MALAYSIAN pop king Datuk Jamal Abdillah's eldest progeny, Osama Yamani, is happy his father is having the time of his life surrounded by his children.
Osama, also a talented singer, said his famous father, now 65, is blessed to have several young children that continue to be a source of happiness for the iconic vocalist.
"I live with baba and when I look at his life now with my younger siblings, I can indeed see the happiness.
"Baba is very contented and joyful even though there are times when he gets tired too," he said in a recent Harian Metro report.
"It's fun to see baba's life now, quite different. He used to be very fierce, but now he seems a little mellow and relaxed.
"It's just that baba is strict and prioritises discipline. In fact, I'm the only child who was ever caned by him.
"The other siblings never got the rotan. I was quite naughty when I was a child," the 23-year-old artiste, who is also a guitarist with pop rock band Cherry On Top, said.
Asked about growing up with his father before the other siblings came along, Osama revealed that he had once stayed with Jamal in the community-based drug treatment centre, Pengasih.
"I know the story of Baba's past (his struggles with drug addiction) and that was his life's journey. "Regardless, I am grateful for what God has given me, maybe because my late grandfather used to be an imam."
Osama said his grandfather had been a very religious person, making it hard for him to go astray as he already had a solid foundation as a Muslim, which helped him mature quickly.
"I had already known about baba's life story in 2009 through the stories on the Internet.
I stayed with baba in a room for two months when he was at Pengasih. I was eight years old at the time," he said, adding that he was well taken care of at the centre.
Aside from Osama, Jamal has five other children — Zaki Yamani, 18, Nur Azura Yamani, 5, El Isaac Yamani, 4, Iskandar Rayyan Yamani, 2, and Rahil Laura Salsabila Yamani, who is now over a year old.