"It's true," she rasped. Small and hunched, she had small eyes, short, frizzed white hair, and plenty of wrinkled, loose skin set in a typical Chinese face.
Ah-Sum, that's what I called her. She has forgotten many things in her life - she cannot remember when she was born nor who brought her to this old folks' home. Despite this forgetfulness, Ah-Sum did not show signs of senility - I believed that her mind was still agile for a 60-year old woman. If she was senile, how do you account for her insightful and colourful stories? The story she had just recounted had an air of incredulity about it - and with the sunlight streaming in through the open louvred windows, I had a difficult time reconciling with stories about spirits.
"My dear, it truly happened," she sighed. In mock exasperation, Ah-Sum pushed my hands away and ordered, "Go home, you little girl. You must be tired after hearing an old woman ramble like this. Come again next week."
Visiting Ah-Sum has been a weekly ritual for me although Sam Pak (or Third Uncle) passed away last January. I used to visit Sam-Pak and at the same time, talk to this chatty woman who claimed to be Sam-Pak's best friend.
Sam-Pak used to be annoyed with her - he used to say, "My niece is here to visit me and not talk to you. Why are you so noisy?" Ah-Sum would flash a toothy grin and keep quiet for all of five minutes before she dragged me to her side and began her story sessions.
Of her many stories, this one lodged in my mind because it seemed so farfetched.
Ah-Sum said she was about eight years old when she witnessed extensive preparations for a traditional Chinese wedding at the shophouse. In those times, weddings were happy occasions with lots of goodies to eat. She was as excited as everyone in her grandfather's shop.
Ah-Sum's father ran a tailoring business which had been handed down from her grandfather, a serious, no-nonsense tailor who expertly fashioned blazers and coats for the British soldiers stationed in Penang.
But the chief controller of this flourishing family business was her grandmother. A woman who rarely smiled and rarely spoke to anyone in the ancestral home, preferring to bark her orders from her room upstairs. It was whispered in the servants' circles that her grandmother was extremely wealthy. It was this wealth that set Ah-Sum's grandfather in his tailoring business. But, of course, no one dared ask grandfather. With his booming voice and piercing stare, he could silence one with a swift glance.
In those days, they were considered well-to-do as grandfather's business employed more than five people who helped cut, sew and tailor coats. It was a huge family and Ah-Sum remembered that they even employed a cook and three servants.
With four sons and a daughter, her grandfather was the grand partriach of the Lee family. Ah-Sum recounted that her father was the eldest son. Her Third and Fifith Uncle were married and each had children. It was an unspoken rule that everyone must live in the large, traditional shophouse.
"We squeezed into three rooms upstairs and my brothers had to sleep downstairs, wherever they found a place to open up their collapsible beds," Ah-Sum said. Ah-Sum said that she had four brothers and two elder sisters while Third Uncle had four children. Fifth Uncle, fortunately, had only two sons. The tailoring business was shared among the partriach's three sons.
"Fourth Uncle had passed away even before we children were born. He was then a child, about seven or eight years old. Sometimes, my eldest brother with his 'ying' eyes would be able to see Fourth Uncle in grandmother's room."
"Just before the Chinese All Souls' Day, Fourth Uncle appeared in my father's dream one night. In the dream, he said that while in the underworld, he fell in love with a girl and would my father please relay this message to my grandfather? He needed permission to marry."
"My father was disturbed by this dream as he had been about twelve years old when his younger brother died of high fever. He half-heartedly believed his dream and did not want to burden his father, who was then 68, with this dream. In time, he forgot about it.
"But the dream persisted. My father would dream the same dream every night and he began to feel uncomfortable. Finally, he asked mother for advice. Talk to grandfather, mother urged. Ghosts must be appeased or they will remain unhappy. Unhappy ancestral spirits did not augur well for family health and business."
Knowing that grandfather was a strict disciplinarian who tolerated nothing, Ah-Sum's father - armed with a heavy heart - approached the family partriach with trepidation. Fearful that he would be reproached, he was taken back when grandfather, after listening intently to the story, nodded and instructed that if Fourth Uncle appeared again in father's dream, he must tell Fourth Uncle that he had his permission to marry. Grandfather also reminded father to ask Fourth Uncle about the girl.
That fateful night, Fourth Uncle appeared in father's dream; this time he seemed calmer. He needed Ah-Sum's father to find the girl's relatives and deliver the marriage proposal.
In truth, Ah-Sum's father did not quite believe this eerie turn of events. Nevertheless he set about tracking the girl's family, who incidentally lived not too far away. They had a large sundry shop and were merchants of Chinese dried goods. They, too, were visited by the ghost of their youngest daughter (who had also passed away as a child) who informed them that on such and such a day, the Lee family would bring them a marriage proposal.
So imagine the family's surprise when Ah-Sum's father, her uncles and grandfather turned up on their doorstep, bearing a marriage proposal! The girl's family, too, were shocked that their deceased daughter described the events with such accuracy. Indeed, the lovelorn couple had met in the underworld. This was confirmed by a temple medium that both families sought.
At the same time, an auspicious date for the wedding was picked.
From that moment onwards, the two Cantonese families who had never met nor heard of each other if not for their 'ghostly ties' busied themselves preparing for the wedding. It was a first for both parties - both had never organised a ghost wedding. Quite rightly, the medium helped with the arduous preparations.
Ah-Sum recalled being awed by the two life-sized bamboo-and-paper dolls - one male and one female, resplendent in their wedding finery, sitting on opposite sides of the wedding dias. With benign expressions, the dolls looked almost real. Plates of real food - fruits, pink turtle-shaped buns, sweets, roast pig and other meats were carefully placed on a long table. The table also displayed a joss urn and red candles. Chinese joss paper and 'gold' were piled high - no doubt dowry for the bride in the underworld. There were also 'gold jewellery' and 'cosmetic' as well as slippers and clothes for the newly-wed couple. In many ways, it was a real wedding - with real guests and relatives.
An invited medium performed the complicated ceremony, full of incantations and blessings. The robed medium then burned joss paper and cajoled the ghost couple to partake in the feast that had been lovingly prepared.
With his newly-married bride, Fourth Uncle offered tea (through the medium) to their elders for good blessings and fortune in the traditional tea ceremony! The laborious wedding ceremony ended some two hours later, with everyone sitting down to a wedding meal. By a strange twist of fate, Ah-Sum's family and the girl's family were suddenly thrown together as relatives!
While the wedding was pronounced a success; the medium conveyed that the couple wished for a child to make their 'married life' complete. A child who would 'take care' of them - sweep their graves and pray for them come each Ching Ming. The medium approached Ah-Sum's father to find a solution to this predicament.
After much agonizing and family discussion, finally, Ah-Sum's father promised that should his wife give birth, the child will be 'given' to the ghost couple. And so it came to be that Ah-Sum's younger brother became Fourth Uncle's 'son'. Ah-Sum's younger brother was 'handed over' in an elaborate and colourful ceremony to the ghost couple when he reached one.
According to Ah-Sum, her brother visits his maternal relatives each Chinese New Year and Ching Ming (Chinese All Souls' Day). As a filial son, he also visits his 'parents' grave during these Chinese festivals and keeps the graves clean and tidy.
"But he is getting old and his children take over his responsibilities. They make a fuss about visiting the graves and the immediate relatives but somehow or another, they have to continue this family tradition," Ah-Sum said.
"I know this sounds unbelievable especially today when ghosts and spirits aren't real to you young people any more. But this ghost lovestory is true, eerie and strange it may be. After I witnessed the ghost wedding in its splendour, I have always been a believer."
by Krista
14th November 2000
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Farrah Sa'adullah... The Child Pianist
Thanks to web archives, I can still find some of my old articles. It's quite nostalgic considering the website (i-asianwomen.com) has long been gone. If you are wondering why I am digging up my old articles to put on this blog, the entire story is here.
Here's one article (made up of 2 parts) about a talented pianist called Farah. I interviewed her via email. She was just a girl when I interviewed her but she's probably a young lady now. Her story is also interesting in that it was a dream that spurred Farah, a child of mixed parentage, to take up the piano. And like all prodigies, her story reflects how awesome this world really is!
I've been so privileged to meet, interview and talk to countless people when I was the editor of i-asianwomen.com.
===============================================================
Farrah Sa'adullah... The Child Pianist (Part 1)
Born in Sydney on Australia Day (which coincidentally, was also Chinese New Year's Eve) in 1990, Farrah was always a settled and calm baby. Her dad, Alwi Sa'adullah and mum, Susan Au, attribute her gentle temperament to the 1920s 'keronchong' music which was played in their house before Farrah was born. Both Alwi and Susan - from Singapore - have been living in Australia since 1980s.
Her dad recounts Farrah's keen interest in music which began when she was three.
Farrah Sa'adullah....Following her many successes in eisteddfods at such a tender age, the Sydney Morning Herald did a special feature in June 1995 and called her a child prodigy.
"We were browsing at Braschs (a shop selling musical and electronic equipment, music books and CDs) when Farrah said she wanted to play the piano. We eventually bought one for her."
Strangely, Farrah was relunctant to touch the piano for three months - it seems she was waiting for a teacher. Both Alwi and Susan could not guide their daughter as Susan used to play the organ while Alwi did not have any musical experience. So began the search for Farrah's piano teacher.
"After ringing around for a teacher, we found one close enough to our home. We wanted her to learn the traditional method, but the teachers we contacted all declined, saying she was too young," Alwi says.
Luckily for Farrah, her parents then learned about the Suzuki method, which caters for younger children.
Farrah's musical foray began at three years and 10 months when she was coached by Ms Itsuko Bara, a Japanese music teacher who was sent to Australia to promote the Suzuki method.
Says Alwi proudly, "One month later she performed at a concert, playing a twinkle variation. Her talent was quickly recognised by some of the audience who said she had strong fingers." Some of them even remarked that Farrah would be in the Conservatorium by 12. Seven years later, their prediction seems spot-on as it seems she will be there at 12!
After two months of lessons, Farrah began playing with two hands and could pick up a piece from any bar or note. At four and a half years, she performed at the Sydney Town Hall, playing Ecossaise by Hummel at the Suzuki Showcase Concert. Some teachers said that she produced excellent tone, with remarkable contrast. Ms Itsuko Bara told her delighted parents that Farrah "is full of music."
Past Knowledge of Music
Alwi and Susan then met a widely-travelled Jewish concert pianist cum teacher, Ms Zohara Rotem who noted that Farrah played with a tone that a six month student at that age could not possibly produce. At this point, she indicated that Farrah must have possessed some past musical knowledge - one of her students claimed that he played with Beethoven "in his previous life". Ms Rotem believed that Farrah was Chopin.
"After this chance meeting with Ms Rotem, a number of unusual things happened," Susan remembers.
"Farrah used to play long pieces on the piano by herself. She told us that the pieces had three movements and gave them names that were unknown to us. This stopped when we asked her to play her teacher's pieces rather than 'nonsense'. We did not listen to classical music until Farrah started playing. Had we known about classical music we could have understood what she was saying. Today we only have one of her compositions which she played at four. This we will treasure and one day get her to edit it."
Another mystifying occurrence happened soon after. One evening Farrah approached Alwi and proclaimed, "I was an artiste."
"When her Dad asked her 'What do you mean?', she replied 'I compose and I play'. Dad then asked her 'When?' and she replied: 'A long long time ago.' Following this, on numerous occasions, she told us that 'her father died a long time ago.' Before Farrah was born, Alwi's sister, Tijah, said she dreamt Farrah came to her and said she was a composer. If this is to be true, we await to see her talent in composition. Recently she completed the first movement of a sonata. It sounds good so far," Susan discloses.
Besides this, there were also incidents where Susan and Alwi would see Farrah wake up in the middle of the night and her hands would emulate piano movements.
Alwi says: "In the morning when we told her what we saw, she replied, unhesitatingly: 'X came to teach me. So you met him?' However, we've decided not to disclose the name of the mysterious teacher who came to teach her."
Soon after, Susan and Alwi bought her a book on this composer. They showed her the pictures in the book and surprisingly, Farrah could describe to them that "there was a door there", and "when visitors came they sat in the other room". She also identified the piano she had played. For one of the pieces she was playing, she told them that someone had changed the original composition.
Just as suddenly as they began, Farrah's extraordinary episodes ended when she turned five.
Winning Eisteddfods at Four
As early as four, she began winning first prizes at eisteddfods. In one eisteddfod, Farrah emerged first in the category meant for seven-year-olds. Dr Nikoloi Sokolov, one of Farrah's teachers, compared Farrah to the late world famous concert pianist Vladimir Horowitz; he declared that when Farrah plays, the piano 'sings'!
When Farrah was performing at another eisteddfod at five, the adjudicator said that Farrah's rendition of 'Wild Rider' was the best he had heard in his lifetime as an AMEB (Australian Music Examinations Board) examiner. She also played 'Wild Rider' in a special live broadcast for 2MBS-FM radio station at five.
At another eisteddfod, an adjudicator was so moved that he almost cried upon hearing Farrah play the piu mosso in Chopin's Valse 64 No 2.
At the Suzuki Graduation Concert, her first public concert at the Sydney Opera House, when she was five, Farrah played JS Bach's Gigue from Partita in B flat. The capacity crowd gave her thunderous applause; they had never witnessed such a young girl playing such a difficult piece.
At six, she could play from memory all three movements from three Mozart sonatas K545, K330 and K331 in one sitting. Her performance of Rondo Ala Turca at the Australian Musician Academy Christmas Concert attracted much favourable comments. Farrah also sight read and memorised JSBach's Italian Concerto (2nd movement) in a day.
Farrah won the trophy for the 'Most Promising Instrumentalist' when she was seven. The adjudicator, after seeing her handling of Grade 8 AMEB and above level pieces, decided to present her the trophy on the first day of the eisteddfod itself! The trophy, donated by Ronald MacDonald, is usually awarded to the winner in the Open Championship.
She was also selected to perform at the Sydney Opera House, this time playing the third movement of Bach's Italian Concerto. When she finished, thunderous applause, lasting for more than a minute, filled the hall!
Farrah continued to win many other eisteddfods. Susan recounts, "In another eisteddfod, the adjudicator congratulated us and advised us on her future. She said Farrah's talent is rare."
Susan continues, "We met Professor Kyunghee Lee from the Australian International Conservatorium of Music who found that Farrah had perfect pitch and a mature understanding of music. She said Farrah was godsend after hearing her play the complete Mozart Sonata K331 from memory."
Following her many successes in eisteddfods at such a tender age, the Sydney Morning Herald did a special feature on Farrah in June 1995 and called her a child prodigy. The reporter had earlier heard her play Mozart's minuets and was impressed with the ease and feeling Farrah displayed in those pieces. The Inner Western Courier newspaper featured her when she was six, again calling her a child prodigy; and at eight, calling her Miss Chopin.
When Farrah performed at the Italian Song Festival at nine, the Italian magazine 'SonoSiamo' reported: "Little Farrah amazed the audience the night of the festival when her little fingers danced upon the keys of the piano. It was marvellous experience to listen to the sounds of the pieces Farrah was playing. Each piece more perfect than the other. It is truly astonishing to see such a young child being able to play such complex pieces that it melted the hearts of the listeners! Farrah is a rare child who exceeds the limits of talent!"
Not only is Farrah a musical genius, she is also academically outstanding. She obtained distinctions in Mathematics and English in 1999 and 2000 Competitions. She was the only one from her school to be selected for Opportunity Class, Year 5 (Year 2000) at a gifted school.(Opportunity Classes are for academically-gifted and talented students.) Besides playing the piano, Farrah also plays the violin and sings.
Dr Nikoloi Sokolov, one of Farrah's teachers, compared Farrah to the late world famous concert pianist Vladimir Horowitz; he declared that when Farrah plays, the piano 'sings'!
by Krista
27th November 2000
Here's one article (made up of 2 parts) about a talented pianist called Farah. I interviewed her via email. She was just a girl when I interviewed her but she's probably a young lady now. Her story is also interesting in that it was a dream that spurred Farah, a child of mixed parentage, to take up the piano. And like all prodigies, her story reflects how awesome this world really is!
I've been so privileged to meet, interview and talk to countless people when I was the editor of i-asianwomen.com.
===============================================================
Farrah Sa'adullah... The Child Pianist (Part 1)
Born in Sydney on Australia Day (which coincidentally, was also Chinese New Year's Eve) in 1990, Farrah was always a settled and calm baby. Her dad, Alwi Sa'adullah and mum, Susan Au, attribute her gentle temperament to the 1920s 'keronchong' music which was played in their house before Farrah was born. Both Alwi and Susan - from Singapore - have been living in Australia since 1980s.
Her dad recounts Farrah's keen interest in music which began when she was three.
Farrah Sa'adullah....Following her many successes in eisteddfods at such a tender age, the Sydney Morning Herald did a special feature in June 1995 and called her a child prodigy.
"We were browsing at Braschs (a shop selling musical and electronic equipment, music books and CDs) when Farrah said she wanted to play the piano. We eventually bought one for her."
Strangely, Farrah was relunctant to touch the piano for three months - it seems she was waiting for a teacher. Both Alwi and Susan could not guide their daughter as Susan used to play the organ while Alwi did not have any musical experience. So began the search for Farrah's piano teacher.
"After ringing around for a teacher, we found one close enough to our home. We wanted her to learn the traditional method, but the teachers we contacted all declined, saying she was too young," Alwi says.
Luckily for Farrah, her parents then learned about the Suzuki method, which caters for younger children.
Farrah's musical foray began at three years and 10 months when she was coached by Ms Itsuko Bara, a Japanese music teacher who was sent to Australia to promote the Suzuki method.
Says Alwi proudly, "One month later she performed at a concert, playing a twinkle variation. Her talent was quickly recognised by some of the audience who said she had strong fingers." Some of them even remarked that Farrah would be in the Conservatorium by 12. Seven years later, their prediction seems spot-on as it seems she will be there at 12!
After two months of lessons, Farrah began playing with two hands and could pick up a piece from any bar or note. At four and a half years, she performed at the Sydney Town Hall, playing Ecossaise by Hummel at the Suzuki Showcase Concert. Some teachers said that she produced excellent tone, with remarkable contrast. Ms Itsuko Bara told her delighted parents that Farrah "is full of music."
Past Knowledge of Music
Alwi and Susan then met a widely-travelled Jewish concert pianist cum teacher, Ms Zohara Rotem who noted that Farrah played with a tone that a six month student at that age could not possibly produce. At this point, she indicated that Farrah must have possessed some past musical knowledge - one of her students claimed that he played with Beethoven "in his previous life". Ms Rotem believed that Farrah was Chopin.
"After this chance meeting with Ms Rotem, a number of unusual things happened," Susan remembers.
"Farrah used to play long pieces on the piano by herself. She told us that the pieces had three movements and gave them names that were unknown to us. This stopped when we asked her to play her teacher's pieces rather than 'nonsense'. We did not listen to classical music until Farrah started playing. Had we known about classical music we could have understood what she was saying. Today we only have one of her compositions which she played at four. This we will treasure and one day get her to edit it."
Another mystifying occurrence happened soon after. One evening Farrah approached Alwi and proclaimed, "I was an artiste."
"When her Dad asked her 'What do you mean?', she replied 'I compose and I play'. Dad then asked her 'When?' and she replied: 'A long long time ago.' Following this, on numerous occasions, she told us that 'her father died a long time ago.' Before Farrah was born, Alwi's sister, Tijah, said she dreamt Farrah came to her and said she was a composer. If this is to be true, we await to see her talent in composition. Recently she completed the first movement of a sonata. It sounds good so far," Susan discloses.
Besides this, there were also incidents where Susan and Alwi would see Farrah wake up in the middle of the night and her hands would emulate piano movements.
Alwi says: "In the morning when we told her what we saw, she replied, unhesitatingly: 'X came to teach me. So you met him?' However, we've decided not to disclose the name of the mysterious teacher who came to teach her."
Soon after, Susan and Alwi bought her a book on this composer. They showed her the pictures in the book and surprisingly, Farrah could describe to them that "there was a door there", and "when visitors came they sat in the other room". She also identified the piano she had played. For one of the pieces she was playing, she told them that someone had changed the original composition.
Just as suddenly as they began, Farrah's extraordinary episodes ended when she turned five.
Winning Eisteddfods at Four
As early as four, she began winning first prizes at eisteddfods. In one eisteddfod, Farrah emerged first in the category meant for seven-year-olds. Dr Nikoloi Sokolov, one of Farrah's teachers, compared Farrah to the late world famous concert pianist Vladimir Horowitz; he declared that when Farrah plays, the piano 'sings'!
When Farrah was performing at another eisteddfod at five, the adjudicator said that Farrah's rendition of 'Wild Rider' was the best he had heard in his lifetime as an AMEB (Australian Music Examinations Board) examiner. She also played 'Wild Rider' in a special live broadcast for 2MBS-FM radio station at five.
At another eisteddfod, an adjudicator was so moved that he almost cried upon hearing Farrah play the piu mosso in Chopin's Valse 64 No 2.
At the Suzuki Graduation Concert, her first public concert at the Sydney Opera House, when she was five, Farrah played JS Bach's Gigue from Partita in B flat. The capacity crowd gave her thunderous applause; they had never witnessed such a young girl playing such a difficult piece.
At six, she could play from memory all three movements from three Mozart sonatas K545, K330 and K331 in one sitting. Her performance of Rondo Ala Turca at the Australian Musician Academy Christmas Concert attracted much favourable comments. Farrah also sight read and memorised JSBach's Italian Concerto (2nd movement) in a day.
Farrah won the trophy for the 'Most Promising Instrumentalist' when she was seven. The adjudicator, after seeing her handling of Grade 8 AMEB and above level pieces, decided to present her the trophy on the first day of the eisteddfod itself! The trophy, donated by Ronald MacDonald, is usually awarded to the winner in the Open Championship.
She was also selected to perform at the Sydney Opera House, this time playing the third movement of Bach's Italian Concerto. When she finished, thunderous applause, lasting for more than a minute, filled the hall!
Farrah continued to win many other eisteddfods. Susan recounts, "In another eisteddfod, the adjudicator congratulated us and advised us on her future. She said Farrah's talent is rare."
Susan continues, "We met Professor Kyunghee Lee from the Australian International Conservatorium of Music who found that Farrah had perfect pitch and a mature understanding of music. She said Farrah was godsend after hearing her play the complete Mozart Sonata K331 from memory."
Following her many successes in eisteddfods at such a tender age, the Sydney Morning Herald did a special feature on Farrah in June 1995 and called her a child prodigy. The reporter had earlier heard her play Mozart's minuets and was impressed with the ease and feeling Farrah displayed in those pieces. The Inner Western Courier newspaper featured her when she was six, again calling her a child prodigy; and at eight, calling her Miss Chopin.
When Farrah performed at the Italian Song Festival at nine, the Italian magazine 'SonoSiamo' reported: "Little Farrah amazed the audience the night of the festival when her little fingers danced upon the keys of the piano. It was marvellous experience to listen to the sounds of the pieces Farrah was playing. Each piece more perfect than the other. It is truly astonishing to see such a young child being able to play such complex pieces that it melted the hearts of the listeners! Farrah is a rare child who exceeds the limits of talent!"
Not only is Farrah a musical genius, she is also academically outstanding. She obtained distinctions in Mathematics and English in 1999 and 2000 Competitions. She was the only one from her school to be selected for Opportunity Class, Year 5 (Year 2000) at a gifted school.(Opportunity Classes are for academically-gifted and talented students.) Besides playing the piano, Farrah also plays the violin and sings.
Dr Nikoloi Sokolov, one of Farrah's teachers, compared Farrah to the late world famous concert pianist Vladimir Horowitz; he declared that when Farrah plays, the piano 'sings'!
by Krista
27th November 2000
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