‘Return To Light’ Campaign Song ‘You Matter’

In conjunction with the ‘Return To Light’ mental health campaign spearheaded by the Sunway Counselling team, an original song was produced, recorded and performed by a group of talented Sunway College students.

This campaign, in collaboration with Monash University, Taylors University and Ministry of Higher Education, was meant to engage the public in various perspectives of mental health and suicide issues through different platforms from forums, to exhibitions displaying artwork to self-care booths.  To add value to the many creative initiatives from the campaign, an original song called ‘You Matter’ was written and composed by a part time lecturer with poignant and uplifting lyrics on the student’s inner strength and resilience.  A student music team was formed from the Victoria University Undergraduate Programme and the school of Diploma Studies dedicating two months to learn the song, record and play it live.  The acoustic band comprised Jonathan Thomas Kuruvilla and Joane Teow Jia En as lead singers, Winson Low as guitarist and Samuel Lo on percussions. Thanks to the CMAT Department (Contemporary Music Audio Technology ,School of Arts), the students got to experience a live studio recording with Mr. Andrew Tan, who mixed and edited the song. The music arrangement was done by Jonathan and it took six hours to record the entire song close to perfection. This recording was used for the Social Issues and Community Engagement students as a project to come up with a YouTube video to reflect the song purpose and meaning. Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHjb87NQRjI

On the 11^th of September, the campaign was launched on a grand scale at Sunway University Campus and attended by VVIPs including Subang Adun YB Michelle Ng, representatives from collaborating universities and the Ministry of Higher Education. The music team proudly kicked off the event performing the campaign song while the lyrics were flashed on screen for everyone and as they   performed on stage, their melodious voices and articulated words resonated throughout the auditorium with a significant lasting message to find the strength and power within in coping with life’s struggles.

Prepared by: Anita Paul (VU Undergraduate Programme)