Kota Kinabalu: Singer Dato’ Khadijah Ibrahim gave Sabah vocalists and musicians a chance to showcase their talents at the Majlis Makan Malam Amal Legends Charity Gala Concert at the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) Friday night.
“The move was to enable local artistes, who have performed before, to make a comeback or gain new exposure towards uplifting their profile,” she said.
For this reason, Khadijah, known for her powerful live performances, invited budding saxophonist Zara Goh-Flintoft, among others, to perform at the concert.
The 17-year-old Zara is a Senior Two student of Kian Kok Middle School.
“Zara and I performed together at one concert in Sabah in 2024. She has the potential to grow as a musician. This time around, I am giving her the opportunity to share the stage with other Malaysian legends, including Dato’ Hattan and Dato’ Ramli Sarip. The experience is a good resume,” she said.
With a repertoire of about 300 songs, performing solo at government, public and private events since 2023, Zara captivated the audience when she played “Sinaran”, a timeless hit (popularised by Malaysia’s Queen of Jazz Dato’ Sheila Majid), on her saxophone. Sheila is the first Malaysian artiste to break into Japan’s music scene. First released in 1986, she made “Sinaran” the first Malay song to top charts on Radio Sappora in Tokyo.
Khatijah said she is planning to hold another concert most likely in July 2027 as a tribute to the late music maesro Tan Sri Ahmad Nawab.
At the Concert, Khatijah serenaded the audience with her rendition of “Sabah Menanti”, also composed by Ahmad Nawab. Since 1978, the songstress has created 19 albums in Malay and English, including her international hit “Malaysia Truly Asia” (composed by Ahmad Nawab), which became the tourism anthem for Malaysia.
Part of the proceeds from the concert would be channelled to the Welfare Fund of Persatuan Karyawan Malaysia (Malaysian Artistes Association).
