GLITTERAMA LADIES RAISED RM 320,000 FOR CHARITY AT SHANGRI-LA

KEE@FSWMAG.COM

My hosts; Puan Sri Sylvia Merican, Tan Sri Othman Merican and Princess Dr Becky Leogardo

Puan Sri Siew Yong Gnanalingam, a trustee with Datin Maylene Yong, Glitterama ladies and board members of Yayasan Nanyang Press which received the cheque for RM 320,000!

48 COMMITTED, KIND-HEARTED AND SELF-SACRIFICING LADIES PRESENTED AN EXTRAVAGANT GALA NIGHT ON 3 SEPTEMBER AT SHANGRILA GRAND BALLROOM.

Classy ending in black except for the one in blue who upset the colour code! But this is one way of getting attention!

A job well done!

Congratulations all round!

Close-up look and yes, the amount is still the same big figure!

Even closer-up

3 dazzling, titled beauties; Puan Sri Sylvia Merican, Princess Dr Becky Leogardo and Datin Maylene Yong

Datin Maylene and Tan Sri Dato' Othman Merican after his performance on stage with Dato Khadijah Ibrahim

Kee Hua Chee looking every inch a superstar diva of the first degree in Keith Kee


LED BY GLITTERAMA LADIES CHARITY GROUP FOUNDER DATIN MAYLENE YONG (SHOULDN'T THAT BE YONG MAY LENE AS SHE IS CHINESE AND NOT MAT SALLEH BUT NEVER MIND) THE LADIES SANG THEIR HEARTS OUT AND RAISED RM 320,000 FOR YAYASAN NANGYANG PRESS WHICH DISTRIBUTES FUNDS FOR CHARITY HOMES AND CENTRES WHO DESPERATELY NEED FINANCIAL HELP TO SUPPORT THEIR DAILY ACTIVITIES FOR THEIR INMATES, RANGING FROM OLD FOLKS TO CHILDREN.

THE STAR FOUNDATION OF THE STAR NEWSPAPER ALSO DOES THIS KIND OF CHARITY WORK BUT THIS TIME AROUND, ALL MONIES WENT TO YAYASAN NANYANG PRESS. I OF COURSE FREELANCE FOR THE STAR, MALAYSIA'S BESTESTEST DAILY!

Princess Dr Becky Leogardo in her RM 30,000 Escada and Kee Hua Chee in Keith Kee suit worth RM 10,000 and Lewre shoes worth RM 2,000

Princess Dr Becky Leogardo and Kee Hua Chee certainly looked harmonious that evening. Photo by SHAUN TAN



The Glitterama Ladies were formed in 2006 by Datin Maylene Yong whose mission in life is to help the needy. Beams the prez cum founder, "We can't save the world but we can make a difference!". True and realistic! Charity begins at home as Confucius says and I have never met a philanthropist who is a beggar. In other words, the Glitterama Ladies already have enough to eat (a few more than enough as proven by their gowns about to split at their seams) so now they are in a position to help the poor and hungry and ill. Only when a family is wealthy with surplus cash can they be expected to help.

As it is, all the Glitterama Ladies are tai-tai type, having married rich husbands or run their own successful businesess or are highly paid corporate figures. They also enjoy that rare commodity---time. Though they all swear their days are packed, they found time to organise, plan and rehearse for 'Glitterama---An Evening of Pure Hamony' which truly lived up to its word and exceeded the guests' expectations.

I was there as guest of Tan Sri Dato' Ir Othman Merican and his pretty Filipina wife Puan Sri Syvia. Tan Sri Othman Merican runs MJ Life Enterprises Sdn Bhd and paid RM 10,000 for a front row table although Datin Maylene did not give us the best front position as we were one table to the wall and our view was occasionally obliterated due to the videoman filming the event. I thought we would be seated at the table next to Berjaya's main table that cost RM 25,000 and was bought by Tan Sri Vincent Tan.

The good Datin Maylene also failed to mention her gown was sponsored by top designer Jovian Mandagie whose boutique business is bank-rolled by, you guess it, Tan Sri and Puan Sri Othman Merican! I also would not be there to enjoy the lovely evening as Datin Maylene and the Glitterama Ladies did not invite me either!

But we all had a great evening. Tan Sri Othman Merican's guests included Princess Dr Becky Leogardo who wore her RM 30,000 Escada gown, Mr and Mrs Y.L Loh, Dato Yaacob Arshad and Datin Rozita Talib, Mr and Mrs Jeremy Lim.

Shangri-La's Ballroom was packed as 85 tables were sold and so 850 came to support a worthy cause. Thanks must be given to Rosemarie Wee, Regional Communications Director of Shangri-La who used her clout to reduce the costs of food and drinks to the minimum by paring the hotel's revenue to the bone. Kudos to Rosemarie Wee everyone! She can always be counted upon to chip in and why she is not a Datuk is beyond me. Why I am not a Datuk is also beyond me.

Opening gambit; the ladies in red and emcee Raymond Goh in black

The vestal virgins in red?

Y.L Loh prefers to keep his mouth shut lest he says something wrong, Dato Yaacob Arshad, tan Sri Dato Othman Merican, Jeremy and Datin Rozita Talib

Princess Dr Becky in RM 30,000 Escada gown and RM 9,000 Valentino clutch and behind her is our hostess Puan Sri Datin Sylvia Merican in fur

The cheongsam contingent

Miss Chinese Cosmos 2004 international winner showing the diamond watch to potential bidders Puan Sri Datin Sylvia and Princess Dr Becky Leogardo

3 beauties; Puan Sri Datin Slyvia, Carrie Lee and Princess Dr Becky Leogardo

Carrie Lee, Miss Chinese Cosmos international winner with pixman Shaun Tan

They looked so matching so here is another shot

Backstage with the talented dancers from Peter Choo's The Dance Company, Malaysia's top dance troupe and academy!

On the Big Screen; Tan Sri Dato' Othman Merican with Dato Khadijah Ibrahim!

Tan Sri Dato Othman Merican claimed he was nervous so had to hold her hands tight

If not fingers, her waist will do!

Still at it as Dato Khadijah's dancer looked on

Tan Sri is no longer nervy now

Oh maybe he still was!

Mind you, Tan Sri Dato' Othman Merican is a great singer himself and could take non Dato Khadijah anytime!

See? Here Tan Sri is dueting!

This healthy tycoon can even dance and jig!

What a treat to hear and see 2 accomplished singers!

The two did a duet to the applause from all

'Last Dance' over, Tan Sri Dato' Othman Merican is escorted off stage by minders

Emcee Raymond Goh congratulating the VIP for a grand show

Tan Sri Dato Othman Merican being congratulated by Princess Dr Becky who was instrumental in bringing him to the stage

The 3 angels

The 2 angels

Harmonica maestro Keith Tan holding his instrument

Keith Tan the harmonican and Shaun Tan the pixman. They are not related

The glittering Glitterama gals singing 'Friends'

For sure they are all friends

Dato Leonard Tan joining them

Dato Leonard Tan was the Glitterama ladies' voice coach

My hosts with the most; Puan Sri Datin Slyvia, Tan Sri Dato' Othman Marican and Princess Dr Becky Leogardo leaving Shangri-La Ballroom as they Glitteramas were still on stage singing 'We Are The World'


The evening started on time with beatboxer Shawn Lee storming the stage. He is our national world's beatboxer champion OK? His performance was stunning and I wonder how he managed to produced such deep, long lasting rapping as he is so scrawny.

As the food arrived, the mellifluous voice of Datin Maylene Yong floated out from the stage. I recognised her voice before she appeared amid dry ice as I have attended her concerts. In quick succession she was followed by other Glitterama ladies, each dressed in red gowns. The stage slowly filled with 18 singers all decked in red gowns which made me think of vestal virgins except the Grecian maids guarding the temples of Venus wore white. I always assume virgins and angels wear white while devils and vixens wear red so this was a reversal of role.

The scarlet women sang 'I Had A Dream' and received much rapturous applause. The swirling fog generated by the dry ice made them appear even more ethereal and dramatic though a few would have looked more angelic had they lost some kilos.

They also sang 'Heal the World' after which emcee Raymond Goh praised Datin Maylene by saying "Datin Maylene is to Glitterama as Steve Jobs is to Apple'. After the medley there was a solo by Datin Alice Low and then a surprise singer---none other than Datuk Janet Yeoh, the mother of Datuk Michelle Yeoh the superstar actress! Dato Janet sang 2 popular Chinese numbers and looked even taller on stage though she is very tall and taller than her daughter Datuk Michelle Yeoh!

Datin Maylene dueted with Kenny Chin and he sang solo later. The dancers who put up a fantastic show on their own and backed up the Glitterama ladies were world class and of course they had to be since they were from The Dance Company which is Malaysia's best dance troupe as artistic director Peter Choo used to win all the dance contests in Malaysia when he was a teenager till 25 when he was asked not to join dance competitions to give others a chance so he formed his own dance company! His costumes were fabulous and I was especially taken by the Spanish gowns with mantillas.

A superb performance was given by Keith Tan who played the harmonica! I never knew harmonicas could be in the big league as in movies, they were usually hummed by country bumpkins and hilly-billies! Keith Tan proved the audience wrong as he played not only with the usual harmonica the size of a hot dog but also one the size of a small whistle he wore as a pendant! Keith Tan is the 2010 World Champion! He now conducts harmonica lessons so get him at www.mastroharmonica.com! You can join Keith Tan next year!

Other solo Glitterama singers were Lavence Lim, Pauline Gan, Datin Irene Mah, Vanita and guest artistes Poon Sow Keng, Datuk Leonard Tan and Datuk Khadijah Ibrahim. Datuk Leonard Tan was superb as this veteran was polished, smooth and classy. His mimicry, imitations and voice control elicited much clapping and his jokes were spot on and he was funny without trying.

Dato Khadijah Ibrahim asked for someone to join her on stage. Princess Dr Becky Leogardo insisted Tan Sri Othman Merican should go and accompanied him to the steps. The business tycoon was sporting and amicable, joining Dato Khadijah effortlessly as she sang 'Last Dance' by Donna Somner. He danced and did a jig on stage and brought the roof down by singing along. I saw quite a few guests giving him a standing ovation.

All Glitterama ladies sang 'Friends' in Cantonese and 'We Are the World' followed by the cheque presentation of RM 320,000 on stage with the bosses and trustees from Yayasan Nanyang Press.

WELL DONE LADIES AND ALSO WE MUST THANK THEIR HUSBANDS FOR THEIR PATIENCE AS EACH TIME THEY TURNED AROUND TO LOOK FOR THEIR WIVES, THEY HAVE LEFT THE HOUSE FOR MEETINGS AND REHEARSALS!

The End