My wife’s sister called up to ask if we would be interested in a Chinese music concert. Knowing that the 2 tickets costed her Rm200 and they could not make it, we decided to go, especially for me, music is therapeutic.
Not knowing what to expect, apart from it being organized by a Rotary Club, we collected the tickets from her on our way to Syuen Hotel, Ipoh. As we walked from the car, I tried to gather info from what was printed on the ticket. Managed to read “An enchanting evening with YUDI and Wei Han”.
At the Hotel entrance, we noticed a few familiar faces like ex-MP Dr. Yap Yit Thong. At the entrance to the ballroom, we were given programme leaflets and ushered to the seats. The backdrop showed that it was organized by The Rotary Club of Ipoh (the one that sponsored our daughter to Japan as an exchange student) and the Guest of Honour was MCA Secretary-General, Y. Bhg. Dato Ong Ka Chuan.
Looking at the instruments displayed on the stage: flute, violin, cello, double bass, drum kit, piano and keyboard, and reading the credentials of Yudi and Wei Han as well as the song list, I knew I would enjoy the evening.
But before we could enjoy the nostalgic songs, we had to endure the typical long speeches from the Rotarians. To further test our patience, which when I looked around was pretty obvious, our guest of honour tried to be a stand-up comic with his jokes, which like those posted in this blog, were likely to be stale to some people. The fact that he pledged Rm5,000 only confirmed our earlier assumption that the event had been sidetracked for political purpose. Because of his presence, Chew Wai Khoon, Yik Phooi Hong and Thong Fah Chong were seen.
In 2003, Yudi performed in Lin Dai – The Star of Stars concert, won her accolades and popular acclaim. In 2004, she co-worked on a concert focusing on legendary superstars of shi dai qu, Bai Guang and Ge Lan, which received an overwhelming response. To have an idea, her old Mandarin song list for the evening included Shanghai Night and Rose Rose I love you. Suffice to say, each of her songs brought back memories of the ‘50s and early ‘60s.
Wei Han, born and bred in Butterworth, is a graduate of the prestigious Xian Conservatory of Music in China. He showed his talent when he sang, truly solo, without any musical accompaniment, the famous Italian folksong, O Sole Mio. Among his songs, from various musicals like The Student Prince, The Great Caruso, My Fair Lady, and so on, the song, On the Street where you live, seemed to affect me most, imagining myself as a lovelorn teenager.
Having completed their list of songs, almost all in the audience stayed put with a faint call for ‘more’. Yudi, and later Wei Han, were most obliging in treating us with a few more classics, ending with Theresa Teng's 'Yeh Liang taipiau wo te sin' or something to that effect.
After the singers said their goodbyes, the President of the Club tried to make some announcement but nobody seemed interested, just eager to leave. We went to the show in a hurry, and I was particularly hungry, even thinking of what food to eat while watching the show!
Sorry, Joe and Jeffrey, I meant to drop by Stresrelief but too hungry then. For your info, I met Josephine (Dominic’s partner) at the show. She and her nephew, like us, got tickets paid for by others. Typically of events like this, one third of the seats were empty. The reason? To quote my sister-in-law, “we were cornered to buy the tickets” and how the President aptly put it, that his assistants were known for being “thick-skinned” when it comes to approaching people for donations, and presumably buying tickets.
Anyway, to me, it was more a nostalgic evening besides being enchanted by the two talented singers.
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