For the past one-and-a-half years, the metallic tones of gamelan music can be heard at Pasir Ris East Community Club on some Saturday evenings. Every fortnight, boys aged eight to 16 gather for gamelan lessons, learning to play the gong ageng, bonang and saron.
The youngsters hail from Muhammadiyah Welfare Home, a non–profit shelter for boys from abused and underprivileged backgrounds. Teaching them are musicians from Djoko Mangkrengg, a local performing arts group that specialises in gamelan.
The collaboration was set up by ArtSee, a music and community mentorship programme co-founded by Nabillah Jalal.
Nabillah runs NJ Studio, a piano school, but sees ArtSee as her “ikigai”, the Japanese concept of work that brings value, joy and purpose.
She co-founded the non-profit mentorship programmewith her husband Ahmad Fakhruddin and friend Cindy Chia, combining her love for music with her passion for uplifting others in the community.
“Throughout my youth, I was always supported by my family and the wider community to pursue my dream in music,” said the 32-year-old.“So it’s only right that I give back.”
Nabillah started piano lessons when she was four years old, and her mother drilled into her the importance of consistent practice.
Nabillah owes her success to her family and community and is passionate about giving back. (Photo: Nabillah Jalal)
Nabillah (left) with her brother (second from right) and parents, whose tough love was a source of inspiration and motivation for the piano teacher. (Photo: Nabillah Jalal)
“My mum was a tiger mum,” Nabillah told CNA Women. “For years, she brought me to my piano lessons at Yamaha Music School every week.”
By the time Nabillah was eight, piano practice had become a daily habit, and she discovered how much she enjoyed playing the instrument.
“It helped that I liked music-themed anime like Nodame Cantabile. I felt cool that I could play the piano the way the characters did and I recognised the music in the story,” she said.
On some days, she practised for as long as six to eight hours. “It was intense, but I kept hearing my mum’s voice telling me, ‘quitting is never an option’.”
Her brother, who is 10 years older, would sit next to her on the piano bench with a cane in his hand. He was acting as a proxy for their mum and Mrs Rosy Tan, her piano teacher at Yamaha Music School – in case she showed signs of slacking.
“I was terrified at times, but looking back, it’s something we still laugh about today,” Nabillah said. “Those days drilled into me the importance of practice and commitment, and they highlight how crucial my family and teacher were in my music journey.”
Her discipline paid off. By the time she was in junior college, she was simultaneously studying for her A-Levels and working towards her diploma in piano performance from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM).
Nabillah has played the piano since she was four years old. (Photo: Nabillah Jalal)
She was also reflecting more deeply about what she wanted to study after junior college.
“One day while I was sharing what I was going through, Mrs Tan asked me, ‘Nabillah, why don’t you pursue piano? You have great talent, why don’t you aim high and attend a music school overseas?’” Nabillah recalled.
“I was stunned. The possibility never even occurred to me – all my friends were going to local universities, who would’ve thought I could study music abroad?
“But Mrs Tan really believed in my talent and her confidence in me made me start believing in myself, too. Her words changed my life.”
Nabillah started seriously setting her sights on studying music overseas. “Pursuing music is not a cheap endeavour, and even auditioning for music schools costs money,” she said. “After my A-Levels and finishing my ABRSM diploma, I had to take a gap year just to focus more on auditions and saving up.”
Nabillah performing for the former President Halimah Yacob at the Istana Open House in 2023. (Photo: Nabillah Jalal)
“I remember feeling so damn alone,” she said. “All my friends were already starting their time at the local universities. Yet, I was juggling between odd jobs, practising for auditions, saving money to send my audition tapes to the schools and applying for financial help for the school fees.”
What kept her going was her teacher’s belief in her, her brother’s support and her parents’ reminder to be resilient.
After several auditions, the then 19-year-old was offered a place at the prestigious Royal College of Music (RCM) in London to pursue a four-year bachelor’s degree in piano performance in 2012.
She was elated but also worried about how she would pay her school fees and manage the high cost of living in London.
To secure financial aid, Nabillah reached out to organisations for sponsorships and applied for bursaries and scholarships. Friends and family rallied behind her, donating cash and helping her with her applications.
That year, Nabillah received the Goh Chok Tong Youth Promise Award (now Anugerah Belia Cemerlang MENDAKI), which supports Muslim youths excelling in fields beyond traditional academics.
Even though the award covered only her first-year fees at RCM, it opened doors to further support. Bukit Timah Community Club and the charity Trailblazer Foundation stepped in with education sponsorships, while her alma mater, Nanyang Junior College, organised a fundraising concert to help cover her expenses in London.
“That experience once again made me realise how much the community helped me, a girl with big dreams,” she said.
“None of what I achieved was possible without community, so I knew I had to give back,” Nabillah said. “I feel a sense of duty to use my gifts to help others and to support them in achieving their dreams.”
She does this is by performing at community events, including the 2017 Mendaki Education Trust Fund Dinner, a fundraising gala that raised over S$500,000 for underprivileged families.
Nabillah attended the Royal College of Music in London from 2012 to 2016. (Photo: Nabillah Jalal)
She also wants to help improve the community’s access to music.
“In RCM, I assisted in a programme called The Brent Enrichment Project, which engaged youths from underprivileged groups in the boroughs of London,” Nabillah said. “For a few hours every other week, I’d teach them music skills and how to play the piano.
“Being part of the programme reminded me of how privileged I am to be a Muslim person of colour who could pursue her passion in classical music and piano performance.
“Teaching the youths music was fun and fulfilling, and it reaffirmed my belief that the gifts God has given me must be shared with others in the best way possible.”
Her experience stirred in Nabillah the desire to continue working with youths from underprivileged backgrounds.
“During my summer breaks, I’d return to Singapore and visit the Muhammadiyah Welfare Home and give the boys lessons on basic music theory and piano,” she said. “It meant a lot to be able to provide them an opportunity to learn something that they usually didn’t have access to.”
The boys from Muhammadiyah Welfare Home performing together with their ArtSee mentors, musicians of Djoko Mangkrengg, in a gamelan ensemble at the School of the Arts for their ArtSee graduation ceremony in December 2024. (Photo: ArtSee)
As part of their ArtSee graduation ceremony, the boys performed in a gamelan ensemble live at the School of the Arts in December 2024. (Photo: ArtSee)
In 2018, two years after graduating from RCM, Nabillah launched a pilot initiative for ArtSee. “Starting ArtSee felt like a natural progression of what I wanted to do and where I wanted to be,” she said.
The community programme began with “taster sessions” that allowed boys from the welfare home to explore different areas, including visual arts, classical music, and traditional Malay music.
Nabillah noticed the boys had a strong interest in traditional Malay music. This led her to collaborate with the Djoko Mangkrengg Performing Arts Group.
That was also the year Nabillah opened NJ Studio. Here too, she wanted to give back. For two years after its opening, her school sponsored five needy students, covering the cost of their piano lessons for a few months to a year.
The boys who are part of ArtSee have the opportunity to perform at events such as the M3 Youth Festival in 2024. (Photo: ArtSee)
ArtSee officially launched in 2023, sponsoring bi-weekly lessons for selected boys from Muhammadiyah Welfare Home. At the end of the nine-month programme, the boys graduate from ArtSee and receive certificates recognising their gamelan training.
Wanting to create more than just a typical enrichment class, Nabillah and her co-founders ensure that the mentors from Djoko Mangkrengg also benefit, by picking up skills like mentorship and team management.
“It’s not always easy to teach the boys,” said Razin Mohamed, a Djoko Mangkrengg musician. “But seeing them grow in terms of their music skills and general confidence can be really fulfilling.”
The boys have opportunities to perform, such as at the tribute to former president Halimah Yacob in 2023 and the M3 Youth Festival in 2024.
In December 2024, the second batch of boys under ArtSee marked their graduation from the programme with a finale concert at the School of the Arts Singapore, showcasing their hard work over the past nine months.
In the audience were their relatives and school teachers, some of whom were moved to tears.
“Behind every single successful person is a product of hard work, effort, sacrifices, magic, and blessings from God, family, friends and the community,” Nabillah said. “Therefore, we should all give and share what we can to ensure the continuity of this ecosystem.”
“The purpose of ArtSee isn’t just so that these boys can learn music skills or play some instrument,” Nabillah added.
“I want the boys to know that music and hard work can open up so many opportunities for them. I want them to know they too, can dream and soar high.”
CNA Women is a section on CNA Lifestyle that seeks to inform, empower and inspire the modern woman. If you have women-related news, issues and ideas to share with us, email CNAWomen [at] mediacorp.com.sg.
Continue reading...
The youngsters hail from Muhammadiyah Welfare Home, a non–profit shelter for boys from abused and underprivileged backgrounds. Teaching them are musicians from Djoko Mangkrengg, a local performing arts group that specialises in gamelan.
The collaboration was set up by ArtSee, a music and community mentorship programme co-founded by Nabillah Jalal.
Nabillah runs NJ Studio, a piano school, but sees ArtSee as her “ikigai”, the Japanese concept of work that brings value, joy and purpose.
She co-founded the non-profit mentorship programmewith her husband Ahmad Fakhruddin and friend Cindy Chia, combining her love for music with her passion for uplifting others in the community.
“Throughout my youth, I was always supported by my family and the wider community to pursue my dream in music,” said the 32-year-old.“So it’s only right that I give back.”
THE DISCIPLINE OF PRACTISING THE PIANO
Nabillah started piano lessons when she was four years old, and her mother drilled into her the importance of consistent practice.
Nabillah owes her success to her family and community and is passionate about giving back. (Photo: Nabillah Jalal)
Nabillah (left) with her brother (second from right) and parents, whose tough love was a source of inspiration and motivation for the piano teacher. (Photo: Nabillah Jalal)
“My mum was a tiger mum,” Nabillah told CNA Women. “For years, she brought me to my piano lessons at Yamaha Music School every week.”
By the time Nabillah was eight, piano practice had become a daily habit, and she discovered how much she enjoyed playing the instrument.
“It helped that I liked music-themed anime like Nodame Cantabile. I felt cool that I could play the piano the way the characters did and I recognised the music in the story,” she said.
On some days, she practised for as long as six to eight hours. “It was intense, but I kept hearing my mum’s voice telling me, ‘quitting is never an option’.”
Her brother, who is 10 years older, would sit next to her on the piano bench with a cane in his hand. He was acting as a proxy for their mum and Mrs Rosy Tan, her piano teacher at Yamaha Music School – in case she showed signs of slacking.
“I was terrified at times, but looking back, it’s something we still laugh about today,” Nabillah said. “Those days drilled into me the importance of practice and commitment, and they highlight how crucial my family and teacher were in my music journey.”
Her discipline paid off. By the time she was in junior college, she was simultaneously studying for her A-Levels and working towards her diploma in piano performance from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM).
Nabillah has played the piano since she was four years old. (Photo: Nabillah Jalal)
She was also reflecting more deeply about what she wanted to study after junior college.
“One day while I was sharing what I was going through, Mrs Tan asked me, ‘Nabillah, why don’t you pursue piano? You have great talent, why don’t you aim high and attend a music school overseas?’” Nabillah recalled.
“I was stunned. The possibility never even occurred to me – all my friends were going to local universities, who would’ve thought I could study music abroad?
“But Mrs Tan really believed in my talent and her confidence in me made me start believing in myself, too. Her words changed my life.”
REALISING HER DREAMS WITH COMMUNITY SUPPORT
Nabillah started seriously setting her sights on studying music overseas. “Pursuing music is not a cheap endeavour, and even auditioning for music schools costs money,” she said. “After my A-Levels and finishing my ABRSM diploma, I had to take a gap year just to focus more on auditions and saving up.”
Nabillah performing for the former President Halimah Yacob at the Istana Open House in 2023. (Photo: Nabillah Jalal)
“I remember feeling so damn alone,” she said. “All my friends were already starting their time at the local universities. Yet, I was juggling between odd jobs, practising for auditions, saving money to send my audition tapes to the schools and applying for financial help for the school fees.”
What kept her going was her teacher’s belief in her, her brother’s support and her parents’ reminder to be resilient.
After several auditions, the then 19-year-old was offered a place at the prestigious Royal College of Music (RCM) in London to pursue a four-year bachelor’s degree in piano performance in 2012.
She was elated but also worried about how she would pay her school fees and manage the high cost of living in London.
To secure financial aid, Nabillah reached out to organisations for sponsorships and applied for bursaries and scholarships. Friends and family rallied behind her, donating cash and helping her with her applications.
That year, Nabillah received the Goh Chok Tong Youth Promise Award (now Anugerah Belia Cemerlang MENDAKI), which supports Muslim youths excelling in fields beyond traditional academics.
Even though the award covered only her first-year fees at RCM, it opened doors to further support. Bukit Timah Community Club and the charity Trailblazer Foundation stepped in with education sponsorships, while her alma mater, Nanyang Junior College, organised a fundraising concert to help cover her expenses in London.
“That experience once again made me realise how much the community helped me, a girl with big dreams,” she said.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE UNDERPRIVILEGED TO HAVE ACCESS TO MUSIC
“None of what I achieved was possible without community, so I knew I had to give back,” Nabillah said. “I feel a sense of duty to use my gifts to help others and to support them in achieving their dreams.”
She does this is by performing at community events, including the 2017 Mendaki Education Trust Fund Dinner, a fundraising gala that raised over S$500,000 for underprivileged families.
Nabillah attended the Royal College of Music in London from 2012 to 2016. (Photo: Nabillah Jalal)
She also wants to help improve the community’s access to music.
“In RCM, I assisted in a programme called The Brent Enrichment Project, which engaged youths from underprivileged groups in the boroughs of London,” Nabillah said. “For a few hours every other week, I’d teach them music skills and how to play the piano.
“Being part of the programme reminded me of how privileged I am to be a Muslim person of colour who could pursue her passion in classical music and piano performance.
“Teaching the youths music was fun and fulfilling, and it reaffirmed my belief that the gifts God has given me must be shared with others in the best way possible.”
Her experience stirred in Nabillah the desire to continue working with youths from underprivileged backgrounds.
“During my summer breaks, I’d return to Singapore and visit the Muhammadiyah Welfare Home and give the boys lessons on basic music theory and piano,” she said. “It meant a lot to be able to provide them an opportunity to learn something that they usually didn’t have access to.”
The boys from Muhammadiyah Welfare Home performing together with their ArtSee mentors, musicians of Djoko Mangkrengg, in a gamelan ensemble at the School of the Arts for their ArtSee graduation ceremony in December 2024. (Photo: ArtSee)
As part of their ArtSee graduation ceremony, the boys performed in a gamelan ensemble live at the School of the Arts in December 2024. (Photo: ArtSee)
In 2018, two years after graduating from RCM, Nabillah launched a pilot initiative for ArtSee. “Starting ArtSee felt like a natural progression of what I wanted to do and where I wanted to be,” she said.
The community programme began with “taster sessions” that allowed boys from the welfare home to explore different areas, including visual arts, classical music, and traditional Malay music.
Nabillah noticed the boys had a strong interest in traditional Malay music. This led her to collaborate with the Djoko Mangkrengg Performing Arts Group.
That was also the year Nabillah opened NJ Studio. Here too, she wanted to give back. For two years after its opening, her school sponsored five needy students, covering the cost of their piano lessons for a few months to a year.
The boys who are part of ArtSee have the opportunity to perform at events such as the M3 Youth Festival in 2024. (Photo: ArtSee)
ArtSee officially launched in 2023, sponsoring bi-weekly lessons for selected boys from Muhammadiyah Welfare Home. At the end of the nine-month programme, the boys graduate from ArtSee and receive certificates recognising their gamelan training.
Wanting to create more than just a typical enrichment class, Nabillah and her co-founders ensure that the mentors from Djoko Mangkrengg also benefit, by picking up skills like mentorship and team management.
“It’s not always easy to teach the boys,” said Razin Mohamed, a Djoko Mangkrengg musician. “But seeing them grow in terms of their music skills and general confidence can be really fulfilling.”
The boys have opportunities to perform, such as at the tribute to former president Halimah Yacob in 2023 and the M3 Youth Festival in 2024.
In December 2024, the second batch of boys under ArtSee marked their graduation from the programme with a finale concert at the School of the Arts Singapore, showcasing their hard work over the past nine months.
In the audience were their relatives and school teachers, some of whom were moved to tears.
“Behind every single successful person is a product of hard work, effort, sacrifices, magic, and blessings from God, family, friends and the community,” Nabillah said. “Therefore, we should all give and share what we can to ensure the continuity of this ecosystem.”
“The purpose of ArtSee isn’t just so that these boys can learn music skills or play some instrument,” Nabillah added.
“I want the boys to know that music and hard work can open up so many opportunities for them. I want them to know they too, can dream and soar high.”
CNA Women is a section on CNA Lifestyle that seeks to inform, empower and inspire the modern woman. If you have women-related news, issues and ideas to share with us, email CNAWomen [at] mediacorp.com.sg.
Continue reading...