Kota Kinabalu: Sabah music education developer Datuk Dr Peter Chua aspires to bring down the cost of music education so that everybody can enjoy music.
The founder of Music Hive said the initiative was spurred by the shortage of music teachers, particularly in rural schools.
Hence, he introduced the AI Tutor programme to bring music education to schools, enabling everybody to learn music, including those in old folks’ homes and other institutions.
The teaching instruments include piano, focusing on contemporary music, classical repertoire as well as traditional music, which is currently not widely available, he said.
“Compared to other online programmes, you learn by yourself. But with AI Tutor, we have 3,000 pieces of music in our library,” said Chua during a content creators and influencers workshop at the Sabah International Convention Centre.
“And we also prepare students for the UK-accredited certificate examination,” he added.
At the same time, he said they are also trying to create a gig economy by sharing this music education business model.
The most crucial part of the development is to establish an AI Music Research Centre in Sabah, with the paperwork expected to begin in 2027.
“We want to produce three research papers, beginning with setting up a global AI music examination board, probably the first in the world.
“We are also looking at our heritage, such as bringing P. Ramlee songs into our system. We already have Malaysian children’s folk songs.
“We are trying to work with Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (Jakim) to incorporate Islamic devotional songs into the system.
“So we hope that the government will support our ambition to set up the research centre, and we are targeting three years to make it a reality,” said Chua.
He said they also need to work with a couple of universities as partners.
They also need to obtain approval from the relevant ministries to collaborate on the project, he added.
Although the location of the centre has yet to be decided, they aspire to establish it in Sabah because of the state’s rich cultural heritage, with more than 52 ethnic groups, he said.
“So we can carry out a lot of research. For example, bamboo music, kompang and other traditional music can be incorporated into the AI system,” he said.
The research will be headed by Music Dream Beijing Technology Co Ltd founder Gan Quan, an AI expert, he said.
Gan has created eight music patents, developed 39 software copyrights and won the National Chinese Award for seven consecutive years.
Chua said he would partner with Gan to establish the AI Music Research Centre in Sabah and develop an AI music examination board.
The collaboration was formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding signed by Gan and Distinctone Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Dr Janet Lee during the workshop.
The signing ceremony was witnessed by former Kota Kinabalu Municipal Council president and former Malaysian Head of Mission to Taiwan Datuk Adeline Leong.
Gan said he hoped to use the company’s data and expertise to work with Malaysia to develop the AI research centre.
“Malaysia will be the starting point before expanding into other Asean markets,” said Gan.
