Four Goducate musicians from Laguna, Philippines, had the wonderful experience of being flown to Singapore to perform for an audience of 900 people. The occasion was the 20th anniversary of MHC Ltd, a loyal and generous Goducate sponsor.
MHC, a third-party administrator that connects general practitioners, human-resource departments, and medical insurers, has adopted Goducate as its corporate social responsibility. For its 20th anniversary dinner, it decided to bring the four musicians to provide some of the entertainment. MHC also invited a team of nine Filipino Goducate teachers serving in Indonesia to sing at the dinner.
The Goducate music program in Laguna started as a means of attracting street-kids back to school, but it took off so well that the students were soon leaning other instruments. There are now over 200 people in the program, which includes a senior and junior orchestra. The program caught the eye of Channel News Asia, which in 2011 produced a 2-part feature on the orchestra in its Once Upon A Village series.
The music program now has a Singapore-based director, who will be going over periodically to Laguna to conduct music camps. While the musicians were here, apart from rehearsals for the anniversary dinner, they also received special music lessons.
In Laguna the musicians play at various events, and some give music lessons. We hope that the experience they gained in Singapore will encourage them to seek even more performing engagements back home, thus fulfilling Goducate’s aim of helping needy Asians help themselves.
