Entertainment news

GEETA-WATEE: MON BAND FORMED IN MOULMEIN

(By Bop Htaw)

Over twenty Mon students from various universities have joined a Mon music band named "Geeta Watee" led by Ai Mon, a well known Mon musician.

Ai Mon said the team is seeking new instruments including guitars, drum set and key-board with Yamaha or Roland brands in order to better entertain the Mon public and fans. According to him, a senior Mon monk will donate an audio set, but the group will be seeking contribution from friends and Mon music lovers both home and abroad for the other things they need.

The Geeta Watee will perform for their audience both modern and traditional, music including dance and drama on the stage. Ai Mon is now consulting with other traditional Mon musicians and dancing groups in various places to secure their cooperation and partnership for the shows.

The new band is not only doing stage-shows but also planning to open a formal Mon Music Training Centre in the future. The centre will cater to music-minded boys and girls. Some talented youths have already joined the band and they are in a training under Ai Mon and his senior staff in Moulmein for concert shows in year 2004. His personal assistant, Kun Jot Mon, is in charge of recruiting members and the training program.

"Our great interest is to promote traditional and modern Mon music while we are emerging to a new age of geopolitics. However, without the support of friends and fellow Mon musicians in abroad, the prospects for the project would bleak because we have very limited financial resources", said the popular Mon celebrity at his apartment in Malaysia. He is on vacation visiting his sons who work in Malaysia.

The Geeta Watee now has four contracts in 2004, the first for A-Ning monk funeral ceremony, the second for KwanBoe Village Festival, and also for 50th Anniversary of Kaw Bein Monastery and the 57th Mon National Day celebration in Mudon.

The group was formed last August in Mon State with over twenty members. Ai Mon, who graduated from Mandalay University, founded a popular Geeta-Mon band in the late 1980s. He has inspired the younger generation to become musicians rather than politicians in Mon State.

(For general information and to make a contribution, please contact to Kun Jot Mon at +95-57 22137 in Moulmein, Mon State, Union of Myanmar).