She may look like your typical girl next door, but make no mistake. Thanks to her accidental meeting with Projek Rabak 5 years ago, Shahirah or her stage name, ladsheer, is slowly making a name around the local arts scene with her writings and poetry.
“I first met two of Projek Rabak’s co-founders, Riduan A Dullah and Seyn Jukey while working as a tuition teacher. They showed me a different world of artistic expression where there are no boundaries and I can experiment in almost any form of arts I wanted to!” said Shahirah, 24.
Currently taking her Master of Economics in UiTM Shah Alam, Shahirah also runs an instashop (Online Shop on Instagram) called Gunting Batu Kain where she sells English-cotton textiles.
“I don’t have any kind of ritual before I start writing since I’ll just write wherever and whenever I can. I write when I feel impossible for me to express myself verbally. I have to put my thoughts and feelings on paper, stare at them, have a kind of love-hate relationship with them and then choose the best words and sentences to convey my thoughts. There is something powerful when you put words on paper. Impossible doesn’t exist on paper and my world expands,” added Shahirah.
When asked about her inspiration, this Ipohite admits to being inspired by the people here who appear to challenge her to be a better person to write better and perform better pieces.
“One of my favourite poems is called ‘I Just Suka Nasib Sendiri’ (I love my luck). It is where I express how I can fall in love through simple movements and gestures,” she explained.
While currently residing in Kuala Lumpur, Shahirah loves the local art scene here. According to her, Ipoh may look old and vintage, but it holds thousands of young and passionate souls.
“Some people might call Ipoh a city of love, city of slackers, city of hipster cafes but for the local art scene, Ipoh is the lab. It is the place where you can experiment and make mistakes,” said Shahirah who has had a few pieces of her writing published in Tuturloka and Senorita zine.
Together with 10 other writers, this young lady published a novel called Novel Eksperimental. Shahirah will occasionally perform in events held by Projek Rabak, so readers who are interested to watch her show can check Projek Rabak Instagram at www.instagram.com/projekrabak.
Ili Aqilah
