Dropping the baby
By Zan Azlee

FEB 10 — Have you ever tried dropping a baby on his or her head? I have. Well, I didn’t exactly try. The baby just dropped on her head on my watch, that’s all. Athena’s mother was leaving her for the first time since she was born. She had to go to Singapore over a weekend for work and I was put in charge.

The first night went well. Athena woke up quite early in the morning and I picked her up from her cot and brought her into bed with me. Before I knew it, I had dozed off and woke up just in time to see Athena tumbling head first down from the bed and onto the floor. [Click to read the rest of the article at The Malaysian Insider]

A Taliban ambush
By Zan Azlee

FEB 6 — The next day, we all had to wake up early because our vehicles were supposed to start rolling right at dawn. We were in for another challenging journey and heading deeper into the heartland of Afghanistan. I decided to forego another shower since the temperature in the mountains of Bamiyan were in the single digit in the early mornings.

Before we headed out, we had a security briefing. This is a must since it is when everyone gets information on the journey and also to talk about any emergency plans should there be an attack by the Taliban. After the briefing, we had the mandatory prayers for a safe journey and then we headed out.

This time, the journey was almost twice as difficult. The mountain area we had to go through was higher and rougher. Security was another concern since we were moving further away from central Bamiyan and heading nearer to the border with Daykhundi province, which had a stronger Taliban presence. This time it was serious and I made sure my bulletproof vest was strapped on tighter than ever. [Click to read the full article at The Malaysian Insider]

Guide to Afghanistan: The Adventures of a KL-ite
Part 9 of 10
‘A Taliban ambush’
While embedded with the Malaysian Armed Forces in Afghanistan, Zan and the soldiers encounter a Taliban ambush.

Full Synopsis:
Zan Azlee, a Malaysian KL-ite journalist who has lived all his life in non-conflict zones, travels to Afghanistan to see if he can come up with the best travel guide for the country. With no idea what he is getting himself into, he dodges suicide bombers and IEDs, and even gets embedded with the army, to plan out the best tourist route in Afghanistan. This is a multimedia documentary produced by Fat Bidin Media and directed by solo-journalist Zan Azlee.

To view all the episodes, head to FATBIDIN.COM/AFGHANISTAN.

Click the thumbnails below to launch the photo essay (Part 9).

Sponsorship and advertising opportunities are still available… just give me a buzz if you are interested and we can talk! If you would like to own original FAT BIDIN MEDIA documentary films and books to enhance your coolness factor, visit the FAT BIDIN e-STORE!

I am Zan Azlee first!
By Zan Azlee

FEB 3 — When I meet people for the first time, I always introduce myself as such: “Hello! My name is Zan Azlee.”

But if the ruling government has its way, I would be introducing myself like this: “Salam 1 Malaysia! I’m Malay, Muslim and Malaysian. By the way, I happen to be Zan Azlee.”

And if the opposition has its way, I would be introducing myself thus: “HIDUP RAKYAT! I’m Malaysian, Malay and Muslim. By the way, BEBAS ANWAR!”

As far as I’m concerned, I am Zan Azlee first and everything else comes second. So we can forget about using the 1 Malaysia concept to define ourselves. In fact, we can also forget all those psycho-religiosi who angrily and fiercely say that they are Muslim first before anything else. Of course, what contributes to who I am is me being a Malaysian, being a Malay (a very impure one!), and also a Muslim (pure or impure is not for me to say!). [Click to read the rest of the article at The Malaysian Insider]

Lending the Afghans a hand
By Zan Azlee

JAN 30 — We arrived in Yadkawlang in the evening after travelling for several hours. Yadkawlang is a small village in Bamiyan province. The Malaysian troops (MALCON ISAF 2) were due to conduct a blood donation drive and also to fit a water filtering system at the village well. When we arrived at the location, which was a school, another group from MALCON ISAF 2 was already there and had set up tents for the day’s event. They had arrived several days earlier and had been staying at the Yadkawlang base.

A group of villagers had already gathered and the commander was informed that the local mullah, Ali Muhammadi, had also arrived. One of the mullah’s men rushed inside the school block to call him. When the mullah came out, the commander greeted him and they proceeded to brief the crowd that had gathered. The main reason the mullah was involved is to convince the villagers that what the Malaysians came here to do is for the benefit of the village.

The local Afghans are actually very apprehensive about foreigners and I can only guess that it must be due to the decades of oppression they have faced from the foreigners that have invaded their country; from the British to the Russians and now the Americans. So it was important that MALCON ISAF 2 implement the proper strategy if they wanted to penetrate and help the local community. [Click to read the full article at The Malaysian Insider]

Guide to Afghanistan: The Adventures of a KL-ite
Part 8 of 10
‘Lending the Afghans a hand’
Zan is embedded with the Malaysian Armed Forces as they patrol the mountains of Afghanistan.

Full Synopsis:
Zan Azlee, a Malaysian KL-ite journalist who has lived all his life in non-conflict zones, travels to Afghanistan to see if he can come up with the best travel guide for the country. With no idea what he is getting himself into, he dodges suicide bombers and IEDs, and even gets embedded with the army, to plan out the best tourist route in Afghanistan. This is a multimedia documentary produced by Fat Bidin Media and directed by solo-journalist Zan Azlee.

To view all the episodes, head to FATBIDIN.COM/AFGHANISTAN.

Click the thumbnails below to launch the photo essay (Part 8).

Sponsorship and advertising opportunities are still available… just give me a buzz if you are interested and we can talk! If you would like to own original FAT BIDIN MEDIA documentary films and books to enhance your coolness factor, visit the FAT BIDIN e-STORE!

So… you want to make money? I’ll teach you how!

Entrepreneurial Journalism
By Zan Azlee

JAN 27 — In one of my previous columns several weeks ago, I wrote about not wanting a lot of money for my work as a journalist. Many who read it seem to agree with my idealism (fuuyo!), but many also seemed to think that making money isn’t important.

I don’t want people to think that working in journalism or the media means that one will live poor and hungry forever. What I believe is that one must be resourceful and enterprising in whatever one does.

A term that I particularly like is entrepreneurial journalism, which describes what I ideally think journalists should constantly practise. [Click to read the rest of the article at The Malaysian Insider]

Malaysia at war!
By Zan Azlee

JAN 23 — Being a journalist, one of my dreams has always been to be embedded with the military in a conflict zone. I had been to and reported on conflict zones before, but always as an external journalist and never embedded, and when I was given the chance to do so, I jumped at the opportunity.

It wasn’t so much of an opportunity that cropped up rather than one that I had to persistently pursue and create for myself for more than a year. I had been writing multiple e-mails and making phone calls to the Ministry of Defence ever since I learnt that Malaysia had started deploying troops to Afghanistan.

But my attempts were never fruitful and I finally decided I would just head to Afghanistan on my own without being embedded in the military, just like the times I’ve been to Beirut in Lebanon, and Patani in Southern Thailand to produce my wartime documentaries and news reports.

I had been in Kabul for almost a week shooting and filing news stories for the TV station that was commissioning me as a correspondent when I thought I would just send a text message to Lt. Col. Salawati Yahaya, the army’s Media Operations Director, in Kuala Lumpur to say that I was in Afghanistan.

Her reply caught me by surprise. Probably impressed (or shocked!) at my ballsy move to just head to Afghanistan on my own, she managed to get clearance from her bosses to actually allow me to be embedded with MALCON ISAF 2, the Malaysian contingent that was currently serving in Bamiyan. [Click to read the full article at The Malaysian Insider]

Guide to Afghanistan: The Adventures of a KL-ite
Part 7 of 10
‘Malaysia at war!’
Zan arrives at the military base in Bamiyan to be embedded with the Malaysian Armed forces in the war in Afghanistan.

Full Synopsis:
Zan Azlee, a Malaysian KL-ite journalist who has lived all his life in non-conflict zones, travels to Afghanistan to see if he can come up with the best travel guide for the country. With no idea what he is getting himself into, he dodges suicide bombers and IEDs, and even gets embedded with the army, to plan out the best tourist route in Afghanistan. This is a multimedia documentary produced by Fat Bidin Media and directed by solo-journalist Zan Azlee.

To view all the episodes, head to FATBIDIN.COM/AFGHANISTAN.

Click the thumbnails below to launch the photo essay (Part 7).

Sponsorship and advertising opportunities are still available… just give me a buzz if you are interested and we can talk! If you would like to own original FAT BIDIN MEDIA documentary films and books to enhance your coolness factor, visit the FAT BIDIN e-STORE!

The perception of honesty is a lie
By Zan Azlee

JAN 20 — When people watch the news, it is automatically perceived as something real because that’s what news is all about, which is the reporting of actual happenings. When people watch documentaries, it is also automatically perceived as something real because that’s what documentaries are. Sometimes, this perception that people have can actually be manipulated and used against them.

I remember showing a group of undergrad students of mine the popular 1980s film, “This is Spinal Tap”, directed by Rob Reiner. For those who aren’t familiar with the film, “This is Spinal Tap” is a mockumentary about a fictional rock band called Spinal Tap. The film follows the band as they go through their career from uber famous to uber has-beens in true documentary form.

The film is hilarious and absurd since the band members are not that bright and make ignorant and comedic comments and actions all the way. After the film ended, my students and I had a discussion about it. Many of them were shocked to see how stupid these rock stars were. In fact, several students even asked me if I knew what happened to the band and its members since they were just unbelievably stupid.

Now this seemed hilarious to me. All of the students thought the film was a real documentary about a real rock band. [Click to read the full article at The Malaysian Insider]

Skateboarding in Skateistan!
By Zan Azlee

JAN 16 — Merza Muhammadi is one of the best skateboarders in Afghanistan. This 17-year-old is an instructor and mid-level manager at Kabul’s only skatepark, Skateistan, and is looked up to by hundreds of Kabul kids. But Merza hasn’t always been in this positive situation. Only four years before, he was working the streets cleaning cars to help support his family. 

“Skateistan has been a real positive influence in my life,” said the ever-smiling Merza. 

Started in 2007, Skateistan is more than just an ordinary skatepark. It’s an NGO that aims to bring together the many different ethnic youth in Kabul, whether privileged or not, through the sport of skateboarding.

“Skateboarding really fits the Afghan psyche in the sense that it challenges the local kids to overcome personal fear and limitations in whatever situations,” explained founder and executive director, Oliver Percovich. 

Merza had always been interested in skateboarding ever since he saw pictures in a skateboarding magazine, but never had the opportunity to try it out. Not until he met Oliver who was working in Kabul at that time and often skated near an old fountain in a park on the outskirts of the city. That was back in 2007. [Click to read the full article at The Malaysian Insider]

Guide to Afghanistan: The Adventures of a KL-ite
Part 6 of 10
‘Skateboarding in Skateistan!’
Skate or die on the streets of Kabul.

Full Synopsis:
Zan Azlee, a Malaysian KL-ite journalist who has lived all his life in non-conflict zones, travels to Afghanistan to see if he can come up with the best travel guide for the country. With no idea what he is getting himself into, he dodges suicide bombers and IEDs, and even gets embedded with the army, to plan out the best tourist route in Afghanistan. This is a multimedia documentary produced by Fat Bidin Media and directed by solo-journalist Zan Azlee.

To view all the episodes, head to FATBIDIN.COM/AFGHANISTAN.

Click the thumbnails below to launch the photo essay (Part 6).

Sponsorship and advertising opportunities are still available… just give me a buzz if you are interested and we can talk! If you would like to own original FAT BIDIN MEDIA documentary films and books to enhance your coolness factor, visit the FAT BIDIN e-STORE!

I need money… just not a lot of it.
By Zan Azlee

JAN 13 — Recently, someone I know was playing with my daughter Athena. My baby looked like she was having a good time, smiling and coo-ing. Then that someone actually said, “Athena, you’re going to grow up to be a millionaire, aren’t you little girl?”

Oh, can you imagine my horror!

Why are people so obsessed with making money? No matter how hard I try to understand this, my simple mind just really can’t. I definitely understand why we need money and, I need it to. What I don’t understand is how certain people want to make A LOT of it, and make it their life obsession too.

I run my small little media company that does my small little passion projects, and people always ask me if I can “make money” by doing this. I tell them that I’m not interested in making money. All I want to do is be happy doing what I like doing and just make a living out of it.

These people will smile and pretend to understand, but I can see it in their faces. They really look all perplexed and confused. [Click to read the rest of the article at The Malaysian Insider]

Finding Rambo in Afghanistan!
By Zan Azlee

JAN 9 — No matter how much I read and watch the news about Afghanistan, the one thing that always frames my perspective when it comes to the country is its Islamic extremism. And I know that this is how many people around the world perceive it as well. So, during my time in Afghanistan, one of the issues that interested me was the fact that so much of the country’s culture had been suppressed, or even eradicated, by the Taliban during their rule.

And now that the United States has blown the Taliban out of political power, a lot of this culture, which was deemed haram by the Taliban, is making a comeback. I spoke to Ahmad Bilal Raghbat, my local fixer, about this and the first thing that came to his mind was movies.

“I love watching movies but during the Taliban time, cinemas were shut down,” said the big Bollywood fan.

After days of driving and walking around Kabul with Bilal, I noticed that there was actually quite a big cinema in the middle of the city right next President Hamid Karzai’s office. It’s called Ariana and you can hardly miss it due to all the brightly coloured movie posters adorning the walls on the outside. [Click to read the full article at The Malaysian Insider]

Guide to Afghanistan: The Adventures of a KL-ite
Part 5 of 10
‘Finding Rambo in Afghanistan!’
Zan finds Rambo, Nicholas Cage and Dolph Lundgren in the mountains of Afghanistan.

Full Synopsis:
Zan Azlee, a Malaysian KL-ite journalist who has lived all his life in non-conflict zones, travels to Afghanistan to see if he can come up with the best travel guide for the country. With no idea what he is getting himself into, he dodges suicide bombers and IEDs, and even gets embedded with the army, to plan out the best tourist route in Afghanistan. This is a multimedia documentary produced by Fat Bidin Media and directed by solo-journalist Zan Azlee.

To view all the episodes, head to FATBIDIN.COM/AFGHANISTAN.

Click the thumbnails below to launch the photo essay (Part 5).

Sponsorship and advertising opportunities are still available… just give me a buzz if you are interested and we can talk! If you would like to own original FAT BIDIN MEDIA documentary films and books to enhance your coolness factor, visit the FAT BIDIN e-STORE!