Gone not but not forgotten, remembering Adibah Noor
Just yesterday, popular singer and actress Adibah Noor Mohd Nor was still active on twitter. In true Adibah Noor fashion who love cats, had retweeted a tweet that called for help to find a home for a mother cat and her newborn kitten.
This evening, Malaysians were left shocked and in disbelief over the news of her death. She had passed away at 7.45pm at a private hospital in Kuala Lumpur. She was 51.
Local news reports stated that she had suffered from ovarian cancer, but had asked friends in the entertainment industry to keep her illness a secret.
In a recent picture she tweeted, it was visible she had lost a fair amount of weight, which prompted questions from her fans and followers alike if she had been on a fitness journey.
She responded in twitter, saying she had avoided sugary drinks and ate six mouthfuls of every meal.
Little did we know, the weight loss was associated with the big C she had suffered in silence.
Malaysia has indeed lost a colourful, vibrant and versatile celebrity who was able to sing, act, host - she also an English teacher who taught English in schools in Klang Valley.
In the entertainment industry, she is well remembered for singing and writing the lyrics to the hit song “Terlalu Istimewa” in 2005.
But it's not just that. She has bagged countless awards as a singer which includes Best Vocal Performance, Best Ballad Song, Song of the Year, Best Performance, Best Pop Ethnic Song for Joget Tak Senang Hati while being listed in Top 10 Most Requested Karaoke Song by Red Box in 2009.
The special individual does not only excel in singing, but also in acting as she appeared in several movies and a few other local musical theatre productions such as Sepet in 2004, Gubra (2005), Mukhsin (2006), Buli Balik (2006), Talentime (2008), Jin Noti (2009) and she was most active in 2010 when she starred in Magika, Hooperz, Crayon and Aku Tak Bodoh.
Her acting career did not stop there as in 2011, she appeared in Nasi Lemak 2.0 as Kak Nor, Pontianak vs Orang Minyak and Horee Horee, both in 2012, Mencari Rahmat (2018) and Code of Happiness in 2019.
Not only that, she was also featured in a Singapore Indie Film called Fundamentally Happy as Habibah.
Her first debut TV Commercial was the FIFA World Cup campaign for TV3 under the late Yasmin Ahmad.
Adibah Noor was not a foreign figure in the theatre industry as she has always been an active performers since 1994 with a musical called Reunion The Musical by Five Arts Centre, Oh Brickfields by Five Arts Centre (1996), Chang & Eng The Musical (Action Theatre Singapore 2001), Teater Muzikal Tun Perak (Istana Budaya 2001), Cuci The Musical (Tall Order Productions 2009), The Secret Life of Nora (Enfiniti Productions 2010) and Chow Kit Road The Musical (Masakini Theatre Company 2013).
Tributes have poured in across social media by followers, fans and fellow friends in showbiz.
“Goodbye my friend. See you on the other side,” wrote actor Tony Eusoff.
Harith Iskander tweeted a photo of him with Adibah and wrote: “Fact. @adibahnoor was the BEST and TRUEST vocalist EVER. She had the hugest heart and love for cats and those who were less fortunate I don’t know what to say... minta maaf (sorry) Kak Dib. I should have know you were not well.”
“Gone from our sight, but never form our hearts,” wrote actress Dynas Mokhtar.
