From Music to Languages

It was music that bound all the people in my mother's and grandfather's families. Everyone was different and we used music to come together. Everyone appreciated beautiful music. And I will never forget the beautiful moments we spent together with beautiful music playing in the background, from morn till night, weekdays and weekends. We all came together despite our differences. It was  music that softened our hearts and made us come together.

From music, the families went on to speak many languages. If I list them all down, it is amazing to see the effect of music on the minds and language acquisition. So the environment plays a very important role in developing the mind.

My grandfather - Malay, English,. Tamil
My mother - English, French and German
My father - Malay, English, Chinese, Dutch
Myself - Malay, English, some Spanish, some German
My son - Malay, English, Arabic, French, Mandarin, Japanese
My daughter - Malay, English, French
My youngest daughter - Malay, English, French

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Music Playlist

I'm collecting some of the world's most beautiful songs here. Some were songs my mother and I played on the piano.  My mother completed her piano lessons in England and she played in England before returning to Malaya. I started playing the piano at age 10-11, I learned from my mother. I played the minor scale and she played the major scale and base.

My mother loved waltzes and ragtime music. I am still an avant gaarde jazz novice. I played Malay songs and improvised. I loved yesteryear music such as 'Yesteryear, Yesterday'. I played the piano throughout my university days in California. That was the most beautiful part of my solo life and nothing beats playing the piano and playing my own songs. I even played in between classes!

I don't play the piano anymore now (forgotten a lot of it). I will still play if I find one. I had only owned one piano in my life - an upright Robinson piano, it was such a lovely piano. I had it from Std 5 right through Form 3. My mother sold it to my aunt when I entered TKC. I usually visited my aunt to see my piano. I would play a song or two on my old piano in my aunt's house. Of course it was heart-breaking.

There are 2 piano shops in Kota Bharu, one in front of the main post office and the other in Jalan Pengkalan Chepa.

This is a collection of songs by Ray Conniff, Frank Sinatra, Enrique Chia etc that our family listened to:

Ross Ariffin - Win (by Brian McNight)

Win with lyrics

Stay

You're the Only One for Me
Yesterday Once More

Yesterme Yesteryou Yesterday

Yesterme Yesteryou Yesterday 

Besame Mucho - this is my mother's favourite song
Somewhere My Love - this is my grandfather's favourite song
Hey (Google search)

Flight of the Bee
La Bamba
La Bamba - Ritchie Valens
Amor Amor Amor
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
Sound of Silence
Bridge Over Troubled Water
Moon River
I'll Never Fall In Love Again
Rose Garden
Paper Roses
I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing
The Most Beautiful Girl
Release Me
Seasons In The Sun
The Green Leaves of Summer
Eres Tu
Three Coins in the Fountain
April in Portugal
Abril en Portugal
Strangers in the Night
Lisboa Antigua
Yellow Bird
Summer
Patricia
Caballo Viejo
Vaya Con Dios & Solamente Una Vez
Burbujas de Amor
Piel Canela
Amor eterno
Orquideas a la luz de la luna
Farolito
Maria Elena
Adoro
Scott Joplin - The Entertainer (music score) .... ragtime
The Sting - Scott Joplin .... ragtime
What a wonderful world

These are my favourite songs:
Killing Me Softly
Dime Solamente - Morris Albert
Feelings - Morris Albert
Just The Way You Are - the Malay version is Mulanya Di Sini by Seha.
Laughter in the Rain - Ray Conniff

Laughter in the Rain - Neil Sedaka
You Are The Sunshine of My Life - Stevie Wonder

Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone - Bill Withers
Mandy - Ray Conniff

Mandy - Barry Manilow
Daniel - by Elton John
It's a Small World - Disneyland theme song
Anorado Encuentro - Enrique Chia
Cafe music (jazz and bossa nova)
Country Roads - John Denver
Change the World - Eric Clapton
I'm Yours - Jason Mraz
Titanic II - My Heart Will Go On - performed by Sungha Jung (Korean guitarist)

Voices of Spring - Johann Strauss Jr

You are my Everything - Gummy (Korean)

You're my Everything - Santa Esmeralda

Others:
World's most beautiful music
Bohemian Rhapsody - Cole Lam, 12 years old

I have compiled some of the songs above to play in the SCM Music Player.

However, some songs have been removed, and you will need to manually click the next song on the playlist.

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