SINGAPORE, Sept 25 — It’s all hands on deck — or rather, on drum — for first-time participants of the President’s Star Charity (PSC) show Paige Chua, Kimberly Wang and Shane Pow.

They’ll be playing the cajon, a Peruvian drum, alongside other celebs Fauzie Laily, Darryl Yong, Sonia Chew, Joakim Gomez, Simone Heng, Jack & Rai, and Malaysia’s Aisyah Aziz, as well as students from the Lighthouse School.

So far, our aspiring cajon players have only had two rehearsals — or, rather lessons, because none of them are familiar with the instrument. And, um, it shows.

It’s a particularly daunting task for Wang, who, having never played an instrument in her life, was “surprised” and subsequently “scared” to be invited to perform. Drumming might sound easy, but not missing a beat certainly isn’t.

“There’s going to be LED lights — when you hit the drum, they will come on,” she added. Which means you can’t cheat, and everyone will know if you’ve made a mistake.

That’s not a concern for Chua, who plays the piano and has recently taken up the Chinese string instrument guzheng as well.

But she’s just as nervous — not about getting the rhythm, but about looking convincing while grooving to the beat.

Describing her personal style as “subtle and subdued”, she said: “I think you need to be very expressive because the rhythm is so energetic. I honestly think I’m lacking that element. I kind of feel out of place, because I think the rest look really groovy.

“I stopped trying to emulate them a while back because I think I can never look like that ... I’m just moving like a robot. So, I’ve really got to let myself loose and just go with the feel a bit more. I’ve got a month to go, so, hopefully, I’ll get there.”

She doesn’t have to worry, though, because she isn’t in the running for the group’s worst drummer. “I think I am one of the worst. Everyone was just going at it and I was like, ‘What’s going on?’” Wang recalled, before adding: “I’m not the worst!”

“Oh, so there’s someone worse than you? Who is it?” teased fellow drummer Chew. “We don’t want to name names because, you know, this person is in the same space as us.” (For the record, it was just us, Chew and Wang in the room.)

But it’s okay, Kim; at least you didn’t get Pow’s vote. He named Heng as the weak link. “I think Simone is quite uncoordinated. She’s very bubbly, so when she cannot do it, she’ll say lots of funny stuff,” he said jokingly.

Teasing aside, though, it’s all in the name of charity, and each participant is giving it his best shot. With 86 organisations to benefit from the donations raised, PSC 2015’s theme is “be their hero, change the world”.

Hosted by DJ Jean Danker and actor Chua Enlai, the show will tell the stories of unsung heroes who quietly make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate.

“I feel like I’m doing my part for the community,” said Pow. “It’s the first time I’m joining the PSC. I had no idea what item I was supposed to do, but I told them that if my time allowed for it, I wanted to do it, because I haven’t done a charity show for a while.”

As Chua summed up, a charity show is “definitely not work. It’s something you do if you have a willing heart”.

Catch the President’s Star Charity 2015 live on Oct 18 at 7.30pm on MediaCorp TV Channel 5, with an encore telecast on Oct 24 at 5pm.

For more information, visit here.

Viewers can pledge donations of S$5 (RM15), S$20 and S$100 until midnight on Oct 24 online here, via the Dash app (enter code “7778” from Oct 2 onwards; donations of any amount can be made); and by telepoll hotline: 1900 112 8821 (for a S$5 donation), 1900 112 8822 (for a S$20 donation) and 1900 112 8823 (for a S$100 donation). — TODAY