A total of nearly 500 people attended a concert last week at Dewan Sivik, Petaling Jaya. 160 of them were children aged six to 19 years old. Surprising? Not the very least.
Held at Dewan Sivik, Petaling Jaya, the annual charity concert by StART Society aims to create awareness about StART Society’s existence and what the society does to help the children. As a non-profit organization, the society provides non-academic (art, music, dance, and drama) lessons for free to underprivileged children. This year’s concert was themed, “Change”, centered along with the tagline of “Change begins with me“.
The concert is a follow up of its inaugural annual charity concert that started in 2011, to serve as a platform for StART students to showcase their newfound skills and regain self-confidence as well as a celebration of their achievement throughout the 42-week programme in StART.
Drum whiz Arthur Kam and the children kicked off the night with an amazing drumline performance followed by a showcase of talents by winner of Akademi Fantasia’s first season, Vince Chong. He took our breaths away when he belted our “Aren’t They All Our Chuldren” and “Waiting on the World to Change” to the children.
Liang (StART ambassador and emcee) also performed with the StART choir for “Man in the Mirror” and Malaysian artiste Reshmonu took the stage to crack a few jokes before singing one of his own songs, “Anok-anok”. After which, Asia’s number one beatboxer, Shawn Lee, left the audience in awe with a 10-minute-long beatboxing performance. Skills!
Violinist Genervie Kam, singer Ain Zulkifly, and actress Emily Lim also took the stage alongside the talented children, making “The Change Concert” truly an all-star affair.
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The society currently has five main programmes to help the children develop their talent which includes dance (hip hop, salsa, street dance and traditional dance), drama, music (guitar, piano, percussion, drums, and vocals), visual arts, speech & writings and live skills. In StART, they believe that every child deserves a second chance to prove themselves in non-academic ways.
When asked, Joshua Lee (Programme Director of StART Society) said, “Everyone deserves an opportunity to change to be better and that’s how ‘The Change Concert’ derived. In StART, we provide the children with an avenue to express themselves through our programmes. It is our students’ passion as well as our teachers’ commitment that made this year’s concert a success.”
“We hope as time goes by, they will grow together with their talent and make use of their gifts and talents. Through the children’s performances and other activities that we have organised, we hope to raise more awareness about our programmes and inspire the public to join us in making a change!”, he added.
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For more pictures from The Change Concert, click!
All funds raised from the concert will be used to fund the society’s programmes and will benefit some 260 children from 12 shelter homes across Klang Valley. For more information on StART Society please visit their website or contact Joshua Lee at 03-7954 7423 or via email at joshua.lee@start.org.my.
