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]

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!)

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!

Right here, right now!
By Zan Azlee

JAN 6 — The Internet is so damn instant. If an incident, say a huge plane crash, happens at 9 in the morning, the news can be published at 9.05am. No wonder conventional news media such as television and (especially!) newspapers are struggling to keep up with the pace.

News on television is at a set time and any news will have to wait. Newspapers are worse because they can only publish yesterday’s news. So yes, the Internet is damn instant. However, recently, a young journalist by the name of Tim Pool took this “instant” feature one step further.

You must have heard of the Occupy Wall Street movement that has been sweeping across the United States, and spawning similar movements all around the world too.

Pool utilised a mobile phone with an Internet connection and extra batteries to actually stream video “live” of protesters in Zuccotti Park in New York City. Through his video (Timcast.TV), over 250,000 people witnessed thousands of protesters being raided, evicted and arrested that November night.

Now, you may say that this isn’t really groundbreaking media since conventional television broadcasts “live” too. [Click to read the rest of the article at The Malaysian Insider]

This week is part 4 of my multimedia documentary, Guide To Afghanistan: The Adventures of a KL-ite, which includes video, still photos an text. As you would know, this is concurrent with the 10-part feature on The Malaysian Insider website, of which you can view part 4 here:

The Last Jew in Afghanistan
By Zan Azlee

JAN 2 – I had heard rumours that there was a Jew, apparently the last Jew in Afghanistan, living in Kabul when I was planning my trip there. I knew that I had to make sure I meet this person. Pursuing the story about the last Jew wasn’t meant to be a scoop since it’s been reported before.

But what I was really interested in was to just meet him and listen to his story first hand and to shake his hand myself. So, when I finally arrived in Kabul, and all the 9/11 anniversary hype had died down, I told my fixer, Ahmad Bilal Raghbat, that I wanted to look for Zebolon Simantov.

We walked around Flower Street where Simantov was reportedly living and started asking the people there if they knew of such a person. After a few false alarms, we finally found a restaurant owner who just pointed to a flight of stairs at the back.

We walked up one floor and marched through a narrow and dusty corridor. We arrived at a pastel-coloured wooden door. I knocked. A slightly overweight, middle-aged Caucasian-looking man opened the door. I asked him if he knew Zebolon Simantov.

“Yes, that’s me,” he said in Pashto, which was translated to me by Bilal.

I was finally meeting face to face with Zebolon Simantov, the last and only Jew living in the entire Afghanistan. I introduced myself as a journalist from Malaysia and said that I would like to interview him on camera. He nodded and invited us in. [Click to read the full article at The Malaysian Insider]

Guide to Afghanistan: The Adventures of a KL-ite
Part 4 of 10
‘The Last Jew in Afghanistan’
Zan haggles over an interview price with the last Jew standing in the whole 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 4).

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!

No more Film Censorship Board. Yay or nay?
By Zan Azlee

DEC 30 — The news that the Home Ministry has decided to do away with the Film Censorship Board has definitely caught me by surprise. Apparently, the ministry has declared that now filmmakers need to practise self-censorship when it comes to their works.

As someone who has been directly affected by decisions made by the board, I’m really not too sure how to react to the news. In the past, I’ve had my films — which to my own eyes were harmless — get ridiculous ratings like 18PL. I even had a film banned two years ago for no apparent reason (by the Prime Minister’s Office, no less!).

So when the government says that the responsibility now lies with filmmakers to make sure that their films do not contain undesirable elements, what do I do? [Click to read the full article at The Malaysian Insider]