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20 April 2006
Grand Ambitions
8 Days
By Celine Tan
Anugerah winner Khairul Anuar, 21, has dreams bigger than his uncle's Mitsubishi Grandis which he drives - he wants to be the next Siti Nurhaliza. Er, yes.
8 Days: Your uncle let's you drive his car whenever he's away - he must trust you lot!
Khairul Anuar: Yes, we're very close. In fact, he sponsored my driving lessons before I got my liscence two years ago. He goes away on business trips two or three times a month and I get to frive his car - I wish it was more often! I also drive the family around on weekends. This includes all my cousins and three siblings. We can fit 10 people into the car, which exceeds its capacity of eight. Okay lah, the extra two passengers are two small children. The family is expanding – my auntie says we have to get a lorry soon.
So you're the family's designated driver?
Yes! And I have to drive my auntie to the supermarket and wait as her chauffeur - ha ha! Some weekends, we'll all go to East Coast to chill out and I'll drive everyone. My parents don't drive.
You still perform with the Anugerah finalists at concerts and other events. When you drive them around, does the car turn into a karaoke lounge?
Yes! We'll turn the music up to the maximum volume and just shout and shout in the car. Sometimes, we'll just sing along with any song on the radio. The sound system in this car is good!
Sounds eardrum-bursting. Ever driven to school?
I just graduated from Singapore Polytechnic (with a diploma in media studies) two weeks ago, but yes, I drove to school once in my uncle's old car, a Toyota Estima. That was even bigger than this. I drove almost my whole class from school to the bus stop - there were about 14 people! They were just as excited that I had a car - it was fun lah.
Are you a good driver?
Once, I scratched the old car in a carpark because (the Toyota Estima) was so big. My uncle was like, "Never mind lah." But I'm a very careful driver. I'm quite calm on the road. I am very conscious of safety when I drive - plus this is not my car! But sometimes people will wonder where the driver is because I'm so small and the car is big. (He is 1.7m.)
What's your dream car?
A Mazda RX-8. It's one of those sports car whose (rear) doors open the other way. I's very sleek.
Sounds like you have a need for speed.
No lah. I don't speed and all - it's just a nice car for young drivers.
Who would you want to be stuck in traffic with?
Siti Nurhaliza, my idol. We'd talk about how I could become like her! Despite all the hateful words and critisms she's encountered, she is a success. I want to learn from her.
What's up next for this Anugerah champ?
I'm enlisting into the army very soon. But I'll still be on TV doing shows. The four Anugerah finalists will be performing at a Mother's Day concert at Port Dickson in Malaysia. I hear it's already sold out. I'm also working on an album, but I'm not rushing it. It will probably be out in the next few months. The record company wants all the Malay songs, but I want to include two or three English songs. I actually listen more to English songs by artistes like Usher, Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, and Alicia Keys.
Catch Khairul on May Day Concert on May 1 (Mon), Ch 8, 1.30pm.
More scans: Khairul1
