Asian Games: Will Alibaba boss Jack Ma sing ‘Unchained Melody’ at Indonesia closing ceremony or will he perform Tai Chi?
The Alibaba co-founder will take part in the ceremony to hand over the Asian Games flag to his hometown of Hangzhou, host of the 2022 Games
PUBLISHED : Saturday, 01 September, 2018, 7:20pm
UPDATED : Saturday, 01 September, 2018, 8:58pm
Nazvi Careem
Alibaba co-founder and executive chairman Jack Ma has reportedly told people he will perform at the Asian Games 2018 closing ceremony in Jakarta on Sunday.
Ma met Olympic Council of Asia president Sheikh Ahmed Al-Fahad Al-Sabah on Saturday morning and it was at this meeting he told those present that he would perform at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium to mark the end of a successful Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang.
An official who was at the meeting but who requested anonymity because they were not authorised to speak, confirmed that Ma told those present he would be performing.
His entourage applauded after he made the announcement. Ma’s office, though, informed the SCMP that he would only make a short remark at the ceremony but not perform.
Another source suggested that Ma will not sing but perform some Tai Chi during the show. Ma is a Tai Chi master and says he uses the discipline’s philosophy in his business dealings and in his daily life.
Taijiquan and Taijijian are part of the Asian Games wushu disciplines.
Ma will take part in the ceremony to hand over the baton to Chinese city Hangzhou, his hometown, which is hosting the 2022 Asian Games. The Alibaba billionaire is a major force behind Hangzhou’s successful bid to stage the next Games.
Jack Ma (eight) with Olympic Council of Asian official Wei Jizhong at the Asian Games men’s volleyball final between China and Thailand.
The South China Morning Post is a subsidiary of Alibaba.
The 53-year-old Ma has performed in public before, most notably at the Yunqi Music Festival in October last year when he and Chinese singer Li Jian sang a duet of the latter’s hit song “Legend”.
Ma, wearing sunglasses and wearing a hip jacket, remained on stage to sing three more songs solo – Unchained Melody, Jonathan Lee’s I Finally Lost you and Wang Feng’s When I’m Thinking of You.
The Yunqi festival was part of the Computing Conference 2017 that was hosted by Alibaba Cloud in Hangzhou.
The Asian Games opening ceremony on August 18. Photo: Reuters
Jakarta brings the curtain down on what has been a hugely successful Asian Games, surprising the world with its organisation, relative efficiency and, most of all, its spectacular opening ceremony on August 18 that set new standards for future Olympics and regional multisports events to emulate.
At the closing ceremony on Sunday, Hangzhou mayor Xu Liyi will receive the Asian Games flag from Jakarta officials and will take it back to the Chinese city as they begin their preparations for the 2022 Games.
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