Jauhnya Lambaian Itu (2007)

JAUHNYA LAMBAIAN ITU (2007)

I first wrote this in early 2007, two years after my script BILUT was sucessfully turned into a feature film. While BILUT was a big budget movie, Jauhnya Lambaian Itu was a made-for-television. Nevertheless I personally loved Jauhnya Lambaian Itu much more than Bilut and several of my others, simply because Jauhnya Lambaian Itu was rather personal to me.

Originally Jauhnya Lambaian Itu was titled 4336 Batu Dari Lambaian Itu. The 4,336 miles is the distance between Kuala Lumpur and the Holy City Mekah. It was to represent how far we Muslims in Malaysia, or specifically Kuala Lumpur are from Lambaian Kaabah - the time when Muslims go for pilgrimage to fulfill their religious duty.

Within this premise of obligattory fulfillment, I wanted to tell a more personal story of the fulfillment of love and devotion between two people - a grandmother and her grandson; as well as the few other characters in this story. 

As it turned out, the producer and director had come to a conclusion to simplify the title to Jauhnya Lambaian Itu which I was OK with. To me, most importantly, Jauhnya Lambaian Itu became a reality and could somehow offer something to its viewers. 

Finding this on youtube and watching again Jauhnya Lambaian Itu only made me realise that I must continue writing simple yet meaningful stories such as Jauhnya Lambaian Itu.