In The Media

The Malay Mail, 2 August 2000
What a crying shame!
By Azlan Ramli

OPERA singer Kam Sun-Yoke is upset, just as she has been for the past 14 years. This time, she is at a loss as well.

On July 6, the artistic director of the Operafest Children's Choir (OCC) received an invitation for her "children" to perform in Argentina from Oct 6 -15.

October is the month of a major examination for Malaysian secondary school pupils and many schools are not willing to let the children off.

While Kam is trying to find a solution to this, she has another worry too, one which has been pestering her for 14 years each time a performance is planned or about to take place.

"We are always short of funds and that is half of my worries. To start with, we do not receive much recognition from local companies and this is a major hindrance in our effort to raise funds," she said.

"Whenever my children perform, here or in other countries, they get accolades, respect and admiration not just from ordinary people but from heads of State and royalty. They are treated with honour."

Back here, Kam said the OCC is hardly given a thought.

Either nobody knows what the OCC is or are not bothered to check its credentials simply because it is a Malaysian choir group and therefore, not expected to succeed as well as the Westerners, the supposed founders of choir singing.

"My children are referred to by foreigners as little ambassadors. They told me that my children should be proud of that," she said.

"We are good, very good and I am not saying this without referring to our past victories, the expert opinions we got and the accolades we received."

She pointed out OCC's past victories, such as third placing in the Light Music Category of the International Koorfestival Arnhem in Holland in 1991 and second placing in the compulsory song Sound the Trumpet at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in Wales, Britain in 1991.

Besides these two successive accomplishments, the OCC has performed in many countries, mostly through invitations. They have been to the US, Australia , Greece, Macedonia, Singapore and Spain, to name a few.

"That itself, even without the victories, indicates how good my children are," she said.

Kam said the OCC needs RM150,000 to keep it running for a year. This amount is simply for the children to keep on singing - there is no monetary gain.

Contact Kam at 03-6015781 or 03-4601151 to contribute, talk about sponsorships or simply to find out more about OCC .