10/03/2026

LYFE TUESDAY | MAR 10, 2026

/thesuntelegram FOLLOW / Malaysian Paper

ON TELEGRAM m RAM

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Ű BY AMEEN HAZIZI

A T 13, most students are worrying about homework deadlines and school schedules. True El-Deeb does that too, but she also steps onto international stages to sing about issues many adults struggle to explain. The young vocalist recently travelled to the UAE to sing at an event marking the anniversary of the Global Sustainability Network, where she performed an original song titled The Unseen . The track focuses on underprivileged children and the realities of exploitation – themes she believes music can help people understand more deeply. True described the experience of performing before an audience of global delegates as daunting and energising. “I was very nervous at first. But once the music started to play, I knew I needed to deliver. As I sang, it slowly became easier and I started to feel at home on the stage,” True told theSun . Regardless of the size of the audience, she approaches each performance with a simple mindset. “Even though I see a big crowd in front of me, I try to sing as if I’m at home, like I’m singing to my family. I just give it my all,” she said. Early inspiration at home True’s journey into music began early. She started singing at about four and a half years old, inspired by watching her father play guitar at home. “I used to sit at my father’s feet while he played guitar and try to sing along. When I was around eight years old, I started classical music training and that’s when I really began to develop my voice,” she explained. True embraces a multicultural upbringing, drawing from Chinese, Egyptian and British heritage while growing up between Malaysia and Singapore. Father-daughter creative partnership Her father Michael Deeb plays a central role in her musical development. A former musician who later built a career in the music equipment industry before retiring in 2010, he now spends much of his time composing and producing music with his daughter. The pair work out of a home studio in Johor Bahru that Michael built specifically for their creative sessions. “This is our safe space. It’s where we sit together and create music. I’m very proud of her and I enjoy composing with her,” Michael said. Writing songs together For The Unseen , father and daughter deliberately avoided performing an existing charity anthem and instead wrote something personal to the cause. “We didn’t want something that already existed. We wanted something original that came from our hearts. When we learned about the children the song talks about, it honestly broke our hearts,” she explained.

Voice of new generation o M’sian teen uses music to spotlight underprivileged kids True has performed at Carnegie Hall and St Peter’s Church in New York, The Esplanade and Victoria Concert Hall in Singapore, and events in Abu Dhabi. – ALL PICS COURTESY OF MICHAEL DEEB

structured schedules to keep everything manageable. “I like to plan my time beforehand. I come home from school, take a shower, spend time on homework, then practise music and continue studying so everything fits properly,” she explained. Experience shaping performance As she grows older, she expects her music to evolve alongside her experiences. “As I grow older, I will experience more things and those experiences will influence how I sing,” she said. Despite comparisons with famous vocalists, she sees those comments less as pressure and more as motivation. “Sometimes I feel a bit pressured, but I take it as encouragement. I know I’m not at that level yet, but it gives me something to work towards,” she added. Her father believes those comparisons miss the point. “Those singers belonged to an era when people would sit and listen to long ballads full of emotion. True is not a successor to that. She represents what comes next,” he explained. Voice that wants to connect Looking ahead, True said the goal is not fame but connection. She hopes her songs will tell relatable stories and help listeners express emotions they might otherwise struggle to share. “I want my music to tell stories from real life so people can relate to it and not feel alone. I want to be an artiste people can understand, someone whose music makes your heart feel warm,” she said. For now, she remains a teenager navigating school life and a growing musical journey. But with a father guiding her behind the scenes and a message that reaches beyond the stage, True’s voice may soon travel far beyond the classroom.

listening to long speeches. But through a song, you can still enjoy the music and understand the message at the same time,” she said. What ‘unseen’ really means For her, the key message behind The Unseen is empathy. She hopes listeners will look beyond surface impressions of poverty or hardship. “Being unseen means people might see you, but they don’t truly see who you are. They might see that someone is poor or struggling, but they don’t see their feelings or what they are going through inside,” she said. Balancing school, rehearsals Balancing schoolwork with rehearsals requires careful planning. True said she relies heavily on

The writing process is collaborative and direct, with both comfortable offering honest feedback. “If we don’t like something, we say it. We might say we don’t like the beat or the instrument, and then we change it until it feels right,” she added. Turning music into awareness The song has since become associated with the Freedom PomPom initiative, which aims to raise awareness about issues such as child labour and modern slavery in schools. True believes music is one of the most effective ways to introduce complex topics to young audiences. “People my age are not always the best at

The father-daughter duo develop their songs through long writing sessions in their private studio, which they call their ‘safe space’.

The Deeb household is filled with instruments, including a collection of roughly 140 guitars.