PETALING JAYA: Datuk Sudirman Arshad may have died 20 years ago, but one of his biggest fans can still recall how the singer extraordinaire touched the hearts of his audience at a concert in Terengganu one night.

Calling that concert “one of the best” he has ever been to, Suria FM radio announcer Halim Othman said he went to see Sudirman perform at the Sultan Ismail Nasiruddin Shah Stadium in Kuala Terengganu in the 1980s.

“There was a touching moment during the concert when Sudirman cut a yellow handkerchief into two and gave one half to a female fan. He then kept the other half in his hand and sang One Day In Your Life by Michael Jackson.

“Throughout the song, the lights were off and all I could see were their two hands waving at each other from a distance while holding the two halves of the cloth,” said Halim.

Fond memories: (From left) Nabil, Halim and Kenchana paying tribute to Sudirman during Suria FM’s ‘Ceria Pagi Di Suria’ show. It was the 20th anniversary of the late singer’s death yesterday.

“I remembered thinking that the fan would probably keep her half of the handkerchief for life.”

Halim hosts the morning show Ceria Pagi Di Suria with DJs Nabil and Kenchana Devi.

Yesterday, Suria FM paid tribute to Sudirman by taking calls from fans, who recalled how the singer touched their lives, during the morning show.

The radio station also played one of his songs every hour for the rest of the day.

When Halim returned to Malaysia in 1991 after studying in the United States, he wanted to meet Sudirman in person but the singer had disappeared from public eye due to health problems. He died the following year.

Sudirman, known as the “Elvis of Malaysia”, died on Feb 22, 1992 after battling pneumonia for seven months. He was 37.

Meanwhile, Suria FM gave away RM9,700 to a listener who won the Itu Aje contest, which required participants to guess the name of a song based on a snippet of the tune.

• Murdoch denies planning to spin off UK newspapers
• Europe's economic woes dominate G8 gathering
• US says will bar some Motorola Mobility phones
• Historic Facebook debut falls short of expectations
• Wall St Week Ahead: The market is oversold, but major signs say "sell"
• MB: Kenanga IB took swift action
• MOL may sell Facebook shares
• Adex down 0.8% to RM3.1b
• The Star Business Awards to give away RM1m in ad space
• Hyundai-Sime banks on new Elantra
• Your 10 questions for SungHwan Do
• Up Close & Personal with Edgar Perez
• Motor vehicle sales down to 47,736 in April
• Firefly introduces prepaid change fee
• UEM Land’s Nusajaya wins Fiabci award

• Blind Chinese activist appears to have left for U.S.
• Bomb at south Italy school, several hurt
• G8 leaders broadly united on Iran and Syria
• Blind Chinese activist Chen "at Beijing airport"
• Lawyers for Strauss-Kahn accuser seek reams of information
• Ohio newborn killed by family pit bull mix dog
• Utah paleontologists discover new raptor dinosaur
• Venezuela's Chavez breaks silence with phone call

• Nicol storms into British Open semis
• Lakers avoid 0-3 hole as Sixers tie series
• World No. 1 Wei must beat Lin Dan for M'sia to upset China
• Nicol moves into the British Open last eight
• Norhizzat dedicates Junior Asia Cup hockey victory to his late father
• Tan out to impress after mixed fortunes in last three outings
• Thomas Cup Finals to serve as Olympic dress rehearsal
• Hafiz out to end Thomas Cup career with a bang
• Koreans still a threat without Jae-sung, warns Kim Her
• Fourth time’s the Boon Tan out to impress after mixed fortunes in last three outings
• Only five national bowlers survive the first round cut in Manila
• Roslinda heads to Europe in bid to qualify for Olympics
• Rain specialist Zulfahmi hopes for dry track at French GP
• Djokovic and Nadal move closer to showdown, Maria and Serena in semi-finals
• Finch upsets top seed Kaymer at World Match Play

• Police appalled by deliberate inaction of rapist’s accomplice
• American firms in Malaysia urged to help attract more investors
• Two accused claim trial over attempted murder of daughter-in-law
• MOL may sell Facebook shares
• RM1b to upgrade 4,300 schools
• Historic Facebook debut falls short of expectations
• MB: Kenanga IB took swift action
• Helpline to fight the fat
• Eizaz’s sound decision
• Enhancing value at RHB Bank