Malaysian music producer JD has not seen his wife and son in Laos since pandemic began

The last time Jedidiah Wong saw his wife Noy Keosivone and their son Jayden was in 2019 before the pandemic. Photo: Jedidiah Wong

Music producer-cum-musician Jedidiah Wong (or JD as he is usually known), 42, has not seen his Laotian wife Noy Keosivone, 39, or son Jayden, since the pandemic started last year. That’s because he lives and works in Kuala Lumpur, while his wife and son live in Vientiane, Laos.

Wong, who runs his own studio (which is currently not operating during the movement control order), and Noy, who is a businesswoman, have been married for six years.

Wong at his studio before the pandemic. Photo: Jedidiah Wong

Before the pandemic, Noy returned to Vientiane to be with her father who was ill. He had final stage liver cancer and when he passed on, she remained in Vientiane to look after the family business and settle her father’s affairs.

It has been five years since, but the couple has been able to travel back and forth between Vientiane and Kuala Lumpur regularly to see each other.

That is, until the pandemic hit.

Wong wasn't able to be in Vientiane, Laos, for his son's fourth birthday last year because of the pandemic. Photo: Noy Keosivone

So near, yet so far

The last time they spent time together as a family was when Wong went to Vientiane in Dec 2019.

While it’s not halfway across the world, and they could easily fly between both countries before, now, country borders are closed because of the pandemic.

Wong expresses his disappointment and frustration that the pandemic has prolonged the separation of families, including his own.

Although family members are allowed to return to Malaysia during the pandemic – they just have to fulfill the quarantine period – there aren’t many direct flights and the cost is extremely high, ranging in the tens of thousands, he laments.

“The pandemic has just prolonged the separation of families. For many people, especially during the pandemic when incomes have been impacted, the cost is just too high and we can’t afford to fly our family members back to Malaysia, he says.

Wong and Noy reveal that they have several other friends who are in the same boat. For them to fly home to be with their family members, they would need to transit through a further country and the cost is extremely high.

Wong also wasn't able to be there for his son Jayden’s fifth birthday this year. Photo: Noy Keosivone

Music brought us together

The couple reveals that music brought them together: they met because of music, and after they had lost touch, it was also music that reunited them many years later.

“We first met because of music. JD was playing at a music festival in Vientiane in 2008, and I was in the audience,” recalls Noy.

“In between performances, the emcee would call members of the audience to take part in competitions and win prizes, and Noy was one of the ones called up to the stage,” says Wong. “That was when we first noticed each other.”

Later, at the after-party held by the organisers at a local bar, they ran into each other again.

“I said to her, I saw you, you’re the girl who went up to the stage to take part in the competition, and she replied, I saw you too, you’re the crazy guy singing and playing the guitar on stage,” says Wong, and both of them laugh.

“We exchanged numbers and kept in touch for many years through messenger. But then, I forgot my password and got locked out of my messenger account,” says Noy.

Noy and son, Jayden, at Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur. Photo: Jedidiah Wong

But just as music brought them together, it also reunited them after they lost touch.

“It was through Malaysian musician couple, Mac Chew and Jenny Chin, who were my friends on Facebook. Jenny’s brother married a Thai woman, and she was a friend of Noy,” says Wong.

“When I found out that my Thai friend was marrying a Malaysian who is the brother of a famous musician, I asked her, do you happen to know JD who is also in the music industry?” says Noy.

That was in 2014, and the couple got married in 2015, with wedding ceremonies in both Kuala Lumpur and Vientiane. Noy moved to Kuala Lumpur the same year, and they had a son, Jayden, who is now five years old.

Family responsibilities

But when her father took ill, Noy had to return to Vientiane.

Realising that it would take some time to deal with her late father’s business matters, the couple decided that Noy should return to Vientiane with their son and remain there until everything was settled.

Noy at her cafe in Vientiane before the pandemic. Photo: Noy Keosivone

“There are more extended family members there to help with child care and Jayden could also go to pre-school while Noy was attending to her father’s matters,” says Wong.

“She is currently running a café in Vientiane to earn a living and Jayden is attending an international pre-school. So before the pandemic, we would travel back and forth. Noy and our son would fly back to KL, and I would fly to Vientiane every few months, so we could see each other very often, and all was good,” recalls Wong.

The couple have turned to WhatsApp and video calls to stay in touch with each other.


“Thankfully, technology has enabled us to be just one message or video call away. It’s not like the age of snail mail where it can take weeks for people to hear from each other,” says Wong.

The couple reveals that they have a “long-term plan”, and that is to bring Jayden back to Malaysia in two years’ time to continue his primary school education. And a year or two after that, Noy will wind things down in Vientiane and return too.

“Hopefully by then the pandemic will be over so that in

Wong (inset) in a video call with his wife Noy and son Jayden. Photo: Jedidiah Wong

ternational borders can reopen and flights can resume,” he says.

“But currently, things are very uncertain and we’re just trying to get by and survive, and we’re taking things one day at a time,” he concludes.