A Date With Selena Gomez

I WAS at the Selena Gomez The Revival Tour 2016 concert at Malawati Stadium in Shah Alam on Monday night. 
Yes, me. No, I’m not a fan, just an aunty who was there to chaperone my niece and her friend, who she invited to come along as my nephew decided not to go because he had to prepare for his examination. 
I believe I was not alone in doing that. I saw parents with their children and guardians with their wards at the concert. Some made it an all-girls’ night, as like my niece puts it, “not all boys like Selena Gomez’s songs”. But there are those who dragged their husbands and boyfriends. 
The national anthem was played before the start of the concert. 
The multiracial crowd sang the Negara Ku with such gusto. It was a night of screams. When the lights came on, the girls screamed. When it was off, there was another round of screams. The same thing happened when a band member took his position on stage. When Selena finally appeared on stage, the crowd went wild. 
Our seats were located behind the Pit Zone (standing room only), which was in front of the stage. So, when the concert started, there was no way we could see the stage if we remained seated behind the Pit Zone. We resorted to standing on the chairs instead, only I (and some of the other adults) did that for the first half of the show. I remembered that the last time I stood on a chair was in Standard Four when I couldn’t remember the lines in a poem in Mrs D’Cruz’s English class. It was a torture, not only having to stand the entire period of English class but having to stand on a chair. 
We sang and danced and when Selena sang a Eurythmics’ classic, Sweet Dreams, the adults were on their feet and singing along. That was probably the only song we could relate to that night. 
Selena was dressed in a black long-sleeved turtleneck and loose silk pants during the first few songs. She then changed into a gold sequin midi dress that was bared at the back and two songs later, she was in a sleeveless black top and pants and a cardigan of sorts until the end of the show. 
It was a wholesome fun night for the concert goers. 
And what was so wrong with that? Most importantly, Selena was dressed and conducted herself appropriately and not provocatively as per the Communications and Multimedia Ministry’s guidelines on application for filming and performance by foreign artistes. 
And, I believe the members of the Central Committee for Application for Filming and Performance by Foreign Artistes attending the concert — under the guidelines, the concert organiser has to allocate 20 tickets and any number of passes to the committee for the purpose of monitoring — saw that the Revival Tour concert met the ministry’ requirements. 
Well, some 20-odd men — reported to be members of Pertubuhan Kebajikan Darul Islah Malaysia — didn’t think so, even before the concert took place. One of them, using the loudhailer, told the concert-goers, especially the Malay crowd, why they should not go to the concert. We also saw them while walking towards the car park after the concert ended. We read later that they held hajat prayers and recited the Yassin outside the stadium. 
And, I have a feeling that some quarters were disappointed that no untoward incident happened. I don’t know what they had achieved that night but I thought it was a cheap stunt at getting publicity. 
The ministry defines entertainment as, one, a happy, joyful, pleasant and peaceful feeling that a person experiences as a result of something; two, an art, ability and capability to entertain and provide satisfaction in any reasonable manner to delight anyone; and three, an artistic and cultural performance exhibited and performed before an audience. 
Now, why shouldn’t we support the entertainment/music industry as an extension of the tourism sector? 
Currently, its potential as a revenue earner to the country is generally ignored. Concert organisers, for example, have to make payment of the foreign artiste’s withholding tax (the rate of withholding tax is 15 per cent of the foreign artiste’s gross income) to the Inland Revenue Board. And there are other fees to be paid, too, to the authorities. 
Also, if the concert is held only in Malaysia, there is a likelihood that those in neighbouring countries would travel here to catch the show, like what some of us do when there are international stars performing either in Jakarta or Singapore. That would definitely translate into tourism ringgit as the foreigners would be spending on food and accommodation and maybe a spot of shopping while they are here. 
It was reported that an estimated 10 million people travel internationally each year for the main purpose of watching or participating in a music or cultural festival. In the UK, for example, music tourism alone contributed £3 billion to the British economy in 2014. 
As such, we should facilitate the concert organisers, not make it difficult, for them to bring in the foreign artistes for their own solo concerts or to be part of a music event. 
Furthermore, music is also a powerful way of connecting people if we know how to utilise it.

SAKIT TUA?

My mother celebrated her 75th birthday in late December last year. Other than diabetes, which is under control for the past few months with her blood sugar reading hovering between five and 6mmol/L (milimole per litre), she is in good health. My brother and his daughter accompany her whenever she goes for her medical check-ups at the government hospital. 
But, of late, she has been complaining of aches and pains. She cannot be on her feet for too long or else her ankles would be bloated. We gave her a cane to aid her walking. When she had trouble adjusting to the cane, we gave her a walker. Whenever we are out with her, we try to get her to use a wheelchair for ease of movements. But, she is more comfortable being left at home instead. 
Now staying at home has it disadvantages. You see, she watches television and reads newspapers. And, more often than not, she would zero in on the advertisements and commercials for the so-called local health supplements. 
I have asked her to seek the doctor’s advice on these local supplements. “Nenek did ask the doctor. The doctor told nenek not to waste her money on them,” Mysara, the granddaughter, reported. 
The doctor’s advice has turned on deaf ears. My mother is taken in by the users’ testimonials. She would give Mysara money to buy these supplements. “Others have tried them and they work. I want to try them to see if them work,” she would say. So, Mysara would buy these local health supplements to humour the grandmother. 
And, these products are not exactly cheap. A bottle of what I believe is just a fruit concentrate but hyped up as a health supplement costs about RM200. My mother’s biggest “investment” thus far is a RM1,500 blanket which is said to be good for the joints. She stopped using it after hardly a week, claiming that it has not worked its said miracle. I have asked my relatives and friends not to pitch any supplements or products to my mother. While it may work for them, it may not work for her. 
Why do you think our elders are easily suckered into buying these products? Probably because of the promises these local health supplement producers are giving to potential buyers. 
A promise of being able to perform the prayers the normal way after taking the supplement, for example, would go down well with those who had to resort to sitting on a chair to do this. I can understand how my mother feels being helpless. I have twice being in that position; once in 1989 after a knee operation and the other two years ago when I fell and chipped the humerus bone on my right hand. 
Because she cannot walk without being aided by a cane or walker, she could no longer potter around the house like she used to. She can no longer cook because cooking would mean having to be on her feet. She cannot help hang the laundry at the balcony. She cannot help to water the plants as the watering can is too heavy for her. 
This Raya, I can feel her frustration of not being able to cook. I took over the kitchen duties and cooked the rendang, kuah kacang and harissa. She has even told her brother and sister not to visit because she would not be able to entertain large number of guests on the first day of Syawal. 
That is why I believe she and many others like here are ever willing to be a guinea pig for these products if they are made to think that they can be well after consuming or using them. 
My mother has actually stopped asking us to buy her any of these supplements after I told her that a colleague's mother was admitted to the hospital for kidney failure after consuming a certain health product. 
Yes, some friends are facing the same problem with their mothers. And, somehow, it is only the mothers, not the fathers, who are attracted to these health supplements. A friend remarked, “Fathers have embraced ageing. Mothers have not.” 
Whatever that ails our parents now are actually age-related. We can see the physical, psychological and social changes in them. In fact, the doctor has referred my mother to an eye specialist for what he had termed as “macular degeneration of the eyes”. 
Ageing is among the greatest known risk factors for most human diseases. It has been reported that of the 150,000 people who die each day across the globe, about two-thirds die from age-related causes. 
The Malays has a term for it. It is called sakit tua, only tua or old is not a penyakit or illness; it is simply old age.​