Fung Chern Hwei and I started discussing the music for the film before we even had a single cast or crew member. In fact, I already had a sense of how the film would sound like before I knew what it would look like. Chern Hwei has always had a good sense of the emotional journey that a film needs, without choosing the obvious, and very early on we already have the music in our heads, down to the instruments that we would use. Film is a lot closer to music than to literature or photography, so having a good sense of the score was important for me to start designing the shots. Throughout filming, I would constantly listen to music references that he provided, and I would share them with the editor, not to use them as temp music, but to listen to them before he started editing.

‘Maryam Pagi ke Malam’, among other things, is about the contrast between what is on the surface and what happens underneath. Between the stillness of what we see, and the turmoil of what we hear—both in the dialogue and in the music—simmering throughout the film. And while the chaotic dialogue was penned by Faisal Tehrani, Chern Hwei’s music truly represents Maryam’s emotional struggle.

Badrul Hisham Ismail, director


Bila pengarah, Badrul Hisham memberitahu saya yang dia mahu mendapatkan khidmat Fung Chern Hwei untuk menulis skor untuk filem Maryam, saya serta-merta bersetuju. Bukan sebab dia sahabat kami (itu juga salah satu faktor) tetapi sudah tentu kerana bakatnya dalam bidang muzik. Seorang pemain biola yang menetap di New York, untuk mendapat sentuhan muziknya untuk filem ini adalah satu bonus. Badrul sudah mempunyai idea yang jelas dalam bunyian yang dia mahukan untuk Maryam, dan pernah bekerja sama dengan Chern Hwei sebelum ini untuk satu filem pendek. Jadi tidak sukar untuk mereka saling memahami dan mencadangkan bunyian yang sesuai untuk filem Maryam. Pertama kali bermesyuarat di Zoom, Badrul menceritakan inspirasi bunyian yang dia mahukan dan Chern Hwei serta merta memahami. Selepas mesyuarat itu, mereka berdiskusi lagi beberapa kali dan Chern Hwei kemudian merekodkan skor itu secara langsung di studio di New York.

Saya tidak mendengarnya skornya kerana tidak menyertai sesi edit dengan Badrul tetapi pertama kali mendengarnya sewaktu sesi pra-tayangan antara produser dan pengarah. Nah, muziknya begitu cocok sekali dengan filem Maryam. Ia tidak melebih dan kena pada tempatnya, memberikan impak pada keresahan Maryam sepanjang filem berlangsung. Saya bukanlah pakar membicarakan soal muzik tetapi muzik Chern Hwei dan visual filem saling menyulam memberikan satu pengalaman sinema yang mengesankan.

Fairul Nizam Ablah, penerbit


When I was approached by my old friend, director Badrul Hisham Ismail to score his debut feature film "Maryam Pagi Ke Malam" ("Maryam From Morning to Night"), he expressed his wish to have jazz as the main sound for the score to convey the inner struggle of Maryam, who lives in a conservative environment while yearning for physical and spiritual freedom, I immediately agreed jump onboard.

To me, "Maryam" is a very important work in the Malaysian film history, due to its subject matter that could easily be deemed taboo in Malaysia, and yet needs to be voiced out for the sake of the country's progress, the same can be said about thousands of other issues that we're facing as nation. I'm grateful and glad that I was given an opportunity to play a tiny part.

I owe my deepest gratitude to Badrul and the film's co-producer Fairul Nizam Ablah for their friendship and trust; to my wife, Christine Kon, for her patience; and last but not least, the wonderful musicians on this score, Lesley Mok, Michael Bates and Hyuna Park, without their sublime performances, my ideas wouldn't have come alive.

Fung Chern Hwei