Masterclass: Spontaneous Inspiration

Mohd Khair Mohd Yasin (Khair Yasin or Khayas) is a winner of two Compass Awards in 1995 and 1996. An author, composer, songwriter and singer, he was a part of the phenomenal pop-folk group Rausyanfikir comprising singer-songwriter Art Fazil and the late Esham Jamil.  

Khair Yasin has written more than 170 songs including for regional acts like Ramli Sarip, Lovehunters, Ella, Khadijah Ibrahim, Ruhil, Nash and many more. Two of his songs, Dondang and Bumiku Bumimu, were performed at Singapore’s National Day celebration. He represented Singapore in 1998 in the Asian Pacific Broadcasting Music Festival. His song Temasya Desa Gemalai has been performed internationally by the likes of Datuk Seri Siti Nurhaliza, Datuk Ramli Sarip and Hetty Koes Endang. 

In the field of literature, he has to date published 12 books including poetry, words of wisdom and those related to lyrics, poetry and songwriting in Malay. These include CaraGaya Mencipta Seni Kata Dan Lagu Irama Dondang Khayas (2017), the 777, 888 and 999 Ilham Spontan Pujangga series of Kumpulan Mutiara Kata from 2013 to the present, Alam Penulisan Seni Kata & Lagu (2016) and Alam Puisi Bermelodi (2015). He has written two books of Malay poetry, Langkah-Langkah Langka in 2019 and Ilham Spontan Ramadan in 2023. Khair Yasin has conducted close to 100 creative writing workshops for schools and institutions in Singapore since 2010. He has also contributed to regional poetry anthologies and his poems have been published in premier Malaysian literary magazines such as Dewan Sastera.