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Greetings to all fellow music therapists, music therapy students, and WFMT members from near and far. It is such a pleasure for me to bring you news and updates about music therapy across the Western Pacific Region.First off, allow me to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! For many of us in the Western Pacific Region, we have recently celebrated our Mid-Autumn Festival, aka the Full Moon Festival, where we gather with our families and close friends for great food and company with moon cakes and lanterns. While this has been a long lived tradition for me and my family, it had only occurred to me as of late that the historical and mythical beginnings of this festival lends itself to being the “Chinese” version of Thanksgiving Day! Indeed, it seems that giving thanks is a practice we may all have in common, bringing us together despite race, religion, and culture!Hong KongI would like to begin by sharing a story of my fellow colleague, Cat Chau, in Hong Kong. In 2012, a conversation occurred between a master, Robin Howat (1950-2013), and a student, Cat Chau:Chau: I would like to bring Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy to Hong Kong and make it a non-profit organizationHowat: Let’s sit down and write a 10-year proposal and discuss how we can make it happen.After many years of trying efforts and perseverance, this dream finally came to fruition. Innate Healing Music Therapy and Counselling (formerly named Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Hong Kong) was established in 2015 and began opening its doors for service in April 2016. It is the first non-profit Music Therapy Centre in Hong Kong. Sadly, Robin left us in 2013, but he left his legacy here with us in his efforts to nurture and develop this profession in Hong Kong.Being aware that music therapy has yet to become a main scheme allied health service in Hong Kong, and that it is typically unaffordable to the general public, Cat had the idea of introducing a non-profit Music Therapy Centre to serve families and individuals with low income, those who are unemployed, etc. As a non-government organization (NGO), there are greater opportunities for publicity, for the development of music therapy related services, for research funding, and for music therapy services to reach people of different social classes.Currently, referral systems between Innate Healing and different social service organizations have been set up to offer free services for low income groups. Clinical data are also being collected to support the work of music therapists as they aim to help bring music therapy into the government’s main scheme system. This is the next benchmark ahead of us!MalaysiaMusic Therapy in Malaysia also recently experienced a developmental milestone. While it is still relatively new and largely unknown in the country, there has been increasing awareness and interest towards utilizing music within the health and special education sectors, thus increasing visibility for music therapy work. Recognition and respect for the profession was recently granted when it was listed as an intervention beneficial for children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder within the Malaysian Ministry of Health’s clinical practice guidelines for this clinical population. Furthermore, the Malaysian Music Therapy Association was officially formed and registered as of July 1st, 2016. This significant achievement was launched and celebrated at the Malaysia Music Cares: Music Therapy Conference on August 20, 2016.ConferencesMusic Therapists in the Western Pacific Region continue to gather, promoting self-care, mutual learning, specialized training, and high quality clinical training and practices at music therapy conferences and symposia. Singapore recently saw great success at its first Music Therapy and Special Education Conference in the beginning of September, followed by Japan’s National Conference in Sendai mid-September. Going forward, we have Music Therapy Conferences lined up in Korea and Taiwan for November and December, respectively!And last, but certainly not least, we have the 15th World Congress of Music Therapy (WCMT) coming up on July 4-8, 2017 in Tsukuba, Japan. For details, inquiries, and registration, please visit the 2017 WCMT website or check it out on Facebook (click here).It is so exciting and inspiring for me to learn about all that is happening in the Western Pacific Region! I have certainly not covered everything that has happened. If you have anything you would like to add to the next blog update for this region, or if you have any thoughts about how the WFMT is doing as an organization and would like to share them with me as your Regional Liaison, please email me at westernpacific@wfmt.info.“Together, we can help Music Therapy become more diversified and accessible” ~ Cat ChauI look forward to seeing many of you at the World Congress in Japan next year!Vivian Chan, MTA, MT-BC, NMTHong KongWFMT Regional Liaison, Western Pacific
