By Samantha Lim
KUCHING — St Joseph’s Private Schools will be organising their biennial variety concert, “Rhythm and Colour 2025 – Seeking Truth, Goodness and Beauty” at Dewan Majma Kuching on August 2 and 3.
These variety concerts have been a long-standing tradition of St Joseph’s schools. Initially aiming to cultivate life skills and teamwork in students, the La Salle Brothers, who ran the St Joseph’s School, started the variety concerts in the 1950s and 1960s. It was in 2016, the variety concerts were given a name – “Rhythm and Colour”. Each has a special theme. These themes are central to the featured performing arts items, as the audience leaves with much more than just entertainment, but also with profound life messages and values.
When questioned about the significance of the term “Wonder” in this year’s concert, the schools’ creative director, Mr. Benedict Lo, emphasised the need for imagination and creativity in this day and age, for information is available to us instantaneously, limiting the need for curiosity among the young. The concert will exhibit the creative feats the younger generation can accomplish with teamwork, as well as spotlighting the aspects of goodness, truth, and positivity throughout their performances.
The near-decade-old Rhythm and Colour concerts have served as a learning platform for the growth of a plethora of students’ talents. One such example is the SJPS Lion Dance troupe that initially emerged from the initiatives of a few secondary school students. The troupe performed for the public in the Rhythm and Colour concert 2016, and since then, the alumni have passed their knowledge on to the younger members of the troupe, who have performed at events and festivals. Recently, on June 9, the SJPS Lion Dance troupe won the silver medal for their performances at the “2025全砂族魂文化之夜” – a cultural event organised by the Chinese Associations’ Youth Section.
Thus, each performing item at the Rhythm and Colour concerts is the fruit of the hard work and commitment of those who are involved over the years. The learning process itself is a wonder to behold. Our schools nurture and cultivate the talents of the young, like the butterfly that is portrayed in the poster of the upcoming concert, so that they thrive and spread their wings when they graduate, while remembering their roots and returning to contribute to their alma mater and the wider community.
All proceeds from the Rhythm and Colour 2025 concert will benefit our school building fund. Our students have highly anticipated the construction and completion of this new school building, for it houses the much-needed new learning spaces. The multipurpose hall and specialised rooms, such as the music and dance studios, will be utilised to preserve our schools’ wonderful performing arts legacy.
Those interested in the concert can purchase their tickets (RM50, RM80, RM120) from Cloudjoi at https://www.cloudjoi.com/shows/3470-rhythm-colour-wonder/ or visit the website https://sites.google.com/stjosephkuching.edu.my/rc-wonder/home to donate to the school building fund and for further details.
