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A special musician from the United States, Sujeet Desai, will be performing at the Grace Goh Foundation Gala Charity Dinner at the Renaissance Melaka Hotel on June 22.
Despite being born with Down Syndrome, Desai, 27, plays six instruments, B-flat and bass clarinet, alto saxophone, violin, piano and drums.
He is also active in sports like taekwondo, swimming, alpine skiing, cross-country and bowling, and won gold and silver medals in swimming in the World Games 99 Special Olympics.
Desai will give two 40-minute performances during the gala charity dinner, organised by the newly registered Grace Goh Foundation.
The foundation was set up by Datuk Goh Seng Chong in memory of his daughter, Grace Goh, who died in 2005.
“Grace was born with Down Syndrome. She was a jovial child who passed away when she was nine after losing her battle with leukemia.
“We felt very much for the parents with Down Syndrome children.
“The foundation aims to help other children like Grace by enhancing the quality of life and care for people with Down Syndrome and children with other developmental disabilities who are chronically ill through financial aid, advocacy and support services.
“The gala charity dinner is our first event to raise funds for the foundation.
“We felt it would be great to have Sujeet Desai to be part of the event. With his musical versatility, Desai has become a role model and has brought inspiration and hope to individuals with disabilities, their families, friends and the community around the world’’ said Goh.
Beth Haller, Ph.D., is Co-Director of the Global Alliance for Disability in Media and Entertainment (www.gadim.org). A former print journalist, she is a member of the Advisory Board for the National Center on Disability and Journalism (https://ncdj.org/). Haller is Professor Emerita in the Department of Mass Communication at Towson University in Maryland, USA. Haller is co-editor of the 2020 "Routledge Companion to Disability and Media" (with Gerard Goggin of University of Sydney & Katie Ellis of Curtin University, Australia). She is author of "Representing Disability in an Ableist World: Essays on Mass Media" (Advocado Press, 2010) and the author/editor of Byline of Hope: Collected Newspaper and Magazine Writing of Helen Keller (Advocado Press, 2015). She has been researching disability representation in mass media for 30+ years. She is adjunct faculty in the Disability Studies programs at the City University of New York (CUNY) and the University of Texas-Arlington.
From The Star in Malaysia:
