Permata Seni Negara Children Capture Hearts Of New Yorkers

From Hafizah Kamaruddin NEW YORK, March 5 (Bernama) -- The energetic and superb performances by 26 primary schoolchildren from Permata Seni Negara at several functions here since Thursday received overwhelming response from the audiences. The group comprising musicians, choir singers and dancers have been showcasing Malaysian culture and songs, not only at universities and a reception organised by the Permanent Mission of Malaysia to the United Nations, but also at a luncheon talk on the occasion of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women Conference. One of the spectators, Subra Bhattachairya who described the vibrant and colourful performance by the Permata Seni children as superb and fantastic, said "this is what we need to promote in our countries". "Malaysia did a wonderful job in just two years (since the setting up of Permata Seni Negara," he told Bernama and RTM (Radio Televisyen Malaysia) after attending a 45-minute show by the Permata Seni Negara children at the reception organised by the Malaysian Permanent Mission to the United Nations, here, Saturday. The Permata Seni programme is under the Permata Negara umbrella, with the Malaysian prime minister's wife Rosmah Mansor as the patron and it is managed by the Malaysian Information, Communications and Culture Ministry and implemented by the Department of Culture and Arts. Bhattachairya hoped that every country could emulate Malaysia's Permata Negara programme, in identifying children who are talented and with potential in arts and culture and be given the right training and exposure, so that their ability and talent could be brought to a higher level. Another New Yorker, Nancy Leon, who was so impressed with the extremely talented Malaysian children, said they had put their whole heart and soul in their performance, hence radiating the wonderful spirit of Malaysia. Andrew Hawkens found their performance outstanding, exciting and entertaining, besides creating more awareness of Malaysian culture to the international community here. The Permata Seni group to New York led by Culture and Arts director-general Norliza Rofli comprises two musicians -- violinists Joyce Lee Rui Jing and Denice Mubin, eight dancers and 16 choir singers. Joyce and Denice had put up solo performances with Malaysian music prodigy Tengku Ahmad Irfan Tengku Ahmad Shahrizal from the prestigious Juilliard School, receiving praise from the school president Joseph W Polisi. The Permata Seni children also gave a 25-minute performance at Friday's luncheon talk on the occasion of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women Conference, where many of the foreign delegates did not miss the chance of recording the children's superb performance. On the same day, they performed at the Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey, where more than 200 Malaysian students and the university officials attending the function gave them a rousing applause. This is not the first time children from the Permata Seni programme have performed abroad, as its choir group had participated in the World Peace Festival in Vienna, Austria, the Permata Music students had performed in Los Angeles, Washington, New York, Korea and Japan, and the dancers, in Washington. Two of the Permata Seni children have won scholarships to pursue their studies in music abroad. They are Tengku Ahmad Irfan, 13, who was accepted to study piano and composition at the world-famous Juilliard School here, and Amir Adrian Amir Hamzah, 10, from Permata Seni Choir who secured a place at the Augarten Palace in Vienna, which trains children for the famous Vienna Boys Choir. (photoBERNAMA) MALAYSIA