In celebration of Malaysia Day tomorrow, Fly FM radio announcers Maggy and Ili with their boss Seelan Paul reminisce about the good old days and their hopes for this beloved homeland
IT’S common knowledge that Malaysians love to eat and their passion for food is boundless. Who can blame us though? Our cultures and traditions ensure a wide spread of culinary delights to savour.
The word Malaysia then is synonymous with gastronomic bliss. Just ask Fly FM radio announcers Ili Ruzanna Iqbal and Maggy Wang.
“You may look at my size and think I’m not a foodie but I am, especially for Malaysian grub,” says the petite and bubbly Ili, 22, who is the latest addition to the Fly family.
Earlier in the year, she won the station’s Flydol 2017 competition and recently started her own radio show.
“We’ve got all kinds of dishes and I think this relates to our diversity. To me, Malaysia means colourful,” she adds.
“Malaysia is where my heart is, it’s where my home is. And there’s no beating the food here,” says Maggy, 25, enthusiastically.
Both have done their fair share of travelling to far-off lands and admit that there’s no place like home when it comes to delectable delights.
“We have the best foods here. My favourites are nasi lemak and roti canai. I can eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner, anytime,” says a wide eyed Ili.
Maggy adds that whenever she’s overseas she’ll always look forward to having local food again once she’s back on home soil.
Describing herself as a fitness and health-conscious person, she says: “I eat clean on a daily basis but on my cheat days, I love to dig into ban mee, nasi lemak or just plain old Maggi goreng.”
“I can’t live without the mamak and they’re generally 24-hour joints,” says Maggy of one of her favourite food venues that have been a gathering point for people from all walks of life.
“For me, the word Malaysia means a celebration of diversity. I see us all coming from multiple races, experiences and such into one exciting and unique melting pot,” says Seelan Paul, Media Prima Radio Networks (MPRN) chief executive officer, who is in charge of Fly FM.
This aspect is reflected in the MPRN office at Sri Pentas in Bandar Utama, Petaling Jaya, where rows of cubicles are occupied by a varied mix of young Malaysians from different races and creeds.
JOURNEY TOGETHER
As we head over to the Fly FM studio to continue our chat, it’s evident that everyone has an interesting, if not a little familiar, Malaysian story to tell.
All three agree that they grew up colour blind as it never occurred to them to distinguish people through the lens of race and such.
Seelan, 43, who hails from Nibong Tebal, Seberang Perai, Penang says that the small town he grew up in was a fantastic example of what Malaysia is.
“In my school at that time, there was no Malay, Chinese or Indian students, only the football boys, the naughty guys and smart students. We were only segregated by social behaviour,” he says with a smile.
Describing himself as a football-crazy boy who was also good in academics, he mixed with everyone, including the naughty boys.
“My circle of friends were a very mixed bunch. I speak fluent Tamil and Malay but I was, at the time, also able to understand a little Cantonese.”
A few of his fond memories while growing up included playing football with a multiracial group of friends and cycling around.
“I remember once the three of us cycled from Nibong Tebal to Tanjung Bungah, which was about 50km away, and hung out by the beach and camped out,” he recalls of an adventure he had with his best buddies Nathan and Izra when he was 17.
“Here you have a Christian, a Muslim and a Hindu going on a trip together.”
“I had that privilege of really mixing with everybody at an early age,” he says of his experiences that made him appreciate and understand the various cultures in the country.
“Whenever we had to participate in athletics competitions, we’d stay at Izra’s grandmother’s house over in Penang Island. They treated us like part of the family and that’s where I got a better understanding of Malay culture,” says Seelan.
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
The various festivals that are celebrated throughout the year in Malaysia also play a part in bringing people together.
“This was always something that my friends and I looked forward to. Visiting each other’s houses for Hari Raya, Chinese New Year and Deepavali.”
“Everyone just got together and who can forget the yummy rendang or muruku during these festivities.
“The public holidays that came with them were a plus point of course,” says Maggy with a laugh.
She grew up in a village in Pasir Pinji, Ipoh, Perak and recalls simpler times playing batu seremban and spinning the gasing.
Maggy lived in her grandmother’s wooden house just next to a primary school and the neighbours worked at the local market selling bean sprouts.
“It was a very humble environment. Life was simple and beautiful,” says the graduate of Monash University who studied communications and commerce.
“I stepped out of my comfort zone and learnt about the world. I made my way to Kuala Lumpur to pursue what I’m doing now. I never imagined doing any of this back then,” she says.
This Malaysia Day will be an even more special occasion for Maggy as it marks her feature film debut in a JinnyboyTV production, titled By My Side.
“The movie is about first love, a very pure and raw love story that all of us have probably experienced before,” she says of By My Side, which premieres on tonton tomorrow.
The film also stars Brandon Ho, Marianne Tan, Nadia Nash, Adam Shamil, Arwind Kumar and Josephine Yap.
Aside from that, Maggy will also be launching something from her Move With Maggy fitness project later in the year.
“I’ll be working with team of fitness professionals to come up with a fitness programme to help people to live a healthy and safe lifestyle,” says Maggy, who declares that her passions lie in radio, hosting and fitness.
HAPPILY MUHIBBAH
Ili is now having a blast helming her own radio show and is excited to spread some much needed positivity on air.
Although she is of Malay, Indian and Chinese descent, Ili says discovering her muhibbah heritage was an eye-opening experience.
“As a child growing up, I never knew the differences,” says Ili, who grew up in the Klang Valley.
“My dad’s name is Iqbal but my mum calls him G. During dinner one day when I was about 11, I finally asked them about it.”
“Apparently my dad used to be Hindu and his name was Gopalsamy, so when they dated she would call him G.”
“It was only then that I realised I was from a mixed family,” she says.
Malaysians are certainly a varied bunch. For Ili, this aspect makes for great stories and for interesting discoveries of each other.
“Naturally like how my parents brought me up, I feel like we’re all just people at the end of the day.
“We may look different outside but inside we are all the same,” she says.
The country has certain charming quirks that make it unique to her.
“I like that we can also include various local languages in our sentences when we speak and we can feel comfortable dressing in each other’s traditional clothes.
“Visiting someone’s house is always interesting to me, since you tend to see something different than what you’re used to,” says Ili, who sees the diverse stories and experiences of people from various cultures as layers that readily enriches Malaysia.
HOPES AND DREAMS
Tomorrow, the country celebrates Malaysia Day and the three share a few of their wishes for a better tomorrow.
“It’s about time that we change our mindsets on certain things.
“It’s also a good thing that the younger generation are slowly having more ideas, more perspectives and are not afraid to speak their minds,” says Ili.
Her other hope is that more people have mixed marriages.
“You’ll have beautiful babies, widen the gene pool and it’ll makes us unique. No, I’m not being perasan,” she adds with a laugh.
Maggy chimes in with: “I hope Malaysians will stay united. And as modern as Malaysia is now, I also hope that certain things like our various traditions will still endure.”
“I think we all should be more aware and not take anything for granted,” she says.
“Let’s just celebrate our diversity rather than nitpick on our differences,” says Seelan.
“It’s something we have to do individually. Each of us making a difference.”
“I always try to educate my children to see people as their behaviour first rather than race first,” says the father to two girls and a boy.
He adds that Malaysia is like a family and like any family will always have its set of challenges.
“At the end of the day, we still appreciate the country.”
“Apart from that, let’s enjoy the freedom that we have. Let’s face the challenges together and not be too sensitive,” says Seelan.
Aside from the unifying power of food, the three agree that the recent SEA Games 2017 also proved to be an effective feel good event that brought Malaysians together.
“We were very united and I really felt the love and togetherness,” says Maggy.
Seelan adds: “Sports is a great unifying factor, especially at school level. If we can correct things at a young age, we’ll be able to improve things later as adults for the future of the country,” he says.
All of us are on this wondrous journey together. Here’s hoping that we’ll all be stronger, better and able to realise our dreams as one, come what may.
Happy Malaysia Day!