Jackson – weird but in a friendly way, certainly not a freak

KUALA LUMPUR: Show promoter Tan Sri Syed Yusof Tun Syed Nasir, who was instrumental in bringing Michael Jackson here for a two-night concert in 1996, said the King of Pop was “weird but in a friendly way”.

The iconic pop star was never the freak that the foreign media painted him out to be, he said.

“His behaviour was childlike. For instance, he liked to knock on the hotel room doors of his friends and then run away like a kid.

“He was full of love and very generous. During his visit to KL, I got to know him well and realised he was a gentle and talented person. I sympathised with him for the negative media reports.”

Jackson was also a nocturnal creature.

“His mind was hyper active at night,” said Syed Yusof. “That was the time he would write his songs or discuss business. I personally spent many late hours discussing business with him.”

They had planned to build a theme park here, but the project did not take off due to the economic situation then.

When Jackson was staying at Syed Yusof’s Concorde Hotel here during his concert, the singer would ring up his Malaysian friend in the middle of the night, saying he couldn’t sleep.

“I had to call in a doctor to get him to sleep,” Syed Yusof recollected. “He didn’t like to pop pills. So I asked the doctor to give him a jab.

“I first met Michael in Las Vegas (in 1995),” said Syed Yusof. “I stayed in his hotel room. He then took me on a tour of Neverland and his recording studio in New York. He was a good host, not to mention a good-hearted person. He had a lot of love in him, especially for children.”

The last time that he heard from Jackson was through his older brother, Jermaine, who is also a close friend of Syed Yusof’s.

“I met Jermaine two weeks ago and asked about Michael. Jermaine said his brother was fine.”

Syed Yusof has renamed the swanky room that his celebrity friend had stayed in Concorde KL as the “Michael Jackson suite”.

Located on the 18th floor, the room is full of photographs and collectibles of the superstar. Syed Yusof has also put Jackson’s doodles on the wall.

“Aside from music, Michael loved to doodle.

“Michael wanted to be remembered as the greatest entertainer in the world. And I think he achieved that. What’s really disappointing is that I was planning to go to London for his concert on July 8,” said Syed Yusof.

Stephen Yap, who was promotions manager with Sony Music (M) in 1996 when Jackson was here said: “There wasn’t the usual ‘diva’ fanfare surrounding him. Even with his bodyguards present, he was pleasant to us. In fact, we even had tea with him. He wasn’t one of those stars who was just waiting for his social commitments to be over and done with. He really cared about the things around him.”

Cynthia Chen, project director for Jojo Events, said: “The concert was the biggest and most expensive production for a solo artiste I have worked on. He seemed like a nice but shy person. Do you know that the Concorde Hotel was closed for bookings the whole time he was here? And we completely refurnished the presidential suite for him.”

Michael Roche, regional director of Lushington Entertainments, the promoter responsible for bringing Jackson to this region in 1996, said: “I remember at the Merdeka Stadium concerts, there were a few restrictions that we were meant to adhere to. And we told Michael to try and refrain from doing his famous crotch-grabbing routine. He politely assured us he wouldn’t. And as he hit the stage, that’s exactly what he did, sending the audience wild with excitement.

“He had this mischievous streak in him. When he checked in at the Concorde Hotel, he felt it was very cold and said he wanted heaters, even though it was 30-odd degrees outside. We had to scramble and try to sort that out for him, and that was the element of fun about him ... he was always delightful and charming about it all.”

Apparently, Jackson was not one of those stars who liked to stay cooped up in their hotel room. He went out on the town and took in some sights while in Kuala Lumpur, said his Malaysian pals.