the contingent swelled to 52 people a few days later. it included filmmakers, dancers, singers, producers, musicians, actors, entrepreneurs, designers, footballers, activists, celebrities, students and a florist. nobody would be paid. yet they were enthused. not because they were high on speed. only because they love Malaysia.
they gathered to record the song. it had a catchy chorus and was able to induce a mass sing-along. everyone was happy when it was done. they named it ‘here in my home’. then more people joined. the party now included more than 120 people. but the budget remained exactly zero. it seems even the spreadsheet loves malaysia.
everyone turned up for the video shoot. much fun was had and friendships made. video editors went to work after the shoot was done. both the recording and the video would be given away for free. a gift to the nation. from those who love malaysia to those who feel the same.
did you ask what this is all about?
it’s about love.
[editor: 'text too cheesy. please revise.'] [geek: 'no.']
malaysian artistes for unity
http://www.malaysianartistesforunity.info/?page_id=46faq
NOTE 1: we found a chinese tranlsation of this faq>here<. thanks mr.liew for taking the trouble. NOTE 2: if you really want to see pics of the shoot,>here<>here<. 2. where is the guest book? please leave your comments and messages in the>bulletin< style="font-weight:bold;">3. i love the project. how can i help?
you can help by simply downloading the song or video or requesting them on your favorite radio or tv station or participating in any broadcasted contests or activities related to this project. most importantly, you can help by posting or embedding our banners, song and video on your websites, blogs and other internet locations. helping us spread the word is the best thing you can do for us. banner and video embedding codes are provided at the bottom of the >download<>
4. how many people are involved in the project?
about 150 people were directly involved in the project as of 3rd of May 2008. more have since joined. these new supporters include record labels, advertisers, businessmen, and broadcasters. the true answer is that we don’t really know how many. either way, if we included you, there must be tens of thousands by now.
5. how long did it take to put the project together?
it took merely 5 weeks for the team to complete the production phase of the project from scratch. apart from scary phone bills and small incidentals, this was done without spending a single penny. average amount of sleep per person per night in that period was about 3 hours. photographs taken at that time revealed stressed out people with very big eye-bags. not pretty.
6. who wrote ‘here in my home’?
pete teo did. it was written 5 days before studio sessions began - when initial plans to use a well known john lennon song did not materialize due to licensing difficulties. pete was at first unsure about the song he wrote. yasmin ahmad had to convince him to use it.
7. who produced the song?
the song was co-produced by greg henderson and pete. it was recorded at greg’s studio in kuala lumpur. nick lee, a regular collaborator with pete on his albums, mixed and mastered it at ark studio. justin lim and jamie wilson played organ and slide guitar. greg and jamie are australian citizens. like many expats living in our country, despite being married to malaysians and having lived here for years, they have to date not yet had their permanent residency or citizenship applications approved by immigration.
8. where was the video shot?
the video was shot at the kuala lumpur performing arts centre. yasmin and ho yuhang co-directed it. the shoot involved about 120 people. many had so much fun they postponed prior engagements to stay the entire day. some were moved to tears when the day was over. thank you to klpac management for sponsoring the location and alliance cosmetic for sponsoring catering.
9. how many volunteers worked on the project?
from the stellar cast to the tea lady, everyone involved worked on the project voluntarily and for no money. still, our 18 volunteers in charge of chaperoning the cast deserve a special mention. they stayed up all night before the day of the shoot in order to study photographs. reason? they wanted to greet everyone by their first names upon arrival. they were the best.
10. who came up with the idea of shooting from static camera positions?
yuhang came up with the idea of shooting the video from two static camera positions. not only was this the only logistically efficient way to shoot 50 personalities in one day, it was also the most honest way to showcase the diverse personalities of the cast.
11. is the project linked to the government or any political party?
no. the project is entirely independent. it has received no funding from anyone. the budget is exactly zero and it is a non-profit effort. anyway, racial unity in malaysia should transcend party politics. the country belongs to all malaysians regardless of income, race or creed. this project is a gift from everyone connected to the project directly to you.
12. why isn’t the song in bahasa malaysia?
although sung predominantly in english, the current version of the song has 4 languages in it. we feel that this is more representative of the diversity of malaysia than any single-language song. having said that, we welcome efforts to produce other-language versions of the song. in fact, a multi-artistes bahasa malaysia version of the song will be produced by afdlin shauki soon. stay tuned.
13. i love the song and want to record a different version of it
developing different versions of the song is something we are happy to support if it is used in similarly non-profit, non-party-political and anti-racism undertakings or other spin-off initiatives related to this project. for the use of the song in commercial undertakings, normal music industry licensing requirements apply. pete retains copyright to the song. kindly seek licensing permission from him before proceeding. contact his office >here<.
14. i want to license it for a political party’s campaigning as this is a non-partisan effort for racial unity, we will not support or approve the use of the song or video for party-political purposes. however, an exception will be made if the undertaking is bi-partisan and inclusive in participation.
15. i hate it. why isn’t my favorite artiste involved? although we would have liked to have included every famous malaysian artiste in the project, this is simply not possible for scheduling and other reasons. moreover, the no-budget, non-profit nature of this project and its timeline of 3 weeks from pre-production to video shoot meant that there is a limit to how many people we could invite and manage. be that as it may, we agree that our project is not perfect and will happily offer our modest assistance if you’d like to produce a more comprehensive effort. in the mean time, please don’t hate us. we’re sensitive creative types and feel hurt easily [puke]. 16. i don’t recognize some faces on the video. who are they? our cast ranges from superstars, indie musicians, dancers, filmmakers, arts curators, actors, poets, painters, art students, models, entrepreneurs and more. some are household names and others are only known to the sub-communities in which they do admirable and often under-acknowledged work. we feel that the diversity of our participants represents a good cross section of the malaysian arts community. we also do not think a project featuring only superstars and celebrities would be terribly relevant or representative. please check out the links to our cast. they are listed in the >people<>download<>here<
曲︰
