In the press release for “Tunku - The Musical”, which runs at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre’s Pentas 1 from August 11th to September 2nd, 2007, we are admonished that:

It would be wrong to assume that TUNKU – the musical, is a project wallowing in historical propaganda. It is, in fact, the absolute antithesis of that. While the play utilizes actual historical events, the characters and their actions are purely fictional; designed with a dramatic purpose in mind. The story is not so much about TUNKU, but more about the way we are because of him.

At the press preview, while describing each of the musical’s four acts (the plot begins on Merdeka Day and proceeds to the present day, weaving through events like the expulsion of Singapore from the federation and the 1969 Riots) director Joe Hasham smiled slyly into his microphone and said: “Yes, 1969. I know, it’s controversial, but it’s part of our history. That’s in the second act. We are not going to show you anything from that -- you’ll just have to come and see the show to see what we have to say.”

The excerpts that Joe did let us see showcase competent music and vocals -- but, if anything else, they demonstrated the fact that “Tunku” is huge: KLPac’s largest production to date, it will feature a grand total of 55 performers, including songster veterans like Tony Eusoff (2005’s “Encore”, among others), Douglas Lim (2006’s “Broken Bridges”), and Doreen Tang (2006’s “M! The Opera”).

Oddly enough, however, Tunku Abdul Rahman himself never makes an appearance onstage. “Images of him will be projected above and around the stage,” Joe said, “So he’ll always be there, in spirit.” As Joe described the journey he and KLPac Executive Producer Faridah Merican undertook to secure funding (“Tunku” ’s main corporate sponsors are Celcom and the Petra Foundation), Joe assured us that there were greater forces at work: “That’s the power of Tunku,” he said, looking up and pointing at the ceiling. “Truly, we’ve been blessed. I’m sure he is looking down at us, right now.”

Beginnings

Nascent divinities aside, “Tunku - The Musical”, with its vast cast and dream-team creative crew, remains one of this season’s most anticipated performances (billboards already dot the city). I talk, via email, to composer Lim Chuang Yik and co-writer Teng Ky-Gan (the team that brought us last year’s award-winning “Broken Bridges) about their careers, their love for musical theatre, and the conceptual beginnings of “Tunku”.

~

You both grew up in Ipoh. Would you say that the town had a profound effect in the formation of yourselves, as people?

Lim Chuang Yik: Yes! Growing up in a relatively small town, where a 20-minute-away destination constitutes a “v-e-r-y f-a-r place”, it has kept me pretty simple-minded -- in a positive way, of course! My school, Anglo-Chinese School Ipoh, especially, has made a huge impact on me; that school with a century of traditions and excellence.

Teng Ky-Gan: I’m 25 years old, now. I went to ACS Ipoh, too -- that’s where my passion for theatre started. ACS has a long and established theatre tradition, and I was involved in many musicals.

---

We hear that both of you work for pharmaceutical companies. Just how big is big pharma? Do you suspect your bouts of creativity are chemically induced?

TKG: I work for Janssen-Cilag, which is the pharmaceutical division of Johnson and Johnson (which is one of the biggest pharma companies in the world -- but everyone know J&J for its baby products, not drugs). Chemically induced or not, I don’t know, but I’d say we both still need our day jobs!

LCY: Big pharma is a multi-billion-dollar business, globally. But too little of that moolah trickles into my pockets.

My bouts of creativity can be attributed to an imperialist accessory -- the unnecessary tie -- choking of my neck, five days a week.

Musical Theatre

Give us a run-down on your work for the stage, so far. Do either of you have any intention on writing for forms other than musical theatre?

TKG: My first production (at 13) was “The King and I”, with Mano Maniam as the King. I was a supporting cast member or in the ensemble of productions of “Arabian Nights”, “Fiddler on the Roof”, and “South Pacific”. I have been Joseph in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat”, Romeo in “Romeo and Juliet”, and Fuzzy in “Charlie’s Auntie”. You’d notice almost all of these are musicals -- where my passion lies.

LCY: Unfortunately, I’m a simple-minded bloke. I usually only look for entertainment value -- where not too much grey matter needs to be utilised. For me, musical theatre combines the arts of acting, singing and dancing (and, of course, wow-inducing sets and lights) with pretty simple -- some arty-farts may say clichéd -- storylines. So? Duh me entertained! Back to the question: nope, I can’t imagine myself pulling off a Proust.

Tell us about “Broken Bridges”. How did that get started? What was it like, working with each other? How did you two start collaborating, anyway?

LCY: We found our love for musical theatre on the ACS Ipoh stage. We were both active in the Music and Drama Society (MaDSoc) then, even though we were in different year.

Ky-Gan was just finishing his Form Six -- and I was in USM Penang -- when he asked if I’d be interested to write a musical, just for kicks. Up to that point, I had only written script for ACS plays -- but he threw a new challenge to me: I was to write the music, as well! As I didn’t have a formal musical background, I was pretty unsure how I’d do it. But, in the end, Ky-Gan’s faith in my musical (in)abilities rubbed off on me too. That’s how “Broken Bridges” was born.

TGK: We hunted around for 4 years looking for a producer -- and, at the same time, still worked at editing and improving on “Broken Bridges”. Then I passed the script to Joe Hasham, through Teoh Ming Jin, and he called us! That was an unbelievable moment for both of us.

Working with Chuang Yik: the most important lesson I learned from Chuang was the answer to “What makes a musical?”. Seems like a really dumb question, but I think all musical writers must, first and foremost, understand what a musical really is (or should be).

---

Tunku Abdul Rahman’s Malaysia

There are a fair number of productions that celebrate Malaysia’s 50 years this year: “Tunku”, “Putra”, “Cheng Lock”, “My Name is Remy”. However, the much lauded half-centenary is actually a factual error: Malaysia -- as opposed to Malaya -- was only formally declared with the entrance of Sabah and Sarawak into the federation, in 1963. Thoughts?

LCY: That’s really anal. It’s like saying this year is not 2007, because Christ was not born in year zero, but in 1 Anno Domini. I mean, like, is it going to change my life? Nope. If there’s a reason to celebrate, celebrate lah with reckless abandon. Why question?

Why choose Tunku Abdul Rahman as a subject for a musical?

LCY: Joe Hasham chose him.

TKG: Joe wanted a musical on Tunku -- but without Tunku actually appearing. For us it was tough, because we’ve always tried our best to steer away from biographies, mainly because we don’t have much room to build the drama (plus, in this case, everyone knows Tunku). Then Joe said it doesn’t have to be on Tunku, specifically, so we made up the whole “Tunku” story.

How did you and Ky-Gan start working on “Tunku”? Tell us how things went down.

LCY: Once we got the very brief brief for “Tunku” -- a musical called “Tunku”, in which Tunku does not appear, but about the lives of Malaysians who are impacted by this great man -- Ky-Gan and I spent many months thinking of a story that fit the requirements. Problem was, most of our initial stories were boring, till we hit on the storyline that you see now.

TKG: After Joe commissioned us to write this musical, almost a year ago, we stared working. We constantly received feedback from Joe about our ideas. He guided us through the process, but also gave us a lot of freedom to write what we want.

Writing Music

Tell us about the process of writing “Tunku”, Ky-Gan. Was the music exclusively Chuang Yik’s doing, or did you have a hand in it? What was the process like? Which historical texts, if any, did you refer to, for research?

TKG: Everyone thinks writing a musical is a matter of writing songs. Reality is, the toughest part is the whole structure of the musical itself: the plot, the characterisation, the literary devices, the fluidity of the narrative, etc.

Getting that took several months. Only after we got everything in place, we started writing. For me and Chuang, we have a very good understanding of what we wanted in a particular song or scene. We’d refer to musicals like “Les Miserables”, and use existing models as a guide.

We didn’t do much research, actually -- only enough to get the timeline and the background correct. That’s because the whole story of “Tunku” is fictional.

The Tunku never actually appears in “Tunku”; his actions are read by the people around him -- fictional characters. Why choose fiction?

LCY: Fiction allows us a lot of freedom to colour our characters as we see fit. The conflicts, the drives, the motivations of characters, and how best they bounce off each other. If we’d chosen factual characters, we would probably have ended up with a chest-beating propaganda play -- and that, as we all can expect, would have been oh-so-interesting, wouldn’t it?

---

How would you describe the music for “Tunku”, Chuang Yik? What can we expect?

LCY: Raymond Kong has done the most amazing orchestrations for my music. We’re gonna have strings (gasp from small-minded Ipoh boy)! Mervyn Peters has taken my very rudimentary music and breathed life into it.

I would say that my music has matured, somewhat, compared to “Broken Bridges”. It’s different.

What Actually Happens

Tell us more about the plot of “Tunku”. You touch on the secession of Singapore, and the 1969 Riots. Why choose these particular instances in history? What’s your take on them?

TKG: Someone once told me I should never, ever ask a writer what his story is about -- because he wouldn’t know where to start!

Well, in short, “Tunku - The Musical” revolves around a Malay extremist, Syed, and his antithesis, Paul, the journalist. There’s also the story of two laksa sellers, who start off as good friends but fall apart due to different political ideas. And, like in all musicals -- “Tunku” has two young lovers.

Frankly speaking, I don’t have much of an idea about these two issues, because it’s hard to say which accounts tell the true version of events. I’m in no position to preach. I’d stress that these two events only serve as backdrop to the plot, and nothing more.

LCY: That was the problem Ky-Gan and I faced when we first began. We started off with countless ideas -- all set in the now. That was when we realised that Malaysia is a pretty bland country: no major upheavals, no societal catastrophes. The only interesting background to juxtapose our story against would be the racial riots of 1969. And that was when the bulb lit up!

The Tunku never appears as a character -- but his image will be featured in large projections around the stage. Tunku Abdul Rahman has achieved a somewhat mythical place in our national consciousness, much like Gandhi for India. How true, do you think, is this perception? Is it wise to beatify our forefathers?

TKG: For me, Tunku means very little -- I was not born during Tunku’s time. Still, whether the perception is true or not, Tunku is my favourite Prime Minister: the man had wives of different races -- Malay, Chinese, Indian, Eurasian! And he believed and fought for equality, something much needed in today’s politicians.

LCY: He always practised an inclusive policy, with the interests of the country at heart. I only can say that I’m darn glad he’s the founding father that set the foundations of the multiracial nation we have, today. Things might not have turned out so rosy, otherwise ...

Finishing Up

Are you two still involved in the rehearsal process, at this belated time? We suppose you’ve both sat in for several -- if not all -- of the sessions. Impressed? Tell us how everyone is doing. Any stories to share?

LCY: Ky-Gan and I are just spectators of a play-in-progress. It offers us a very good glimpse of how a play is fleshed out (and, in this play, the feel is very different from “Broken Bridges”). It is always a privilege to see the great Joe Hasham at work.

---

TKG: Joe’s interpretation is quite different from ours. But, like in all good productions, you need a third eye to give you an objective view. Joe sees many things we don’t see.

I think the artistic team that Joe assembled is a very good team: all of them have their areas of expertise. Working with them has been a huge learning experience for me. I can also see that the actors are really enjoying themselves -- and that matters a lot!

Are either of you anxious about how audiences might receive the performance? What’re your biggests fear, about “Tunku” -- or are you keeping cool?

TKG: Wow, of course I’m anxious. We don’t get to see too many fully sung musicals -- and, for many, this might be a first. Also, “Tunku” is a serious musical with very little humour, so it’s probably a new experience for a lot of people. My biggest fear is that people might not want to watch the show, thinking that it’s just another “patriotic” musical -- which it absolutely is not!

LCY: Being the simple-minded Ipoh boy, I’m just hoping that everyone will have one helluva time watching “Tunku” -- and perhaps whistle a tune or two from the show, after they’ve seen it. That’s all I want it to be: entertainment in the form of musical theatre.

~~~

Zedeck Siew writes for Kakiseni.

The lavish “Tunku - The Musical”, directed by Joe Hasham, with musical direction by Mervyn Peters and choreography by Joseph Gonzales, runs at KLPac’s Pentas 1 from August 11th to September 2nd, 2007. Tickets from RM60, with student, disabled and senior citizen concessions. More information here.

Photographs from the press preview.