United, not divided

HE grinned that boyish grin, with a guitar in hand, and that was it.
Ed Sheeran's second visit to Malaysia as part of the Asian leg of his Divide Tour was arguably one of this year's best and biggest musical nights in the country, with fans snapping up all the tickets within 30 minutes when they went on sale months ago.
The line for the security check stretched all the way to the outer gates of Axiata Arena, Bukit Jalil, with many fans having just minutes to spare before the one-man wonder-show was due to start at 8.30pm.
The fans didn't seem to mind too much though.
Anticipation was in the air, as well as an undeniable sense of excitement and awe mingling in the cool of the night sky.
Some were there on a date, some tweens came in groups chaperoned by a cool dad, some came clad in Coachella-inspired ensembles, and some made it a family night out.
But these people were all loyal fans of Ed Sheeran, and they couldn't wait to sing along with their idol live onstage.
When news broke that Sheeran "had a bit of a bicycle accident" last month, panic rippled across his sea of fans, particularly those who had bought tickets to his Asian concerts. Sheeran did, in fact, have to cancel shows in five cities.
However, the ones with tickets to the Kuala Lumpur show breathed a collective sigh of relief when Malaysia remained on the list of tour locations.
With no trace of injury, Sheeran opened the performance with Castle on the Hill, strumming enthusiastically with his trademark cute grin plastered on his face, accompanied by almost bewildered eyes, as if grasping for the first time how incredibly loved he is by his followers.
He voiced his surprise of the massive 12,000 crowd, a far cry from the 4,000 attendees during his 2015 Multiply tour at the KL Convention Centre.
As Sheeran sang The A Team, the whole stadium twinkled, as concert-goers swayed to the tune with lightsticks and illuminated mobile phones in hand up in the air, and thousands of voices gently echoing the singer.
Strumming on a guitar decorated with a divide symbol, Sheeran lifted the energy up a notch when he instructed the crowd to bounce their hands to the chorus of Blood Stream. Red lights flashed across the arena, resulting in a visually stunning scene of the audience in sync with the beat of the music.
Sheeran, perhaps the voice of our generation's take on contemporary love songs, made sure to perform Thinking Out Loud, Perfect, and the most streamed song ever on Spotify, Shape of You, causing shrieks and applause followed by what seemed to be the entire venue singing along in unison.
To top off the night, Sheeran showcased his rapping skills during his last song, You Need Me, I Don't Need You.
All in all, being in the presence of an international singing sensation at the height of his career felt really surreal.
That's one dream off the bucket list for at least a few thousand of those at the concert, almost all of whom who sported big smiles on their faces, just like Sheeran's.
Ed Sheeran Live In Kuala Lumpur was organised by PR Worldwide and AEG Presents.