"That Okay Song" is way beyond OK

Technorati tags: The Okay Song, That Effing Show, Malaysia Day, Music Video

After posting his Malaysia Day post yesterday morning, Walski got to thinking – it’s great to be positive about moving forward as one nation and all, but exactly who is gonna get us there?

Our politicians? Save a handful who truly have Malaysia at heart, Walski thinks not. And that applies across the board and across the various political divides – whatever the heck those might actually be.

Our so-called leaders? Again, Walski has his doubts. Okay, so they’re are in a position of leadership and all, but real leadership is not bending over backwards to please any Tom, Dick and Ibrahim, based on their every little parochial threat, disingenuous and faulty logic,  and most of all, their petty wishes. That could be a lot of other things, but it certainly ain’t leadership. Simply being in a position of leadership doesn’t mean that you automatically have the qualities to lead.

So, who’s gonna take Malaysia to greatness, and beyond?
(yes, the kids are alright, and more, in the full post)

Before Walski answers that question, though, watch this video first – the rest of the post makes reference to it.

That Okay Song

No, it's not the cast, crew and friends of That Effing Show. Not even Patrick Teoh. Rather, it's who they represent – ordinary young (and not so young) Malaysians who truly care about this country.

That’s who’s gonna take us to greatness. And beyond.

Consider this – the video you (hopefully) saw wasn’t just something slapped together, slip-shod style, done just for the sake of doing something for Hari Malaysia. To Walski, it was nothing short of a true labor of love. And, he would dare guess, true love for this tiny piece of planet Earth we know as Malaysia.

To Walski, the music video above is something that was very well thought out, crafted, and executed with passion and, most importantly, with perfection and excellence in mind. And executed by a group of very talented individuals.

These qualities are, in fact, the very things lacking in how our country seems to have been run for the longest time.

The video could have very easily been rushed out without a care for quality. After all, That Effing Show has a faithful niche following, which Walski would guess is pretty forgiving. Instead, it was a quality video, produced much better than it needed to have been.

He doesn’t know exactly how many manhours went into shooting and producing That Okay Song, but considering the tight editing and just about perfect lip-sync (plus the at least 37 takes of Patrick’s voice over), Walski thinks it was a heckuva lot of hours put in.

Knowing a thing or three about music and video production, Walski is aware of the tweaking and re-takes that must have had to be done to get the video right. And probably some changes along the way, too, when it was realized that the original plan didn’t quite cut it. In other words, the Effing kids probably didn’t strictly, obediently, and blindly stick to all the original plans just because it had been planned that way. Sometimes plans have to be tweaked along the way in order that the intended result is achieved. This, by the way, is true in real life, just as it is the case of video and music production.

Walski hopes that the underlying points he’s highlighted haven’t been lost in the verbiage. What he’s really trying to say is this – the talent and effort put in to produce the quality end product you saw above can be related to many other things. Including nation-building and running a country.

Think about it for a spell… you just might then realize why Walski feels that our nation’s future lies in our talented and capable youth (and not so youthful). Yes, we may be unconventional sometimes, but we do know what we are doing, and we are more than aware of what needs doing.

Finally, a big thank you to Azmyl Yunor, Ezra Zaid, Faiq Syazwan Kuhiri, Grey Yeoh, Hardesh Singh, Mark Teh, and Umapagan Ampikaipakan for producing such an awesome piece of work.

And thank you, too, for making Walski realize what it will take to get going and move Malaysia forward. Granted, what he’s written above is somewhat layered with euphemism. But Walski wants you to get your creative juices flowing, too.

Enough with the spoonfeeding – think about what Walski’s written above, and then tell him your version of what you think really lies beneath what’s been written.

In the meantime, hope that you’ve enjoyed the excellent music video by them Effing boys and girls… and once again, Selamat Hari Malaysia.