SHEILA MAJID - A Real Malaysian (1)

I received the interview of SHEILA MAJID - A Real Malaysian in my email, after reading the whole article, I couldn't help to like & love Sheila as my sister. She is wise, she is great ! I just want to share with you, my friends. Take your time to read, & I am sured you will be proud of her.

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ONE of Malaysia 's most beloved singers, Datuk Sheila Majid has been wowing fans with her jazzy and R&B-flavoured brand of contemporary pop since the 1980s. From the release of her debut album Dimensi Baru in 1988 to the best selling Legenda in honour of the late Tan Sri P Ramlee, she has continued to break records through the years.

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She was the first Malaysian artiste to have success in Japan , and performed a sold-out concert at the Royal Theatre in London 's West End in 1996. She was also the first local artiste to perform at the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas.
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She tells The Nut Graph about her childhood, and her thoughts about Malaysia past and present, in this interview in February 2010.

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TNG: When and where were you born?
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Sheila Majid: I was born in Kuala Lumpur , 45 years ago. I'm a born and bred KL city girl. I remember less traffic jams back then, and life being much safer. I could wake up in the morning, go out cycling and meet friends, go to the bookstores and read comics.

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What are some of the childhood memories you hold dear?
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My childhood was a lot of fun. My father worked in the forestry department, with the government. So we lived in a government house behind Bank Negara, near Swettenham Road . There was a lot of space to play for us eight siblings. Thank God we were in the hutan — we found many things to do.

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I was the youngest, so had my fair share of being bullied! But it was a house full of laughter. We didn't have to buy stuff. Nowadays kids want Toys"R"Us, but I remember my mother would come with this huge grocery box, and as soon as the things were taken out, we would tear that box apart. We'd sit on it and slide down the hill. I really miss those days. Somehow I feel my children don't get to do that.
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We were also in an area where there were many JKR (Public Works Department) people, so we played with the neighbourhood kids a lot, most of them Indian Malaysians.
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When I was young and in school, we never looked at other races as different. We felt that we were the same. Perhaps we had different colours, but we grew up with the same values: to do good, to be good to others.

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