the moment and there are 12 songs in the album.

M.com: Before your Pop Shuvit days, how did you spend your New Year’s eve? And are you guys usually busy performing during New Year’s eve?
JD: For the past 10 years at least, we have been busy doing a show almost every New Year’s eve. That is basically our memory of New Year’s eve, performing on stage and doing the countdown with the band mates, who are like our family.
AJ: At least they become our ‘brothers’ on the 31st of December every year… *laughs*

M.com: You mentioned that you did a lot of performances during the New Year’s eve. What would be your most memorable New Year’s eve performance?
AJ: Our first performance actually…
JD: Where was it? Was that the first New Year’s eve performance? I don’t remember…

M.com: Tell us about the one that you remember the most…
AJ: I remember one time, during one of our earlier performances and it was held at Bukit Bintang. There was this HUGE crowd from the front of Starhill where we were playing right up to the end of Jalan Alor! It felt so cool to finally play for such a big crowd, for all our Malaysian fans.

M.com: Was that the biggest turnout that you guys have played to so far?
AJ: There were bigger crowds after that, but that was the one that left the biggest impression. We stopped Bukit Bintang from operating their normal business hours.

M.com: How has the year been for Pop Shuvit?
JD: This year has been really really good. We had a wonderful first half of the year because we started recording our album since middle of last year and we managed to finish it in the first quarter of 2011. The album was released in middle of this year. Running up to that, we also had a very big show this year which was the MTV World Stage that was held at I-City in Shah Alam. That was a massive show where we got a full on set and played with big names like Thirty Seconds to Mars, Neon Trees and Beast. The biggest thing was that the performance was that it was broadcast to about 60 million households. It was really huge publicity for the group. So that made 2011 a good year for us.
AJ: And that also kind of put Malaysian music on the world map.

M.com: We agree. Pop Shuvit has contributed a lot to the Malaysian indie music scene over the years…
JD: We are probably one of the first independent groups to made it.
AJ: We took it and did it ourselves and made our name.
JD: Before there was an Indie explosion in the Malaysia music industry…
AJ: Yeah, before Indie music became cool!

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Mystical Eve Interview: Reza Salleh

December 22, 2011 at 2:51 pm

The Malaysia.com team was lucky enough to spot Reza Salleh during the Mystical Eve Countdown Party press conference recently so we asked him a couple of questions. Here is what he has to say about New Year:

M.com: How does it feel to be invited to perform at the Mystical Eve Countdown Party?
Reza: I feel very honoured that they like my music and want to include me in this and I’m very excited. New Year’s Eve shows are a lot of fun and I love fun gigs.

Rexa Salleh is performing on Mystical Eve at ENCORP Strand

M.com: What are your New Year’s resolutions?
Reza: My New Year’s resolutions are to work on the next album and to learn another language, preferably Japanese.

M.com: Any other languages other than Japanese?
Reza: I think one language at the time is enough for the moment. Maybe tfor he year after 2012 I’ll think of another language to learn.

M.com: Did any of your New Year’s resolutions came true?
Reza: You know, the funny thing about these resolutions is that I don’t remember them, so I wouldn’t be able to answer that. I don’t know if they did, so maybe they didn’t. I’d like to think that they did though. *laughs*

M.com: Any plans in store for the coming year, you know… career wise, other than the new album?Or maybe you can tell us more about the new album?
Reza: Oh… the new album is kind of sitting on the shelf at the moment. I have the materials for it, but it’s just a matter of getting the right resources together to pull it off as well as the planning involved in producing an album. These are the things that I am working on at the moment. Also, I am thinking of expanding my music to the regional level, something that I have taken a lot of interest recently. Playing in other countries is a lot of fun! I am looking to playing more shows in Bandung, Japan and Korea.

M.com: How was the reception there in Japan and Korea?
Reza: It was excellent! They didn’t know who I was and I think they didn’t understand what I was singing, but I was very touched with their warm response in both countries.

M.com: When you were younger, how did you spend your New Year’s eve? Like during your teenage years, or maybe even college years… Any memorable stuff that comes to your mind?
Reza: The only thing that comes to mind about New Year’s eve is being stuck in the jam. *Laughs out loud* I remember one year, I did the countdown in the car. You know how when you were younger, you would like to go out and party or something, so and when everybody is going out at the same time, it causes a really bad jam. But thankfully in recent years I have opted for a more low key, chilled out kind of celebration.

M.com: Other than being caught in the jam, do you remember any memorable New Year’s eve? celebrations? Something that is nice and sweet… which you will still talk about till this day.
Reza: At the end of the day, it really is spending time with friends that matter. When I have that kind of quiet time, that really makes my my year worthwhile. At the end of the day, these are the things that are important to me – my music, my family, my friends and my loved ones.

M.com: One last question before we let you go! Was 2011 a very memorable year for you?
Reza: Absolutely!! It’s an insane year because I launched my album in November 2010, which was the end of last year. So this whole year has been crazy for me, as I was promoting my album on top of playing at five different festivals as well as doing performances in Singapore, Japan, Korea and Indonesia. I thought December may have been a quiet month, but it turned out to be otherwise. It’s still an awesome experience.

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Dennis Lau & Shawn Lee @ Mystical Eve

December 20, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Dennis released his maiden album in November 2010, and his album was composed and produced solely by him and featured compositions that amalgamated jazz, pop and the classics. His latest record effort, Unity of Arts, with local beatboxer Shawn Lee, enmeshes funky hip hop beats with black-suit classicism. He calls the collaboration, on which he plays the violin against Lee’s thumping mouth-music, a pure, accidental experiment.

The classical musician and the human beatbox, Dennis Lau and Shawn Lee

“We met at an event late last year and just decided to start jamming here one night. It drove the neighbours crazy but we figured we could really do collaboration from then,” recalled Lau.

The animated 26-year-old, who also heads his entertainment companies, Mosaic Music Entertainment and Mosaic Movie Productions, adds that he has a penchant for mixing the classical violin with contemporary elements. “I like to experiment with different genres just to see what happens. I think that experimentation is the key to evolution. My collaboration with Shawn also features this group of street-dancers called the Wakaka crew. I think it’s something really different from what has been done. It also introduces how hip hop and classical music can come together,” he explained.

Meet this dynamic duo as they countdown to 2012 at ENCORP Strand!


Groove to the beat of the human beatbox, Shawn and Dennis Lau at Mystical Eve 2012 @ ENCORP Strand’s New Year’s Countdown party this 31st December 2011. The party will begin at 6 pm and only end at 2 am as we usher in 2012. So put on your party hats and make your way to ENCORP Strand for Mystical Eve 2012!

Don’t know how to get there? Check the map out!

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Pop Shuvit @ Mystical Eve – ENCORP Strand

December 17, 2011 at 2:56 pm

Pop Shuvit is a Malaysian independent rap-rock band, comprising Moots! (vocals), JD (guitar), AJ (bass), Rudy (drums) and Uno (turntables). The band who got its name from a skateboarding trick of almost the same name began making waves in the local music scene in late 2001 and since then, has had 4 successful releases under their belt and gained a sizable fanbase in Asia notably in Malaysia, Japan, Thailand and Singapore. Known for their adrenaline-packed live shows and eclectic blend of hip hop and rock, Pop Shuvit are being touted as Asia’s leading Hip Hop Rock band.

Catch Pop Shuvit at ENCORP Strand this 31st December!

Their debut album Take it Shuvit broke new ground when their first single Skaters’ Anthem was released exclusively on the Internet and became one of the most downloaded local songs in Malaysian music history. The hype and street buzz from the track caught the ears of ESPN, who in turn licensed the track for use in their Summer X-Games broadcast that hit millions of households worldwide.

As further credit to Pop Shuvit, ESPN played their music videos and tracks off the album throughout the duration of competition. In 2003, Pop Shuvit released Take it Shuvit in Japan and became the first Malaysian band to hit the music chart in Japan. The overwhelming support from Japanese youth market ensured that all tracks of the album charted the top 20 on the Tower Records sales charts (even beating rap-rock luminaries like Linkin Park) without any promotion to back the album.

Pop Shuvit was indie before most of Malaysia knew what indie was


Be there when Pop Shuvit unveils a brand new song at Mystical Eve 2012 @ ENCORP Strand’s New Year’s Countdown party this 31st December 2011. The party will begin at 6 pm and only end at 2 am as we usher in 2012. So put on your party hats and make your way to ENCORP Strand for Mystical Eve 2012!

Don’t know how to get there? Check the map out!

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