PAUL Ong once again elicited a thunderous applause from the audience for his stunning and fantastic performance at his concert entitled, “We Remember” on November 4, 2017 at Tech Voc Theatre, 7 p.m. Around 500 people were elated to hear varied featured songs: 3 Italian classical songs (Amarilli Mia Bella, Una Furtiva Lagrima, Gaile Sole Dal Gange); 4 Broadway songs (All I Ask of You, Empty Chairs at Empty Tables, Edelweiss, Somewhere) Filipino song, Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika, Chinese piece, Wo Ai Ni Zhong Guo, and English piece, You Raise Me Up. However, the first part of the program were numbers presented by guest performers, children who sang beautifully and played the piano dexterously: Mary Jane Male and Seanne and Micah Buenafe and Enzo Espina, Adrienne Odulio, General Chaos Dance Group. Three children of Aboriginal background namely: Santi Harper, Shirlene Flett and Sondra Flettalso sang a native song. Paul Ong, also a teacher at General Wolfe, invited his school’s Grade 9 Guitar Class, Grade 9 Jazz Band class that contributed, through their renditions, to the liveliness of the concert. The students were accompanied by their principal Ms. Gwen Mclean. Live Jazz of the Royal Canadian Navy Band of HMCS Chippawa, with its members in full uniform, rendered very heart-beating pieces; Paul stated, in his closing speech:
“This year, I am very honored to be joined by The Royal Canadian Navy of HMCS Chippawa for my annual concert for a cause 2017 entitled We Remember. We dedicate the show to all the veterans and military people who have served and are currently serving. In this regard, we have chosen the Winnipeg Military Family Resource Centre as our beneficiary. It is a great pleasure to be joined by talented children and individuals, along with talented youth, from General Wolfe School. Aside from choosing a good cause each year, it is my firm belief that we should empower the youth to pursue their gifts through providing them the opportunity to showcase and share their talents. I am so thankful for the support that the community has been showing - to all the sponsors, advertisers, performers, volunteers, photographers, ticket sellers and buyers, a huge thank you!!! Thank you for allowing me to use my music as a platform to achieve something more profound and substantial to the community. It has been a great journey, and hope that you will keep us company in the journeys to come.” Paul, with the help of his family, presented a cheque of $8,000 to Joel Roy, the Executive Director of Military Family Resource Centre and from their family a donation of $2,000 to the same centre. Mr. Roy aptly summarized the concert by saying: “Paul and his team delivered a great show. We are humbled and thankful for the support the community provided. The funds received will go directly towards services and programs for the families of those who serve our country.’’ Some important guests who attended the concert were: Hon. Andrew Swan, MLA of Minto, Hon. Andrew Smith, MLA of Southdale, Hon. Cindy Lamoreux, MLA for Burrows; Hon. Jon Reyes, MLA of St. Norbert, sent his regrets because he attended a very important event related to his position as Special Envoy for Military Affairs. The successful event was emceed by Paul’s sister, Grace Ong. The crowd went home delighted having watched again a show, where they not only heard beautiful and melodious music, but evoked memories of those who died and made their sacrifices so that people from all walks of life would enjoy a safe, peaceful, and harmonious lives here in Canada.
