1st DEC 2008 CHARITY CONCERT @ DEWAN SRI PINANG

MARK GIBSON SPEECH ON NOV 22nd

MARK GIBSON SPEECH ON NOV 22nd

GIVING THEIR ALL FOR A GOOD CAUSE

THE season of giving and sharing has come early for the Penang Down Syndrome Association (PDSA).

The association, which is working hard to raise funds to set up a much needed community centre for its activities, has managed to raise about RM55,000 through a charity concert and generous donations from sponsors and the public.

The concert themed ‘The Spirit of Giving’ was held at Dewan Sri Pinang on Monday.

The association, with the help of co-organiser Jammin’ Senzation, kicked up a wonderful show of music, dance and song.

The performances by Jammin’ Senzation students that evening were as diverse as they could be with genres like disco, Celtic, pop, rock, classical, swing, jazz, bossa nova, samba and salsa.

One of the memorable ones was the three chipmunks act, where three little boys dressed up as the famous cartoon characters from Alvin and the Chipmunks ‘bounced’ about the stage, dancing and singing with other performers in Christmas Don’t Be Late, Boogie Wonderland and We’re All in This Together from the High School Musical fame.

There were easily over 40 performers on stage, including dancers, a choir and a small orchestra, for the three numbers.

Cheerleaders from SMK (P) St George’s Vivacious team also joined the Jammin’ Senzation on stage to give some cheer and real ‘high school’ flavour to the High School Musical song.

Starting off the second half of the musical evening, guest artiste Juwita Suwito sang Leading Change and the popular hit by The Eagles called Desperado.

The songstress wowed the 700-odd audience with her beautiful vocals.

The other performances that evening included a disco number called Saturday in the Park, a happy Celtic tune called Elan, Duke Ellington’s 1932 swing hit It don’t Mean a Thing, the 1960s bossa nova hit The Girl from Ipanema, music from the Phantom of the Opera, the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack, and well-known pop numbers like One Republic’s Apologise.

There was also a rather special item that evening where several special children from the association took the stage for a quick simple performance. Of course, they received the loudest applause.

Association secretary Daphne Tan thanked the event sponsors and donors who made the concert possible.

“We have exceeded our target with the RM55,000 raised through ticket sales of this concert and also donations from generous sponsors and the public.

“We hope we can start setting up our community centre in January next year,” she said in her speech.