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In line with Firdhaus’ upcoming concert in Malaysia on Merdeka Day (31 August 2024) and the day after (1 September 2024), this author decided to look up his songs, which are intriguing enough, especially because most of them are in a language I barely understand and use. As a result, an Instagram reel showing a snippet of his latest creative work 能遇见，就很不错了 appeared on my feed, in the next few days. By the way, the above-mentioned song is now trending at number 3 in music, since its music video release on 30 June 2024 (at least that’s what YouTube tells me). So, I dare say I picked up much more than expected in that foreign language from listening to his songs… over and over again.

Perhaps the “Gulf of Alaska” singer went viral, (garnering more than 170 million views on China’s video-sharing platform Douyin), because of his usually straightforward lyrics, but with thought-provoking music videos. While his songs mainly appeal to those in the Sinosphere, he also has a few songs in English and Malay. It is delightful to also listen to his English hit “Table for Two”, which has the R&B vibe and a powerful music video (You can forgive his slight grammatical error in the lyrics). Notably, his single “Aku Gila Kamu” is a cover of a popular song in the Chinese music arena, “Slowly Fall in Love”. In one song titled “You and Me”, which has a happier beat, he mixes Malay, English and Chinese.

Scrolling through the comments, you can see how many of them saying that his songs are soothing - some dub him Malaysia’s answer to the British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran.

Firdhaus, who is a Johor native, is a product of Chinese-medium schools, right from kindergarten level to secondary level.

Firdhaus’ “Hello Again” Asia Tour is set to be held at the Arena of Stars, Genting Highlands. In just a mere half an hour, tickets to his 31st August 2024 show were all sold out, prompting an additional day of performances.

Note: In Malay names like in Firdhaus’ name, Farmizi is the father’s name and should not be confused with and used in the Western context.