Malik Taufiq Is Cool!

Get to know rising star Malik Taufiq, who’s big on toy figurines.

Malik Taufiq, the theatrical actor who played the lead role in Ismail, The Last Days, is very fond of saying “Cool”.

Here’s an idea of how frequently Malik uses the word.

Malik indulging in fried kway teow, his favourite lunch item.

“Would you mind if we shift next door for our meeting?”

“Okay? Cool!”

“Oh, they have fried kway teow here. Cool! That’s my favourite.”

“Thank you very much for the interview. We’ll meet again? Cool!”

So, did Malik turn out to be a cool guy? For one, he would point out that he had been voted Most Suave by a women’s magazine last year.

Secondly, the 30-year-old bachelor would reveal that he has a cool collection of toy figurines to show off.

“I love figurines and I have a collection which ranges from the Star Wars era, He-Man and his castle and the Transformers. It was my elder brother, Reza, who started me on this when I was six,” revealed Malik who is the second of three boys.

Malik runs to his car and produces a model of the Millennium Falcon, a spaceship from the Star Wars film. This possession, he admits, is one of his most prized, namely because it glows in the dark and houses figurines of Star Wars characters from Han Solo to Yoda.

“I don’t know if I am sitting on a fortune but I once offered up five of my Ewok figures (those cute fuzzy creatures in Return of The Jedi) on eBay and someone offered me US$500 for them,” Malik pointed out.

And having landed the plum role of Tun Dr Ismail you’d expect Malik to be very passionate about politics. Instead of talking about what’s making the headlines in the daily papers, he goes into detail of what he thinks of the leadership styles of Darth Vader, Queen Amidala, Han Solo and Yoda.

Here’s an account of what he thinks of each of these well-known characters.

Prized possession: Malik and his Millenium Falcon which opens up to reveal a crew of Star Wars characters.

“Darth Vader is a good example of a tyrannical leader. He thinks nothing of blowing up an entire planet to quell insurgency. It may be effective in the military sense but genocide is certainly not the answer to life’s problems,” he offered.

“On the contrary, we have Queen Amidala. While I felt that she was a good politician, she is not a very effective leader because she is too passive. In real life, you need to take a more aggressive stand especially when there is an emergency,” said Malik.

So, who among his much loved Star Wars characters would make a good leader?

Malik would have to toss the coin between Han Solo and Yoda. After much deliberation, Malik settles on Yoda as his leader of choice because, he is wise, fair and if push came to shove, he would show the enemies a thing or two as well as show who’s boss.

And what of Malik himself? Did he think he would fit the bill as a good leader?

“I’m still working on it,” he jokes.

But toys aside, Malik also reveals that he has taken to running in marathons. He was a participant in the Traiblazer, a 15km race which took place in Genting Highlands last year.

“It was a trail which took us into the jungles and I got to see the beauty of the flora and fauna. There was one point in the route which brought us to a hill that was filled with orchids. It was cool,” recalled Malik.

And as for collecting specimens as a token of remembrance, Malik was quick to insist that such acts would be tantamount to desecrating nature.

“I am the type who is against collecting sea shells or plucking flowers in jungles. I believe that they should be left in their place for the next person to enjoy. The most I would go to is to take a picture of it,” said Malik.

Otherwise, Malik who comes from a single-parent family is fond of spending time with mum, Maria Samad, 55, whom he still lives with at their apartment in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur.

“We love going to plays together and in fact, it was mum who took me to my first play, A Man For All Seasons, when I was 16. Other than that, we also play Boggle,” says Malik.

And mum’s cooking is something this bachelor always looks forward to. Roast beef and lamb, steaks, spaghetti, kailan with salted fish and oyster sauce and kicap beef are some of his mum’s culinary gems. And when mum really wants to reward her son, it’s her sambal tumis prawns which will take pride of place at the dinner table.

And it would also be interesting to know that Malik can also hold his own at the dance floor thanks to his grandmother who is living in Johor (Puan Sri Salmah Idrose, wife of the late Tan Sri Abu Bakar Samad), who had taught him how to do the foxtrot and box step. Now, that’s really cool.

Send fan mail to maliktaufiq@gmail.com.