Happy 56th Birthday, Michael!

On this day in 1958, Michael Jackson, the King of Pop was born in Gary, Indiana at 7.33 pm, as the seventh child. His mother Katherine remembers "a sweet little child" who showed unusual empathy for others and who was born to sing and dance.

If Michael had lived, he'd turned 56 year old today.

Raised a Jehovah's Witness, there was no birthday celebrations in his earlier life, but one birthday that he refers as one of his best moments was when performing at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1997, on his 39th birthday with 50,000 fans. He was presented with a surprise birthday cake, marching band, and fireworks on stage.
In his own words:

MJ: One of the best moments is right here. It's right in the middle of the show and ...it's my birthday and I'm thousands of miles away from my family.

When they surprised me with the full marching band and then they brought out his huge beautiful birthday cake...

(Happy birthday song is performed by the band)

MJ: I realised that I've got family all over the world. Everywhere I go, because my fans really show me the love and I love them just as much.

MJ: This is wonderful. Thank you so much!

Watch the birthday special moment :

         

Thank you for all your positive feedback for the video to show your love for Michael, and on his birthday, gone but not forgotten.

His music lives on, Happy Birthday Michael Jackson! The king, 1958 - forever.

Michael Jackson's "HIStory", Taiwan 1996 - Arrival

Michael Jackson arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport,  October 1996

In front of all the media, a happy and relaxed Michael in blue military uniform arrived at the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport for three HIStory World Tour concerts in October 1996. Accompanied by Omer also dressed in military outfit, his mother and bodyguards. This was his 2nd visit to the island since the Dangerous World Tour in 1993.


         

Remembering Michael From Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

While the King of Pop may no longer among us, there is no doubt he will have eternal life in the memory of his fans and the fortunate few who had the chance to meet him in person.

One such lucky fan was Badrul Hisham, 46, food and beverage manager of Concorde Hotel Kuala Lumpur. In 1996, when Michael Jackson performed in Malaysia, Badrul was the butler assigned to the star's suite.

Forever in memory: Badrul was presented an
autographed picture by the star himself before he left.
It reads, 'Badrul, love knowing you'

"He was a quiet but beautiful and polite man," recalled Badrul.

Based upon his observation during the star's week-long stay, Badrul remembered Jackson for wearing a "Do Not Disturb" sign around his neck and generally spoke very little. The demeanour changed when Badrul's boss, Tan Sri Syed Yusof brought 15 children aged between five and seven to his suite.

"He was very happy to see them. He and the children made a mess of the place by spraying silly string all over the place and by popping the hundreds of balloons that we had put in there. You could see that this was a man who loved children," said Badrul.

Badrul also confirmed the star's playful nature.

"Jackson had a toy police car which he'd push around the suite. He would shoot at balloons with a pop gun. I also remember him sending his staff out to get video tapes of Tom and Jerry and Mickey Mouse," he recalled.

The young butler also recalled dealing with an anxious Michael who got a stomach ache after consuming some tandoori chicken.

"But he liked it so much that he ate it again for several days," said Badrul who revealed that the star also liked ice-cream and M&Ms.

When it was time for the star to depart, Jackson personally gave Badrul an autographed picture of himself as a sign of appreciation.

While Jackson may have come across as 'childlike' to many, Syed Yusof, the man responsible for bringing the King of Pop to Malaysia said that Jackson was a true professional and a perfectionist.

Meeting of a lifetime: Syed Yusof Wafa, a freelance journalist
and former artist, had personally presented Jackson with a collection
of celebrity paintings when he met the star in his suite

"He was always very concerned about his fans. On the first day, when we went to Toys 'R' Us to buy presents for the children of Rumah Ozanam, I was concerned by the crowed that had gathered there and suggested tat we cancel that outing. But Michael insisted on going because he didn't want to disappoint his fans," said Yusof.

Yusof, who described the late star as 'energetic', recalled how worried he had been when Jackson called him up one night because he couldn't sleep. But, he waved aside notions of Jackson as a difficult person.

"One example was when one of the children I brought asked him about his nose. He didn't get offended at all," he said.

The demise of pop's living legend came as a shock to Yusof as his brother, Jermaine told him that 'Michael was doing very well' only a month ago.

I love you: This painting, done by local artist and actor,
Imuda, best captures Jackson's on-stage persona.
Notice the words, 'love' and 'cinta' penned by the star himself

It was a sad day for him when a friend SMSed to announce that the star had passed away.

"Michael was a warm and caring person and this showed in the way he used the word 'love' so often in his speech. All those negative rumours about him are all lies," said Yusof.

Syed Yusof Wafa, 38, can attest to this. He had spend 25 minutes in the King of Pop's suite when he presented him with a collection of celebrity drawings.

"He greeted me warmly and told me that he loved art and drawing. He also admired the locket I was wearing at that time," remembers Wafa of his meeting with the star in 1996.

Nadarajan R. Govindan, 41, an MJ impersonator who won the Malaysian Michael Jackson Competition in 1993, remembered camping in front of the hotel for two days to catch a glimpse of his favourite performer.

Though Nadarajan did not get to meet Jackson, he reacted very emotionally on hearing the news.

The father of five, who started impersonating Jackson in 1980, said that the world will mourn the passing of a great legend.


Source: http://tellmeastorygrace.blogspot.co.uk/2009/07/remembering-michael.html

Michael Jackson signing autographs for children of Rumah Ozanam at the
Concorde Hotel during his visit to Kuala Lumpur in October 1996

Michael Jackson History tour in Malaysia in 1996

Michael Jackson Visits a Home for Disadvantaged Children in Taiwan

Michael Jackson visits a home for the children with learning difficulty
in Kaohsiung, Taiwan in October 19, 1996

Being the biggest pop icon in the world, Michael never forgot those less fortunate, especially children. During his world tours he would often take time to visit children in hospitals or orphanages around the world.

16 years ago on the day while on History tour in Kaohsiung, Taiwan on 19, October 1996, Michael visited a home (Home Without Barriers) for disadvantaged children who have learning difficulties or were handicapped. He removed his dark glasses and mask and greeted the children face to face with a warm smile.

Michael appeared very happy and relaxed among the children, he was not a super star, but a big kid with friendly smile, even though the children didn't really know who he was!

During the visit, Michael was more than happy to become one of the spectators and watch the children perform. He cheered and gave big praises by raising his thumb while watching two 'little Michaels' performing 'Jam' and other performances by other children, includes a violin performance played by a blind boy.

Before leaving Michael personally handed out 150 gifts to all the children, he also left his signature and hand prints onto a wall canvas among other children's, as if he was part of their big family. Those rare happy moments filled everyone's face with a big smile, just like a big happy family.

Michael's rarely known loving and caring side indeed made a lasting impression to everyone.

Translated from news article

©2012 PeiLing


Michael Jackson Visits a Children's Home in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, 1996

             

A Rare TV Commercial By Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson was the spokesman for the "Esonic DiscBaby" 

Michael did quite a few TV commercials, What many people may not know was that he also did a TV commercial for a Taiwanese high tech company, promoting a portable disc player called "Esonic DiscBaby" in 1997.

According to the CTI News source the disc player was first developed by a company called "Esonic"( 億碩 ), and it was a first of its kind at the time. Michael was given the new player to try out during his History tour in Taiwan in 1996, he loved it! Unsurprisingly the company wasted no time in asking the King of Pop to be the spokesman for its product. Michael agreed and the pay deal was a record breaker at the time, said to be the highest for a TV commercial in the country, rumoured to be over 10 million NT dollars, around 350,000 US dollars for less than a minute long commercial.

The twins Prety and Morly also appeared in the TV commercial 

In fact, according to another source, Michael's Taiwanese friends Mrs. Ma and her husband were said to have pulled a few strings to make the deal happen. They and their twins were following Michael at the time, during the 2nd leg of the History tour. Michael signed a three-year contract with an Esonic representative in June 1997, while on tour in Bremen, Germany.


The commercial was filmed in the US in October, 1997, mainly for the Asian Market. It also featured the young Omer Bhatti, and Ma's twin daughters Prety and Morly (Video below at 0.49)


Time has moved on, the product is long outdated and Michael Jackson the Pop icon is no longer with us....

©2011 PeiLing

Source: Taiwan CTI News,  Michael Jackson, A visual documentary 1958-2009 (Book)
             1997年 Esonic 億碩 影音播放機 代言


Michael Jackson's TV Commercial for Esonic DiscBaby



Taiwan CTI News report (Mandarin audio, includes unseen clips of Michael Jackson)
             

Music Promoter in Taiwan Remembers Michael

Yu Kuang is a pop music promoter and concert agent, who invited Michael Jackson to Taiwan for the Dangerous tour in 1993. He appeared visibly upset during a TV news appearance when the news of Michael Jackson's death broke last June. He expressed that he was in shock and very upset at the news of Michael's passing. and paid his tribute to Michael Jackson as one of most iconic and influential artist in the music world. A rare talent that may not happen again for generations.

Dangerous tour Taipei promotional poster

During Yu's career, he was the first person to bring Western pop music to Taiwan since the 1960's. He began with radio and television and also had a music magazine. From 1982 onwards the government began to liberalise the political system, rules were gradually more relaxed in various social and culture aspects. Yu started to bring in European and American big name pop and rock bands. However, he's best remembered for bringing Michael Jackson to Taipei for the Dangerous tour in 1993, in which time, the culture climate was ready to embrace him.

Yu put in great effort to secure the opportunity of Michael Jackson coming to Taiwan for the first time. He did everything he could to meet all the requirements including sorting out a large capacity stadium, and sponsors, which convinced the agent and finally enabled the concerts to take place and be a huge success.

However, the Dangerous tour in Asia was eventful. Just after Michael kicked off the Asian leg of the tour in Bangkok on the 24th August, the first child abuse accusation against him was made public. Two performances in Thailand and Singapore had to be cancelled because Michael suffered from acute dehydration and exhaustion due to the emotional stress cause by the accusation. Though the tour was heavily insured. Yu was relieved when Michael finally landed at the airport in Taipei on 3rd September, with his friend Elizabeth Taylor who had flown out to support him. The original dates for the Dangerous tour concerts in Taipei were rescheduled for the 4th and 5th September.

Yu Kuang music magazine MJ's Taipei
Dangerous tour special edition

Being the most iconic pop star to ever visit the country at the time, the media frenzy and coverage was unprecedented. Screaming fans surrounded Michael's hotel, calling his name and pursuing him everywhere he went, hoping to get a glimpse of him. Michael's amazing super stardom and presence had made a real impression, he was back at his best in Taipei. His outstanding live performances set a new standard in the country and he certainly lived up the name 'King of Pop'. Even after the event, Michael was talked about in the media for 3 months!

After the Dangerous tour in Taipei, Michael showed his appreciation by sending Yu a copy of his favourite portrait of himself 'The Book' as a gift to thank Yu for all his effort and help. Michael came back for the History tour 3 years later in October 1996, which was then organized by anther agent in Taiwan. There were two performances in Taipei, and one in Kaohsiung, which was to become Michael's final world tour.

Yu met Michael on 3 different occasions. He recalled when meeting Michael for the first time, noticing his nose was just like the Disney cartoon character Peter Pan's, with the tip of nose slightly tilted, Michael did refer to himself as Peter Pan in the past. "He was very friendly with a very soft voice, like a whisper, and very shy, like a little boy." The Michael Jackson he knew was simple, pure and had a childlike innocence, but on stage Michael was a super star. He remembered that Michael especially requested the 'King of Pop' title had to be included on the promotional posters, clearly showing that Michael was very confident that he was definitely the 'King of Pop'! Yu remember bringing some children to meet Michael after he expressed his wish to meet some local children. With the children Michael has a "natural, heartfelt joy that came from within" said Yu.

Yu even met with Michael's family, when his parents and brothers flew out to Taiwan to offer support due to the accusation. Yu recalled how he waited in a room with Michael's Dad and brothers for 'an appointment', which was the extent of protection from his bodyguards. To Yu, loneliness seemed to play a prominent part in Michael's life.

After Michael's sudden death, Yu's biggest regret was that he was not able to help Michael tour China, Yu felt he had let Michael down. Michael had briefly visited mainland China and Hong Kong as a tourist during the Bad Tour back in the late 80's, he was fascinated by the culture and people. According to Yu, Michael had very strong desire to perform in China, during his 93' Dangerous tour in Taiwan, Michael had personally asked for Yu's assistance to help him achieve this ambition. When Michael returned to Taiwan 3 years later for the History tour, he arranged to meet with Yu, again raising the proposal of going into China, and even signed contract with Yu as indefinite priority agent to co-ordinate his future performance in China.

In fact, according to insiders there was a Chinese Mainland company in close contact with the Dangerous tour organizer. Beijing was going to be one of the stops along side Taipei, (even Hong Kong was on the list but was later cancelled, the reasons may have been because of not having a big enough stadium, or the noise concern by local residents) in the end, the Beijing tour did not happen. It was in a different time and there was lots of speculation as to why, but one reason known to Yu was that after the relevant authority had seen Michael's music video and material that had forwarded to them, the response was that they didn't think that one of Michael's dance routines (grabbing his crouch) was in line with Chinese Custom! Yu exclusively told the Chinese Nanfang Daily reporter during an interview.

Since the announcement of Michael's O2 'This is it' concert, Yu had been in talks with a Chinese concert agent that intended to bring the show to the mainland. Yu suggested to wait until the end of the London concerts before pursuing it further. Yu never thought Michael would pass away so suddenly, the Chinese tour would sadly never become a reality for Michael. Taiwan turned out to be the only Chinese country and region that Michael had performed in. Millions of mainland Chinese fans regretfully will never see the King of Pop live in concert on Chinese soil.

Rest in peace, forever the King of Pop!

©2010 PeiLing

Source: Taiwan CTI News, Taiwan Liberty Times. Chinese Nanfang Daily

Relevant reading : When Michael Jackson Visited Mainland China