I was hit with a stroke of good luck just before I finished work on Friday when a colleague offered me two complimentary tickets for a live music concert to be held at Putra World Trade Center that night in Kuala Lumpur.

The concert was called Poems for the World: Love and Peace for All. What made it extra special to me was that it was a charity concert collaborated between Malaysia and Indonesia. People who know me will know that I love any joint ventures between Malaysia and Indonesia, especially if music is involved! I definitely could not miss this event.

Even more exciting was the fact that two of my favorite female Indonesian artists will be performing; I had so long wanted to see Ruth Sahanaya and Reza sing live! I just never thought I'd get to see them at such short notice and in the same show at that!

Getting to KL from Petaling Jaya was a bitch that Friday night; the massive jam almost made me want to turn back around and go home. However the thought of seeing Ruth and Reza singing live kept me sane and determined. I carried on through the thick jam that was starting to ease up after bypassing the exit to Bangsar.

Arriving at PWTC

As I dropped off my name card at the media registration table and met up with my friend Lissa, I felt someone gently tapping my shoulder. I turned around and there stood DJ KC Ismail and his lovely wife. We heartily greeted each other and vigorously shook hands as it had been a while since we last talked.

(If you come to concerts in Kuala Lumpur that feature Indonesian artists and you do not see KC Ismail or Fairy Mahdzan around, then something is definitely amiss.)

Poems for the World's goals that night were to spread messages of peace and love via music and poetry, a humble and artistic offering of salvation from the troubles that are overwhelming our muddled world of today.

The tickets for admission ranged between RM80-RM200 of which some were to be donated to children who could not afford to go to school.

Despite the relatively high ticket prices, there were quite a handful of youngsters lingering around in the lobby before the show started. I was certain that most of these youngsters had come to see Nico Saputra and Dian Sastro of Ada Apa Dengan Cinta, the phenomenal and most successful teenage Indonesian movie ever made so far.

The two young Indonesian stars were going to recite poetry that night.

I entered the concert hall only to find out that we had the most horrid seats in the house: right at the left side the hall where we couldn't even see the stage properly as it was blocked by sky-scraping stage props! (No wonder these sorts of seats are assigned complimentary tickets.)

As the lights dimmed however, the lot of us who were assigned these wretched seats started trickling into the empty chairs in the middle to get a better view of the stage.

The Agung (King) of Malaysia was present at this concert, indicating just how extremely high profiled it was. As the King entered the hall, we had to stand up as a sign respect. A string of formal addresses to the King came gushing out of the MC's mouth as the Royalty was majestically escorted to his seat.

Here is a review of what I considered the pinnacle acts of the night.

The Concert Kicks Off

Zainal Abidin

It was during this act that everyone sat up in their seats, clearly jolted and pleasantly awakened by this energetic performance. I like Zainal Abidin, he truly is one of Malaysia's finest performers with the best music in town. He is best known for his singles in the early 1990s such as mother earthy Hijau and heartwarming Jauh.

Zainal Abidin made the audience roar with laughter when he did an impersonation of colleague and singer Ruth Sahanaya (Uthe). Before the concert Uthe was apparently conversing with Zainal about her going ballistic with the mega sale that was taking place this month in Malaysia.

For the audience, Zainal comically mimicked Ruth's Indonesian accent and reenacted the conversation: Gila Je'nal, sale di Malaysia sampai enam puluh perrrrsen, tujuh puluh perrrrsen, gilllaaak!!

Zainal then said he egged Uthe on about spending money in the country, after all the money would eventually come back to us Malaysians, he joked.

DALE LOKMAN

Dale Lokman also graduated from Ohio University as I did. I had first met him in person recently during our alumni gathering last month. He really is a funny chap and made us all laugh that night with his spontaneity of hilarious comments.

REZA ARTAMEVIA

Reza is a lovely woman with the most amazing vocals. She sang about four songs (if I remember correctly), among them Keabadian, Dia (a song first made popular by Indonesian Vina Panduwinata, then Malaysian Sheila Majid), and Cinta Kita from her third and latest album.

Biar Menjadi Kenangan is originally a duet with Reza and Japanese singer Masaki Ueda. That night she crooned the song with Malaysian acapella group VE.

Reza was truly an admirable entertainer, actively interacting with her audience. I would have screamed myself hoarse for her but you know with the King present and all, I had to behave more like a respectful professional than a lunatic fan.

RUTH SAHANAYA

I was thrilled when Ruth Sahanaya finally came on stage dressed in a very elegant white and sparkling outfit. To me she was one of the highlights of the show since she was the first Indonesian female artist I came to like when I first started listening to Indonesian music; I absolutely loved her ballads and fast beat songs.

Uthe's such a tiny person in real life! She couldn't have been more than 5 feet and one or two of inches tall perhaps. But don't let that small size fool you; this petite lady has a mesmerizing voice that can move mountains and seas.

Uthe started out with a slow ballad called Keliru, and then proceeded to blow her fans away with Tak Kuduga, which was a fast number from one of her 1980s album (which happens to be my favorite Uthe album).

Of course when she sang Kaulah Segalanya, the audience was at its highest level of racket and response for that is the song by which we all know her best.

My knees were worn out and flat by the time Uthe was done performing her numbers; I had been zipping back and forth from the stage stairs on my knee caps to get pictures of her and the other performers, making the other assigned photographers look like they were on holiday.

More pictures of Ruth Sahanaya

NICO SAPUTRA & DIAN SASTRO

Here's a scene where Nico and Dian are both clad in traditional Javanese costumes, reciting a poetry called Tanah Air with traditional Javanese music playing in the background.

I thought Nico looked handsome in his Jawa outfit. I could see Dian profusely sweating it out in her tight kebaya wear however. I know how darn hot those spotlights can get and being stuck in tight baju kebaya isn't exactly the best way to ventilate one's body!

More pictures of Nico and Dian

Finale

For the finale, the artists went into this whole Michael Jackson and Friends personification with their own rendition of We Are the World.

I had a very good time at this concert. For the whole course of the show, every performer spoke either in Bahasa Malaysia or Bahasa Indonesia depending on which country they were representing, which I thought was just lovely.

It felt warm to know that both Malaysia and Indonesia shared a common language and culture since there are very few countries in the world which shared these qualities.

Let there be love and peace for all!