They were bringing home the popular Brazilian footwear brand for family members, though not for their only daughter, 24-year-old Pin Xiu.

The couple both 61, were in Rio where they watched her compete in last Thursday’s (Friday morning, Singapore time) 50m backstroke S2 event, where she became the first Singaporean to win multiple gold medals at the same Games.

Chee Khiong, a businessman, recalled how it was Pin Xiu’s inability to keep a pair of flip-flops on her feet that was the first hint something was amiss. At two, the toddler was unable to grip the straps with her toes or flex her foot fully.

Pin Xiu was taken to a doctor, and had surgery to release what were thought to be tight tendons, but the doctor noticed that her muscles did not seem to be growing even after the cast had been removed.

Medical tests confirmed she had muscular dystrophy, a genetic muscle-wasting illness, and that there was no cure.

Tears still well up in Mum’s eyes now as she recalls how upset she was when they were told the news.

“I was worried about her future and about things such as whether people would want to make friends with her,” she said.

“The doctor advised us to let her be active to remain mobile for as long as possible.”

Looking back now, their fears were unfounded, said Margaret, a senior officer with Singapore Airlines.

Pin Xiu has a group of close friends who are athletes and she is as independent as any able-bodied person, even as her condition continues to deteriorate.

Perhaps the water called to her as a kinder place than land. In any case, at age five, she asked for lessons after watching her two older brothers learn their strokes in the pool. Alvin, 31, now works in finance and Augustus, 29, is an engineer.

Alvin said his sister is “extremely thoughtful”, recalling how she made time to accompany his pregnant wife to hospital daily in June when he was overseas.

“We knew she was tired from her training twice a day, but she still went anyway, which helped put my wife at ease,” he said.

“I rushed from the airport to visit my wife and newborn and saw that Pin Xiu was still there even though she had morning training in a few hours’ time.”

Sunday mornings became about family time at the pool at the Kallang Bahru Swimming Complex. It was here that the future champion first tasted failure – she could not complete a swim test, at half the distance done by others, in the stipulated time. Disappointed, she wept.

But still, she pressed on. When the complex was closed for renovation, she continued lessons at Jalan Besar, where a sports volunteer spotted her talent. A few months later, she was entered in the national junior para championships, where she won gold in all of her six events.

By then, Pin Xiu was swimming two hours every night on weekdays. Her dad would drive her there and back, and she would have dinner in the car.

But as Pin Xiu became faster in the pool, she grew weaker on land.

At four, she needed an ankle-foot orthotic brace to assist her with walking. By 12, she had to hold on to the wall or a friend’s shoulder to steady herself while walking with the brace.

By the time she enrolled in Bendemeer Secondary School, she was in a wheelchair.

The family is grateful that she was well taken care of in school, with teachers giving her access to a staff toilet that was bigger and could accommodate her wheelchair.

The reigning Straits Times ‘Athlete of the Year’ has said in past interviews that she was bullied in school, but her mother could only remember the kindness of classmates who helped carry her and her wheelchair up the stairs to class.

The Yips never thought as far ahead as the Paralympics. But they knew she had something special.

When Pin Xiu won the 100m backstroke S2 on Sept 9, she set two world records in the process.

She had also won the nation’s first Paralympic gold in 2008 in Beijing in the 50m back S3, as well as silver in the 50m freestyle S3.

Four years later, she finished fourth in both events in London.

Yet, even as their daughter grew from strength to strength in the pool, the Yips had their own Olympic-sized quest.

Margaret said their greatest challenge was the ceaseless quest to find someone who could cure her or help her live as full a life as possible.

For Pin Xiu, trips to clinics and hospitals were almost as routine as time in the pool. The Yips sought help from mainstream treatment to traditional cures and Pin Xiu obediently downed bitter concoctions and allowed herself to have almost-daily leg massages.

She took it all in her stride.

“She will just do whatever you say can help her legs,” says her mum.

It was Pin Xiu’s medical bills and not her swim training and competition expenses — most of which are paid for by the Singapore Disability Sports Council — which have been the greatest burden on their finances, one they bear willingly.

Mindful of their daughter’s happiness, the Yips were never stressed about how training could affect Pin Xiu’s studies. Swimming took precedence over school in 2008, the year she sat her O levels.

Margaret said: “I told her if she didn’t do well, she could just repeat the exam.”

She did well enough to become a sports and health student at Republic Polytechnic.

This year, she deferred her final-year studies at the Singapore Management University to concentrate on preparing for the Rio Games. Her mother said she would have graduated in July otherwise.

By giving their talented and single-minded child the space to think and make choices for herself, Pin Xiu’s parents have encouraged her independence. In fact, the soft-spoken pair are hard-pressed to think of instances when she needs help around the house.

Margaret finally thinks of something: Sometimes Pin Xiu needs items in her wardrobe she cannot reach. “She may tell me in advance what clothes she’ll like to wear the next day and where these are exactly, so I can get them for her.”

She also needs help getting into her tricky competition swimsuits, which her close friend and fellow swimmer, Theresa Goh, lends a hand with. Her waist-length hair is tucked into her swim cap by coach Mick Massey, who also holds her hands before the start of a race because she cannot hold the bar on her own.

But she gets around on her own by cab, is an expert at texting with her thumb and knuckles, and opens bottle caps using her palms.

A few months ago, she cooked her own meal and proudly sent pictures to her parents and brothers.

And she has done what most people never would, in reaching the pinnacle of her chosen sport.

Her parents, who were present at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium for Pin Xiu’s second final, say they could not have wished for more.

“Seeing my children so independent, I always tell them that I can close my eyes now and go,” says her mum.

Theresa Goh: Family Heartbreak Soothed

It was what the doctors could not say about the infant, rather than what they could say that caused her anxious parents far more anguish than anything else in the emerging crisis.

The baby girl, born two months premature, had been diagnosed with spina bifida, a neural tube defect in which the backbone protecting the spinal cord does not close as it should, causing a range of physical limitations.

Those were the harrowing moments that confronted Bernard Goh and his wife, Rose Mok, after the arrival of their first-born, Theresa, back in 1987.

There were the questions that had no immediate definitive answers for the couple: How severe was the physical disability? Would there be any allied intellectual hurdles? Could the nerve tissue be repaired? Would she need surgery? And what were the baby’s long-term prospects?

“We were shocked and didn’t know where to turn to in order to learn about spina bifida, since there was no Internet then,” recalled Bernard.

His wife teared up when this topic was raised, and turned away to compose herself.

The first-time parents’ heartbreak was compounded because, they said, doctors were not keen to take up Theresa’s case, and she was transferred from one hospital to another.

The family finally found a neurosurgeon who operated on the baby when she was four months old, closing the opening in her back, which had not fused as normal. However, defining the full extent of her medical condition was slow and — literally and metaphorically — extremely painful.

When she was about four, she was asleep in her cot in the living room when both parents heard a loud snapping sound. They realised that she had broken her thigh bone after her leg became caught between the railings of her cot.

By the time Theresa was seven, she had already endured 10 orthopaedic operations, some to correct the alignment of both club feet as well as to alleviate webbed fingers.

“Every bout of surgery she had was difficult for her, and for us. It was difficult for her to get used to injections,” recalled Bernard at the Windsor Barra Hotel in Rio de Janeiro during the Paralympics.

Defining the course of their daughter’s life was, in no small measure, her indomitable will. Despite being paralysed from the waist down and suffering from urinary and bowel dysfunction, she placed no limitations on her physical boundaries and — crucially — her parents supported her all the way.

When she was nine and wearing leg braces, Theresa asked her parents for permission to climb up a playground structure about 3-metres high. They did not have the heart to say no, but watched her like a hawk as she made her way up on her own, fuelled by raw courage.

“It is this freedom we gave her,” said Bernard, “that boosted her confidence over the years.”

The family grew, with the arrival of a sister and brother for Theresa. And despite frequent hospital trips for their eldest child, the parents made sure she was not spared punishment when she misbehaved.

“We tried not to differentiate between the three of them (in our parenting style). We helped her, but did not give in to her just because of her disability,” Rose said firmly.

Like most children, Theresa loved being put in the water, observed her mother. There was also the realisation that she needed to work on her upper body strength to compensate for her lower limbs.

When she was five, her father taught her a simple approach to the breaststroke which, not surprisingly, is her pet event. She began competing at 12 after being spotted by a sports volunteer at a public pool.

Theresa learnt the rules of competition the hard way when she was disqualified at a local swim meet after failing to touch the wall with both hands at both ends of the pool, recalled Bernard.

He and his wife firmly advocate the value of sport, especially for children with special needs. Bernard said: “Every child, able-bodied or disabled, has his or her unique strengths. With sports, (special-needs children) get more opportunities to meet up with friends and keep themselves busy. It really helps them socially, emotionally and mentally.”

While Theresa dabbled in other sports like wheelchair racing, archery and power-lifting over the years, no environment felt more like home to her than the swimming pool.

She set her first world record at 15 and another at 19. The three-time Singapore Disability Sports Council’s Sportswoman of the Year is also the country’s most decorated Asean Para Games athlete with 27 golds.

Theresa also became the first swimmer from Singapore to compete at the Paralympics, in Athens in 2004.

In 2007, deciding she could not juggle her polytechnic course and swim training, she dropped out to focus on training full-time for the Beijing Paralympics.

It was a fraught decision, said her mother, revealing that it was ” very difficult” for them, as parents, to agree to. They eventually relented, and let her quit school to concentrate on Beijing, where she came agonisingly came close to a podium finish in the 100m breaststroke SB4 event, only to miss the bronze by 0.74sec.

Her anguish was clear to her parents, who were in Beijing, witnessed the race and then took her out of the Athletes’ Village for dinner that evening, where they could sense her devastation.

Bernard said: “We avoided the topic altogether and she put up a brave front for us. We knew she felt she had let everybody down, but we were not disappointed with her.”

After that, Theresa laid off swimming for a year before returning to the pool. It was a wise decision, vindicated by her bronze medal in the same event in Rio last weekend.

No words were needed when Rose embraced her daughter after the victory ceremony at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium in Brazil, said the proud mother. “We just hugged; we didn’t have to say anything.”

No surprise, then, that the 29-year-old woman whose physical limitations are imposed by a faulty spinal column has proved that she has a backbone beyond compare.

If you have ever visited the Settha Palace hotel in Vientiane, you might have noticed a tiny shop called Caruso Lao. It displays the finest handmade wooden pieces trimmed with silver, along with silver and textile products. They are symbolic of Laos and are elegant and artistic, appealing to international tastes. A similar, larger shop can be found in Luang Prabang, also called Caruso Lao.

Each piece made by Caruso Lao reflects aspects of Lao culture and features unique designs, crafted to perfection by local master carvers.

“I wanted to make products that would attract foreign visitors and I wanted to make them completely Lao but of a quality that would satisfy international tastes, so that people from all over the world would want to take them home and display them as a very special souvenir of Laos,” said Sandra S. Yuck, the founder of Caruso Lao.

Sandra was born in Montreal, Canada, and has been living in Southeast Asia for over 30 years. Her Hong Kong-based career in fashion design and development has taken her all over the world.

In 1997, she moved to Laos, attracted by its natural beauty, the people and the culture. Since then, she has been working with talented local artisans to develop a handmade collection of high quality home accessories that combine function with elegance.

“When I first came to Laos, it was so amazing; the sky was so clear I could even imagine touching the stars. The country was very young, not much industry, no traffic jams, few hotels and restaurants. I felt that I loved this country and I would come back and I did so.”

Despite her years working with textiles and garments, she found that her passion lay more with artistic creations, so she decided to concentrate on this aspect of design.

On a quest to add other materials and skills to her collection she uncovered a pair of chopsticks made from black and white ebony.

She found the artisan who had made them and discovered that the wood was being used mainly to make charcoal and not for turning out decorative items.

“I was determined to change that and thus began my journey into wood accessories development, resulting in a lot of trial and error, in a collection of black and white ebony followed by various exotic types of wood, turned, carved and sculpted by hand.”

Today, Caruso Laos produces a broad range of fine wood products with silver and copper trim, as well as textiles and silver and copper home accessories.

“All of our products are designed by me and crafted in Laos. Our silks are hand-woven by local weavers. Our exclusive woods are indigenous to Laos and handcrafted by master carvers and turners,” Sandra said.

Caruso Lao currently employs 40 people, mostly local. “Many of them have been working with us for years, and they are good and skilled workers.

“Our main clients are from all over the world. Many people come here on holiday, go shopping and are craving for something interesting, which they find in our shop. They buy something from us and we can ship it for them,” she added.

“Our main clients are American, European, South American, Mexican, and Asian and we also have local clients who want high value souvenirs.

“The clients who buy my products always mail me when they want to buy more. We also have new designs all the time because we always have regular clients, so we need to have new designs for them.

“The products are designed to be used and also can be a home decoration at the same time,” Sandra said.

“We also deal with shipping, and can ship directly to clients in their home countries.”

The products are also on display in some luxury hotels in Vientiane, Luang Prabang and boutique shops in neighbouring countries. “Our main sales centre is in Luang Prabang, and in Vientiane, we have our office, arrange the shipping and have a workshop. By appointment, clients visit our showroom at our workshop in Vientiane.”

“We also have outlets in Thailand,” she added.

French pop-rock singer La Grande Sophie (real name Sophie Huriaux) demonstrated her love for the city by writing the song Hanoi, which has enchanted music lovers in Vietnam and France.

Last week, her song won her the award Bui Xuan Phai-For the love of Ha Noi that recognises the contributions of individuals and organisations to the capital’s cultural and societal development. The song was lauded by the jury as “it is deeply imbued with the singer’s love for Hanoi and spreads the love of this city to the Vietnamese people and to those across the world.”

When La Grande Sophie performed the song in Vietnam in December last year, she won the hearts of the locals who were touched by the love of a foreign person for their capital.

“I am extremely touched by this decision of the jury of the awards. I feel very honoured,” said the singer.

“What makes me very happy is to know that the inhabitants of Hanoi can identify themselves in the song. I love this city. The memories come back, I see myself again in the city,” she said.

“To celebrate this happy news, I’ll come to eat bun cha (noodles with grilled pork and herbs), one of the specialities of Hanoi and find again all tastes that I miss,” she wrote in an email from Paris late last week.

Love song for Hanoi

La Grande Sophie wrote the song after her first visit to Vietnam in 2013. She was invited to perform in Hanoi at the “Oh la la” music festival, as part of the activities to celebrate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between France and Vietnam.

Unfortunately, the concert in Hanoi was cancelled due to the death of General Vo Nguyen Giap. The country held a state funeral for several days for the general amidst national mourning.

After the concert was cancelled, she planned to travel to Hue City. However, a typhoon prevented her from leaving the city, forcing her to stay in Hanoi much longer than she expected.

“I met some Vietnamese translators and made friends with them. They helped me to discover the city. They spoke perfect French despite the fact that they had never been to France. I was very impressed to see their willingness to speak my language,” Sophie recalled.

“After several days of going out with them, and seeing Hanoi, I developed a real attachment towards them and to the city. I was sad when I had to leave Hanoi to return to Paris. I told myself that I had to come back to Vietnam. When I was back in Paris, I was very nostalgic about this city. I took my guitar and composed the song Hanoi to keep all those memories with me,” she said.

The singer was touched to discover the city, its charm and traditions with its motorcycles, water puppets, cyclos and street vendors.

“It is interesting to see that the life here revolves around the lake Hoan Kiem (the Sword Lake). I am impressed to see the energy and the dynamism of its inhabitants. They are tender, and so kind,” she added.

“I sang about the city like I had discovered it. Hanoi gave me the desire to pick up my guitar again and compose songs,” she said.

During her 20-year musical career, it was the first time that she wrote a song about a city that she had visited.

Huge success in France

The song was well-received in France when it was first presented to the public in her new album last year. People who heard the song wrote on the singer’s Facebook fan page, saying they could recognise images of Hanoi in the video and lyrics. Others said the song made them want to visit Hanoi.

One fan, Nadine Meihac, said: “I have a charming memory of your visit to Hanoi while listening to the song and hope to come to this city one day.”

Another fan, Stephen Bunard, wrote on Facebook: “a very beautiful melody and nice lyrics that make those who know this city nostalgic.”

The singer said that she has always enjoyed performing this song during her concerts.

“I tell the public that I will take them to the country of smiles. But I don’t have time to finish my sentence. Some already said Ha Noi,” she said.

Sophie first began writing songs since the age of 12.

For her, music is a means of communication to make friends and meet interesting people.

To sing is to convey her emotions to others and spend good moments together. Beginning her career in the 1990s, La Grande Sophie first saw fame in 2004 when her third album, If It Were Me, earned her the first Victoires de la Musique, a music award in France.

Now with the prestigious Bui Xuan Phai award, she has a place in the heart of Vietnamese music lovers.

“My story with Hanoi continues and it’s a beautiful story. I wrote the song to always remember this fantastic trip made in 2013 as well as the kind people that I met. Hanoi accompanies me in all my concerts. The public waits for it, appreciates it. We travel together and create a strong link with Vietnam,” added the singer.

At 27, she just meets the age requirement for the pageant for women from 18 to 27 years.

She is also the oldest of the 15 finalists unveiled on Wednesday.

“My family and friends had encouraged me to join previously, but I always thought I was not ready. My mother said that I’m of age and this is the last time I could try, so I decided to go for it,” says Eng, who designs and sells her own line of jewellery online.

This year also marks the first year that Singapore Press Holdings’ The New Paper is co-organising the beauty pageant.

Murali Subramaniam, deputy editor of The New Paper, says: “The competition is not just about picking the most beautiful contestant, but about finding someone who can represent the country with confidence and pride. With this exciting crop of finalists, I am sure we will find the right ambassador to represent Singapore.”

He points out that changing the stigma that shrouds beauty pageants takes time.

“We can’t do anything overnight to change perceptions or stereotypical thinking,” he says, adding that the way to do so would be by “running the pageant properly and treating the contestants with respect”.

Miss Universe Singapore 2016 will be crowned on Oct 16 at Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel.

The winner will receive a $10,000 cash prize, $24,000 of beauty and wellness services from Beaute Hub, up to $20,000 of dental aesthetic services from Orchard Scotts Dental and $9,000 of training sessions from Bodyburn Fitness Singapore.

She will also receive coverage in Singapore Press Holding’s stable of titles including print, radio and magazines.

The 15 finalists include trainee lawyer Nikki Tay, 23, who tells The Straits Times that she has had aspirations of winning the Miss Universe Singapore contest even before she had dreams of becoming a lawyer in Primary 6.

“When I set my sights on something, I won’t let it go. Joining this is like fulfilling a promise to myself,” she says.

Citing Miss Singapore Universe 2002 Nuraliza Osman, who has a law degree, as her role model, she adds: “I wanted to join this pageant primarily because I wanted to eliminate certain stereotypes of beauty pageants.”

Nuraliza, 39, is now the national director of Miss Universe Singapore Organisation.

Another finalist this year is data analyst Hazel Tay, who chooses to ignore the negative comments about beauty pageant contestants.

Says the 25-year-old, who has a master’s degree in financial mathematics from the University of Chicago: “Life is busy enough, there’s no time to deal with negative comments.”

Far from improving, the situation has become so bad that fans of Taiwanese singer Jay Chou petitioned for refunds after what they said was a disastrous concert there on Sept 3.

To be fair, not all comments about the sound at the National Stadium have been disparaging. Past reviews by this newspaper have included more positive comments such as “decent” sound quality at English-Irish boyband One Direction’s show and that the sound system was “clear enough” to make out the nuances in Taiwanese diva A-mei’s voice.

Still, the persistent negative feedback has raised several questions: Is the National Stadium an ultimately unsuitable venue for live music? Can its sound woes be fixed?

The venue management says it is not dedicated to music alone. A Singapore Sports Hub spokesman says: “The National Stadium’s characteristics, including amenities, location and, especially, capacity, make it a multipurpose venue with the ability to host large-scale, mega-stage concerts and shows in addition to sporting events.”

Ironically, the complaints about the venue’s sound is the latest in a litany of woes faced by the arena, which includes difficulty in getting the grass in the pitch to grow properly and protracted negotiations over rental cost for National Day Parade rehearsals. Many Singaporeans also seem to prefer the parade to be held at the Marina Bay Floating Platform because live audiences at the stadium cannot view highlights such as the flypast and parajumpers.

Sound engineers and concert producers The Straits Times spoke to offer a variety of technical solutions for concerts held at the stadium, noting that some may be unfeasible or too expensive.

For Chou’s recent concert, Multimedia Entertainment engaged sound engineers from abroad to provide advice on the sound system and set-up and said the quality of the speakers used had improved from those for 2014’s Opus 2 gig.

A spokesman for Unusual Entertainment, which was behind Sun’s and A-mei’s gigs, says: “Our local team supports the overseas tour team in the set-up and installation. However, the overall sound is controlled by the appointed sound engineers travelling with the tour. How to design and configure the sound system, taking into consideration the stage location, the show’s requirements and the audience capacity, is a challenge.”

Multimedia’s spokesman adds that other factors such as the building’s structure and design, height and material of the roof, arrangement of arena seats and safety requirement would determine the positioning of speakers.

He declined to reveal the technical specifications for Chou’s The Invincible gig or the amount spent on the sound component.

The cost of the set-up may be key. Mr Ngiam Kwang Hwa, 55, managing director of concert promoter One Production, puts it bluntly: “It’s not quite fair to say the National Stadium is a lousy venue. So far, unfortunately, most concert promoters haven’t done a wonderful job. Because of costs, they’re not investing enough in the sound.”

Mr William Lee, 46, project director at concert technical producer Showtec Group, says the addition of equipment could help to ameliorate the situation. He proposes using more delay towers – which help propagate sound to areas further from the stage – but noted that this might end up obstructing some views. “To have good sound, you need to sacrifice something.”

Another idea he has is to install overhead speakers, but the 2,000kg weight of each cluster has to be taken into consideration.

He estimates it would cost $80,000 to set up the sound at the Singapore Indoor Stadium, which has a capacity of 12,000, and at least three times that for the National Stadium, with a capacity of 55,000.

While there is anecdotal evidence that venues with larger capacities – from London’s Wembley Stadium (90,000) to the Beijing National Stadium (100,000) – are able to deliver good sound, the fact is that each venue comes with its own set of challenges. Singapore’s National Stadium, which opened in June 2014, has the largest freespanning dome structure with a diameter of more than 310m.

Veteran sound engineer Shah Tahir, 57, says of the venue: “It naturally has a lot of echo and reverb. The dome makes things worse as it’s permanent and the opening is only a small area. It’s a hard metallic surface and there’s no acoustical treatment of design.”

He notes there is no easy fix, given the structure contains cabling and other elements. The dome was meant to make the stadium an all- weather venue, but this has led to other problems. “This is the worst place to do live music for me.”

Mr Shah, who has been the audio consultant for the National Day Parade since 2009, says an “elaborate system” was used for this year’s event at the National Stadium. “It produced something acceptable that anybody seated anywhere can hear, but it’s not the pristine sound you get in a concert hall.”

To him, this is not something that can be plastered over with speakers. “Take the F1, for example. If the car is a fast car, but the track is not right, then it can’t perform. The speakers can produce the correct sound, but because the space is challenging, the result is bad sound.”

Sound engineer Alan Mathew, 38, who has worked on gigs by American group Backstreet Boys and Hong Kong singer Aaron Kwok, says that Singapore Sports Hub should not bear the brunt of the blame. He notes that the arena was designed for big events and the acoustics were “not bad”.

Moreover, he believes it is a concert organiser’s responsibility to bring in the right sound designer and sound system. “If you have only a small budget, get a smaller venue,” he says.

This was what happened with Taiwanese band Mayday’s gig here last month. Mr Ngiam brought their concert producer Baboo Ting, 43, to the National Stadium to scope out the venue during A-mei’s concert in January.

Mr Ting told The Straits Times that the sound problem was not insurmountable, “but you’d have to spend a lot of time, money and expertise to upgrade” the speakers.

Mayday are no strangers to mega venues, having performed at the Beijing National Stadium thrice. The set-up involved installing more than 220 speakers of the same brand. But Mr Ting had concerns over the availability of hardware in Singapore and whether there was a need to import equipment, which would lead to a spike in costs.

In the end, Mayday performed at the indoor stadium.

While there are alternatives to the National Stadium, they come with other considerations and potential problems.

American hard-rock band Metallica played for 40,000 at Changi Exhibition Centre in August 2013. While the sound quality did not appear to be an issue, crowd dispersal at the venue was a problem, with massive queues for taxis and a long wait to get out of the carpark.

But, as Mr Ngiam says, the more the National Stadium comes under fire for poor sound, the harder it is for promoters to hold events there as concertgoers equate the two.

Engineer Tay Chin Meng, 37, who attended Chou’s latest concert, says he would be “scared” to attend future gigs at the venue because of its poor acoustics.

Health coach Jennat Tan, 40, who caught Sun, A-mei and Chou’s concerts there, says: “It doesn’t do any justice to the artists, especially when they’d have practised hard for the concert… only to be criticised due to the bad sound system.”

Of course, all the prestige and respect gained as a budding musician went down the chute when he fell flat on his behind, not knowing how to tip the cinema seat down to sit on.

Pedigree was always there, though. He was playing the rebana and singing by seven, earning the princely sum of RM1.50 for his first professional gig at 10. He was also the first student in primary school to play in a dikir barat band.

However, childhood interest doesn’t always blossom into adulthood passion. But Kamrul has come a long way since his early days in Banggol Gelang Mas, Pasir Mas in Kelantan.

In fact, the musician, schooled in traditional Kelantanese music, has travelled far and wide, well past the comfort of his quaint village. But those worldly experiences have all come from a firm grounding in his traditional upbringing.

“I followed my dad, riding pillion on his motorbike, to his performances around the area, eventually joining his troupe,” revealed the 38-year-old musician.

“My siblings and I grew up with music. My dad not only played, but he made musical instruments, too, so, we were very familiar with all that was happening around us,” he added.

Kamrul eased into the music world taking the percussive route – playing canang at main peteri (ritual healing) ceremonies, then the gong. “It’s easier to begin by playing with percussive instruments,” he explained, saying that everyone has rhythm, so the playing field is fairly level.

Given his surroundings, Kamrul almost had no chance, but to be involved in the arts in some form or other.

“We had different themed nights every week … main peteri, silat, tarian inai, dikir barat and so on all the time in our village.”

Mentors, were aplenty, too. Without even having to leave his house, his first and foremost influence is his rebab-playing, singing father, the revered Hussin Yusoff.

The late Pak Hamzah Awang Amat, a National Laureate and Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize Winner, and Pak Nasir Yusoff, would play instrumental roles in shaping his approach to music.

His education process would see Kamrul learning various percussion cultures, like Indian from Kirubakaran Narayana, Chinese from Hands Percussion’s very own Bernard Goh and Latin from Steve Thornton, among others.

And the course of his work has captured him working with the likes of Tan Sri SM Salim, Datuk Siti Nurhaliza at her landmark Royal Albert Hall concert in London in 2005, Zainal Abidin, M. Nasir, Ning Baizura, Ramli Sarip and many more. International collaborations number highly, too, with his work with Sadao Watanabe and Vishwa Mohan Bhatt easily deserving mention.

Kamrul has reached some lofty heights, but he’s no mere dreamer, though. He is a doer, too. Practical knowledge has understandably led him to learn that the fusion of traditional sounds with western music is the way forward in reaching a larger audience.

And he has a game plan for it, as well, and it’s backbone is very much about contemporising.

“We want to play traditional instruments differently … do different kinds of songs. For instance, I’ve played the Titanic melody on a Chinese flute,” he shared.

“This approach of colouring the music, makes it less difficult to market shows,” he added.

He recalled how he got a taste for fusion through his musical exploits, intimating that his first (recognised in the Klang Valley) band was Aseana Percussion Unit (APU), a band renowned for its good time-music and 1Malaysia-themed anthems. Then he joined gamelan ensemble Rhythm In Bronze.

However, it was the professional training he received at Hands Percussion – which grew from a humble percussion troupe to the entertainment organisation it has become today – which has underscored his career in music.

Today, he proudly leads his family troupe, Geng Wak Long (Wak Long taken from his affectionate nickname) which had previously featured his dad. Three brothers and a sister-in-law accompany him.

Family-formed work units have not often thrived, but like any kind of human relationship, there is always an ebb and a flow.

“I don’t know them as well as I probably thought. But them going and learning at Aswara (Akademi Seni Kebangsaan) helped us gel together better.

We have since developed a good chemistry,” said the Aswara graduate and current lecturer in Malaysian traditional music at UiTM (Universiti Teknologi MARA).

Geng Wak Long has begun to gain traction for its eclectic musical flavours and uniqueness, but he extracts greatest satisfaction in having released the group’s debut album, a collection of traditional songs woven from the mitt of traditionalists and artisans.

Everything from the sparse, cheeky intro tune, Tok Selampit, which was tailored for the times to inculcate the buy-original culture, to the free-for-all jam on Medley Bertabuh, Part 1 of The New Authentic Kelantanese Traditional Music Of Malaysia is an invigorating cultural immersion.

The album, as a highlight, according to Kamrul, can only be equalled by the opportunity of having taken the troupe to a highly prestigious festival in Santiago, Spain.

“I’m very pleased that I managed to take them to Womex (World Music Expo). That was a great experience for all of us.”

Kamrul brings his music to Kaleidoscope 4: Drumming Nation, the fourth edition of Hands Percussion’s International Drumming Festival.

Drumming Nation takes place on Sept 10 at the Plenary Hall, KLCC, where he promises a unique experience for the audience.

It is part of Diversecity 2016, the Kuala Lumpur International Arts Festival.

“It won’t be just about playing music, but will include performance arts, too. There will be movement, the playing of characters and experimentation with traditional instruments.”

The improvisational nature of the music, according to him, won’t be unlike the spontaneous jam sessions in drum circles.

“It will include drums played, not just as accompaniment, but featuring solo spots as well,” he described the unconventional approach.

Dan Ariely, a psychology professor at Duke University, writes about his findings in his newly published book entitled “Payoff: The Hidden Logic That Shapes Our Motivations”.

Ariely conducted his research at a factory in Israel, where employees received messages telling them that once they achieve a certain amount of work done, they will receive a special prize. One group of workers were notified that they would receive $30 upon accomplishing a certain task, while another group was promised with a free pizza voucher. The third group would receive an encouraging text from their boss, and the last group had no incentives or rewards.

According to the result, the pizza group dominated the experiment, with an astounding 6.7 percent increase in output compared with the bonus group’s 4.9 per cent productivity. After a few weeks, the “Well done!” text team finished with 6.6 percent increase, beating the fourth group, the New York Magazine reported.

Making staff feel appreciated at work is a key to better work performance. Tangible things such as pizza and cash bonuses are just a second option for the workers.

“Extrinsic motivators can stop having much meaning—your raise in pay feels like your just due, your bonus gets spent, your new title doesn’t sound so important once you have it,” Adam Grant, a psychology professor, told The Wall Street Journal last year.

“But the sense that other people appreciate what you do sticks with you,” he added.