KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 9 — Covid-19 has affected many lives around the world, and likewise for singer Datuk Sheila Majid.
The veteran singer and mother of four in a media conference to promote her upcoming Sheila Majid Big Band Live in Kuala Lumpur concert recently, shared how the epidemic at its height in 2020. offered a little blessing for her.
Sheila shared that she had a very busy 2019 and has been travelling a lot for work, with her 96-year-old mother always on her mind.
“I always pray that if anything were to happen to her, I want to be in KL. Please God, make sure that I'm in KL.
“Because every time I get a phone call from home I was like ‘Alamak, please, please not now’.
“I mean I know the time is going to come but you know, when it comes, you just don’t want it to come, right?” she said.
In March 2020, Malaysia went into lockdown with the government implementing the movement control order (MCO) which left most Malaysians staying at home, including Sheila and her family.
The Sinaran singer was able to spend time to take care of her mother during the lockdown, which happened to be her late mother's final moments, passing a few months later in August that year.
“I had a good five months taking care of her, day in and day out and I felt fulfilled that when she passed away, I've done everything that I could for her.
“I was content to be able to bathe her, feed her. When before then, I never had the time because I was always flying and she had the maids and nurses (to look after her),” Sheila said.
She added that her mother's condition started deteriorating from June 2020 before she passed, and was laid to rest in Bukit Kiara.
Apart from her daughterly duties, Sheila spent the MCO doing live performances on her Instagram Live for the first month of the MCO to help cheer up those who were stuck at home then.
She felt that she has managed to connect with her fans and followers as she could see them interacting and bonding with each other in the comment section during her Instagram Live sessions.
Sheila said that while the music industry was deemed as non-essential during the MCO, she felt that music was one of the factors that kept people going in those trying times.
“During the pandemic, what did people do at home, they’ll go on YouTube, people go on Netflix, so we are not non-essential, we are essential to the wellbeing of people. For their mental health.
“Because music can uplift them and can give positive messages for people to stay stronger, so remember that.
“Music is not just a form of entertainment alone, we need to take a step back to look at music as an art,.
“It touches you, it moves your heart. And I feel that music was actually what kept people going during the pandemic,” Sheila explained.
Sheila also lent her voice in Wira Hatiku, the official soundtrack for the pandemic film Juang, which is also an appreciation of frontliners.
As life slowly begins to pick up pace once again, Sheila will be performing for the one-night-onlySheila Majid Big Band Live in Kuala Lumpur concert at Dewan Merdeka, World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur on March 18, 2023.
The concert will have 23 musicians backing Sheila, led by music director Mac Chew and produced by Jennifer Thompson.
Tickets sales begin on December 12, please click here for more information.
