Say What!!!!

BY now, anyone who watches Astro is familiar with the macam-macam ada pakcik. He’s become the face of Astro after appearing in a series of TV commercials that are part of the satellite TV station’s promotional campaign.
“Macam-macam ada … ,” (“there’s a variety of things”) he says in a Northern dialect… but who IS he and what is his name?
Well, before Abbas Puteh, 75, became the macam-macam ada pakcik, he was affectionately known as Pakcik Abbas in his Kampung Baru, Kuala Lumpur neighbourhood.
Funny and charming, there is something about Pakcik Abbas which makes us think of our grandfather.
ABBAS: Still funny and charming at 75

After all, the man has 20 grandchildren (he has seven children — Roziah, Shariful Yazan, Azaham, Fauziah, Faridah, Azlan, Mohd Suhaimi)… no wonder he has won us over.
In an interview recently, Pakcik Abbas said he had never acted before. The opportunity came early last year when he was spotted by a local talent agency.
Pakcik Abbas, who runs a little food stall — specialising in a local favourite, bubur lambuk, among others — adjacent to his house at Jalan Raja Uda, said he was relaxing outside his house one evening when he saw a car driving around a few times in front of his gerai.
His son Azaham, who was at the stall that evening, remembered: “The car pulled over and a guy named Shane spoke to me. He asked me if my father would like to be in TV commercials and that he had been driving around the city for many days looking for the perfect elderly gentleman in ketayap (skull cap).”
Azaham later asked his father if he was interested. It didn’t take a lot of persuasion, as Pakcik Abbas wanted to “give it a try”.
The day we met, Pakcik Abbas, who had a fever, didn’t look as spunky as he was on TV. There were times when he just looked down at the table and paused for a good 10 seconds before giving an answer to a question, an indication that his medicine was kicking in and that he should be in bed.
“It has been so hot lately and my body just couldn’t cope. I have been sick for five days now,” said the soft-spoken Pakcik.
When I arrived for the interview at 10.30am, he was having a nap at his stall. Not wanting to wake him up, I decided to have a plate of nasi lemak with sambal kerang (cockles in chilli) there while waiting (believe me, this is what home-cooked nasi lemak is all about!).
Before you blame me for interrupting an old man’s much-needed rest, let be it be known that it was his daughter Faridah who woke him up after receiving a call from Azaham (to remind the pakcik about the appointment.
Faridah, her husband Ali and three children now live with Pakcik Abbas and help run the stall after his wife Rahmah Laham was confined to a wheelchair.
Just before the interview, Rahmah wheeled herself out of the house and was carried by her son-in-law to the kitchen in the stall. There, she helped prepare pucuk ubi which was part of the lunch spread for customers.
Pakcik Abbas woke up from his nap and put on another shirt (with floral motif) for this interview — no, I didn’t tell him to change — and later said that the first of several series of commercials was recorded in April last year.
It told the story about a man and his wife from a kampung. They visit their children in the city. There, the man discovers the joy of watching Astro. On the day the old couple leave to go back home, he gazes longingly from inside a taxi at the Astro dish perched on the roof of the house.
“The filming took three days. It was shot in several places around the Klang Valley. The house was located in Gombak where my co-star lives (his “wife” in the commercial),” he said, adding: “I was asked to do another one a few weeks’ later.”
One of the other commercials, which are part of the campaign, features Abbas singing the popular local nursery rhyme, Burung Kakak Tua — that ends with the line giginya tinggal dua (“he’s left with two teeth”) — where he flashes his toothless grin at the viewers.
Another ad was aired in conjunction with Hari Raya, where Abbas waited for his children to return home. At the end of the clip, he said to the camera: “Ada Ria (a Malay-based channel on Astro), ada Raya …” (“if there’s Ria, there’s Raya”).
Although he was born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Abbas spoke in a North Malaysian dialect, which he pulled off convincingly. The thing is, the skill is not something that he picked up in a day or two.
“I was in the army when I was young and was dispatched to Kepala Batas, Kedah. Then I was assigned to the Istana Anak Bukit in Alor Star as a security officer, thanks to an old friend whom I called Pak Chat,” said the pensioner of 20 years, adding: “I was in Kedah for 13 years.”
So does he watch Astro?
“I only watch the news. I don’t have a favourite channel. Sometimes I catch P. Ramlee movies and Akademi Fantasia on Astro Ria (Channel 8). Aznil Nawawi, the show’s presenter, is a customer and has asked me to come to the show too.”
Since his appearance in the commercials, Abbas said he is recognised by a lot of people who come to the stall.
“People occasionally walk past my stall — not just children, but adults too — and greet me macam macam ada … . So I just raise my hand and acknowledge them. I think it’s interesting that people know me that way. It makes me laugh.
“Sometimes, there are cars driving slowly in front of my gerai makan. When I go out to see who it is, the driver and other people inside the car go: Macam-macam ada … A lot of them stop at the stall after greeting me and then have something to drink or eat.”
Azaham said he wanted to thank Astro for giving his dad an opportunity to “have fun”. “During the shoot, he was always in good spirits. He co-operated with the crew and took directions like a professional. It was also easy for him to understand what the script wanted because he understands English fairly well too.”
Recently, Abbas starred in a Japanese feature film that was shot in Gopeng, Perak, for six days. “I hope to continue doing this (acting) as long as I have the energy,” he said.
By the way, he is now planning to name his stall Macam-Macam Ada (there was no signboard up to this point). “I will put it up in a week’s time. I’ve ordered it already. But you won’t see my face on it,” he said with a smile.
He also gave me a tip on how to stay healthy: “Avoid cold drinks. Make sure you eat a lot of ulam (fresh greens) such as jering, petai, ulam raja, pegaga and pucuk betik (papaya shoot) … which I normally eat with sambal belacan. They are good for you!”