Syafinaz Selamat

Datuk Syafinaz binti Selamat; (Jawi: شافيناز بنت سلامت; born 11 January 1973), is a Malaysian singer who sings in Malay, English, Italian, Spanish, and German. She is a soprano soloist; known as a voice teacher, vocal coach and a lecturer in universities and private classes; a leading voice master in adult and children choir groups; and regarded as a connoisseur of voice art who's often invited as a professional jury or critic in local singing competitions and reality programmes.

Early life Syafinaz Selamat is the youngest child out of 11 siblings, and was born in the Pontian District of Johor in Malaysia. Syafinaz began her singing journey as a child singer at the age of 7 in events around her hometown in the Batu Pahat District.

At the age of 9, Syafinaz was recommended to join a talent search produced by Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) by her sister who worked there. Syafinaz soon became a regular singer alongside her duet partner Eliza in RTM radio segments, and RTM national television's children's programme that was aired during festive seasons.

Career Singer

Syafinaz officially started off as a child singer with RTM when she was only 9 years old alongside a duet partner, Eliza. Syafinaz continued her singing journey by going solo at the age of 15 and produced her first album, Syafinaz launched in 1989. She then kickstarted her singing career as a pop singer by releasing Ingin Bersamamu album in 1999, followed by Syyh in 2001. Her career achievements as a pop singer include a Gold Medal in the R&B/Pop/Rock/Contemporary category during the 1999 World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA) in Los Angeles. Additionally, she's been nominated twice in Anugerah Industri Muzik (AIM) for Best Female Vocal for her albums Ingin Bersamamu (1999) and Syyh (2001), a nomination in Anugerah Bintang Popular Berita Harian for Popular Female Singer in the year 1998/99, Sri Angkasa Award and Anugerah ERA 2002. Between 2001 and 2020, Syafinaz collaborated in producing two featured singles respectively with Dennis Lau entitled "Mahkota" (Crown) in 2009, In 2023, Syafinaz once again collaborated with violinist Dennis Lau in producing a song entitled "Glory". "Glory" was composed by Dennis Lau, while Tessh R.S., also known as Tinta, wrote the lyrics. Tinta also wrote the lyrics to Syafinaz's hit song "Ingin Bersamamu". On 29 July 2023, a month after "Glory" was recorded, Tinta passed away. Although Syafinaz and Dennis were devastated by this loss, they worked on "Glory" until it was completed, and released on 15 December 2023. "Glory" features themes of patriotism and community harmony.

Teaching During her final year as a student in the Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Syafinaz was trusted with the responsibility as a lecturer assistant by Siti Chairani Prohoeman. She was then immediately recruited as a lecturer in the UiTM right after her graduation in 1995. Today, Syafinaz does not only lecture in UiTM, but also in The National Arts Academy (ASWARA) as well. In addition, Syafinaz was elected as one of the board of director at ASWARA in 2020. She is also an advisor, vocal master, director, and a conductor for the National Choir of Malaysia, and Genius Seni Koir Group (formerly known as Permata Seni Koir). Under the leadership of Syafinaz and the other teaching staffs of JKKN, the National Choir of Malaysia have won two gold medals for Vocal Group category and Mix Choir category in the 4th Bali International Choir Festival 2015; and additionally, the Genius Seni Koir group also earned a silver medal for the Pop Ensembles category and a gold medal for the Folklore with Accompaniment category in World Choir Games that was held in Gangneung, South Korea in July 2023. Syafinaz was also invited to conduct the Vienna Boys' Choir during the group's tour in Malaysia in 2011.

Moreover, Syafinaz also provides private voice tutoring and known to have tutored several well known local singers including Misha Omar, Khai Bahar, Ernie Zakri, Hael Husaini, and many more.

She was the music advisor for the reality programme Audition II, and a vocal coach in Malaysia national singing competition Bintang RTM 2018. She was also chosen as one of the mentors in the reality show Mentor for the show's 7th season installation, Mentor 7 2018. In Mentor 7, Syafinaz was the only mentor who managed to keep both of her protégés (Lazarul and Ranisha) up to the semi-final until Lazarul was eliminated in the semi-final. Syafinaz also managed to maintain the youngest and only female protégé (Ranisha, 18) from the beginning towards the final of Mentor 7.

Jury/critic

Syafinaz has extensive experience as a jury in numerous local singing competitions and reality shows, including Akademi Fantasia Season 3 (guest) and 4 (guest); Who Will Win, Mentor, One in a Million (OiAM) Season 1, 2 and 3; Pop Krew, The Band, Bintang Kecil RTM, Bintang RTM, AF Megastar 2017, Separuh Akhir Muzik-Muzik (SFMM36), Gegar Vaganza Season 6 (guest), 7 (guest), 8 (fixed), 9 (fixed) and 10 (fixed). Syafinaz was also the Captain of a team of 50 celebrity jurors for Astro's second season of All Together Now Malaysia 2022. Her partnership with her co-jury, Paul Moss in OiAM landed them a nomination for Best On-Screen Chemistry Award in Shout! Awards in 2009. What makes Syafinaz one of Malaysia's celebrated jury and critics in local singing competitions are her motivating encouragements, constructive remarks and pointers from the academic point of views. Syafinaz also made a performance alongside Rosnan Rahman, Zainal Abidin and Jaclyn Victor during Barack Obama's official visitation to Malaysia during his US presidency in 2014.

Social media Though admitting to the importance of social media accounts as one of the means to keep entertainers relevant in the industry, she also firmly stated that she never had any social media accounts due to her daily hectic schedules and routines. However, due to her commitment for Mentor 7 in 2018, she announced her decision in creating an Instagram account with the initial intention of promoting her protégés; Lazarul and Ranisha.

Artworks Along with performing, teaching, and judging singing competitions, Syafinaz is one of the advocates for the nation's art industry. She stated:

Awards and honours Entertainment Year Award CategoryRecipient/work Result 1999 World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA) R&B/Pop/Rock/Contemporary "Ingin Bersamamu" 2018/2019 BARC Asia Most Admired Leaders Asia – 2021/2022 Women of Excellence (WOE) Awards Excellent Achievement in The Music Industry –

State honorific To honour her contributions in education, entertainment, art and performances for four long decades, Syafinaz was awarded a Knight Commander (P.M.W.) medal of honour by Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King), Sultan Muhammad V during the Federal Territory Day in 2018. This honour gives Syafinaz an official Datukship title; Datuk Syafinaz Selamat. 2021: "Persis Salju"

Featured singles 2009: "Mahkota" by Dennis Lau 2010: "Terpesona" by Frank Scott Hew 2023: "Glory" by Dennis Lau 2015: Opera Puteri Saadong

Film 2014: Kami Histeria (voice effects for Cik Lang, portrayed by Fazura) 2023: Bas Terakhir Malam Raya (featured as Mak Inaz)

Drama series 2023: One Million Dollar Voice (featured as a competition judge)