KUALA LUMPUR: Death is something that everyone faces and the end is always an emotional journey for those left behind.
“Daddy passed away but we don’t have any money to bury him. What can we do Datuk, we don’t have any money at all.”
This was an unfortunate incident that veteran artiste Datuk Irwan Shah Abdullah, popularly known as DJ Dave, remembers clearly to this day.
The 70-year-old Masa Yang Lepas Takkan Kembali singer said that the distressing episode, which took place almost a decade ago, was of the death of a popular local singer whose sudden passing had caught his wife and young children off guard and put them in a fix.
Aside from having to deal with the grief, the family members had to deal with the added stressful burden of not knowing where to get the funds to manage the burial of their loved one.
“That dark moment made me think hard and I realised that a foundation had to be established to take care of the welfare of artistes and deal with issues such as this,” said Dave.
The chairman of Yayasan Kebajikan Artis Tanahair (YKAT) added: “Not everyone would necessarily have the funds to manage matters involving the deceased. That particular incident had taught me to strive to create more awareness amongst our artistes in order to start saving and to take certain measures before our time comes.”
One of the foundation’s programmes to help artistes is the Khairat Kematian YKAT funeral expenses plan.
With the aim of generating more awareness for the social responsibility effort for artistes, Dave announced that a special event will be held on Friday (Dec 7) at 2pm in Tune Hotel along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman.
The veteran artiste added that all arts practitioners, from singers and actors to musicians and dancers, are invited to come for a special talk during the event.
At the upcoming event, attendees will be able to receive a host of benefits after signing up for membership with an annual fee of RM100 per year.
Some of the aid for artistes include RM1,500 for burial fees, Badal Haji (Hajj by proxy service) fee, RM3,000 donation to heirs, RM10,000 to heirs (for death by accidents), an invalidity pension scheme of up to RM10,000 (for partial disability) and an overall package worth RM6,000.
“Death is inevitable and no one knows when each of us will pass on. But we should be prepared so that when our time comes, our family members will not have any added grief in order to acquire the funds needed to manage the various burial proceedings.
“I hope that our artistes from the various creative fields will show support and attend this significant talk,” said Dave.
For more details, call Samiyah at 019-9883172.