Alzheimer’s Disease Foundation Malaysia (ADFM), ZAG Studios, and Sunway University’s School of Arts have partnered in organizing an intergenerational charity concert, RAWK 4.0 – Reach Alzheimer’s with Kindness – on the 8th of December 2024. Dr Siti Sarah Fadzil, a Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) candidate at Universiti Malaya, played a pivotal role as a healthcare professional and a strong advocate for dementia, leading the e-booklet team for the event, together with Ms Ken Joey Loh, a Clinical Psychologist and PhD candidate from Sunway University.
Supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, the event combined music, education, and compassion to raise awareness about dementia while fostering intergenerational collaboration. In line with the newly launched National Dementia Action Plan 2023–2030, the event is an excellent example of how we can amplify this national vision of creating a better dementia support system, empowering the community, and reducing dementia stigma through creativity and community engagement.
Prior to the main RAWK 4.0 concert, a series of engagements were designed to spread dementia awareness through interactive booths, bazaars, art exhibitions, immersive light zone experiences, and street and radio interviews.
The booths set up at the main foyer of Sunway University featured a variety of games and informative materials highlighting the warning signs and symptoms of dementia. These booths provided students and visitors with an opportunity to gain insights into the condition in an engaging and accessible manner.
Following this, a vibrant art exhibition was held, showcasing a collection of artworks and writings that reflected personal interpretations and stories about dementia. This immersive pre-event experience not only highlighted the emotional and social dimensions of dementia but also created a space for creative expression and dialogue. The initiative successfully brought together individuals from diverse backgrounds, encouraging greater understanding and empathy towards people with dementia (PWD).
The main highlight of the RAWK 4.0 concert was the original songs – Back in 1984, Echoes of You and Kualalala – composed by Ms Sandra Cheah, a board-certified music therapist and licensed counsellor, inspired by the stories from PwD at the ADFM Daycare Centre. Their emotional travels through the early, middle, and late stages of dementia were beautifully portrayed in the lyrics of these songs. The concert was made more lively by the performances from PwD themselves and a number of talented young musicians and dancers from Sunway University and Earth Tone Music Academy. This concert marked the first-ever intergenerational music therapy concert in Malaysia, incorporating a dementia-immersive experience with live music, a full-string ensemble, and performances by people of different generations. A total of 500 seats were sold, successfully raising RM36,000 to be donated to ADFM.
Dr Siti Sarah’s involvement in the event underscores the vital importance of bridging theoretical knowledge with real-world experiences. This reflects her dedication to taking research beyond the confines of academia. Her previous Professional Internship with ADFM during the Special Semester not only deepened her understanding of dementia care but also helped her forge connections with PwD, care partners and dementia advocates from various industries – leveraging those experiences and relationships to actively support dementia-related causes.
In line with her current DrPH research focusing on the public stigma of dementia, she believed her participation in such an event was an opportunity to merge her academic research with public advocacy, demonstrating how collaborations between different stakeholders can amplify research findings, inspire collective actions and foster an inclusive environment where PwD are respected, understood, and supported. This event also served as a reminder that dementia is not just an individual’s journey but a shared responsibility for society as a whole.
A special appreciation goes to Matthew Durai, the founder of ZAG Studios; Professor Dr Mayco Santaella, Associate Professor Dr Padma Pillai, Associate Professor Dr Tom Pierard, and the students of Class of Event Management Sept 2024 from Sunway University’s School of Arts; Mr Gan CS and Ms Jenny Lim from ADFM; Ms Ken Joey Loh and Ms Sandra Cheah for the amazing efforts and endless commitments in making this event a huge success. Not to forget, the unwavering support from Dr Siti Sarah’s DrPH supervisors, Associate Profesor Dr Nik Daliana Nik Farid, Professor Dr Shahrul Bahyah Kamaruzzaman, and Dr ‘Abqariyah Yahya. It is with utmost hope that such collaborations in bringing dementia awareness and advocacy can be continued in the future.
This write-up was prepared by Dr Siti Sarah Fadzil, a Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) candidate from the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya.
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