I AM ZADE: One Night with JOHO

I wrote about JOHO back in July. Click here to read.

For the first time, on Sept 04, I went to this event that they organised. It's called 'Paso Bumbong' (Rooftop Market). The venue: Rooftop (of course) of the Plaza Seni in JB. The event started around 3.30pm (actually) but I couldn't go then. So I went to the open mic session later in the evening.

Nervous. That's how I felt. I knew this event would be full with youngsters...and me?...Heh. Way beyond the limit already. But what the heck. I wanted to support this community even if I felt like I don't belong.

So...arriving there at about 9.30pm, I felt very nervous. It was awkward. I was wearing a baju kurung (traditional malay dress) with heels! Youngsters were everywhere. Lots of them with cameras in their hands. It's becoming a trend, I guess. And they were wearing jeans and t-shirts.... Duh! For an instant I felt like wanting to go back to the car and drive away. But I've made my commitment. So I had to go on.

True enough...the rooftop was seemingly full with people. It was a great scene, actually. The walls were full with booths selling things...t-shirts, cupcakes, collectibles. And I was looking for only one booth - JOHO's. Because they were the only few people whom I know. Actually, only two of 'em - Klux & Azrafe Zaki (aka Zack). Hehe. Me...being shy...Awww!

Two guys were at the mic. Apparently they were the MCs. I noticed straight away that one of them was my Blogger friend - Carl Samsudin. Never met him. But somehow I knew it was him. And I was right! Heh. He made a brief intro on me, when I was about to take on the mic. Nice. Thanks, Carl. (I forgot to say that, that night. Being nervous).

Eventually I had a very sporting audience. I delivered a poem titled 'Warisan - Anak Kecil Main Api' which was actually a song, sung by new ITM students during orientation week. Another one was a song, sang by the late Sudirman Hj. Arshad. The crowd...they sang along. It was momentary. Because we have just celebrated our 53rd Independence Day the week before.

Then there were a few guys and gals performing their own. It was cool and I felt proud. We have such great talents out here. But where could they showcase their talents? How would they vent their feelings, their thoughts, their views, their passion? Again, kudos to JOHO and the brainchild behind this community.

And guess what...I met a very long lost friend that night. We parted somewhere back in 1997... Almost forgotten about him. Hehe. Alas, such event do bring people together huh? Rekindling the friendship. Check out his Facebook :

Shazli Shots

Afterwards? The photos that they shot were brilliant! And the t-shirts that I bought for the kids were fantastic. They loved the tees very much.