Living life to the fullest

It’s a dangerous disease but Syafinaz Selamat wants women to know that there IS life after breast cancer, writes INTAN MAIZURA AHMAD KAMAL.

LONG legs clad in stylish white pants with a demure blouse worn over it, singer Syafinaz Selamat makes a harried entry into Pavilion KL.

Tailed by her manager, Tunku Marina Zubir, she apologises profusely for her delay, citing lecturing commitments as her reason. Syafinaz, a familiar face in the local classical and contemporary music scene, is a voice lecturer at UiTM and Aswara.

Despite her hectic schedule, the 35-year-old, a spokesperson for Avon, is here to lend her support to the Avon Walk Around The World For Breast Cancer event on August 10 at Taman Tasik Titiwangsa, in Kuala Lumpur.

“I’ll be joined by other celebrities so I hope this will prompt many people to come and be a part of this event too,” begins the Johorean. “We just need to wake up a little earlier than usual, turn up at Titiwangsa and walk together. It’s such an easy thing to do for such a great cause.”

Awareness of this No. 1 killer disease in women is so important, stresses Syafinaz, an advisor and vocal master of the National Choir of Malaysia. “Women know it’s dangerous, yet there are many who hesitate to take action. They’re scared.”

With a knowing look, she adds: “I guess the idea of losing their breasts scares a lot of women. It could make them feel incomplete.”

Continuing, the Capricorn says: “It’s important to understand breast cancer. I know of breast cancer survivors who have beaten the disease. Life is precious and we women need to love ourselves and to live life to the fullest.”

Syafinaz, the youngest of 11 siblings, certainly does. A positive person by nature, she’s constantly striving to better herself.

“Every morning, I wake up and I tell myself that life can only get better!”

With a huge beam on her face, she confides: “My mum, Zaiton, is my inspiration. She’s still going strong. She is incredibly positive. I think she’s probably the only 78-year-old woman in Batu Pahat who still drives. She’s very active with the Women’s Institution and Umno. She’s very supportive of her kids. My mum is everything to me.”

For the driven singer, who cut her first album at the age of 16, there’s still so much more to achieve in her career. “I’ve always wanted to further my studies in music and performance but I’ve not had the chance yet.”

She makes it a point though, to develop her singing by learning from opera singers abroad. Last year, the lyrical soprano, whose performance repertoire includes arias for operas from composers such as Mozart, Puccini, Bellini, Delibes and Verdi, took up an intensive course with a famous opera singer in a Germany.

“I just sang every day during that whole month. It was an eye-opening experience. I met a lot of people and learned a lot of things that’ll go a long way towards my own journey.”

Syafinaz, whose dream collaboration would be with the late Pavarotti and Maria Callas, is currently working on her latest album, her fourth, which is yet untitled. And she’s definitely excited about it.

“It’ll be quite different from my previous offerings,” she says enthusiastically. “It’s going to be a fusion of classical and contemporary music. If you’re familiar with Sarah Brightman and Il Divo… that’s what it’ll be like.

“I’ll be taking some excerpts from some arias, the hook line maybe, and then rearrange it to be more contemporary. It can be hip-hop, or R&B. As a musician I believe you need to be different. But it’s not easy to do that here. The support is not really there. For me, kalau tak laku, tak lakulah (if it doesn’t sell, never mind)… this is what I want to do. It’s more for self-satisfaction and to educate our people that there are other kinds of music here in Malaysia.”

As for now, the only “educating” she’s keen to do is breast cancer awareness, so catch up with Syafinaz as she walks with thousands of women around the world for the worthwhile cause.



Time to walk

THE walk is open to the public but you need to pre-register. Call the Avon hotline 03-7965 7100 for details. The enrolment fee is RM20 and participants will get an exclusive Reebok T-shirt worth RM90 and an Avon goody bag worth RM50. There will be lots of fun, activities and games at the Avon, Reebok, Flyfm, Clark Hatch and Celcom booths. The Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development will be extending free health screening to participants while the pastry team from Sheraton Subang Hotel & Towers will be there to serve delicious pastries.