Athena Azlee’s first magazine cover shoot and story!! (Mami & Baby, January 2012 – Click on the images to read the article… or don’t be a stinge and just go buy a copy!)

An interview with the awesome ME in August Man magazine (December 2011)!

My biggest achievement this year has been co-producing my little daughter Athena Azlee. Somehow Clive magazine just wanted to talk about my journalism… but I’ll take it anyway!! Woohoo!! Go get the December 2011 issue so you can hang my picture in your bathroom!

I was on BERNAMA TV’s The Breakfast Club a few weeks ago (18th October 2011) to promote my book and DVD ‘OPERATION NASI KERABU: FINDING PATANI IN AN ISLAMIC INSURGENCY‘. Holy crap I’m so sexy! It’s no wonder I have a legion of fans! (Please like my Facebook Page… PLEASE!!!)

Of course… the book can be found at any major bookstore at RM25 (a free DVD of my documentary comes with every purchase). And if you’re interested to purchase it online, head on to the FATBIDIN e-STORE! There are other FAT BIDIN documentaries for sale too!

Happy Hari Raya and Merdeka everyone!

And this week, my column deals with… what else… BERSIH 2.0!

Why did the police do what they did?
By Zan Azlee

JULY 15 — The tough policeman with the huge muscles grabbed me by my shoulders and flung me towards the sidewalk not caring that I had a press tag around my neck. I struggled to keep my balance and not drop my camera. I barely managed to not trip over the curb.

“Halau cameraman itu! (Get rid of that cameraman!)” screamed the policeman’s other colleagues.

My crime? I was shooting a bunch of arrested demonstrators being led out of Tung Shin Hospital and through a police line. The detainees had their hands “cuffed” and looked pretty much subdued. However, as they were led through the line, they were kicked and punched by the police.

I was on assignment for The Malaysian Insider to gather video footage of the Bersih rally in Kuala Lumpur on July 9. But I couldn’t get enough footage of that incident since I ended up behind police lines along with other members of the media, cordoned off from what was happening. [Click to read the full article at The Malaysian Insider]

Click here to see the rest of my coverage of BERSIH 2.0 (includes photos and video).

I forgive those of you who missed me live on BFM 89.9 Evening Edition talking about my book and film ‘Operation Nasi Kerabu: Finding Patani in an Islamic Insurgency‘ yesterday evening. I know you all tried your best. But fret not! The show is available for streaming or download so you can take it with you everywhere! Go listen now!

And just as a reminder to everyone, the book is available at all major bookstores for RM25… and you get a free DVD too! Or you can also purchase it online at the FATBIDIN E-STORE! Proceeds will go to buying my daughter milk and diapers.

It was a proud day to be a Malaysian. And I was on assignment for The Malaysian Insider… shooting a video package of the event (the above video is the result). I was suppose to meet and interview Khairy Jamaluddin (UMNO Youth Chief), but he got arrested as soon as he step foot into Bukit Bintang (but his group numbers were too few and they marched too short a distance to have any relevance on that day! Sorry KJ!). I was also suppose to meet Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan (Chair of BERSIH 2.0), but she was arrested too soon as well (her group, on the other hand, rocked KL!). I was also stuck at the Masjid Jamek and Pudu stretch and could not go anywhere else, so most (all!) of my coverage is from that area.

My former student, Isabelle Lai, is now a journalist for The Star! How proud I am! Muahaha!

Empty streets… before the rise of the Malaysians!

I love my job!

The police were all ready from the night before… and they look set for some arresting!

McDonald’s taking care of their customers!

The crowd was definitely more than 10,000 strong just in Pudu alone.

But they never made it to Stadium Merdeka. Chemical-laced water and tear gas made sure of that. But rest assured… the crowd’s voice has been heard!

Linus and I just got smoke-bombed!

Albert/Malek and I had to finally sit down to recuperate from the tear gas.

Woooo!! Scary men!

I saw some violent arrests being made on non-violent civilians. My buddy, film director Liew Seng Tat, got arrested and he said he was kicked and even hit after he was cuffed. If you watch my video above, you can see him briefly in the background being led away by police… and also more violent arrests on others. He also said he had a great time in prison and enjoyed dropping the soap at every opportunity he had! Hahaha!

People running away from the tear gas.

Dr Sivarasa Rasiah (PKR) and Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham (DAP) tried to negotiate with the police to allow them to march peacefully.

Their negotiations failed and they were arrested!

The line of riot police were there… and they cordoned off the media behind it. How the hell were we suppose to do our jobs? I managed to sneak up and do some shooting up ahead. I saw cuffed detainees who were being led away. And as they were being led away, they had to go through a line of FRU police, and through that line, they were kicked and punched even though they were cuffed. I didn’t get to shoot that long as one policeman grabbed me and chucked me aside (you can see it in my video above… you can even hear the police screaming “halau cameraman!”) and told me to go away or else.

Nevertheless, the crowd was massive and loud. I was proud to play my part in democracy.

Malaysiakini.TV caught me on video running like a little bitch! But in defence of my macho-ness… the police were firing in my direction!

An old Kelab Seni Filem buddy who works at The Star wrote a nice article about me and ‘Operation Nasi Kerabu‘. Allan Koay is not a bad writer at all! But it definitely helps when you have an interesting character to write about huh? Muahahaha!! You can click on the image above or here to read the article.

And a few days ago, The Malay Mail wrote a decent review of my book, which you can read online here.

The book can be found at any major book store at the price of RM25 (and this includes a free DVD of my documentary film ‘THE LIFE & TIMES OF AN ISLAMIC INSURGENCY‘!). You can also buy it online at FATBIDIN.COM/STORE/. So please buy the book people! I need to feed my four month old daughter! She’s been crying for milk for a long time now!