Messages in The Stars
The STAR, Tuesday, July 30 2002

Malaysian Gospel songwriter WahLok has emerged from the shadows and taken Malaysian Gospel Music by storm, after writing nearly 80 songs over a span of 22 years.

Last year, he released his debut album Every Time I Pray. The title track Every Time I Pray, co-written with Voon Yuen Woh in 1981, has become a gospel hit in many countries. The other songs in Every Time I Pray are also widely sung in local churches.

WahLok's new release Shining Stars contains 12 more original songs. The title track Shining Stars is a devotional song about how Christians should live their lives - as shining stars for God's glory.

Beside You was written in 1983 in memory of his friend Leslie Koch who was dying of colon cancer. In this song, WahLok encourages all of us to stand with our friends who are terminally ill. Another song She Moves Her Feet to Dance is about a girl in his church. Judith fell very ill one day and was totally paralyzed within a few days. The church fasted and prayed for her healing. Amazingly, she was healed and her life preserved. When she returned to church in a wheel chair, WahLok had an impression that she would dance one day. That experience inspired the song She Moves Her Feet to Dance.

In the song, Unheard Voices, WahLok writes about the billions of poor people in the world, the children sold to prostitution, the babies who die of AIDS and millions others who are aborted. These are the "unheard voices".

A personal favourite for WahLok is the track I'm the Reason. He reflects on the immensity and the mystery of God's love, that Jesus Christ would die for the sins of mankind.

Timothy Lee arranged the songs and produced the album. The musicians are Bernard McDonagh, Jordan Rivers and Jedidiah Wong (electric and acoustic guitars), Guy Rozario (trumpets), Lim Kok Yen (drums), Joanna Lee (violins) Kevin Choo (Saxophone), Mark Rajendran and Gabriel Thomas (bass) and Phillip Phua (percussion).

Lead vocals are Maria Rebano, Aris Siew, Guy Rozario, Elvira, Carol Nair and Geoffrey Woo. Background vocals are by Alan Tan, Teoh Lee Mei, Gideon Yong and Sheena Suriya. Adrian Lai provided sound engineering.

Shining Stars, available in CD (RM 30) and cassette (RM 13.90), is distributed nation wide in Salvation, Glad Sounds, Chosen Treasures, Canaan Land, MPH (Klang Valley), and the Word Power House (Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur). The title track Shining Stars is available for free downloads from www.tabernaclemusic.net