Project O: Revive – A Heart for the Children
Held at RMIT Storey Hall on September 29, Project O: Revive was a night that inspired, entertained and rocked its audience as they relived school day memories. Hadi Ismanto attended.
Project O: Revive was RMIT Indonesian Students Association’s (PPIA RMIT) second charity event after the success of Project O: Reboot last year.
The theme “Revive” was chosen to coincide with the event’s goal to send underprivileged children back to school. With this in mind, the project has developed a partnership with Yayasan Cinta Anak Bangsa (YCAB), an Indonesia-based foundation that focuses on youth development.
The project’s managers, Ken Hendarto and Tracy Indra Kusuma, say they are trying to approach their goal through a different perspective by focusing more on the memory aspect of the mission.
“We acknowledge that education are important, but this year we would like put a bigger emphasis on the memories as there are still many children in Indonesia that don’t have that privilege [like us],” Ken says.
Tracy explains YCAB was just a good fit with PPIA RMIT as well.
“YCAB has been involved in this area [youth development] for a while and aligns with our vision and mission, it is also a privilege for us to establish a partnership with such a global foundation like YCAB,” she says.
‘Back to school’ atmosphere
In line with PPIA’s mission to draw on the unforgettable memories of school days, Project O: Revive was set up to mimic the atmosphere of a school.
Stage performers were even dressed on stage in typical Indonesian school uniforms.
Similarly, committee-members-turned-vendors were selling various traditional school snacks such as cimol and lidi at their stalls.
The Changcuters and Roti (Ronal – Tike)
Probably one of the main attractions of the night was The Changcuters, a five-piece Indonesian rock band. With their excellent musicianship and eccentric appearance, the band lived up to the audience’s expectations to rock the house down.
Aside from hit songs like “I Love You Bibeh”, “Main Serong” and “Pria Idaman Wanita”, the band also performed their latest single, “HAP Tangkap”.
The audience was then left in stitches by hilarious presenters Ronal and Tike aka Roti, also flown in from Indonesia. The duo are radio DJs at one of the leading radio stations in Jakarta, but they are also comedians and renowned emcees of many television shows in Indonesia.
With witty emcees like Roti and hyped up music performances from The Changcuters, Project O: Revive was a night full of laughter, jumping around and singing your lungs out.
More than that, it inspired us to appreciate our school day memories more and to contribute to those less privileged than us.