A truly super star exits stage left

Datuk Sharifah Aini, the doyenne of the Malaysian music scene, every singer’s Singer, music icon, Supertrouper of sound and a wonderful human being exited stage left after less than a week in the Damansara Specialist Hospital.

She had been in and out of the hospital, arising from lung disease and her condition became a cause for concern since she was last admitted on Tuesday, the third day of Ramadan.

I got the news of her demise upon waking up for sahur just as dawn was breaking on this, the 7th day of Ramadan.

After having just enough time to dip into a bowl of medjol dates and taking a swig from a bottle of mineral water, I set off for the office where my dedicated colleagues had already been beavering away since they got word that her condition had worsened late on Friday night.

Through light traffic and an unusually calm morning while driving on the way to the office, I could imagine back in my student days, inserting a music cartridge into the car tape deck (this was the 80s ...you!) and from the speakers, wafted the melodious strains of; “...Ever and Ever Forever You’ll beeee The One, That Shines in Me, Like the Moooorning Sun...Ever and Ever Forever and ever my Dessss...tiny, Will Follow You, Eteeerneeerly....”

For the benefit of the younger generation weaned on a diet of Hip-Hop and Rap, this was the English cover version of the song Forever and Ever that hit the airwaves back in the 1980s and re-done by artistes the world over.

Nothing unusual with this foray into the English market. She was the daughter of Syed Jaafar Syed Sahil and Sharifah Noor Syed Ahmad Al-attas in Singapore in 1953 which made her comfortable with the language. In all, seven of her 93 albums she cut were in English.

But to me, the most memorable song from her collection is Yayadan – a call to look at life from the religious aesthetic point of view. The chorus goes;

This middle-eastern scented song offers a solution for harried souls looking for spiritual contentment. So appropriate indeed at this time, when muslims are well along into the holy month of Ramadan.

The enjoinment to; “...munajat di sepertiga malam” (to wake up, engage in prayer and worship and to turn to God towards the last third of the night) is something many muslims adhere to and practice, more so during the month-long Ramadan fast.

By all accounts, she was well aware and readily-accepting of the tenuous nature of life, towards her last days confronting her lung and respiratory ailment. The word she used was ‘redha’ – that she was ready to accept her fate,

Sharifah Aini’s glittery path of course was not all smooth sailing – show me one Super Diva; any living, breathing individual without some human frailty and I’ll show you a saint!

Let’s cast all ill-informed speculation aside and remember her for the good, the great and the decent deeds for which she is famously known.

Sharifah Aini; Datuk Sharifah Aini will be dearly missed.

Innalillah hi wa innalillahirojiun....