The Hong Kong Welsh Male Voice Choir before their “Songs for hearts” charity show at HCMC’s Caravelle Hotel early this month.

Though they come every year, the Hong Kong Welsh Male Voice Choir is eager every time they do one of their charity shows in Ho Chi Minh City, said one of the group’s original members.

“It’s the people here that make us return year after year,” said Terry Brewster, who has been with the choir since its first performance 30 years ago. “They’re generous.”

Since 2001, the group has been performing annually at the Caravelle Hotel to raise money for disadvantaged kids.

Brewster says the choir was able to collect US$15,000 for the South Saigon Boys’ Orphanage last year.

Earlier this month, they performed with 15 disadvantaged children who had been provided heart surgeries by the non-profit East Meets West Foundation.

The raised nearly $20,000 this time around.

The choir donated all funds to East Meets West to carry out more heart operations for poor children.

“I myself have undergone a heart surgery,” said the choir’s former chairman Shane Kelly, who lived in HCMC for three years previously. “Now that I can sing and dance as a healthy man, it’s a pleasure that we can do something for those unlucky kids.”

When it was founded 30 years ago, the amateur choir had just14 members, most of whom were Welshmen. It has grown into 80 members now, with the majority coming from China, Italy, England and New Zealand.

Chairman Simon Clennell says the group was born out of a distinctively Welsh love for choir music.

Its members all have other full-time jobs and they do not get paid for their charity performances. They pay for the trips out of their own pockets.

Though charity events aren’t the only time they perform, they form a large portion of the choir’s work.

Every year, the choir performs to raise funds for the Bahay Bata Center, a charity providing education for abandoned street children in the Philippines. The group also supports several charity funds in Hong Kong.

“Ho Chi Minh City is our favorite destination,” said Kelly, who loves the “friendly people and wonderful cooking” here.

This year, the kids sang the Vietnamese song, Mot trai tim mot que huong (One heart one country).

Members of the choir promised to sing a Vietnamese song next year.

Reported by Thanh Van