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The Sisters Soong: Siblings On A Mission
by DARREN TIO For the first two parts of the play, I thought “The Sisters Soong” felt very confused and struggled with its own identity. It tackled the real history of the Soong sisters with a certain irreverence, opening with elaborate dance numbers, a Chinese-influenced jazz orchestra, and a charming fourth-wall-breaking narrator, played wonderfully by…
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Hard-to-ignore new talent at KLPAC’s Short + Sweet Fest
On Sunday, October 8th, 2023, audiences were treated to an exhilarating evening of entertainment at the Short + Sweet stand-up comedy & music showcase at KLPAC. The concept was as intriguing as it was ambitious: 23 comedy acts and 12 musical performances took the stage one by one, each given a mere five minutes to…
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Jebat: A rewarding re-telling
The tale of Hang Jebat’s dissent against the Melaka Sultanate has often been reduced to a cautionary tale about the consequences of defying the second line of our country’s national pledge: Loyalty to king and country. But what good is loyalty if it merely serves the corrupt or as Jebat would say, ‘yang zalim‘ (cruel)?…
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A Frame at a Time: Highlights from Kelantan’s Pioneering Film Festival
Thirty years on since the closure of its cinemas, Kelantan recently featured its first film festival. Hosted at the Hokkien Huay Kuan Kelantan (Hokkien Association of Kelantan) building in the heart of the city, Pesta Filem Kota Bharu 2023 was born out of a collaboration between Amir Muhammad (Kuman Pictures), publisher Zaidi Musa (Kedai Hitam…