Part I: http://www.uglymen.net/2006/12/25/a-talented-singer-to-a-magnificent-drummer-part-i/

Part II: http://www.uglymen.net/2007/01/03/a-talented-singer-to-a-magnificent-drummer-part-ii-and-they-tried-to-sabotage-me/

mike ~ Do you feel comfortable disclosing it here Cikgu?

CB ~ oh, no prolem, tak pe. This incident really really disappointed me. But I dont give a damn anymore now, it's just that i hope it has never happenned. There were 1 group of students from xxx (name intentionally undisclose, its a big group anyway). Michael knows la, how Cikgu teaches, I have my own style of approach and teaching right?

mike ~ Yeah, in fact, everyone at MS teaches different ways.

CB~ ya, as long as it suits the students well. Cikgu often gives pats on students' back, shoulders, and some boyz which are quite close to Cikgu, we can even hug each other or ticker them. You see mike, some times when we get close to our students, the border of being teacher and student will vanish, it is a good thing when students can treat you as friends, in that way, they learn in a more relaxing atmosphere. (cant agree more with you Cikgu).

CB~ Then, came this boy from that group, he was mad about Cikgu for some reason, and he unleashed his fury by creating whole lot of rumours which could bring Cikgu down. The problem is, Cikgu has many students from that group, and they sort of like pakat, all pulled out from the school at the same time. That was really hard to swallow mike.

mike~ off cos that hurts, you are being framed and blamed for something which is not true.

CB~ The group went to extreme to say that Cikgu is actually a gay. That is really too much, and the rumours spreaded really fast. So, I had to take my own measures to defend myself. Cikgu decided not to accept any students anymore from that group. That was it. If you wanna bring me down, show me the proof. As what you have done has huge impact on my social life, my work, my income, and my circle of friends. In fact, Cikgu can even make a police report, but I never.

mike~ That sucks Cikgu. So, it was the end of the road for that group?

CB~ ha… Hmmm… I think it was almost two years that Cikgu did not take in any students from that group. But its been a long while already, gradually, Cikgu started to accept again and those members, including old and new, started to discover who Cikgu truely is, and the rumours just quashed by itself. Another thing I wanna mention is, there were students who came defending Cikgu, that was really touching and I really appreciate and thank them for believing me.

mike~ kekeke… the story so like a drama lo….kekeke

CB~ many many stories la I can share with every one, but those are the more “dramatic” ones la kekekek…..

mike~ (checking watch, actually i had to pickup my phone to cancle some classes as it was really late, and  I havent finished off my list of long questions)

Notice the sky turned dark…

Luckily I have my assistant with me all the while:

My Targa MP3 recorder which looks like iPOD, wahahaha. bought at RM280 about 3.5 years back..

and over 6 pages of writings..

CB~ mike cancling classes? Is that ok?

mike~ not a problem Cikgu, we just finish off the other questions, it's been so cool so far.

CB ~

mike~ What would you be playing (in music) if you were not a drummer?

CB~ haha.. my favourite instruments besides drum must be the guitar. Because I have a strong passion for chordings and harmonies, creating different colours in a song. Eh… next would be the bass, and finally the keyboard. Ah… and i think very few people knows that Cikgu likes to sing a lot, and i used to be VERY active in singing, participating in competitions, back in the school days. (and from the way Cikgu spoke of this, i am sure he can sing very well, so next time you meet him, can ask him sing la, wink wink..)

mike~ wakakaka… i think this is a surprise to most readers here…. (i will try ask cikgu to sing and record a clip and post it here)

mike~ Well, we have a couple of questions to go, here's a quick one for your thought Cikgu. If you were to buy a drumset for your home studio, what is your dream setup of your drums?

CB~ Very straight forward, everything must be convenient, easily reachable. 2 kicks, 2 hi toms, 3 mid toms, 2 floor toms, 1 maple snare, 1 piccolo snare, 2 crashes, 1 splash, 1 ride, huge China boy, cowbell, tambourine. and I prefer the drums to be Tama (i like Yamaha, Cikgu.. kekeke…)

That was about it, and i have collected some impromptu questions and answers through out the over 2 hours meeting.

-Some facts on Cikgu Badrul which you may not know:

~He thinks Yamaha Asian Beat Kedah contesting bands standard are always the same, no improvement (up to 2006) and i think many will agree on that.
~Only in very very long time, can see one outstanding band.
~Very happy to see some students get higher grades in their studies after learning music.
~Only eat rice once a week (dont misunderstand, he eats other things la other days, not mean that he only eats once a week la)
~He is online in office everyday (online due to work, not due to play), pages he will visit everyday are: friendster, email, michael-one, and www.uglymen.net)

Thank you for your time Cikgu…

P/S: i forgot to stop my iPOD-look alike-Targa after the interview, until i transferred the file to my laptop, what the ??? 5 hours long the interview. When i play the file, i also hear my bike starting, openning my gate.. kakaka… Targa MP3 recorder very good brand, clear, long-lasting, and energy saving)

Last Edited: 21st January 10.30pm (my iPOD-look alike Targa has become iPIAK-look alike, the screen was crushed last week when i had too many things in my bag and heavier stuff crushed the screen…

 

m ~ Welcome on board! I remember cikgu was involved in other projects too before the Vintage concert.

CB ~ haha… I think we had a Band Contest some where in 1992.

m ~ It was the Band Fest in Dewan Dato' Syed Omar, and the competition was won by Innocent band from Kangar

CB ~ yes, right, and my first job at Muzik Sistem was to assist in planning the whole show and ensure everything runs smoothly. After that, I started to teach drum.
At the beginning, I had some hard time too to design the course, I wanted it to be very systematic, progressive, step by step and also ensuring each student gets what they want. I had to change the system (Lily initial teaching patterns) gradually to suit each student.

m ~ like how you started to re-design the syllabus and carefully allocate different styles and techniques into different levels in accordance with the level of difficulties.

CB ~ That was the hard part, but it felt so good, as I learnt a lot in teaching (Cikgu stressed on this point, and I cant agree more that teaching really helps to improve your own skill and knowledge). After that, everything was in place, and the teaching routine also was much easier for me.

m ~ You wanna share with us for all these 13 years you have been teaching, what was the most unforgettable experience or students you have came accross?

CB ~ (thinking for quite a while…. he might be thinking who's the prettiest of all his students… hehe) Cikgu once taught a student, Alton Chun, son of Trinity Church pastor. Then was 1995. Cikgu got to know that Alton never learn more than once or less than a month in any music school. He was always changing schools and instructos. So, this was a big challenge to me, and Mrs Ng (Muzik Sistem) was giving me a challenge on holding Alton for a month.

m ~ Ah huh… I think that's about when the church members started rolling in.

CB ~ Right michael, Cikgu taught him from day one, and all the way until he left Malaysia for Hawaii to study. He was at Muzik Sistem for almost 4 years! This is simply because Cikgu asked him what did he want in playing drums rather than throw everything in text book syllabus at him. He enrolled at the school to get what he wanted, and Cikgu gave him exactly what he had expected. After he started to enjoy the lessons, he spreaded the news among church members about the school, and soon, many members of Trinity Church joined the drum lessons. (smiling while face looking triumphant) And I think that is very successful, in terms of both business and education. That is one thing I will never forget.

m ~ That is one wonderful story to share with everyone at uglymen.net Cikgu. But how about any incidents that you wished you could forget but it's still in your memory now. Something you hated it happenned…

Well, time out for # Part 2, will it be about the school, certain students, or maybe the food behind the music school that made Cikgu so geram… hang on till we meet again in # Part 3!
  

“Smiling to Keep that “Rock” Alive”

michael and Tai Suan were the co-founders of Uglymen. They were smiling, and the air filled with laughters during the over an-hour long interview. They walked down memory lane and tell us how they ended up as the 3-piece unique band today.

michael is a music teacher, Tai Suan is a project manager, while Say Hooi who joined Uglymen in 1998 is a system programmer. Tai Suan recalled, during the early years of our band, all members were residing in different locations. Tai Suan himself was studying in Penang, michael and former drummer KJ were staying in Alor Star, while their no-nonsense bassist Boon Lai (formerly the famed Innocent band) was doing his business in Kangar. So each week, they will rotate the location of practise, such as week 1 will be in Kangar, and week 2 might be in Alor Setar. Some times we felt really tired but the passion was there to keep the band and music alive.