Making friends on Friendship Night
Published on: Monday, October 13, 2014
KOTA KINABALU: One single touching stage show on Friendship Night (Oct 10) may have made more friends among the 1,400 members of the Federation of Asian Pharmaceutical Association (Fapa) from 21 countries than all the 122 talks of deep chemistry in their three-day Fapa Congress here, on Oct 9-11.The new mantra is 'Now Pharmacists Got Talents' to equal the famous Britain's Got Talents reality television talents show competition. But even if they had none the Hong Kong contingent braved the stage with a lip lync stunt in front of a multitude of nations from Indoneisa, Taiwan, Singapore, Ireland, Nepal, Vietnam, Australia, Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Japan, Korea and Thailand that initially got almost every body thinking it's for real, till MC Cassie Forsythe jokingly made light-hearted reference to what Mariah Carey was caught doing with an oldie 'Always Be My Baby' only last week.
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True Hong Kong But lip sync or real sing, only Hong Kongites can bring a genuine Cantopop to stage in Sabah so people saw a true Hong Kong in action!So, the lip sync didn't bother anyone but thumbs up to the attitude of participation. That pharmacists got talents initially sounded like a groundless joke,But the quality of the acts on the multi-national Friendship Night makes skeptics concede it was indeed the pharmacists' own reality talent show !
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The show actually started with City Hall's own in-house 'song birds' Rashidah Sharin and Donna Masidah – a winner of Kota Kinabalu City Hall Idol singing competition, who belted out their vocal talents with gusto. If the participants became more impressed about any country they may have been critical before, they would have taken home a more positive, transformed idea about them after the pervasive reality talent show, which is good for international understanding and appreciation.
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Well, the spirited six Hong Kongites set the mood mood.Indons' magic poco-poco aura The Indonesian delegation certainly knew how to rally the hearts of the whole crowd to their side like instant coffee or instant noodles by doing the internationally popular folksy poco-poco dance known for its simple yet sentimental steps with an appealing aura that sparked a bit of craze.To add weight to their charm and culture, the Indons rallied practically their entire Congress contingent to the stage, clad some more in full or partial traditional costumes and headgears that distinguished themselves as Indonesia !Korea's hanbok, Ariran and Tennessee Waltz From Korea, wow, little did anyone expect a smooth ballroom dance show from a sleek couple befittingly dressed for the occasion, waltzing to an all-time great classical music compositions followed the unforgetable 'The Tennessee Waltz' – a 1947 single co-written by Pee Wee King and Rod Stewart that sold millions of copies and became so popular that it became the fourth official song of the State of Tennessee.More than just a cute little song, the Tennessee Waltz ties itself to the deep emotions common to man – love and romance and there is such thing called music therapy used to treat various disorders, quite besides pharmaceuticals. As an indication to that. The record became the third largest seller ever. That's not all, the whole Korean contingent especially the women, took to the stage with the full aura of their unique traditional dress – the hanbok, and literally performed like the discipline of a full choir under a spirited conductor ! A rendition of their piece – Ariran , the soul of Korean folk song that is considered their unofficial national anthem. More than that, in 2012, Ariran was inscribed in the Representative List of the Cultural Heritage of Humanity by Unesco! Philippines the 'natural' entertainerThe Philippines, what they can always do?They got the whole Hakka Hall to their feet, the Mayor of Kota Kinabalu City, Datuk Abidin Madingkir included, as well as swelling the stage with any people dancing..Not surprising, because they are known as born musicians who instinctively know how to entertain. Thai 'wai' and 'wow' ! Thailand, where art thou?Wai – they showed their famous hands pressed against each other and raised to forehead with a slight bow of the head as a gesture of respect, before they danced. What followed that gracious initial greeting from four vivacious pharmacy students from the Chulalongpon University was the unleashing of an energetic, flawless delivery of a Thai dance youthful style. Again, the four Thai girls did Thailand proud.Malaysia's 'dancing pharmacist'Not to be outdone, Penang hailed Ms Bharati Suresh Chand , with a reputation as 'the dancing pharmacist' was introduced to the stage, and she vindicated her job as a representative of 1Malaysia – of Indian descent but every body knows that's Malaysia , MC Cassie explained.Like the Philippines, Bharati's vigour inspired many to join her on stage.But don't forget – Friendship Night stage show started with two local singers. Being Clean and friendly: MayorMayor Abidin told the delegates that maintaining cleanliness is his top priority, as a clean city contributes to the quality of the environment, wellbeing and health of the people."In the City, we believe that 'prevention is better than cure," he said."Pharmacists and the local authority, such as City Hall, can in fact work hand in hand together, to instil awareness to the people and create a healthier lifestyle and good health." But more than just cleanliness, a trade mark of Sabahans is their noted friendly nature which got a touched American Ambassador to Malaysia Joseph Yun to have initiated and concluded a 'Twin City' arrangement between Portland, Oregon and Kota Kinabalu just last week Madingkir complimented Datuk Nancy Ho, who has been "very active in contributing in many ways to the city", as a member of City Hall Advisory Board.Friendship Night specially prepared In turn, Ho cited the Mayor as a God-fearing, caring leader who is passionate about making Kota Kinabalu City one of the best in the region."We are proud to say that Kota Kinabalu is among the top ten cities in Asia voted by Trip Advisor to be a preferred destination by visitors," she said. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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