His name is Aliff Shaharom, better known by his stage name, Airliftz, Malaysian rapper and producer. He caught my attention when his collaboration with a famous brand name came on air. Never have I sought out an advertisement like I did for this. I'll let him tell you his own story.

(Transcript below of advertisement titled We Are Stronger When We Smile | Colgate #SmileStrong. You may view the ad, from which the main image above was sourced, in entirety here: https://youtu.be/UUeDe5rubAM)

"They told me I was a mistake. It's been this way my whole life. The looks. The judgments. The loneliness. I mean I think I was getting used to it. Because no matter what I did, nobody, nobody gave me a chance. Took me a while to stop listening to that negativity. So, I stopped. And focused on me. I found my strength. The power that I thought that I never had. And I realised we're stronger when we smile."

Together with the visuals, his message and courage gripped me. I was humbled and ashamed of the countless times when I must've made thoughtless passing judgments.

Airliftz's rap hit, Smile Strong, powered the thrust of his story-telling. Here's an excerpt:

"Oh, Bismillah
Here's a lil prayer 'fore I step outside
Shine me them diamonds (diamonds)
The time that I've spent sellin' hours (hours)
I pray that it's worth it
Life that I chose, hope it's workin'
Puttin' a smile through every corner, I know they're lurkin'
All eyes on me huh, the hate that they give is demeaning, nah

Power, power, power, power, power
Running through my veins, I'm pullin' up in now
Stronger, stronger, stronger, stronger, stronger
You can't tell me nothing, can't tell me nothing
Power, power, power, power, power
(You can't kill my smile, no, this gon' live forever)
Stronger, stronger, stronger, stronger, stronger
(You can't kill my smile, no, this gon' live forever)
We're stronger when we smile (yeah, we're stronger when we-)"

(Written by Songwriters: Tatsuro Miller, Bin Shaharom Muhammad Alif. For non-commercial use only. Data from Musixmatch)

If the lyrics touched you, as it did me, you may like to listen to the song in full. I provided the link here and this is a still from the video

.https://youtu.be/WFrAiZbLJ_M

And, if like me, you just cannot get enough of his story, you may listen to this podcast where Airliftz appears as a guest. I found him to be a down-to-earth intelligent young man. He's worked hard, been through so much and deserves the love and success he's living now.

https://youtu.be/2fzvWzDZeAw

The Boy Who Smiles Strong (feat. Airliftz) - Mamak Sessions Podcast EP. 119

I hope you find motivation and encouragement in his sharing. If you would like to talk about any aspect of my post today, you know where to find me. Have a great one ahead!

(P/S: What on earth is a 'Mamak Session'? Hahaha - yes, I can hear you. 'Mamak' is an often used slang by Malaysians to refer to Indian-Muslims. They're enterprising people, recognised for running food-stalls that open into the wee hours of the morning. These are popularly known as the Mamak stalls. People go there for supper, all-nighters, watch the World Cup, English Premier League, talk about politics and everything under the sun .. or moon. Hence, Mamak Session. Perhaps I should call my lesson 'Mamak Session' too.)

Postscript added on 8 Oct 2023: Note: Thank you to those who have written to let me know you enjoy reading my column but daren't take a lesson because there are parts you don't really understand. I assure you we'll always speak at a level which suits you so that we can enjoy a casual conversation. Also, we can go through words and sentences that are difficult so that we learn together. Perhaps, they will be easy then and we'll always have something to talk about. No stress!