On 22 February, the North Hall in the Cempaka Cheras campus was filled with intensity and pressure that was unavoidable; it was the day of the much anticipated Cempaka Voices in Concert, to celebrate Cempaka’s silver anniversary.

With the microphones in place and hall set up, a final run through was done. At 6 pm, all the performers and production team gathered for a pep talk by the teachers. Sadly, we lost a family member, our beloved Dato Pilus. Though sadness filled the hearts of everyone involved in this event, the show still went on as usual under the encouragement from Puan Farah.

The first number was entitled, ‘Sing’, which was sung by Abigail Chew, Farah Diyanah and the Cempaka Voices from Damansara. Next, was a vocal solo by Leon Ang who sang ‘She’, accompanied with a violin solo by Wong Lee En and a little dance by the dancers from Damansara. After that was a solo by the young Abigail Chew, who sang ‘Tomorrow’ and ‘Somewhere Out There’, capturing the hearts of the audience. Ms Ho Chi Mei, the vocal teacher of Cempaka Cheras, sang ‘The Prayer’, accompanied by a violin solo by Mr Andrew Chan. A vocal solo by our dear Mandarin teacher, Mrs Leong, was certainly blew everyone away. Leon Ang, one of the soloists, proved to be multi-talented as he also performed a guitar solo to perfection, accompanied by Anthony Rahulan Vijaykumar, who tap-danced. Our dear Farah Diyanah performed a nice Malay song, entitled ‘Getaran Jiwa’. Cempaka Voices from both Cheras and Damansara also performed that night, with an Oriental version of the school song sung by the Damansara group.

As a preview to our newest addition to the growing string of Cempaka Schools, the Cempaka International Ladies’ College (CILC), Julie Chan Nuo En sang its signature song called ‘Hardest Part Of Love’ which highlights the love of our parents who made lots of sacrifices for us. Next, was a number by Claudillea Holloway, Veronica Chia, Farah Diyanah and Julie Chan Nuo En again, singing harmoniously to ‘You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman’. The orchestra also delivered a lovely number featuring ‘Mamma Mia’ and ‘Money Money Money’ by the ever famous ABBA. Veronica Chia, one of the soloists, also had her share of glory singing ‘Over the Rainbow’ acapella. Next, Leon Ang, Jes Ebrahim, Julie Chan, and Veronica Chia again, sang ‘You Raise Me Up’ and ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ which was certainly one of the highlights of the evening. Claudillea Holloway’s solo went next. She sang ‘She Moves Through the Fair’ with much intoxication that left the crowd spellbound. ‘Firedance’ was next, which was a dance number by the Cheras dancers and our dear dance teacher Ms Judimar Hernandez. ‘Con Te Partiro’ was suitably the last number translated in English meant ‘Time to Say Goodbye’ sung by Claudillea Holloway and Leon Ang. This song really challenged their vocals and left many impressed. They were backed up by both the Cempaka Voices from Damansara and Cheras. The finale ‘Celebration’ concluded the show with a bang!

The concert was a success as everything went smoothly from start to end. Everyone rejoiced with many congratulations filling the hall. All our distinguished guests applauded the young talents of Cempaka.