The original proposal for 'Rhymba' had a much smaller scale, but it evolved quickly, with close to 30 performers on stage at one point of time (Photo: Joshua Chay)
Pan Productions was in its 13th year when founders Peter Ong, Alizakri Alias and Nell Ng came together to candidly discuss the future of their beloved production house. Each member was evolving in other areas beyond the stage and were frankly fatigued from putting on the same old book musicals.
“We said the only thing that will excite us to continue is if we come up with something original, something we’ve never done,” Alizakri shares. “We’ve staged world-class shows so we know how scary and difficult it is to do it at that level. Our aspirations and fear factor were equal, but we decided to take the plunge.”
The trio met up again to bounce ideas off each other and Alizakri proposed a show that highlights biodiversity and the environment — topics close to their hearts. “I said we should use theatre and art as a platform for conservation. Let’s use our unique Malaysian flora and fauna as our vehicles and voices for this discourse to happen.
“We see this disjunction between generations where the young and old are angry with each other. It’s the young demanding change now and the old not letting go. So, where do you find a middle ground? That was the genesis of our story.”
Rhymba The Musical ushers audiences into a mystical forest, home to the animal kingdom, but the peace is broken when its denizens face the perils of poaching and degradation of their land. “Our young hero, Tama the orangutan, and his friends are challenged by caretaker Hattan, the Malayan Tiger, who says he should get rid of the traps if he wants to prove himself. Along the journey, they uncover an insidious, dark plot, which I cannot give away, of course,” Alizakri winks. He plays the role of Tok Po, also an orangutan. “The eldest of the elders lah!”
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“We wanted to have a space where people can understand the degradation and damage from an animal’s perspective,” he adds. But first and foremost, the cast and crew needed to know it well themselves to effectively convey the message. To enrich the team’s practice, Ong organised a trip to Janda Baik, Pahang, for them to “get a feel for our natural wealth”.
“That’s how amazing Kuala Lumpur is as a capital city. Just a short drive away and you’re in a montane forest with siamang, hornbills, tapir and tigers. It was a big eye-opener for a lot of them. It’s very satisfying to put artistic, creative people back in touch with nature because they are also communicators,” says Ong, the show’s producer.
“When you walk into a forest, there’s actually a music, tonality and beat to it,” adds Alizakri. “Every sound is a response to something. It’s alive, organic, connected and comes together as a whole like an orchestra. There’s a heartbeat to it. The real challenge is how can we recreate that for our audience.”
Luckily, Pan Productions has plenty of supporters keen to lend a hand. “We want to have a total sensory experience, whereby the moment you walk in, you feel like you’ve stepped inside a sacred forest. We are actually working with Eartheories, a local brand, to craft the smell of the jungle, and Bryan Tan, who has a proprietary Malaysian technology, to create the surround sound,” Alizakri says.
Ong, who is also a renowned wildlife photographer, is glad that the ecological problems he witnessed on the ground are being addressed in the musical. “People don’t know how devastating the illegal wildlife trade is. The superiority complex we humans have, that we are the apex species, drives this insatiable need to possess. We measure our self-worth and social status by how much we own and sadly, even wildlife are not spared.”
Alizakri chimes in: “A lot of people say by the time global warming happens, they’d be dead by then, so it’s not their problem. I would like to beg to differ because look at the floods we’re having. For those who think it’s not going to happen in their lifetime, think again. It’s already happening.”
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But not all hope is lost. “Change is always possible,” says Ong. “I think one of humanity’s greatest assets is optimism. No matter how dark things are, we have this innate thing of being able to identify hope and optimism.”
Small actions can lead to massive effects if performed collectively. The duo advises people to moderate their overall consumption by cutting down on plastic use, not wasting food, switching off their power points and buying second-hand.
Alizakri vividly remembers seeing raft after raft of logs being brought down by river when he accompanied his father, who was involved in Felda, to observe a development in Lahad Datu, Sabah. Upon reaching the area, the acute scene of the clearing left the young lad traumatised.
As he grew older and joined the corporate world, it was at Sime Darby that he learnt about corporate social responsibility. The shift happened in Digi, where he decided he could not work purely to make money. “When I became CEO of EPF (Employees Provident Fund), we were the first provident fund, I think, in Asia to actually have sustainability in our investment criteria. It was very nascent. But I thought that was a good opportunity for EPF to stand on the side of good.
“The corporate sector plays a vital role in terms of capital, technology and know-how. You never know if an oil and gas company might be able to come up with innovative solutions for carbon sequestration. Just a spark of creativity can help us pivot from our corporate ways that harm the planet to something that’s going to save all of us.”
Though retired, Alizakri stresses the importance of corporates in creating the most impact, both in supporting the arts and preserving the environment. “It’s not easy to get sponsors for the creative arts, let alone biodiversity in that field. Our corporate sponsors, KLK Bhd, Dialog Group Bhd and MyKasih Foundation have worked with us before and trust our quality. From the government, we have Yayasan Hasanah and MyCreative Ventures. The latter is interesting because their mandate is to enable the creative arts family to be self-supporting and all they wanted to know was how we will become independent and grow from this.”
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Initially, there were several phases planned for Rhymba. The original proposal had a much smaller scale, but it evolved quickly, with close to 30 performers on stage at one point of time. “Our ambitions are global,” Alizakri continues. “This story has legs. The songs are beautiful. And I hope I don’t come across as hubris or syok sendiri, but I would like to think that Rhymba is going to be able to stand at an international level.” They are planning for the show to eventually tour abroad.
“I really hope that this production can be a platform to tell the Malaysian story. Pan Productions wants to grow up. We want to do a show where even people who go to Broadway and the West End will say ‘wow’.”
Malaysia certainly has no shortage of talent, but most end up overseas as it is difficult to make a living in our creative economy. “Aaron Teoh, one of our previous cast members who did a show with us a few years back and moved to the UK, is starring in the upcoming Wicked movie,” says Ong.
“Malaysians are very stingy when it comes to supporting our own. It’s always, ‘got free ticket?’ Why would you expect free or cheap from each other? We believe as a company to pay what’s absolutely fair and on time.
We won’t say you can do this for honorarium or exposure. I like to say the only thing you get from exposure is pneumonia!”
Some of Ong’s photography will also be on display and he will be taking guests around the exhibition before the show. “There’ll be about 10 images or so and I’ll also be raising awareness about traps.”
He decided to elevate his game in photography after primatologist Dame Jane Goodall’s visit in 2017. “She was asking how the Malaysian primates were doing, but there wasn’t even a comprehensive species list then. Another kick for me was when we lost our last rhino in 2019. Where was the media frenzy when we were down to the last 50? Last 10?” Ong wanted to contribute, but did not know how. After talking to some researchers, they encouraged him to take more photos because there is still a void in content.
That eventually led to the Project Monyet exhibition, where he documented all of Malaysia’s 26 primate species, many of which are endangered. Most of them can also be found in Primus — The Primates of Peninsular Malaysia, a joint book project with The Datai Langkawi released last December. Goodall penned the foreword.
“We are making the show child-friendly, so kids can enjoy the song, dance and colours,” Alizakri wraps up. “But those who think deeper will see the message. Hopefully, they’ll be able to experience it without judgement. Even if 10 people walk out of there and decide there’s something they could do, I think our job is done. Hopefully, they’re very senior, powerful people with lots of money!”
'Rhymba The Musical' will run from Oct 16 to 20 at DPAC, Empire Damansara. Tickets are priced at RM178 and RM208. Purchase here.
This article first appeared on Oct 14, 2024 in The Edge Malaysia.
