Arya News - The 27 year old recalls how as a teenager, whenever he had to go to his producer’s home to record his album, he would ask the producer to pretend to be his tutor in front of his mother.
SINGAPORE – One might assume the biggest challenge for a Malay trying to break into the Mandopop world would be the language barrier.
But for Malaysian singer-songwriter Firdhaus, the true hurdle was closer to home – his parents’ scepticism.
With a father working in property development and a homemaker mother, there were no entertainment nor music industry connections within his family.
At 16, the artiste – whose full name is Muhammad Firdhaus Farmizi – secretly recorded a self-produced, eight-track album in Johor, manufacturing 300 physical copies and selling them during recess.
“My parents were not supportive,” he tells The Straits Times on Aug 14, while he was in town to promote his Sept 12 concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
“They just couldn’t see a future in music and they wanted their child to have the best life. So I had to lie to them a lot because I needed to find the time to record my songs.”
The 27-year-old, who is an only child, recalls that whenever he had to go to his producer’s home to record his album, he would ask his producer to pretend to be his tutor when his mother dropped him off.
“I told him, ‘Okay, you act like a teacher. Go out and say hi to my mum’. He’d go out and say, “Okay, Firdhaus is a good boy, studying very hard’.”
Today, his parents are proud of his success in the regional Mandopop industry. “Seeing my family’s pride in me is the most rewarding part of my career so far,” he says.
Firdhaus first made his name with the breakout single Gulf Of Alaska (2020), from his debut EP, A Letter (2020).
The song went viral on short-video app Douyin in China, eventually drawing 170 million views and making him the first Malay singer to accomplish this feat.
It also peaked at No. 9 on the Recording Industry Association of Malaysia (RIM) Chinese Singles Chart. His debut studio album’s title track, Up & Down (2022), reached No. 6 on the chart.
The following year produced an even bigger hit, Divorce In Ghana (2023), a duet with his former girlfriend, Malaysian singer Diorlying, 27. The song went to No. 1 on the Billboard Taiwan Songs Chart and the RIM Chinese Singles Chart, and No. 4 on Singapore’s RIAS Top Regional Chart.
The couple went through a high-profile split in 2024 after dating for four years but are supportive of each other today. In March, Firdhaus attended Diorlying’s Singapore concert at The Star Theatre and praised her performance on Instagram after the show.
His other hits include Eternal Friendship (2024) and To Have Met You Is Good Enough (2024), both of which topped the RIM Chinese Singles Chart. His last album, 619, was released in 2025.
His upcoming Singapore Indoor Stadium date kicks off his Flat Earth Theory world tour. His previous shows here were at much smaller venues – the Esplanade Theatre in 2024 for his We’re Only Human tour and Sands Theatre in 2025 for his Hello Again tour.
On playing to much bigger crowds, he says: “I used to think that I would feel a lot happier. But nowadays, I treat every performance and every concert as if it is my last. Everything I own in this world is temporary and a gift from God, so I don’t focus on the size. My main goal is just to give the fans the best experience I possibly can.”
For the Singapore gig, he is collaborating with Taiwanese production team Young Hope Entertainment, known for producing shows for Mandopop superstars like A-Mei, Cyndi Wang and Li Ronghao.
He will open the concert with a new trap/hip-hop song, Ali, inspired by the late American boxing icon Muhammad Ali.
Born in Kulai, Johor, Firdhaus attended an independent Chinese kindergarten, primary and secondary school, where Chinese was his second language, even though his parents were not Chinese-educated.
“My dad loves to play golf, and a lot of his golf buddies are Chinese. He saw the benefits of sending his child to a Chinese school.”
Firdhaus started putting his music online in early 2020, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns.
“I entered the Mandopop scene accidentally. I was posting covers and original songs on Instagram.
“At first, Gulf Of Alaska got no traction. But a few months later, people told me it had blown up on Douyin. I didn’t even have an account there. It was a gift from God. Other singers started covering it, it became a huge hit in China, and then it became popular in Malaysia.”
On choosing to continue writing in Chinese after Gulf Of Alaska’s success, he says: “If I had written Malay or English music back then, there would have been no audience.
“The people following me online were primarily Chinese, so naturally, I focused on that audience first.”
Today, he is helping another high-profile Malaysian artiste break new ground.
In June, he released Be Like Water, a Mandarin duet with pop queen Siti Nurhaliza.
“It was nerve-wracking. I went to her house, brought along my guitar, and sang the demo in front of her. She loved it.
“Because she had never released a fully Chinese song, I guided her through the pronunciation. Because I am Malay myself, I understand how our native tongue interacts with Chinese pronunciation.”
He also has plans to expand his reach in Mandarin-speaking regions. “Taiwan is my No. 1 listener on Spotify, and I am heading to Hong Kong for a concert this December. I would love to continue promoting my music in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.”
Book it / Firdhaus Concert Tour 2026
Where: Singapore Indoor Stadium, 2 Stadium Walk
When: Sept 12, 8pm
Admission: From $98 to $258 via Ticketmaster (go to ticketmaster.sg or call 6018-7645)