AHMAD A. TALIB/Pahit Manis
Bob Geldof — music for humanity, justice

2009/11/22

WHILE many of Sir Bob Geldof’s fans may be excited about his new album expected to be released in January, I for one am more excited about his next charity concert. Geldof was in Kuala Lumpur last week to speak at the Youth Engagement Summit, a gathering of youth leaders from Southeast Asia. He may have millions of fans all over the world, but I believe Geldof is better knownas a charity concert organiser extraordinaire than a rock ‘n’ roll star.

To me, it was his reputation as the organiser of two world concerts that’s far more exciting and meaningful.

According to published records, Geldof was so moved by television pictures of widespread suffering in famine-stricken Ethiopia that it led him to establish the pop charity Band Aid trust in 1984.

It was also in 1984 that he first visited Africa. In his book Geldof in Afr ica, he wrote: “I stumbled through Africa. I staggered through the insouciance of the capital cities.

“I see-sawed between the passive and sometimes criminally stupid rationale of the government administrators and the often-patronising whining of the ‘old hand’ aid agency headquarters and on into the grinding despair and grief of the affected areas.

Bob Geldof speaking with Media Prima chairman Datuk Johan Jaaffar (right) and managing director Datuk Amrin Awaluddin when he visited Sri Pentas in Kuala Lumpur last Tuesday.

“We shuttled between war zone and desert, famine and refugees, pomp and degradation, reason and chaos, sublimity and absurdity.” Together with several hundred youths, I sat through his talk at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre.

“He was awesome,” a man from one of the youth organisations said.

An interview was arranged for me the next day, but this had to be cancelled when he made an unscheduled visit to Sri Pentas in Kuala Lumpur last Tuesday.

On the music scene today, Geldof said it was a lot more competitive than ever. “Music has moved so fast that anyone wanting to break through has found it to be a lot tougher.

“Today, if your first single doesn’t work, you’re over.” Which is why, I thought, many musicians put their songs on the Net hoping that one day they would be discovered, leading to fame and fortune.

When is his next world concert? Alas, Geldof is not organising any more concerts. I found this out from a third party and published accounts, and from what he told the audience in Putrajaya.

“We need to move from charity (Band Aid, Live Aid) to political and economic justice. Charity deals with the pain of poverty, the hunger, disease and conflict.

“But to finally end these things, one must focus not on the symptoms of poverty but on its structures.

“Why does it exist? Howdoes it exist? What can we do to stop it and its awful symptoms? That can only be addressed by political change.”

SUREN’S DRIVE TO SUCCEED

SUREN was what he was called when we first became friends way back in 1971.

His full name is Surendran Koren, but it was Suren to us. There were about 70 of us who were selected to be trained as casino croupiers in the Chow Kit Road area.We never got beyond the roulette wheel and blackjack tables at the training school.

After three months, and paid about RM400 a month, we were told that there was not going to be a second casino in Malaysia after Genting.

Some applied for and got a job with Genting, but Suren and I decided to seek our fortunes elsewhere.

Suren sold educational books. One day, he came to me trying to sell reference books, dictionaries and a set of encyclopaedias. He sat me down and made me do some basic tests.

The conversation went something like this: Suren: “I want to sell you some books. But before that, here’s a small test for you. Just a friendly one, don’t worry.”

Myself: “Alamak, matilah. Try me then.”

Suren: “Tell me what’s wrong with this sentence, if any. ‘The man and his family went up to Genting to have a holiday irregardless of the badweather report’.”

I sat thinking and finally answered: “Hoi, Suren! There’s no such word as ‘ir regardless’. The correct word is ‘re - gardless’. Am I correct?”

Suren: “Yes, betul, betul...” I didn’t buy any of his books but he went on to sell quite a lot.

We went our separate ways, until we met recently by chance. How times have changed. I let Suren tell his own stor y: “It was a case of a negative situation turning out to be positive.

“I was retrenched from the position of marketing manager in a well-established foreign company in 1989 and was determined that I would be my own boss.

“I started a corporate gift business.

For the first six months or so, I operated using my friend’s office phone number and address as my base.

“My driving forcewas my obsession to earn my last-drawn salary within six months. And I did just that.

“There has been no turning back since andmy company now can claim to be fairly respected and recognised in the industry.

“We have progressed over the years and a major portion of our business now comprises apparels (corporate shirts, T-shirts and caps).

“Our regular clients include Po s Malaysia, Proton, EON, Toyota, Questnet and Halliburton.

“We are very proud of being appointed the official apparel supplier to the Bahrain International Circuit, the Porsche Carrera Cup Series Asia and Middle East and five teams in the A1 GP Series.

“Like most companies, we, too, are facing tough times but we are confident that we will come out of these difficult times even stronger.”

Suren has always striven to overcome obstacles. He has done very well, and I hope his business will continue to grow.

He spoke about his chance meeting with foreign clients at the Sepang F1 race where he was a volunteer.

That meeting has now given Suren the break internationally.

People like Suren ought to be emulated, unlike the other “entrepreneur” I met who’s about to give up because he can’t get along with his associates, including the people who gave him his breaks in the first place.

Good luck, Suren. I’m sure you’ll do even better in the coming years.

The writer is also a blogger at ahmadatalib.blogspot.com and can be reached at ahmadt51@gmail.com