Dear Friends,
Dancers & colleagues recently gathered in a fun party at the RSC (Royal Selangor Club) celebrating the 70th birthday of Sutra Foundation’s Chairman, choreographer/director, Datuk Ramli Ibrahim.
It was supposed to be a surprise party but Ramli turned up immaculately dressed in a plunging neckline fish-scale Variante shirt. Ramli must have suspected something was brewing and prepared for the worst.
Never mind lah if the boys flopped miserably as the supposedly P.Ramlee / Bujang Lapoks, but the girls stole the show as scintillating ‘ladies of the night’ – the scarlet women or Sundals (not many know it’s a Malay take of Sundari) Malam of the Malay film world.
Easily, the sassiest was non-other than La Rosa Ganendra – the conceiver of the fun night, who was dressed in a shocking red kebaya as Ratu Sundal. La Rose, as usual, managed to overshadow everyone, even the ol’ birthday boy Ramli, who seemed to fade besides the vivacious and simultaneously vicious looking Ratu.
The super band, played nostalgic oldies of the golden era of Malay film songs to Abba favourites. They whipped up the guests’ energy (some already passing the 7 series) to frenzied heights, compelling them to be on the dance floor participating in joget lambak, zapin to doing the twist.
The other star of the evening – Chacko Vadaketh, the celebrity and popular Emcee, was also in top form. One can sense that Chacko was testing some of the skits he will soon dish out to us in his up-coming (sold-out) performance at Bobo. Dad, was seen furiously and helplessly trying to get the band to lower its volume. The old boy was last seen being twirled around by Ms Diana Khoo.
The culmination of the evening surely was the absolutely scintillating ‘Tiru Macam Saya’ by the 2-Madus cum Bi-Nis (the third one was absent, last known to be galavanting in some alien land), where La Rose & La Bimba (2nd Bi-Ni) vied with each other, unsuccessfully, to attract the former husband’s attention.
Happily, ‘Madu 70’ was unabashedly a celebration of, and for, the lowest common denominator. We have enough of those boring excellent dancing by Sutra and now we want a bit of sambal belacan and joget lambak.
The guests enjoyed every minute of it!