Aziz Sattar (1925-2014) passes on

ALAS, the last of our very own three musketeers has exited stage left having played all his parts and moving on to the great theatre in the sky. How many amongst Malaysians out there have not heard of the Bujang Lapok quartet of comedy? First there was Bujang Lapok in 1957, Pendekar Bujang Lapok in 1959, Ali Baba Bujang Lapok in 1959 and finally Seniman Bujang Lapok in 1961. That was the year I was born but that does not mean that I am quite alone in this very youngish television station – Astro AWANI – who follow the travails of the three bachelors quite avidly through the countless afternoon prime time repeat slots. The appeal of the comic escapades of the trio – translated to mean three worn out bachelors – transcends race, largely driven by the magic of the acting and directing of screen legend; the late Tan Sri P. Ramlee. Their exploits hark back to the golden days of Malay cinema with the prodigious output of the Shaw Brothers organization from their Studio Jalan Ampas, Singapore location. Our borders were a lot more porous then – Aziz was Indonesian, born in 1925 in Surabaya. Indeed, how many of our luminaries and leading lights in the world of film and the arts hailed from across the Sunda Sea, the Straits of Singapore or further south of Sumatera? Look at the credits of the Bujang Lapok quartet of films and you see names from Hong Kong and talents from India. I am not one who looks at that period of our political evolution as totally angst-free and devoid of racial tension but more at the absence of pressure at a time when we all had lower levels of expectations. Why? Simply because we did not know any better, the explosion of information was not yet upon us and we were altogether less hung up about morals or codes of behavior. (Personally, I think Malthusian theory of misery being proportionate to the number of squealing mouths to feed does hold water). THREE MALAY MUSKETEERS Back to the three Bujang Lapoks. It is quite sad that P. Ramlee was not blessed with longevity by the Almighty. Perhaps then we could have delved into his fertile mind whether the saga of the three hapless young men was inspired by the exploits of Les Trois Mousquetaires (The Three Musketeers). I would not put it past the fertile mind of the great P. Ramlee to have such great European literary outlook. Our kids who pass through our portals of education nowadays would have had a veritable source of reference. How better to broaden the mind through this magical source of information and lead our youth to acquire a thirst of knowledge. For the uninitiated, Bujang Lapok plays on the daily grind of three buddies living away from their home kampongs in bachelor digs. The object of their friendly rivalry and jokey jibes at each other center on Ramli’s (played by hero P. Ramlee) ardour-above-one’s-station for Cik Normah; their widowed landlady. The frisson was not one-sided, as Normah similarly harboured some feelings for her ‘star’ tenant. The convenient proximity and connection with the tangled lives of everyone whose focus centers round these main characters provide the background for a series of complicated scrapes that form the loose base for the movie. Nothing cerebral or intellectually demanding requiring a huge dose of film schooling but entertaining nonetheless. Aziz Sattar reveled in his subsidiary role – such is the gravitas of P. Ramlee – that he (Aziz) became a firm favourite and leading light in Malay filmdom from then on. No doubt, not even he would begrudge or dispute the fact that riding P. Ramlee’s coat tails was indeed a privilege, not a burden. The Bujang Lapok movie yielded memorable music that are easily hummed to this day by young and old alike. The most easily remembered remains ‘Menceceh’, ‘Tunggu Sekejap’, ‘Nak Dara Rindu’ and `Resam Dunia’. It was said that the P in P. Ramlee’s name referred to his prodigious talents as a Pelakon (actor), Pengarah (director) and Penyanyi (singer) – some cheekily added Playboy. Aziz too had a measure of singing talent and became part of the pop group Pancasitara helmed by Ramlee. Alas both his contemporaries passed on ahead of him; P. Ramlee in his 30s ala James Deans if only to lend some weight to the truism in filmdom the good die young. Aziz Sattar was blessed with longevity. If life were a game of cricket, he had a good innings. Not quite a century, but as good as. Innalillahi wainnallillahirojioon.