Profile: Mohd Yusoff Ibrahim

If my children were to ask me what ‘talent’ means, I will probably say, ‘Chobib!‘ And if they were also to ask me what ‘courage’ means, I will also probably answer, ‘Chobib!‘. For years now, I can never hear the words ‘talent’ or ‘courage’ being spoken without forming a mental picture of our friend, Mohd Yusoff Ibrahim (also known as Chobib)

I met up again with Chobib (and his lovely wife, Wok) somewhere in 2003. His chosen career as a musician – pretty unconventional to say the least – intrigued the daylights out of me. And being somewhat of a guitar freak myself, I put on my ‘Inspector Pencen’ hat and started shooting him thousands of question, some of them quite inane, about his life as a guitar hero.

Throughout, Chobib was patient, graceful and very accommodating; no mean feat considering how talented I am at asking really stupid questions. I went home that night in awe, and also pretty frightened by the new world view that our friend had shown me. The few hours he was gracious enough to grant me, turned my small, insulated little world on its clueless little head.

Chobib is a living, breathing example of someone with balls big enough to believe in his dreams and make them come true: no matter how big the obstacles were. He is one of those special people who – when everyone around them says, “It can’t be done!” – just refuses to listen. As a result of his perseverance, hard work and monumental sacrifices, he is now living his dream. If this isn’t success, I don’t know what is. If this isn’t inspiring, then I’m Gary Cooper.

If only I had spent half the time I spent with Chobib much earlier in my life, I have no doubt that I will be ten times a better man than I am today. Most people see Chobib as the most prolific session guitarist in the country, which he is. But he is also much more than that. He is a loving husband, inspiring mentor, dedicated parent, doting grandparent and best of all, an all around nice guy!

If they ever make a movie about him (and they should!), don’t expect the likes of Salleh Kamil to be playing his role. Bad guys and Chobib just cannot exist in the same universe.