Thirty-five acts from 30 countries used the universal language of music, dance and poetry as their instruments for peace at the Limkokwing University of Creative Technology yesterday. The fund-raising charity concert, Heal the World sent a strong message of peace and reconciliation to the world in an attempt to draw the world’s attention to the plight of displaced people all over the world, particularly the Palestinians.

Present at the event was His Excellency Abdelaziz Abu Ghoush, Ambassador of the State of Palestine, industry guests and the media and more than 9,000 people at the university’s Cyberjaya campus. His Excellency also received a mock cheque RM 20,000.

Original compositions, poems and dances graced the event in the hopes to have peace in the world; on this occasion Palestine. Besides that, students from various countries expressed how they were affected by the destruction in Palestine and even though they were far away one could feel the impact that it had on them from the emotion in their voices.

Speaking on behalf of the university, Special Assistant to the President, Tiffanee Marie Lim shared the negative implications of war.

“Often, war threatens the existence of traditional culture, wiping away history and making it nothing,” she said, continuing, “To build peace, is to build a fair and humane world and all we want is a world with no war. But the journey to get there seems like one that is impossible.”

Special guest Sulaiman Saleh Alzamly, touched by the effort by Limkokwing’s effort to raise funds to buy medicine for the people of his homeland gave an explicit account of life in the Gaza Strip. He says, although the situation has calmed down a little, the trauma of the war is still felt from day to day.

“In this 22 days, I couldn’t leave my house. I sat with my family waiting for death because we could not find a safe place to protect ourselves.

“We are still a wounded people, physically and mentally, we are still living in fear, although it has quietened,” he said adding, “This charity concert to raise funds for us is a very overwhelming effort by Limkokwing.”

The highlight of the concert, dubbed Heal the World was the launch of the music video of the theme song titled Let’s Heal the World, a song by 30 international singers, coming together in a harmonious voice for peace, was composed by the Limkokwing Sound & Music Design Academy, which is being repeatedly aired by national radio stations.

The song, now recorded in a variety of languages including Mandarin and Bahasa Malaysia received an encore during the concert and the singers were more than happy to oblige the crowd by performing one more time as 5,000 voices joined them from their seats

Rocking performances at Limkokwing

Students warmed up the concert with solid performances by bands and solo acts, Paraless, Julian: One Man Band, and the Ezra Project among other notable performances.

The main concert kicked off with the Limkokwing Choir singing the theme song Let’s Heal the World before Limkokwing starlet Ernie and Zasrina gave their rendition of the Adibah Noor song, ‘Terlalu Indah’.

A heartfelt poem, ‘In My Living Room,’ recited by Lesh followed performances by Jonah Sithole of Zimbabwe and local Mandarin songstress Karen Kong who had the crowd join her in the chorus of her song.

An international ensemble followed with a speech by student Malaysian Wilson Yeoh among three songs ‘Bavar Kon by Souroush (Iran), ‘Di Antara’ by Akademi Fantasia finalist, heartthrob Dafi (Malaysia), and ‘Belaian Jiwa’ by Idrissah (Siera Leonne), Gabriella (Indonesia) with Limkokwing staff, and ‘Protest,’ a poem recited by Bianca Rodrigues & Frederico Laruccia (Brazil).

Right after the Limkokwing International Dance Academy made their mark shaking and moving, wowing the crowd, Noraniza Idris belted out Malaysian ethnic music to the delight of her fans, marking her first performance at the university’s Cyberjaya campus will be.

Another artiste made her debut at Limkokwing is the runner-up to the first ever Malaysian Idol, Dina, pleased her fans with her strong, and powerful vocal range.

Much awaited Malaysian based American band, Common Culture left the crowd wanting more of their soulful performance. While arriving fresh from their Best Rap Group Award at a recent independent award show, The Rebel Scum busted rhymes and beats, hyped up the crowd.

Crowd favourite Melodica, comprised of staff and students of Limkokwing, gave all to their fans with their brand of inspirational rock music. The energetic Blister also gave it their all with their hard-blues and rock & roll styled music.

Heal the World is an ongoing concept envisioned to help make the world a more peaceful place. The concert, also in conjunction of the university’s humanitarian effort, Plight of the Palestinians: From Grim to Bleak; a two-month charity drive for medical aid for the people in Palestine. The drive is a follow up to another Palestinian campaign launched by the university.

In 2003 the university created an exhibition titled Plight of the Palestine: A nation denied a homeland, which displayed the tragic story of people’s struggle to build their nation.

Five years later, the situation has grown from bad to worse and the university is sending out a message that war does not solve anything but causes pain and destroys nations. The current condition in Gaza has moved people across the world and as a global university we have taken the initiative to put up an exhibition and a donation drive in aid of the Palestinians which will be on show for the next two months.

Strong message for peace at the concert

A strong united voice for peace resonated around the Limkokwing plaza by artistes, students, guests and staffs at the recent Heal the World concert held at the university’s Cyberjaya campus last Friday (13 March).

Heal the World, a massive fund-raising charity concert saw performances of speech, song, dance and poetry from 35 performers from more than 30 countries.

Director of the Limkokwing Sound & Music Design Academy, Anuar Razak sees the concert as a very powerful instrument to convey a message of peace and harmony.

“Music has always been the universal language that unites people. Therefore, this concert has served the cause perfectly, especially with the kind of line-up we had – 35 performers from more than 30 countries. Heal the World remains one of the most international concerts for peace.”

The first-ever Malaysian Idol runner-up, Dina, after an energetic performance thinks that Malaysians are very lucky not to face war and should not take peace for granted as she praised the Limkokwing peace initiative.

“We should thank God and appreciate peace for the other side of the world is suffering; we only see it through the pictures,” she said before praising, “Limkokwing has made a tremendous effort in raising funds through this concert.”

Her sentiments were echoed by Malay-ethnic music singer Noraniza Idris and Mandarin singer Karen Kong with the latter feeling sad at the thought of the war-torn countries, specifically Palestine amidst the lively concert environment.

“The atmosphere at the concert was amazing, but I still feel sad about all that’s happening in Palestine, it’s really unlucky to be facing war,” the songstress said.

Limkokwing’s rising stars, songstresses Ernie and Zasrina together with Ronnie, believe peace and tolerance is pivotal to make the world a better place; not only in Palestine but everywhere in the world.

“It’s a sad thing happening in Palestine, the people are suffering and this has to stop! There is just too much suffering in the world, and globally, mankind have never really enjoyed peace. We all have to do our part for peace and I believe the only way to have peace is to tolerate and compromise with each other,” said the Ernie.

“We are very lucky here in Malaysia to be living in peace and harmony; but we have to spare a thought for those suffering around the world, in Palestine especially,” said a very endearing Zasrina before adding, “We all have a responsibility to make the world a better place for all of us.”

“The whole situation is very heartbreaking. Everyone should chip-in and support this cause to help make peace in Palestine and all over the world,” said Ronnie.

Local heartthrob Dafi believes the world should stop suffering and it is a collective responsibility to get world peace.

“It is a sad thing to see people in the modern world suffering through wars,” he said with a sigh before adding, “The war should stop and the world should help.”

Members form independent rock-bands Melodica and Blister along with rap group The Rebel Scum believes with a passion that all the world needs is peace and love.