Musicians, artists unite to raise funds at charity concert this Dec 3

KUCHING (Nov 29): The musical concert ‘He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother Volume 2’ charity variety by international and local musicians and artists will be held at 5pm on Dec 3, 2023 at the Café Café along Jalan Rubber.

The charity variety concert aimed to raise funds for Sarawak Children’s Cancer Society, Penan Women’s Project and Kuching Food Aid, the event coordinators said in a press statement yesterday.

During the previous edition, the charity musical concert raised a total of RM22,149 back in 2019, exceeding expectations as they had included international performers from Nigeria, England and Singapore as well as local artists who had covered various genres such as classical, jazz, country and western, saxophone, ‘sape’ and rock.

This year, it will boast a number of acclaimed musicians such as Michael King, a UN opera singer from Nigeria, to international award-winning and dynamic Sarawakian performers, At Adau, and the legendary ‘sape master’ Matthew Ngau Jau.

The Kuching Busking Festival 2023 singing champion Ashley Soh is also a part of the coveted line-up alongside the Kuching Busking Festival champion dancer, Dion Das anak Louis, also known fondly as ‘The Little Bornean Birdie’.

Saxophonist Zaid & Combo, known as ‘Tupi Itam’, and the lovely trio of Kimmie, Mel and Lydia representing Zephyr belly dancing will be performing as well during the concert. Guests will also be able to witness performances from a family band comprising five siblings known as ‘Sweet Children O’ Mine’.

The legendary country music singer of Sarawak, Alfonso Alphnouses Balan, also known as ‘Simple Rhythm Guy’, will entertain the crowd with his musical pieces and finally the Chinese opera duo, Gena Sim and Eugene Suboh, will charm guests with their class and elegance.

All in all, 11 musicians will be performing at this concert.

Guests will also be able to witness the world-class talent of our local artists including Gerald Goh, Fletcher Then, Nia Latif, Gabrielle Lim, Fook Liew, Melton Kais, Marzuki Jamilah, Clement Jimel and Sebastian Jong.

These ‘Artists with a Heart’ have generously contributed their artwork for the charity concert by donating 50 per cent of the proceeds to the abovementioned charitable bodies.

According to Olivia Ling, owner of Café Café Restaurant, the art pieces are on display for patrons of the eatery for a week starting Nov 27 until Dec 3.

“The various art pieces are made from numerous creative mediums, such as acrylic, watercolour, ink and charcoal, as well as graphite pencil drawings, oil paintings, and even mural art of different genres,” said Ling, who is also one of the event organisers.

“We, at Café Café, are glad to have the opportunity to host this event for a humanitarian purpose in Sarawak, and, furthermore, we look forward to being part of the ‘He Ain’t Heavy’ series in the future as well,” she stressed.

“We are glad to have this opportunity and hope we are able to make a difference to our society,” said the event organising chairman, Mike Lim.

“This event is a collective effort of good Samaritans from our society who come from all backgrounds, races and religions to help the needy.

“We hope we have the opportunity to host this event in the future as well,” he added.

“Even if we contribute only one per cent to society, we as a team are fully driven to carry out this event and make it a success. As the saying goes, whoever saves one life saves the entire world,” said the lead project director Poh Guan Huat.

To contribute to the cause, a table for six is priced at RM1,000, while the VIP table for six is priced at RM1,500.

For more information, members of the public are advised to call Lim at 019-3559778, Sahil Dev at 0128891004 or Ling at 012-8910817.