Memories of Sudirman Hj Arshad lingers on through Kenny Lee

Hujan yang turun bersama air mata
Bersama pedih, bersama rindu
Kau datang dan kau pergi jua
Rindu lagi...

 
When he passed away on 22 February 1992, he left a huge vacuum in the Malaysian entertainment scene and fans were dumbfounded on the sudden lost of Sudirman Haji Arshad, Malaysian entertainer extraordinaire. He had set the standards since breaking into the entertainment scene by winning the Bintang RTM singing competition in 1976.


His Chow Kit Road concert on 15 April 1986 which drew 100,000 crowd caused traffic jams in the Kuala Lumpur city which led to The Star quoting "Kuala Lumpur came to a standstill and it had nothing to do with the recession, but with one man, Malaysia's top entertainer, an electrifying performance and most memorable night".

Since then his songs, wardrobe and choreography remained a memory to his fans which had spread wide across the Asia where he had rightfully won the "Best Performer" at the Asia Music Award 1989 contest held at the Royal Albert Hall, London beating a galaxy of Asian singing sensations e.g. Leslie Cheung (Hong Kong),
Anita Sarawak (Singapore), Epo (Japan), Kuh Ledesma (Philippines) and many others.

His song of Tanggal 31 Ogos, a patriotic song to signify the independence of Malaysia is still being played every year during the Independence Day celebrations.

Fate has it, Sudirman has a clone in Kenny Lee, who have many similarities in terms of voice, body built and looks. Kenny Lee has been acknowledge by many and had been invited to perform in various events including official Government functions. The simple and humble character of Kenny makes him easily approachable where he would be more then happy to engage in chats with him even at the busiest hour.

Kenny is a clothing merchadise trader and normally seen at popular pasar malam (night market) around Malacca town. At times, I can't help watching how he maintains his nerves trading and handling the customer bargaining which was done in a very calm manner. His frankness and babyface makes him a popular stop for chat by regulars.

I asked him his secret to looking young, his reply to me was "be happy and face the obstacles in life positively".

If you spot him and being lucky, you could get him to sing a song which he would be willingly oblige to regular customers. When I met him 2 weeks ago, he sang a complete unreleased composition of a patriotic song in the presence of visitors to his stall without any hesitations.

You would expect him to be staying at home given the public attention he gets being a Sudirman clone and as a recording artiste, but this family man who now calls himself a "Datuk" (after the birth of his grandchild) maintains a compose personality.

His story is reflected here and nothing beats meeting the man himself.

If you wish to catch him, here are some spots you might be able to meet him;

(a) Saturdays - pasar malam in Kota Laksamana
(b) Sundays - pasar malam in Batu Berendam
(c) Sunday morning - morning market in Bukit Baru (behind Rally Club)

Why don't  you give it a try yourself?