“COME PLAY WITH ME: A PIANO CONCERT FOR FAMILIES” GEORGE TOWN FESTIVAL 2022

SPEECH BY THE CHIEF MINISTER OF PENANG

YAB CHOW KON YEOW

 “COME PLAY WITH ME: A PIANO CONCERT FOR FAMILIES”

GEORGE TOWN FESTIVAL 2022

 

 12 JULY 2022

Loft 29, Gat Lebuh Gereja

 

Good evening, everyone.

Thank you for coming to the “Come Play With Me: A Piano Concert for Families” organised by George Town Festival 2022. I am very happy to see all of you tonight. To those of you in the audience who are here with your children, thank you for taking the time to help your kids to love music. I always believe that we must nurture a love for the arts in our children so we can inspire future generations of art lovers and practitioners to ensure the sustainability of the arts scene in Penang and anywhere else.

On that note, I want to thank the organiser for aligning itself to the Penang2030 Vision of “A Family-Focused Green and Smart State that Inspires the Nation” through this concert. This hour-long concert, presented by award-winning international pianist Dr. Esther Shin Chuang with a special appearance by aspiring classical ballerina Abigail Ng Jingxuan, is an excellent way to introduce the young and even those young at heart to the joys of classical music.

This concert also provides a space for families to have a nice evening together. Going to a concert together as a family can be a great adventure, and most importantly, experiencing music as part of a live audience with our loved ones can make a big impression on children. Hopefully, our children will leave this concert with a positive, fun experience centred around music that they will carry with them into the future. I also hope they will be inspired by the 15-year-old Abigail Ng Jingxuan, who has achieved much success in the creative scene at such a young age.

There are also plenty of fun family-focused programmes at the GTF2022 for families to enjoy. Please check out the calendar of the Festival on its website and I hope all of you will make time to visit the Festival’s family-friendly programmes together.

Let us all be the embodiment of what the Penang2030 vision is all about, which is, spending quality time with our loved ones in a Penang that we all love just as much!

Thank you.