PETALING JAYA, April 28 — Actress Samantha Schubert was just five-years-old when she first graced the stage at the old town hall in Jalan Raja, Kuala Lumpur.
Stardom would come down the line, not least being crowned Miss Malaysia/World 1991 and a series of memorable television commercials. During the mid 1970s, however, she took the spotlight as a duckling, a part in a Selangor Philharmonic Christmas production.
Seeing Samantha waddle on stage that night was the only aspect fellow actor Datuk Zahim Albakri could recall about the notable appearance in her infant years.
“She was just adorable. Even then, she was so funny. Somehow, she stole the show,” said Zahim.
“It was very cute.”
A few years prior, a meeting between the Schubert and Albakri families at the former’s bungalow in Fraser’s Hill was where Zahim was introduced to Samantha and her two elder brothers, Peter and Richard.
They adored their sister, Zahim said, indicating the sibling trio remained tight as they moved to public school in the UK. Zahim joined them a few years later, forming a close friendship with the brothers and subsequently getting to know a teenaged Samantha better in London.
“Samantha was very strong. She was beautiful, fiesty and she’d try her hand at anything. She had to be fiesty growing up with two other boys. Sometimes, they had a sibling rivalry relationship.”
But ultimately, the three would stay close until the untimely passing of Peter and Richard in 2004 and 2006 respectively.
Samantha, who passed away on Monday after a battle with pancreatic cancer, flew from England to Australia to look after Richard in his final weeks a decade ago.
She first acted alongside Zahim in 1995 for a production of Lloyd Fernando’s Scorpion Orchid. The play involved difficult scenes that challenged her national identity.
“There’s an emotional truth about her performances, there was honesty in the emotion. In Scorpion Orchid, she played a Malay character, Sally. Obviously, she doesn’t look Malay, but what worked was an emotional conviction.”
They met fleetingly over the years. Speaking outside a wake held among friends and relatives at Nirvana Memorial Centre in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, Zahim laughed while reliving tales of seeing performances with Samantha in Edinburgh and London.
He recalled visiting Samantha and her husband Oliver Knotts at their pub in Surrey, south London. It was a quaint inn with Tudor-like decor. Malaysian nights helped attract customers who consumed satay, among other delights, before the couple gave up the pub two years after taking ownership in early 2013.
Returning to Malaysia in February last year, Schubert began work on #projectwatermelon, a stage production directed by Susan Lankester based on the famed Eve Ensler play.
She grew close to a handful of the cast, retaining their friendship in a tight-knit clan who affectionately called themselves “the watermelon sisters”.
One of the girls, Chelsia Ng, described being starstruck upon meeting Samantha.
“Samantha being Samantha, she had this effect on people. She had a big, bright heart and made you feel comfortable right away,” Ng said.
She added the girls were all there for one another in Samantha’s time of need. “We gave each other support (after Samantha was diagnosed). It’s what girlfriends do.”
A ubiquitous figure of the performing arts scene, between acting and producing, Samantha pursued dancing in the 1990s before an injury prevented her from performing professionally.
She was part of the Kit Kat Klub, a talent agency specialising in dance and entertainment.
Datin Seri Tiara Jacquelina said: “Samantha could give Paula Abdul a run for her money” in a dancing re-enactment of the Grammy award-winning track Straight Up.
They stayed in touch, later becoming neighbours after Samantha married Knotts in 2002 before adopting two children, Jodie and Harry, and giving birth to Thomas, now aged 12, 10 and seven.
“Samantha was such a wonderful person. She was an exemplary mother. The way she was with her kids would just melt your heart.
“For me, she was always a genuine friend and someone you could count on to talk to. It’s a shame we lost one of the brightest stars in the sky. She’d light up a room and I’ll miss her friendship,” said Tiara.
“Samantha was inspiring. Her positivity towards her illness was something you really had to admire.
“She was so sure she would fight the illness and she was strong until the end.”
Advised against long-haul flights by doctors, Samantha remained in Malaysia after being diagnosed in August last year.
By February, she’d made contact with Zahim again, now working with Badan Warisan Malaysia, determined to have a role or be part of the production team for an upcoming show.
The commitment reflected her personality, Zahim said, saying she may have taken up the work to keep herself occupied. After one brainstorming session, however, it became clear how much the illness had taken its toll — Samantha sent him a message to say she was too tired to see the project through.
At the start of April, she began yoga with actress and singer Atilia Haron at her house in Damansara Heights.
For three weeks, Atilia and Samantha conducted hourly exercises focusing on meditation and breathing.
“It was very special, that one hour we spent together.
“She was very positive even up until the last time I saw her,” said Atilia.
They last met two Mondays ago before Samantha was admitted to Prince Court Medical Centre. Atilia was hopeful of catching up with her the following Monday before learning she died later that evening, at about 7.25pm.
“The last time I saw her, she told me she didn’t want to be here anymore. I wondered if it was to go back to England to see her children but I think she was actually saying she couldn’t deal with the pain.”
Samantha was restricted to a small variety of yoga poses, said Atilia, adding her toes always pointed perfectly, on account of her dancing expertise.
Primarily, it was the warm conversations held that left a lasting impression shared by all in the performing arts community.
“Samantha loved to laugh. She had a wicked laugh. The first time I saw her, I thought she was a beautiful dancer ... tall, and she had a perfect smile, so I was afraid to approach her. But her laugh made me very comfortable,” said Atilia.
“She loves to listen, even if she’s always moving around talking to people and often being the centre of attention — when you are talking to her, she makes you feel like she shuts out the world and you have her full attention.
“Whenever we put our palms together in front of our hearts and close our eyes, she would take her time to open her eyes. I could see how much she enjoyed being in the prayer pose. That smile is what I remember, it was inside and out. It was beautiful to see.”
It was the watermelon sisters who became Samantha’s caregivers in recent months, primarily singer-songwriter Melissa Indot.
At the request of Samantha, they gathered for a quiet birthday celebration on Saturday when she turned 47.
She was said to be aware of their presence, although not fully conscious at the time.
Her funeral will be held at 11am today at St John’s Cathedral in Bukit Nanas, Kuala Lumpur, before her cortege leaves for the Cheras Crematorium.
