We sat down for an afternoon tea with the Intimate Concert trio—Lilo, Ernest Rafael, and Pandji Pragiwaksono—to spill the tea (pun intended, red.) About music, humanity, and what sews them together.
When he was watching Bon Jovi’s charity concert in the US, LiLo of KLA Project thought about how impactful music can be when it’s channeled as an act of humanity. Then he met Ernest Rafael, the CEO of Esa Kreasi Promosindo, who nodded to realize the idea into reality, and Yayasan Pita Kuning, a non-profit organization that supports the needs of children with cancer. There, they met evangelists of the organization, including comedian Pandji Pragiwaksono. Along the way, they teamed up with Ari Lasso and Once as performers to create the first ever Intimate Concert at Hotel Golden Tulip Holland Resort Batu in late 2018. A few months later, they held the second concert at Tentrem Hotel, Yogyakarta.
It’s not an easy job to successfully bring child cancer issue to the surface, especially through a music concert. Ernest explained, “We’re not here to do gimmick. We barely take a penny from the concert because the majority of them went to Yayasan Pita Kuning.” As the brain behind the event, Ernest was surprised that the hype of the first concert exceeded his expectations. “For me, it’s not the amount of help that matters—it’s the longevity of the program. I hope that after attending our Intimate Concert, more people will spread a word about children with cancer.”
As the initiator of the project, Lilo felt grateful to meet compassionate young people like Ernest and Pandji who cared about child cancer. “When I heard stories from Pandji, I never really knew that psychological aid, parental support group, and play therapy could play a role comparable with medical treatment. Imagine what we can do when we are all are well-informed about humanity issues like this. We can never save everyone out there, but at least some of them are happy today.”
Adding what Lilo said, Pandji believed that every help counts. “Yayasan Pita Kuning focuses on bringing back the sense of childhood robbed by the disease they suffer from. To do that, you don’t always have to spend a lot of money. Sometimes it’s as simple as playing or drawing with them.” Closing his story, the stand-up comedian emphasized, “We are all have a history to tell, but these children have a future to fight for. What we call “history” is the “future” they are yet to experience.”
For the three of them, this is just the beginning of their joint project because they already worked on the upcoming closing concert in Jakarta. Along the way, they look forward to working with more artists who hold the same vision.
PHOTOS Rudi Sulistya | STYLING Bung Bung Mangaraja
