‘Wonderful Tonight’ Charity Concert to Aid MERCY Malaysia’s Nepal Relief & Kelantan Flood Relief Efforts
Baby Grand Productions is collaborating with MERCY Malaysia to produce a charity concert, ‘Wonderful Tonight’ to provide support for Nepal Relief Efforts and the Kelantan Flood Relief Fund. Co-Title Sponsors for the concert are Connexion@Nexus and Sikit Atas Restaurant & Bistro.The concert will feature award-winning singer and actor Sean Ghazi, with special guests Deanna Yusoff and Tony Eusoff, as well as the enigmatic dancer Suhaili Micheline.The concert dates are 13th and 14th of  June 2015, at 8:30 p.m. at the Connexion@Nexus Auditorium, Bangsar South.
The Saturday (13th) concert will be a Gala Performance, which will include a reception and meet-and-greet right after the show.
“There isn’t a day in the life of an urban KL-ite when you don’t come into contact with a Nepali,†said Sean Ghazi, executive producer of Baby Grand Productions. “They are our servers, security guards, gardeners and more importantly, they are our friends who desperately need our help. Some of them have lost homes, and others, their entire families. I can’t imagine what they are going through and that’s why we have decided to do something. Similarly, at home, there is still so much to do in the rebuilding efforts for Kelantan. Therefore, we decided to do extend the scope of our concert to benefit both Nepal and Kelantanâ€
Did you know that this charity concert was birthed from Sean Ghazi’s encounter with a Nepali worker in Malaysia whom he happened to talk to about the earthquake, and the Nepali brother said just these six words, “Man is ok, house is broken.” Sean was thankful that that man was ok, but countless others back in Nepal not just lost their homes, but many had lost their lives, their loved ones, and family and friends. Sean wanted to do something about it after returning to Malaysia from the US, and therefore the charity concert was birthed, and that was just 9 days ago on 22 May! Passion and compassion is a real driving force.
The 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck near Kathmandu on the 25th of April 2015 has taken the lives of more than 8,500 people. Since the quake, MERCY Malaysia has sent teams to Nepal in assistance. MERCY Malaysia also continues to lead rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts on the East Coast of Malaysia after drastic flooding hit the area in December 2014.
Sean and business partner Deborah managed to bring in Malaysia’s top singers, Tony Eusoff and Deanna Yusoff into the concert, both jokingly claimed they are not related. Both Tony and Deanna expressed their joy to be part of this concert to raise funds for Nepal and Kelantan by doing what they love for a good cause, performing. Deanna explained that many times, we hear of something bad that happened in some part of the world and we feel helpless of how we can do something to help them, yet most times we do nothing but talk about it. She was delighted to be approached by Sean for doing this project and really felt like being a part of doing something special for the victims and survivors of both Nepal and Kelantan. Tony, on the other hand even missed the Gawai celebrations back in his hometown, Sarawak to attend this press conference. He truly believed and hope that Malaysians will unite together to support this cause and raise the targetted funds of RM200,000 where the net profits will be channeled directly to MERCY.
This event marks Sean Ghazi’s first public appearance in Kuala Lumpur since he left for the United States six years ago. He will be performing his unique blend of music; a mix of classic English standards and vintage Malay songs. Ghazi will be sharing the stage with Deanna Yusoff and Tony Eusoff. Duets and solos will feature in English, Bahasa Malaysia and French. As a special treat the sublime dancer Suhaili Micheline, will also be performing.
Mr. Harmandar Singh, Executive Council Member for MERCY Malaysia spoke to the press about MERCY Malaysia’s good work in both Nepal and Kelantan. Mercy Malaysia was the first to arrive in Nepal following the first devastating earthquake that happened on 25 April, and the government there had given them a space to build a hospital to treat the survivors. They had stationed 30 doctors and nurses and helped over 4000 people. This hospital was just at the foot of the mountains so it was really where they were the first reach for the survivors in need. At the moment, the crisis in Nepal is at the rehabilitation stage, where the people need to be given psychosocial help, mitigation etc. Mercy Malaysia is committed to stay for another year there as the monsoon season is coming as well. There is still lots of work to be done there
Meanwhile in Kelantan, the floods had banished the homes of so many people. Mercy Malaysia had so far helped to build 154 temporary shelters and is looking to build another 25 homes for the victims. Kelantan is also in the rehabilitation stage and they need to finish fixing the houses before the next monsoon season starts again, and prayerfully, Kelantan will not be hit with another devastating flood like the last one.
Ms. Anita Khoo, Head of Hospitality, UOA Hospitality Sdn. Bhd. represented Connexion@Nexus and answered questions from the press about their involvement in the concert.
TICKETS for the show are by donation and are available on Wednesday, 3rd June at myticket.my. Ticket Hotline: 03-8080-8700.
Tickets are also available at Sikit Atas Restaurant & Bistro, Damansara Heights as well as at Nero Vivo Restaurant on Jalan Ceylon and Vineria Italian Restaurant in Bangsar Shopping Centre.
Donations for Saturday’s Gala Performance, June 13 are RM280 & RM380.
Donations for Sunday June 14 are RM180.
From MERCY Malaysia:
On Nepal Humanitarian Support:
“With the emergency medical relief phase drawing to a close, MERCY Malaysia has closed down its Level 1 hospital since our deployment to Ipatole, Sankhu, Nepal on the 28th April 2015. We have provided both medical services and psychosocial support to around 3,400 patients. MERCY Malaysia however is still conducting several activities in Nepal, such as distribution of hygiene kits, organization of shelter assessments and training community health workers for the provision of long term psychosocial assistance to the community, considering that the need for this assistance remains high. MERCY Malaysia will also be organizing Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) programmes in the medium to long term. Hence we appreciate Sean & Deanna, and Baby Grand’s contribution as MERCY Malaysia will remain in Nepal for a minimum of one year as the organization works by a Total Disaster Risk Management working method.â€
On Kelantan Humanitarian Work:
“In addition to support for Nepal, we are very grateful that Baby Grand Productions and Deanna are also aware of the need to assist in Malaysia and have decided to also donate for Kelantan as last year was the worst year in the history of floods in the country.â€
From Connexion@Nexus:
At Connexion@Nexus, we hope that this concerted effort with Baby Grand Productions and MERCY Malaysia to raise funds together with fellow Malaysians and humanitarians will help boost the admirable efforts of MERCY Malaysia in both Nepal and Kelantan.
From Sikit Atas Restaurant & Bistro:
Sikit Atas is delighted to come on board to support the efforts of MERCY Malaysia. Sikit Atas Restaurant & Bistro, in Damansara, regularly showcases local talent, singers and musicians, and is proud to support Sean Ghazi and friends in this important benefit event.
About MERCY Malaysia
MERCY Malaysia is a non-profit organization focusing on providing medical relief, sustainable health related development and risk reduction activities for vulnerable communities in both crisis and non-crisis situations.
About Baby Grand Productions
Baby Grand Productions is a music entertainment company based in Kuala Lumpur, and is in its 12th year of operations, headed by Executive Producers Deborah Michael and Sean Ghazi. For further information please contact Deborah Michael on 012-211-0669 or email gobabygrand@gmail.com