One can't help but sympathise with blind singer Alfred Ho from his letter appealing to MCA president Ong Kah Ting for help in overcoming his plight.

The letter has also revealed a negative side of MCA's Mr Nice Guy Michael Chong which many Malaysians who have previously benefited from his help, are unaware of. I'm sure many would like to hear what Chong has to say.

However, one can't help but admire Ho for his determination to make a decent living from something he is good at - singing which he has been doing for many years. Initially he had dreams and hopes of making it big as a singer, certainly in the local entertainment scene, and perhaps later abroad.

But sadly over the years, the painful experience he encountered of one frustration after another, and of being unable to find a patron or 'godfather' - someone who is willing to open doors of opportunity in the singing and entertainment industry - has dampened his spirits.

It is a stark reminder to all and sundry that the path to success anywhere depends more on who you know rather than what you know. Even if you are extremely talented, you won't get far unless you have a 'godfather'.

Though not extremely talented, Alfred was precisely in this position, unable to find a patron to boost his musical career. The much hoped for big break never came and that is why he has been languishing in obscurity for years, singing part-time at various joints, including RTM, which had 'retrenched' him some time ago.

Ho is in his 50s and specialises in singing evergreens, the so-called golden oldies which endear to the generation of Baby Boomers and perhaps some of their children. Singing had always been his passion and that is why he gave up his job as a telephone operator to go full time into singing.

But he found to his consternation that there were very few singing opportunities for his kind of singing. Older generation Malaysians would remember him as a participant in RTM's first Bakat TV in 1971 reaching all the way to the semi-finals.

Judging from the lament in Ho's letter about Chong and other MCA personnel whom he had approached for help, I gather he has today resigned himself merely to make ends meet through whatever singing assignments that come his way.

But these appear to be few and far between. Even trying to get back the part-time singing job from RTM is a struggle for him now, let alone finding a 'godfather' to attain that ever elusive big break.

I am sure many sympathetic Malaysians share my hope that Ong Ka Ting can do something to help alleviate Alfred's present plight.