by Emily Gun
Malaysian Mirror
PETALING JAYA - Alfred Ho is a blogger. Reading his postings makes you realise he is an articulate man. Reading them also makes you feel despondent.
For he writes about the hurdles he – and other people like him - has to overcome in living a life as best as he can under the circumstances.
Alfred, you see, is blind.
But he has been blessed with a musical mind and has found his calling as a singer cum guitarist.
“I have been in this profession for more than 20 years now and my forte is singing the old western favourites. I also sing in several Chinese dialects, including Spanish and several languages. I mainly do the pub circuits and perform at company and wedding functions,” he wrote on his blog, which has not been updated since November 2007.
Drop by a pub sometime and if you are lucky, you might catch Alfred in action, playing a few mean tunes and getting the crowd all worked up.
You might even find old folks hitting the dance floor to do the twist, as if creaky, calcium-deficit bones are nothing more than a figment of the imagination.
His passion for singing was stoked in part by Cliff Richard, whose earlier tunes like Y'arriva, Catch me and Tell me has shaped his musical direction.
If you don’t know by now, Alfred has a penchant for singing songs from the 50s to 70s by such legends as Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan and Elton John.
In today’s world dominated by rap, hip hop and pop fluff, such oldies still has an entrenched following.
I decided to catch him performing one night in a Petaling Jaya bistro. I went in with no preconceptions whatsoever. Guess what, I enjoyed myself enormously. He hit the right chords in my book, singing John Denver’s Leaving on a Jet Plane, my all-time favourite. He also had me giggling to the funny nuances of a Hokkien song.
All in all, it was a great night out.
Despite all the well-meaning government and private campaigns to promote a caring society, the truth is society is made up of people who are largely self-absorbed. When you are disabled, the lack of concern and consideration shown is glaring and hurtful.
Alfred has been through the grind and knows first-hand the prejudices and discrimination he had to face as an employee and as a citizen standing up for his rights and what he perceived as social injustices.
He can rattle off a long list of employers who have been less than kindly to him over the years and who have attempted to limit his career opportunities at every turn. To him, many politicians are no better in treating those who are disabled.
Once upon a time, he had to soldier on alone. But the burden is made more bearable now with wife Rufina Baptist, by his side.
Rufina, who is partially sighted, is his pillar of strength. Alfred also finds music to be a balm that eases the pain of a blind man living a life with all its imperfections.
Despite the challenges, Alfred has not come this far to be defeated by an unfair world.
He will continue to stand up for what he believes is just and right. And he will keep on crooning the evergreens for that is his calling.
* If you are interested to have Alfred Ho drop by to jazz up the mood of your event, get in touch with him at alfredho.music@gmail.com or call him at 03-7984 8560 or 016-635 9800 .
Last Updated on Sunday, 23 August 2009 18:35
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