Fridae

November 16, 2001, Singapore - This year's official World AIDS Day (WAD) party - Crystal Ball, will be held at dbl 0 on Saturday, 1st December 2001. Jointly organised by Fridae (www.fridae.com), Action for AIDS (www.afa.org.sg) and dbl 0, Crystal Ball is being hailed as a night of light and music. Dbl 0 will be transformed into a palace of crystal courtesy of Swarovski Crystal, and the evening will feature spectacular performances by some of Singapore's top performers, including Mark Chan, Asha Edmund, Frankie Lee, Ian Ling and George Leong (please see attachment for artiste's bio's).

"Active community participation and involvement is central to the success of our National AIDS Programme. Crystal Ball 2001 is an excellent example of such collaboration and solidarity. Action for AIDS is proud to be part of this event and congratulates its organisers." Roy Chan, President, Action for AIDS Singapore.

Crystal Ball will be a fundraiser for AfA, the only AIDS charity in Singapore. Money raised will be used for AIDS prevention programmes and the Medications Assistance Programme which seeks to alleviate the financial burden of acquiring expensive but otherwise effective medication for needy patients. 50% of the proceeds of the evening will be donated to Action for AIDS. Selected "Crystal Tattoos" from Swarovski's exclusive range will be sold at the event with proceeds going to AfA.

"Crystals from Swarovski is about brilliance. We wish for Swarovski to make this a brighter event and bring radiance and hope to people suffering from AIDS." Lim Phek Jin, Division Manager, Swarovski Singapore Trading Pte Ltd.

As rates of HIV incidence continue to rise in Singapore, the organisers hope to use Crystal Ball to drive home the message of safer sex amongst minority and hard to reach communities who may not be directly addressed by traditional government programmes (e.g. sex workers, men who have sex with men and transgendered people).

"AIDS education amongst minority groups in Singapore is at an appalling state. Despite these being high-risk groups, there is still not enough being done at a national level to reach out to them. Fridae.com is proud to be able to contribute in Action for AIDS's education outreach efforts, as well as make a direct donation to the Medications Assistance Programme which helps patients afford costly anti-HIV medication." Dr Stuart Koe, COO, Fridae.com.

Crystal Ball will continue a series of themed parties at dbl 0 called "Go". Touted as the hottest ticket on Saturday nights, partygoers are advised to arrive early to avoid disappointment. More information can be found at http://www.fridae.asia/go.

Event: Crystal Ball - Official World AIDS Day Party
Date: 1st December 2001, Saturday
Time: 8pm to 3am
Venue: dbl 0 (level 2 Robertson Walk)
Price: $30 for 2 drinks (50% of proceeds will be donated to AfA)
All party-goers are strongly encouraged to dress to the theme.

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Artistes' bios

Mark Chan and Casey Lim

Mark is man of many talents. Dubbed as Singapore's foremost World-Music exponent, he is also a Composer, a Multi-instrumentalist, a Poet, a Painter and a recording artist. Having worked on numerous musical works for both the theatre as well as the television, he has been the Composer-in-residence for Theatreworks for the last 7 years. He has released five albums to date with a decade of experience playing the Traditional Chinese Flute.

Casey is a trained musician and a computer science graduate. He has been involved in theatre since 1990, and made his directorial debut in 1995. In 1999, Casey was appointed Associate Artistic Director of Theatreworks, since which he has directed numerous productions of which the musical "HAUNTED" was a collaboration with Mark Chan. These days, Casey is concentrating on being a multimedia artist working with digital art, video and music. Remixing his friends' songs has become a favourite pasttime of his.

Mark and Casey will be performing a dark and progressive remix of "It's Alright", a song written for the dance drama "Under the Bed".

Asha Edmund

Prodigy singer Asha started out singing since she was two and has since come a long way. The Drama graduate from Queensland University of Technology was awarded an Arts Bursary by the National Arts Council - a recognition she has proven worthy of when her single 'Dorian Bay' reached No 9 on the Perfect Ten charts in 2001, and then she mooned her audience with when she sang 'Seasons of Love' from the Singapore run of the Broadway hit "Rent".

Asha will be performing her single "Satellite" from her soon to be released debut album.

Frankie Lee and Ian Ling

Frankie and Ian are among the cream of our Republic's professional Chinese Instrumentalists. Between them they bring experiences from more than a decade of public performances as both of them seek to sweep the audience with their inimitable styles.

Frankie and Ian will be playing to a remix of excerpts and themes from the Cantonese opera "Tai Lui Fa".

George Leong

George's illustrious career began in the late 80's and has never ceased to amaze with his arrangement, composition and production skills. He has since produced a countless number of multi-platinum hits for Taiwanese and Hong Kong artistes in the Asian Music Industry. An extremely versatile musician by nature, he is equally comfortable across a spectrum of genres, be it Orchestral, Electronic, Commercial Pop-Rock etc.

George will be adding mayhem his original composition entitled "Baby's Trip".

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About Fridae (www.fridae.com)

Launched in March 2001 as an official sponsor of the Sydney Gay+Lesbian Mardi Gras and based in Hong Kong, Fridae.com is the first and largest non-pornographic gay and lesbian portal in Asia to tap the full potential of a huge and rapidly growing community. In addition, Fridae also organises events around the region, most recently "Nation", which was held on Sentosa in August, attracting close to 2000 punters.

About Action for AIDS (www.afa.org.sg)

Formed in 1988, Action for AIDS (AfA) is a voluntary community-based organisation and a registered charity. Our objectives are-to provide support and assistance to persons living with HIV and AIDS (PWAs); to increase awareness, education and understanding of AIDS and HIV infection; to combat discrimination and stigmatisation of (PWAs) and their loved ones; and to encourage AIDS-related research activities in Singapore. Action for AIDS is entirely self-funding through donations from private individuals, foundations, and businesses both large and small; we do not receive monetary support from the government, but collaborate in many areas with governmental organisations.