Report: Malaysian Artistes For Unity
Man, its quite a nice song in it own right and I’ve listened to it on the radio the whole day…. like every hour since morning. Will this be something huge for Malaysia like what We Are The World to America?
Malaysian Artistes For Unity is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit national unity project made possible by the participation of over 120 notable Malaysians.
Enlisted to the project over a short period of two weeks in April 2008, these participants range from artistes, celebrities, arts activists, media-personalities, musicians, dancers, sportsmen, filmmakers, web designers, producers, technicians, poets, models and more.
All participants contributed their effort on a pro-bono basis. The project has a production budget of exactly zero.
The project is centered on two things: (1) a multi-artistes recording of an original racial unity song; and (2) a music video of that song featuring over 50 notable Malaysians.
When completed, both the song and the video will be broadcasted and distributed to the public for free via traditional media channels as well as the Internet.
What is its objective? The project seeks to celebrate cultural diversity and the ideal of Bangsa Malaysia through video and music. Its central message is one of racial unity. By being made freely available to the public, the project is also a gift from all the participants to the nation.
What is the song? The song is entitled ‘Here In My Home’. Pete Teo wrote the song especially for the project. Although it is primarily an English language composition, it features 3 other languages [Malay, Mandarin and Tamil] and is sung by 16 different artistes. Adflin Shauki will be producing a predominantly Malay language version of the song in the second phase of the project.
What is the video? Co-directed by Yasmin Ahmad and Ho Yuhang, the video was shot at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre on the 24th of April. Other than the 16 singers featured on the song, over 30 other notable Malaysians also made cameo appearances. Technicians and production crew numbered over 40 people. The video will premier to a nationwide audience at the AIM 2008 awards night on the 3rd of May.
Who is Involved? The list of participants includes numerous Malaysian household names. It also features many who are unknown outside of the sub-communities in which they work. The intention is to be as inclusive and representative as possible, in that the project not only reflects the racial diversity of Malaysia, but also of the manifold sub-communities that together constitute the nation.
The following is a full list of project participants:
Artistes [Singers] Adflin Shauki / Awie / Ning Baizura / Jaclyn Victor / Reshmonu / Pete Teo / Atilia / Jason Lo / KLG Sqwad / Altimet / Suki / Daniel Lee / Nikki Palikat / Melina William
Cast [Cameo] Datuk Tony Fernandez / Maya Karin / Harith Iskander / Singletrackmind / Stephen Chua / Izzy Mohamed / Shebby Singh / Nell Ng / Mak Wai Hoo / Badri Ibrahim / Chan Fong / Mark Teh / Kamal Sabran / Sharifah Amani / Ng Choo Seong / Pang Khee Teik / Jerome Kugan / January Low / Amber Chia / Nick Lee / Liang You Cheng / Muid Latif / Chong Ji Ann / Ida Nerina / Muhamad Safwan / Anissa Abd Aziz / Fadly Sabran / Danny One / Nurhanim Khairudin / Joe Loy / Ho Yuhang / Yasmin Ahmad
Project Volunteers:
Project Producer Pete Teo Assistant Producer Albert Law Song Producer Greg Henderson & Pete Teo Recording Engineer Greg Henderson Mixing & Mastering Engineer Nick Lee Song Composer Pete Teo Video Production Chilli Pepper Films Video Producer Effendi Harjoh Video Director Yasmin Ahmad & Ho Yuhang Director [Making Of Video] Michelle Lo Director Of Photography Pete Abdullah First A.D. Pitt Fierdaus Editing House Mirage Video Editor Raja Affandi & Kazman Kassim Video Editor [Making Of Video] Akashdeep Singh Video Technical Producers Farid Yusof / Fara Ghazali / Nina Camera Krubanathan / Joe Kumar / Syukor Hashim / Azam Mohd Yusoff Lighting Megat Anuar / Suri Grip Yazid / Zamzul Styling & Make-Up Josephine Yam / Vivian Lee / Suning C Volunteers Edwin Goh / Emily Tan / Dora Chua / Melissa Tan / Fry Hew / Kelvin Yoon / Raymond Lee / Frederick Tan / Felix Tan / Chong Chin Siong / Vincent Lee / William Ong / Evangeline Wong / Jenny Heng / Lim Vi Vian / Alvin Law Location Sponsor Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre Catering Sponsors Alliance Cosmetics / Alexis Web Design & Services Muid Latif & Digital Malaya Aircraft Graphics Design Pete Teo / Albert Law / Frederick Tan / Felix Tan / Emily Tan Publicity Joan Lau / Millennium Associates
How will it be distributed? Both the song and the music video can be downloaded and streamed from various sites on the Internet for free. A project website will be set up to provide, amongst other things, project information and a list of download / streaming distribution platforms – including music portals, video sharing sites, current affairs news sites and personal blogs.
>> You can see the official website here: http://www.malaysianartistesforunity.info/
The project will establish a presence on social networking websites such as Facebook and Myspace. Naturally, airplay on radio and TV will also be sought.
What’s the project timeline? The song and video will be showcased on AIM night to a live nationwide television audience on May 3rd. The distribution platform for both the video and the song will be established in the next 10-12 days. By May 12th, we expect to hold a press conference announcing the availability of the video and song for free download and streaming on the Internet. Concurrently, we will try to establish as much airplay of the song/video on Malaysian radio and television as possible.
How can I help? If you are a member of the media, you can help by publicizing the project with reportage or interviews. All participants involved in the project are available for media interviews and photo sessions. Please contact our publicist for this.
If you are not a member of the media, you can help by simply downloading the song/video or requesting the song/video on your favorite radio or TV station. Lastly, you can also help by posting or embedding the song/video on your websites, blogs and other Internet destinations.
