Watch: Filipino boy who went viral after Sheikh Hamdan's post dreams of becoming famous singer

“I want to be a famous singer,” says a shy Lim, sitting on his mother’s lap in their Manila home while speaking to Khaleej Times over Zoom.

The little one shot to fame earlier this week when Sheikh Hamdan posted a video of his rendition of the classic Bee Gees hit How Deep is Your Love as an Instagram story.

“I was surprised when a friend from Dubai messaged that the prince had posted it,” said his mother Manel Lim. “In fact, I didn’t believe her. Kael and I were doing some schoolwork when I got the message. I quickly logged into social media and saw that it was indeed true.”

The reel of the little lad crooning immediately went viral and has now racked up close to 14 million views on Instagram.

Manel now hopes to visit Dubai someday and meet the emirate’s Crown Prince who made them famous. “I have some friends and family there,” she said. “I would love to come there.”

Manel said that when he found out Sheikh Hamdan had posted his video, Kael got on the internet to research about him and is now a big fan.

When asked what he would ask Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed if he ever got a chance to meet him, Kael looked thoughtful and said: “I haven’t decided what I want to ask. Maybe I will ask him how it is being a prince.”

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Kael’s father Gabriel, who works at a club in the US, is the first one who recognized the youngster’s taste in music. “He noticed when Kael was around 2 that he could quickly pick up a tune and hum it,” she said. “Gabriel loves to sing so he actively encouraged it. We were also quite surprised by how easily he memorized song lyrics.”

Singing together quickly became a father-son bonding time for the duo while living in two different continents in two different time zones. Gabriel has been living and working in the US for seven years. “We have petitioned to be allowed to join him,” said Manel. “Until that is allowed, we are living long distance.”

Recently Gabriel visited Manila and stayed there for five months. During the time he and Kael did a lot of duets together. However, distance has never been a problem for the family. “Whenever Gabriel gets the chance, he will record a song on the computer,” said Manel. “And when Kael is in the mood for it, he will sing and I record the duet.”

The music loving Kael is always singing, according to his mother. “Even when he is playing in the other room, I can hear him singing to himself,” she said. The boy’s favourite track is the song A Million Dreams which he has posted on his YouTube.

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