2009 - Malay Mail

Band-ing together on a high note

By Shiv Das

They are not likely…no, strike that and substitute with will not make it to any pop chart but they do win hearts whenever they play.

As four guitarists and a drummer, they have come together to revel in “oldies” music and song of the fifties, sixties and seventies.

Meet Frankie Yeap, 63, Lim Kim Moon, 61, Ching Neng Bin, 55, Tan Keng Hui, 52 and the drummer Tan Lean Khiong who at 45 is the “baby”.

They are members of the Rotary Club of Sitiawan, seemingly the only such club in the country that does not have to outsource its band for social gatherings.

Says Tan Keng Hui who once owned a travel agency but now spends time mostly teaching English in-between shuttling back and forth to England where his wife and three children reside:

“It’s not about money but the joy we get out of playing. We have our jobs during the day but at night we have our pastime. We play by ear...very simple.” It is a feather in their cap that they played at the state air travel fair in Ipoh recently.

Keng Hui doubles up as the main vocalist with Yeap, a retired teacher, joining in from time to time.

If it’s not Rotary, demand for their joyful services also comes from the town’s senior citizens club which has its own building for members to indulge enthusiastically in ballroom and line dancing as part of their activities.

The band, largely self-taught, began with just Ching, a bank manager and Tan Lean Khiong, a teacher to begin with and who now runs a tuition centre, getting together in 1995 for jam sessions. Lim, who was with the Ministry of Defence serving at the naval base in Lumut, joined two years later, followed by the remaining two.

What began as a fad has turned into a “bonding service” these musical-minded Rotarians are providing with great effect.

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