Elvis’ cousin sets up music room for orphans, the elderly in Rawang
GRACELAND in Memphis, US, and Rawang in Selangor may be oceans apart, but thanks to a charity project inspired by rock ‘n’ roll legend Elvis Presley, that distance is now smaller.
Called The Elvis Initiative (TEI), the project has enabled a learning and music room to be set up in Pusat Jagaan Seribu Harapan (PJSH) in Bukit Beruntung, Rawang.
With instruments, books and storage shelves, the room gives some 20 youths at the home a chance to develop their interests through music classes as well as to do their schoolwork.
According to PJSH co-founder Muneswaran Munusamy, 61, his wards are orphans or children of B40 single mothers who cannot afford to care for them.
“We had been looking for someone to teach the kids music.
“They need music lessons as part of their education,” he said.
TEI was started this year by Elvis’ first cousin Donna Presley, 76, who stayed with her grandmother as a young child and then lived at Graceland with her parents.
Donna was in Malaysia for an Elvis-themed evening event, “Donna Presley – From My Heart” where she shared stories about growing up a Presley and doing her part to carry on his legacy of sharing music with the less fortunate.
The event was organised by Karen Barnes, a Malaysian-based, British-born choreographer who is also the founder and principal of Karen Barnes Dance based in Taman Bukit Pantai, Kuala Lumpur.
“Donna wishes to perpetuate Elvis’ generosity and kindness.
“So, we went looking for a care home to assist,” Barnes, 64, said in a media statement.
She heard about PJSH from her partner Subramaniam Palandaram, a childhood pal of Muneswaran’s.
Donna then began setting up The Presley Learning and Music Room at the charity home.
“The room will also include a 60-inch TV for online music lessons to be conducted by The Mississippi Music Foundation,” said Muneswaran.
Donna currently serves as the foundation’s advisory board chief.
“The room is a space being created with love, dignity and opportunity at its heart,” said Donna who bought the furniture, helped paint the room and planned activities to benefit the children as well as some 10 elderly residents who live at PJSH.
“As I painted the walls, I found myself thinking deeply about Elvis, the kindness he carried within him, the quiet generosity and the way he believed in helping people without the need for recognition.
“This initiative exists because of him; his spirit of giving reached far beyond music and fame,” said Donna in a video released on Instagram after starting to set up the learning and music room that is due for completion on May 22.
She also expressed hope that the room would become a place of hope, creativity, comfort and possibility.
She would return to Malaysia as the programme develops.
Meanwhile, Muneswaran said PJSH needed about RM20,000 monthly to cover its operational costs.
The charity home relies on profits from the sale of indoor and herbal plants he grows nearby.
PJSH was registered in 2013, after it was initially set up in 2010 as Saravanan Caring Home in memory of Muneswaran’s adopted son who passed away in 2009.
