I’m performing at Sungei Wang Plaza at 1.30pm sharp right after The Paper Dolls, Che’nelle, and right before Mila AF5. So please come early. Riz AF6, Hunny Madu, Haiza, Eliza, Aery Putra are appearing after me.

I appear at the SoHo ArtRage at 5pm with Infinatez. And I’ll be appearing at the Maxis Dinner with Francesca Peter. All shows are updated at my Myspace, click Schedule above to view.

I’m looking for as many Malay language singers from Singapore. I’d like to speak with them regarding setbacks, and obstacles. One must be under 32 years old, have a professional track record, have performed in public and on television, especially past winners, finalists, rejects of reality tv programs. Any genre pleasant to the ear and bands may write in too. Songwriting and composing skills a huge advantage. Would like to understand the situation of singers in Singapore. Write to Imran@beats.sg Shiok sendiri candidates please do not bother.

I’m not looking for Aspiring Singers below the age of 20. You need to have struggled with being an artiste, not struggled with being a teenager.

+ We need a vibrant Morning Talk Show like Era’s.
+ We need a gossip website like Budiey’s.
+ SingTel Mio to cater Channels like Ria, Prima & @15 .
+ And Akademi Fantasia and other reality programs to accept Singaporean entries. “Assalamualaikum Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam dan Singapura!”
+ Starhub, M1, SingTel to cash in on Malay consumer power.
+ We need to capitalize on ringbacktones like in Indonesia and Malaysia.
+ Sensasi to stop showing the badly-dubbed soap operas & the sell-a-vision ads.
+ Sensasi and its schedule needs a website, period.
+ To pay local artistes accordingly.
+ For local artistes to understand that they need to be paid accordingly.
+ To seek out local Malay filmmakers and scriptwriters, and fund their projects.
+ To have Malay Arts and Entertainment Management Module in LaSalle, ITE and Nafa and Media Studies faculties in all Polytechnics.
+ TV3’s Jom Heboh needs to come to Padang.
+ Suria needs to stop repeating the cooking shows and outdated variety programs. Dramas are fine.
+ Berita Minggu needs to print Ria’s Carta every week.
+ More entertainment writers; especially niche writers, reviewers and such.
+ Berita Harian to fund publishing grants to local writers in need to print creative work.
+ Suria to pick up these creative work and turn them into drama productions.
+ Manja needs to do fan signings & Gatherings with every new issue. (I’m on Dec cover, btw)
+ the Malay news needs to do their own news and not translations of the English one, and stop following the MPs around like a reality tv program!
+ Anugerah Band’s winner, Rancour, should have come out with their first single the week after their win.
+ Radio needs to stop reading SMSes on-air and just play music.
+ The morning show on Ria should be televised instead of audio plugged into Suria, just like Hot Fm’s.
+ Sutra needs to organize galas and events like Eh! Magazine
+ To understand that some health products that advertise on Malay radio are simply placebo and to open and make accessible the advertising canvas to more corporate companies instead.
+ To open up the Malay entertainment world to Malay targetted Chinese advertising.
+ To have better quality radio advertisements not acted out by the radio presenters themselves. Please.
+ Compass to stop charging the $25,000 license fee to aggregators of local music and up to 12% of sales, on top of that. It’s ridiculous! The money can be used for 4 struggling local artistes instead.
+ To stop using wedding bridal ateliers as clothing sponsors on TV shows.
+ Tickets for any show sold at Muzika Records should now be sold via Sistic instead
+ Muzika needs to buy the Jamu store next door or move to Haji Lane where the buzz is at.
+ Muzika needs a website too. Haha.
+ We have to stop speaking Baku on TV/Radio. Nobody speaks Baku on the streets.
+ Stop using anonymous nicknames on Youtube and Perkahwinan.com forums and kutuk artis tempatan. Takde kerja lain ke Melayu?
+ Bulan Bahasa activities needs to be advertised and televised.
+ Hady’s 2nd album should have been out by now.
+ Awards should come with cash money or plots of land.
+ Stop glorifying Indonesian dramatists. Treat local actors and local dramas the same way!
+ Who are AMU artistes? Where are they? What are they doing? Really?
+ We need programs like “Singapura Live” back and stay for more than 1 season.
+ TV shows shouldn’t allow viewers to call-in to ask stupid questions.
+ Our own syndicated version of ‘Melodi’ despite what is going on.
+ Golden Chance to give that $1,000 to $22,22,22 tax deduction money giveaways on FYI to produce variety programs instead
+ Government to give double tax deductions for that.
+ We need RTM’s ‘Zoom-In’ here
+ Hari Raya season needs quality Hari Raya programs, not sideshows or konsert joget lambak
+ Young people to take pride in local music other than the Idol.
+ Young people to take pride in Malay language and its possibilities in media and marketing.
+ Old people in media to understand that they are catering to young people.
+ To accept our limitations and work around it, and not become kecik hati with our shortcomings especially when somebody points them out to us
+ To work with whoever, no matter even if we hate them, for the sake of profit and productivity, and the development of local entertainment scene.
+ To let go the people who’s been around too long and not doing any good for the company or the scene.
+ To stop being egoistical and territorial about big managerial positions that don’t do good for the society other than your own family at dinnertime.
+ To have a vision, to dream bigger and aim much more higher.

To download ‘Selamat Ulang Tahun Sayang’ as your Ringbacktone

Maxis: Press *131*111417# and press CALL/SEND
Digi: SMS CT BUY 53011 JB and send to 2000
Celcom: SMS CMT 56728 and send to 22990

To listen to a preview, you may download the latest podcast at Metamobile’s Jus Radio. Just click the link below. You need to download, stream or subscribe to the Podcast. It’s worth it!

To view lyrics, you may click on ‘On Selamat Ulang Tahun Sayang Part 4′ below.

Selamat Ulang Tahun Sayang Part 1(Pictures during Demo Recording)
Selamat Ulang Tahun Sayang Part 2 (Pictures during Song Recording)
Selamat Ulang Tahun Sayang Part 3 (Article on Ahmed Fedtri Yahya)
Selamat Ulang Tahun Sayang Part 4 (Song Lyrics)

Thanks to my friend, Vijay Singh, Kei Kohara, a popular Japanese dance DJ, had a 2007 release, Heavenly Sunshine, which included 2 songs that features me. You may check them out on Imeem.

Kei Kohara – Something Good – featuring Imran Ajmain
Kei Kohara – Bring Out The Best – featuring Imran Ajmain & Vijay Singh

It would help if you actually liked Dance/House.

I was at Istana Hotel for a certain album launch late last week, and I thought I was overdressed but hey, some people came dressed to the nines. Met the gorgeous Vanida Imran but I didn’t dare ask for pictures. Haha. As a Metadome / Metamobile artiste, we gathered together with the likes of Fabulous Catz (cept that Adeep has his Impak Maksima Musical going on at Istana Budaya), Nitrus, and of course, Afgan. I don’t know what Liyana Jasmay was doing there but she’s really cute. Heh.

Shah Shamsiri interviewed me for Gua Muzik and kita sempat cakap pasal lagu ‘Perfume’ that I wrote for Roze. He has had it translated into Bahasa. Do you think the word ‘buahan segar‘ sounds funny in a Malay song? Well, there’s a first time for everything.

My second interview for Indonesian press, first at Agnes Monica’s concert earlier last year. Afgan and I were basically talking to RCTI about similar interests, R&B in general, and our hopes and dreams for ourselves in each other’s countries! Haha!

21st December 2008, please keep it free.

Something I haven’t done since July 2006, I’m going to be doing it in a big way today!

I was the Guest of Honour at the Siglap Secondary School’s Class of 2008 Graduation Prom held at DownTownEast last night. Thanks to the Youth Alumni, mainly its President, Faris Basharahil pictured above (in the last picture), I was reunited with some teachers and students who had no idea I was an old Siglap boy.

I made a short speech, that I put together 10 minutes before I had to get out of Nick’s studio. (I just finished recording ‘Ku Harus Bagaimana’.) Anyway, in my speech, I said to put up a banner of me next to Hady’s outside the school. Haha! It felt good to be back, almost 15 years later. Felt old as well. Ah hai. I sang 1 song, and I mingled quite a bit. I didn’t understand why the DJ was spinning Mambo Jambo-styled 80s pop that none of these kids would know. And he kept playing bits and pieces of the song, not in its entirety. They had to keep changing their tempo. It was a blast, nonetheless. Especially when the teachers joined in the dance.

The Principal Mr Ng Chee Keong is a soft-spoken person. We exchanged some ideas, and he suggested I get onto the School Advisory Board and also teach some electives. Panic!! I wish I was in Singapore a bit more frequently for that to take place, but who knows. I would never have imagined sitting in a table with a school principal, the discipline master and several teachers and alumnus members talking about discipline and youth excellence!

Well, like how the adults during my time would say ‘kids these days have it easy’, now I realise kids these days have it even much easier. Congratulations to everybody and get a better DJ next time!

Maybe the Causeway jams have made my parents realised how big the SGD is against IDR these days and I’ve yet to try out the watersports and paintball centers that they have, catering to Singaporean daytrippers or one-nighters. Watching ‘Perempuan Punya Cerita’ on DVD that I bought in Jakarta showed how some Sundanese dangdut club chicks in Bogor (played by Sarah Sechan and Shanty) dreamt of singing in Batam. Must be a big deal to be part of a growing economy. When the clubowner showed the singer her new passport, she asked why would she need a passport to go to Batam. He says “Bisa jalan-jalan ke Singapura. Kan deket, cuman naik speedboat, jeng. Murah lagi. Begok loh!”

My father makes conversation with every cab driver who takes us around, and it seems that nobody is actually from the island itself. There’s Makassar, there’s Jawa Tengah, there’s Padang, but nobody’s born, bred, and taxi-driving in Batam.

Johor gangsters better stop smashing Singapore cars because the Riau Islands beckon and there’s no standstill traffic jams on these waters.

Not too long ago, I wrote about some young adults making an awful lot of noise when we went to watch this play at Kreta Ayer CC. They were chatting amongst themselves and we figured it out that one of the actors were their close friend. I could understand their excitement but I couldn’t grasp their inconsideration.

During “P.Ramlee” too, after every song, people were applauding. It’s a musical, for heaven’s sake. You’re supposed to listen to the storyline within the song, and not cheer when they hit their highest notes like on American Idol. Ok, maybe you didn’t know. Not often a Malay musical comes along anyway, I would understand that. Moving on…

I read about the monkeys who paid to go to Anuar Zain’s concert and were making monkey sounds and fill up quiet moments in-between songs with ‘Baik ah!’ and the likes. I’m sorry, but this has got to stop.  You want to sing along, ok lah, sing along. You want to cheer like it was a football match during an awesome performance moment, you should go ahead. But the uncouth, uncivilised ways to express yourself  mid-show goes to show what kind of undeveloped background you come from. Talking to each other, taking pictures with flash even though the usher has warned you, shouting and screaming like it was a High School Musical premiere. Excuse me, the artiste and his performance is WORLD CLASS and the setting and atmosphere isn’t short of that too. Why do you come here with your hillbilly sensibilities? Aren’t you supposed to, if not to respect the moment and the magnitude of the event, at least shut up and blend in? It wasn’t even only the Anuar Zain concert. Most of Mediacorp Auditorium TV events have their fair share of monkeys who saunter in, prepared to mock and make fun of anything. Idol was like that, the Raya shooting was like that, Anugerah was definitely like that. So when you had to figure out how the heck Sistic works to get your bloody tickets to watch ANUAR ZAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SINGAPORE, YOU BLOODY WELL BEHAVE.

You want to scream and shout and throw bottles at Womad, or other outdoor events where they keep asking you to scream, you go ahead. You want to come in slippers and a bohemian skirt that doubles up as a picnic cloth when you sit at the back enjoying hot dogs and burgers, you do that. Go ahead. Kau nak lari bogel ke, kau nak teriak teriak macam orang gila ke, kau nak ke hulur ke hilir depan orang ramai ke, tu kau punya pasal. Buat lah suka hati mak bapak kau.

On top of the announcement at the beginning of shows where they remind you to turn off your handphones, I believe that it should also include a basic guide on theatre/concert etiquette. Like “Harap maklum. Orang lain pun bayar nak tengok concert ni. Kalau anda rasa anda boleh membuat bising sesuka hati, kami ada siapkan tikar mengkuang untuk anda bentang di depan pentas, supaya anda boleh duduk bersila dan makan mee birthday yang dibawa dari rumah untuk menikmati konsert ini dengan lebih khusyuk. Kawasan itu  khusus untuk mereka yang tidak menyadari bahawa ini adalah acara formal dimana pemusik dan artis dipersembahkan pada malam ini lengkap berpakaian rapi dan berkelakuan profesional. Maaf kalau tersinggung, tapi kamu dikelilingi manusia bertamadun. Kalau tidak puas hati, boleh berambus. Sekian.“

Sorry Orang Melayu. Lately gua punya posts semua macam kutuk bangsa sendiri. Bukan macam tu. Tapi saja nak kasi nasihat sikit (in my own way) jadi kita semua boleh berusaha untuk berubah, atau at least kita tau apa salah kita. We gotta learn the hard way.