Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Letters From Malaysia

I've been a "visual reporter" for Finnish cultural web publication Satyyri since its beginning: creating "artistic" travel reports from the places I've visited. Since the start of the magazine in 2007 I've been reporting from Russia, Mexico, States... and now Malaysia. Please take a look at the freshly published 10th Satyyri here >>> www.satyyri.net/10/

My visual letters are to be found from the page 30. Enjoy!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Miss

There is less than one month left of my project here in Malaysia. At the PT we are busy getting everything ready for The Red Carnival - World Aids Day which is just around the corner and soon after there is The Fabulous Gala Dinner and Show.

But especially during the rainy days like these my mind is not completely here anymore. I'm counting days to the take off. I miss home. But there is many things in Malaysia too which I love and will miss for sure after I'm gone. To clear my head I thought about doing a fair list comparing these two.

Miss Elli's Missing List:
(Writer's note: I'm not gonna list people cause they are the cause I miss the most. The close friends and family back home and the new marvelous personalities from here whom I might not see in very long while after my departure)

FINLAND
  • ANONYMITY - I miss being less visible. I would love to blend in but here I don't. I would look like a tourist even though I would have lived here over 10 years. Many pairs of eyes follow my every step. Men keep on greeting and yelling and doing funny kiss sounds. Motorcyclist toot their horns. Total strangers might take a picture of me before I have anything to say about it. When I meet a new person he/she might say that he has seen me before in the train/mall/in the audience of a theatre performance. In Finland I'm pretty unnoticeable unless I'm smiling way too widely for the Helsinki street scene.
  • SAFETY - I miss walking on my own without being so cautious and even scared. Here if I need to use the public transportation during the day I wear trousers with pockets where I can carry all my valuable items. I try not to carry any kind of bag with me. I also have a scarf along so that sometimes I can hide my head underneath it (like 65% Malaysian women).
  • FREEDOM - For previous reasons and cause the KL public transportation has its flaws I'm often dependent on others. I'm not use to being this helpless. I'm lucky to have so many good friends who can give me a ride when needed but I would love to come and go on my own schedule. Here I might recline from dinner/movie/concert invitation just cause it is too much trouble to get there and back(safely). In Helsinki - my home city - I trust the public transportation to take me anywhere in the city. If the night continues after midnight I can always walk back home. It's never too far and completely save.
  • HOBBIES: I miss the common day chores of my Helsinki life: jogging by the sea, salsa lessons with the Cuban dance instructors, my two unique theatre groups and the inspiring co-working with my fellow designers.
  • HEALTHY DIET: It is so much easier following healthy diet back home than it is here. Malaysian food is fantastic but it contains about three times the fat and sugar I would eat back home. My body and mind functions best when it is treated well.
  • WEATHER: After this ever continuing heat I must admit I miss the variations of temperatures. Not because I would like to feel cold but because I would love to wear different layers of clothes. I miss wearing the woolen socks my mom has knitted for me.
  • MY CAT: Pikke is my prince charming.
  • SILENCE/FRESH AIR/THE SEA/FOREST: The nature. The peace.
  • HAVING CONVERSATION OF SOMETHING ELSE THAN FOLLOWING: Where you from? What do you do in Malaysia? Why Malaysia? How long have you been here? What do you think about Malaysia? Do you like the food? Oh, you're vegetarian. Why? How long have you been? Would you like to eat/drink something? Is your parents vegetarians? Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend? - I've thought about making a brochure of myself having ready-made-answers to all these questions: Finland/ Voluntary work/ It happen to be/ Four and half months/ Interesting & exotic/ Yes/ Out of ecological, ethic and health reasons/ Sure, if it doesn't have meat/ No/ No&No. If you know some cute, fun, artistic (and straight) boy, let me know!
MALAYSIA
  • FRUITS: Oh. They keep on being divine!
  • FOOD: If not always so healthy it is delicious. All the vegetarian Indian, Chinese and Malay dishes. I'm gonna miss this ethnic variety of food. (And it is ridiculously cheap too!)
  • SHAKESPEARE: Even though I would have not guessed to meet "Shakespeare" here in Malaysia, the two-times-a-week Diligent Actor's Workshop - DAW has become important and anticipated part of my weekly routine. I love the group, the director, the challenge, and I genuinely feel like I've improved as an actress and in my english as well.
  • LIGHT: Bye bye daily sunshine after returning middle of the darkest time of the year in Finland.
  • JOB: I genuinely like my work a lot. I don't always like the long hours or that the work follows me everywhere I go but I do love the community, my tasks and title as the in-house-artist. It is magnificent that I can use my (and my macbook's) skills for such a good cause.
  • EXOTICISM: Every day when I step out from my room there is the whole new world in front of my eyes. New things to see, experience and learn: Bread-men in their motorcycles covered with bread, tropic storms, chanting from the mosques, beautiful Indian ladies in their saris, temples, monkeys, monorail (metro that goes over the streets), banana trees, lizards, the spectacular "space" -like sky line of KL and the green mountains surrounding the city, storytellers... people living in the trees and the haunting spirits etc.
  • BEING EXOTIC: After all that complaining of being so visible I must admit it is an advantage too. Looking like "an interesting person" (=meaning different/alien/foreigner) I've had a chance to meet lot of interesting people myself. How many times after and theatre show you meet the stars of the stage and they say they noticed you in the audience!? Or you get invitations to the after party after rock concerts. And then there is the free drinks&food (I don't mean in bars (cause I don't really go to bars here) but in restaurants waiters sometimes just give out drinks and desserts). Even though it is the blond hair and blue eyes I've born with (like 98% of my country men) some days I'm still flattered to be called beautiful.
  • EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE: Here I feel like everything you want to do is possible to do. Boleh lah! (= Can be done)
  • LIVING: In Helsinki I don't have a pool on my yard. But I do have the sea on my backyard.
So. As you see. There is two sides in the coin. Always is. I feel gratitude of being here and gratitude of having a home to return to and the liberty to do so. I am lucky. Thank you world!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Closer To Heaven

Dear Soon Heng invited me to come along with them on a family trip to the mountains to visit his cousin's home, family and garden.
His lovely cousin - lady in the red shirt - use to be a piano teacher and moved there to the hills about 10 years ago from KL. She lives there with her architect-vegetarian-fruterian husband and two teenage children of which the other one is autistic.
Her parents (charming couple in the left of the picture below) do live in KL but travel often up hill to spend time with the offspring. Her dad is a devoted buddhist and does layouts for buddhist publications. He also gave me two books to read. Left of Soon Heng is his dad who is a funny fellow. Their loving-arguing father-son relationship is cute to watch.
The views from their house garden were breathtaking. I felt it was a small paradise. So peaceful, fresh and beautiful.

Little sketch from the back yard.
The plants and flowers of garden were blooming.
The house was also home for two cats and some turtles. All their "pets" had wondered there looking for shelter.
No wonder that also I felt so like home cause in the front door it clearly stated my name: Elli. (= the apartment number E1.L1)
Monkeys by the road side.
At the time we got to the magnificent fruit stalls the battery of my camera run out. Luckily markers come in everlasting energy so I sketch down how the mini honey bananas looked like: cute bite-size bananas. Sweet and delicious!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

In School With Shakespeare

I took a week and half long leave from my voluntary work at PT Foundation to do voluntary work in very different surroundings. Cempaka International School invited us to help our director Christopher Jacobs to finalize four Shakespeare plays with group of 13-year-old students.

Cempaka is an international private school for privileged children. The facilities with their own tennis courts and swimming pool made quite an impression. Also the fact that every single student had their own laptop (usually macbook) to carry around like another school book or a mobile phone.
Tuesday 10th of November was the day of performances. For the students it was a result of 7 days of intensive training and 4 months of not-so-intensive preparation to get to know the world and language of Shakespeare.

In the morning the kids and us, the director/teacher/actor/assistants, gathered up to the dancing studio. Notice the text at the back of the girl's t-shirt: "Acting is the hardest profession in the world." You got that right!
Chris (light blue shirt) gave the pep talk and Kien Lee (dark blue t-shirt) led the warm ups. The girl smiling to the camera is Ilina.
Jump, move, shake, yell...
The warm ups usually made the kids giggle.
More pep talks. This time from Alfonso the teacher-organizer from the school.
Kien Lee came to help us for the last two days of the rehearsal period. Mostly he stayed with Soon Heng's Merchant of Venice -group. He is definitely the master of the dramatic poses.
Nicole was the most carefree considering that Hamlet group had no problems during the whole progress. The kids from the Hamlet were the most hard working from all the four groups and it did show in their performance.
Sandee - with whom we were in charge of the Romeo and Juliet group - looks a bit more worried.
Our kids were not always as organized, as the Hamlet ones, but they were wonderful personalities nevertheless. Here Kosmita, Kevin and Thomas enjoy themselves before the show. They seem carefree enough.
They were team players and that was wonderful to watch.
Last instructions from the head-guru-director Chris...
...and then let the Show begin.
***
ROMEO AND JULIET
(Sandee and me)

The classic love-story-tragedy tells a story of a two families, Capulets and Montagues, that keep on arguing with each other and disturbing everybody's peace. Escalus, the mayor of the city (Thomas in white shirt) have had enough and commands peace and order between the families.
Romeo - a Montague - (played by Zoe) enters party at Capulet's house to forget his affection to girl name Rosaline. In the party Romeo sees Juliet - the daughter of Capulet - (Ilina) and instantly fells in love with this beautiful 14-year-old and forgets Rosaline. Luckily Juliet feels the same.
The problem is that they're families can't stand each other. Tybalt, Juliet's cousin, challenges Romeo to a dual cause he is furious that Romeo has his eyes on Juliet. Romeo declines the battle cause he doesn't want to harm Juliet's relatives. Mercutio (Maneesha), Romeos dear friend and a proud Montague is ashamed of Romeo walking away from the battle. He steals his gun and attacks Tybalt. Tybalt kills Mercutio and then sad and angry Romeo attacks and kills Tybalt.
Juliet is devastated. Not so much because of the death of his cousin but because his loved one, Romeo, has to run away and hide. How will they find a way to be together?
Juliet turns to friar for help. He is the same man who secretly married the couple. Friar gives Juliet medicine that makes her look dead for 24 hours. Friar sends Romeo a message of the plan: they can run away together after the funeral. Nurse (Ee Min) and Lady Capulet - Juliet's mother - (Kosmita) are in shock to find Juliet (seemingly) dead from her bed.
Romeo never gets Friar's message. Instead he hears that Juliet - the love of his life - has died. Depressed Romeo goes to Pharmacy (Kevin) to buy poison to kill himself.
When Juliet wakes up from her 24h sleep in her tomb she finds Romeo dead by her side.
Mournful Juliet takes Romeo's dagger and kills herself.
***
OTHELLO
(Chris)

The plot of this play is way too complicated to describe in short notes. Let me just tell you that everybody dies in the end. Look for the synopsis here.

Iago plotting his evil plans.
Cassio, Desdemona and Emilia.

MERCHANT OF VENICE
(Soon Heng & Kien Lee)

This play is a comedy (nobody dies).

Shylock - a Jew - borrows 3 000 ducats to Antonio - a Christian - so that Antonio's friend Bassanio can travel to Belmont to try his luck marrying beautiful heiress Portia.

Soon Heng (the man in grey t-shirt) is watching closely the performance of his young actors.
Shylock agrees to the loan with the agreement that if Antonia does not return the money in time he can cut out piece of his flesh.
In Belmont Bassanio is successful and gets to marry happy Portia.
The play ends in a court room where first things look bad for Antonio but in the end it is Shylock who gets punished. He doesn't get the money back plus he is commanded to leave his religion and turn into Christianity.
***
HAMLET
(Nicole)

The play starts with the wedding.
Hamlet's dad has died and his mother Gertrude re-marries his uncle, her late husband's brother Claudius.
Hamlet and Ophelia are watching carefully this sudden wedding.
Hamlet's late father (in white) comes to haunt. He says he has been killed by his brother and asks Hamlet to revenge his dead.
Hamlet pretends to be mad so he can plan the revenge in peace. He confronts his mother while Polonius (Ophelia's father) is hiding behind the curtain. Hamlet mistakes him to be Claudius and kills him. Hamlet is sent away. Ophelia's father has died and his hopefully-to-be-husband has been sent away and probably killed too. Ophelia fells down to completely madness.
Laertes, Poloniu's son and Ophelia's brother, returns to the castle and is furious by the death of his father and the insanity of his little sister. He want's revenge. There is a dual between Laertes and Hamlet. They both die, so does Gertrude and Claudius. And Ophelia killed herself just little before. So everybody is dead again.
*aplodes*
The show is over.

Last minutes with the kids. Emilia from Othello is writing down her email so that I can send her the photographs I've taken. Ee Min waits her turn. They were also eager to send friend request in facebook... We live funny times!
Thank you (from the up left) Zoe, Ilina, Thomas, Kosmita, Maneesha, Amelia, Kevin, Ee Min and Sandee! Despite the drama ;) I shall miss your Shakespearian company.