Sabah singer laments lack of advertisers’ support
KOTA KINABALU: More opportunities should be given to Malaysian artistes to elevate the local entertainment industry, said veteran Sabah singer Wesley Liew.
He said advertisers ought to embrace local artistes as well, who are equally talented and gifted as their foreign counterparts.
“There is an abundance of talents in Malaysia, but regrettably advertisers usually opt to hire foreign models.”
Similarly, he said many outstanding local filmmakers in the country had been having difficulty in securing investors.
“I hope that the government could come up with ways to uncover new talents and give them more development opportunities.
“Local artistes also need more platforms to showcase their talents,” he said in an interview here.
Nonetheless, Wesley said the youngsters nowadays are far luckier than his generation, as the advent of social media has multiple channels for budding singers to perform.
“The younger generation has way much more opportunities than we had back in the old days.
“But opportunities only go to those who are well-prepared, and those who know to seize the opportunities as they come by.
“It is definitely not a dream for Malaysian singers to make their mark on international stage.
“We can use our voice to let the world know about Malaysia.”
Tenom-born Wesley, 48, finished fourth in the ‘18th Astro Classic Golden Melody’ singing competition recently. He also clinched the ‘ Most Popular Award’ at the grand finale held at the Arena of Stars, Resorts World Genting on Nov 3.
His passion to perform started since young, but opportunities never seemed to come by.
“I was never chosen to perform by teachers.”
His first performance on stage was to accompany his classmate to sing in a graduation event during Form 1.
“My classmate was not able to perform due to stage fright and I ended up singing the song.”
Since 13, Wesley has participated in various singing competitions and won his first prize at the age 18 in a state-level singing contest, organised by the United Sabah and FT Labuan Hakka Association in 1990.
Twenty- six years later, he emerged winner in another singing competition held by the association, which further cemented his love for singing.
Over the years, Wesley has released two albums and two extended play ( EP) records. His albums, released in 1994 and 1996, respectively, have sold out – all 5,000 copies each.
However, he later decided to put his dream of becoming an artiste aside due to the lack of platforms or exposure opportunities for local talents then, given that social media had not existed at the time.
Thus, he went into teaching at Tenom Tshung Tsin Secondary School in 1997 with qualification in computer science from Southern University College, and in education from New Era University College.
In 2007, Wesley went to Taiwan to pursue his master’s degree in education administration. He returned to teach at Tenom Tshung Tsin Secondary School in 2010 before switching to Beaufort Middle School, where he is still principal today.
Wesley said joining the ‘Astro Classic Golden Melody’ singing competition had opened up wide opportunities for him.
“My son persuaded me to take part in the competition.
“I didn’t want to at first because I was not sure if I could handle the pressure in this marathon contest.
“But I took the competition as an opportunity to challenge myself in performing a variety of music genres.”
Moving forward, Wesley is currently recording this third album after a 22-year hiatus, and is planning on releasing a Chinese New Year EP next year.
He is also presently filming a show on ‘golden melodies’, aired on AEC channel every Saturday, 8.30pm.
He has been approached by several advertisers to be a part of their commercials.
Wesley’s schedule is now packed all through December. As schools reopen next year, he would have to juggle between teaching in Beaufort and filming in Kuala Lumpur during the weekends and holidays.
Nevertheless, he cherishes every moment of it.
“I am living my dream right now. It may only last one or two years and so, I will seize every opportunity while it lasts.”