AWARD-WINNING singer-cum-songwriter Faizal Tahir, who recently became an ambassador for the government’s Skim Latihan 1Malaysia (SL1M), has a new task on his hand.
It involves him giving motivational talks in universities .
“Next month, I’ll begin the nationwide tour to universities.
“As an ambassador, I will share my experience as a self-made musician with job-seeking students.
“My goal is to get them to believe in themselves and not give up on achieving their career dreams.
“I believe that perseverance, coupled with positive thinking, is the key to achieving one’s dreams. If we have that ‘can do’ spirit and confidence in ourselves, we can get what we want,” said the 39-year-old.
The scheme, launched last month, sees the involvement of more than 100 companies.
“It seeks to help unemployed youth find jobs and provide them with skills training so that they can contribute to the economy.
Faizal said he would share his songs, which contain elements of motivation and perseverance, with the students.
“I hope my songs will help them cope with challenges and spur them to succeed.”
He is one of several artistes appointed as ambassadors for SL1M.
The other is comedy trio Zero, comprising brothers Syaiful, Kadir and Kunal Doli Sharif.
Faizal, who has four albums, said his musical direction remained the same, despite talk that he had given up pop-rock music to focus on spiritual and religious music themes.
“While I’m increasingly passionate about songs with humanitarian and spiritual qualities, I’ll continue to sing pop-rock tunes since these are the songs that kick-started my career more than a decade ago,” said Faizal at a meet-and-greet session with young fans as beverage Horlicks’ new brand ambassador at Mydin Supermarket in Subang Jaya recently.
He will come up with pop songs that contain humanitarian messages.
“I go for songs that have great impact, as these send positive messages to listeners. Music not only heals the soul, but also changes people for the better,” said Faizal, who is promoting his album Anatomi Faizal Tahir, released last year.
The father of six recently spent a week hosting a spiritual television documentary in Jakarta, Indonesia, about the life and mission of the Nine Saints of Java, or Wali Songo.
“Made for Indonesian TV, it is an interesting project because it opened my eyes about how missionaries from Malaysia and Indonesia had worked together for a common spiritual cause.”
He last hosted a TV show in 2007 when he joined Fara Fauzana and Putri Andreanna Syigim in presenting TV3’s reality talent search GangStarz for TV3.