JAE Posting Finally Over!!

Oh yea!!! Posting results are out. I’m glad the wait is finally over. So for those who are curious of where I’m going, it will be to Singapore Polytechnic to get a diploma in Music and Audio Technology (I prefer to call it Music Technology). Of course, that course is not just about doing stuff like mixing sound and recording, but it also allows us to compose music and produce them on our own. Now that’s cool (at least to me). After all, I have wanted to do such stuff since I had both background in music and sound so I suppose this course is really like made for ppl like me, who loves to do sound and music at the same time.

Problem is…further study. Lol…so far only three overseas universities offers a degree program in Music Technology: University of Queensland (AUS), Keele University and Lancaster University (UK). So if I want to/have to further study on this course, traveling overseas might be the only option unless Singapore opens its newer universities with this course (hopefully, that’ll be the case). Nowadays, it very hard for degree holder to get a job, to a diploma holder it’s harder. Perhaps even if I can get a job with my diploma, it will most likely be of a lower status. It doesn’t really matter whether I end up the CEO of Creative Sound works or a mere sound technician in a church, so long as these skills are used for the glory of God and not mine, and that my family’s necessities are met (which I believe it will be). Well, just have to prayerful about it and trust in the Lord that he will guide me with His Holy Spirit to do his work and fulfill his will.

I sometimes wonder if I was testing God to see what he will do to save me now that I’m in a course that appears to have no bright future for me. Since it is difficult to further study this course, it would just mean I would have gotten myself into trouble now that finding a job becomes harder (nearly impossible) and then crying out to God, expecting him to save me. It’s like jumping off from the top floor of Swiss Hotel and expecting God to send his angels to rescue me. Of course, if send help to me would glorify God in some way (I dunno how), he might do it. I joined this course, not just for interest sake, but in hope that I may use my passion and aspirations to serve God with my interest in Music and Audio Technology. But I know that won’t be enough. First of all, I have yet to give up my aspirations and passion all to God and seek Him and His Kingdom, to simply put it, to pick up my cross and die to self daily. It is difficult to sometimes give up some things that you worked so hard for in hope that you will attain success in these things you place your hope on. Would I be able to give up being a Musician and a Sound Technician to seek God? To consider these things as rubbish as compared to knowing God? If there’s no sitting on fences, my answer is simply a no. Yes, it’s a NO, even though I as a Christian must give up everything I am for the Lord. I am still struggling to do just that. It just simply to give up my life to Christ, and yet I can’t do that simple bit…it is TRAGIC!!!

But in all of these, I do pray for God to change me slowly, to one day be able offer up myself as a living sacrifice to Him with little or no hesitation. That day will come when Jesus returns. :)

Well, it is exactly 3 more weeks before Music In My BackYard!!!! Aka MIMBY!!!! Anyone interested to come along? We will be celebrating Valentine’s Day with a few songs from Backstreet Boys, Colbie Calliat, Taylor Swift and Kris Allen, also songs from Chinese artiste such as Tanya Chua and Stefanie Sun. We guarantee a night full of fun and laughter and a little gospel sharing, where friends come together to chill out and catch up over scrumptious food and be entertained by the live band, in a warm and cosy atmosphere. Just like the name suggests, MIMBY is held in the backyard, under the stars!

So do come and enjoy celebrating Valentine lie you never did before!! Well, at least for my sake, because I will be performing on the Acoustic guitar, and will feel lonely without any familiar audience to play to. :P

So the Details:

• What?

MIMBY: Shape of My Heart

• When?

Saturday, 20 February 2010 6:00pm – 10:00pm

• Where?

Bedok Lutheran Church, BackYard 485 Bedok South Ave 2

So those interested to come to have fun with us, do contact me via sms or email

If you have Facebook, do also make your RSVP at:

http://www.facebook.com/events.php?ref=sb#/event.php?eid=267359663010&index=1

• For more information/enquiries, visit:

www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=175619682057

• or email MIMBY at:

musicinmybackyard@gmail.com

See You There!

2010: A night before the release of O'level Result

O level results will be released tmr!!!

Lol...some say that it will be released at 9am, but my school is going to release these results at 2pm instead so it should keep everyone in longer suspense :P. But not for me, I wouldn’t mind if the results were released sooner or later, it’s strange that I dun seem to be worried about the results at all such that I find it hard to empathise with the rest of my friends anxiously waiting for the results, calling me and ask : “ So Leon, do you feel anxious that the results are going to be released?”

And my reply would be: “No, not really. I guess I have done my best for the O’s, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

Sometimes I wonder if what I said was true. Did I really do my best during the O’levels? Or am I saying that because there is no hope for the O’levels? It sometimes feels weird when you honestly ask yourself these questions. Well, it’s not that I don’t care about my results at all, I do, and in fact a lot, not only does it show me how I have fared for Secondary education but it also determine whether I get in to the courses I want in poly or alternatively the JCs I want (if I score 7 pts below) through the Joint Admission Exercise (JAE). Therefore, it is important that I get my results back.

I suppose the reason why I am not anxious fearful of my result is probably because there’s nothing really I can do much about my O’level results. I mean there is no way I can bribe the Cambridge markers to give me an A1 grade for all subject (even if there is I won’t -integrity). So with that, I shall just entrust my results to the Lord and know that he is always in full control every situation no matter how bad it is.

This past few months have been a very impactful period for most of us I suppose, for most of my friends, they have really changed in maturity since the last time I met them. Perhaps it due to their job experience that they turn from slackers to diligent workers. For others, it’s from muggers to couch potatoes worrying for their O’s – well at least they finally learned how to relax :P .

Well, for me, I have not been blogging for a extremely long time, not because I was trying to earn pocket-money, but rather I was ‘serving’ in the SYFC’s Performing Arts (PArts) ministry’s Short Serve in organising a mini-BBQ and a mini performance and ski put up by us for our friends, the event was called See A Clearer Christmas. In this, we hope to not only share the Christmas story aka Message aka Gospel to them but also to grow spiritually among ourselves as we work as bros and sis in Christ to do the work of God. For non-Christians need the gospel to be save while Christians need the gospel to grow. :)

Well, for the sharing part, it was a little disappointing because I did not exactly have a very good response there. Nevertheless, I know that it is not by our abilities that “convert” people into Christians but the Work of God in their lives. Intellectual wisdom does not produce faith but the Spirit is capable of changing hearts. The gospel has power and the gospel is power, we are just messengers who share the message just as it is and let the gospel do its work of transformation. So I pray for my friends that God will one day soften their hearts and open their minds to receive the gospel and be changed by it. :)

But I guess more importantly for myself, I have finally realised how I had been rejecting God this past few years of being a Christian, living my life without a true hope, blinded and fearful. That was when Randy (my boss) pulled me out after the event told me about my problem.

This is what I can roughly recall. He said, “I may not have known you as well as I know Seb and Alwin(my band mates), but from the time before short serve until now (end of short serve), I have seen them grow as Christians but I don’t see any of that in you...to put it explicitly, you love music, you love yourself more than you love God and Men. There had been many opportunities given to Love your fellow Christian (through talking with them I think during break time) but yet you chose do otherwise (to play the guitar during break time)...Leon, what’s stopping you from doing the right thing which God wants you to do.”

It can be seen as scolding but in a loving way – perhaps challenging me to think. I really thank God Randy did that or I would have been living my life and serving in church (as an audio technician) without a direction and purpose. This had always been the problem I had seen young, the fear of over commitments, fear of failures and mistakes and the need to be assured of my own confidence (meaning that I need ppl to tell me I’m good before I believe that I’m good). There also seem to be a barrier between my brothers and I as I tend to put on a ‘desired’ front to impress my bros to show my passion for Christ when I may not be. I have build this barrier in me, a barrier to hide my true self, a barrier to hide my weaknesses and appear to be superior to others, a barrier build by my own pride. This was why I was unwilling to share during devotions and sharing of fear that I might look bad in front of others. I had always wanted others to see me as a worthy person where in fact we are all of the same worth as God’s creation and people. Indeed, as I continue reflect on what I have been doing during this short serve, I realised that my focus was not on God. My focus was on playing music! All along I had used my service to God as a means to play music rather than using music as a means to serve God. Indeed, I loved music, I loved myself more than I loved God and loved my brothers and sisters and Christ.

I believe there were also other problems that I still have in me, of which some I may not know or may have forgotten, perhaps similar problems just shown in different context. To these problems there must be a solution right? So thus my New Year resolutions are:

1. Being honest with God, being honest with men

2. Putting my faith in God, rather than your own self confidence

Okay, basically being honest with God means to hide nothing from him, simply put it. Often of times, I would always hint to God that I wanted my own personal space to deal with my own personal problems by myself, often rejecting the help he offers me because I did not want to depend on God’s help (perhaps thinking that I have not played my part in my own problems when God comes to help). I always wanted to do things on my own before seeking for help if things go beyond my control---which often leads to failures. Because of this I was afraid of failing, afraid that I would lose face and lose my worth as Leon. Thus, I sometimes put up a strong front in front of others to cover up for my weaknesses, thus also being dishonest with men. To do so, I must first acknowledge that I need help and SEEK help from God, in prayer and petition, being willing to humble myself in front of God to know I cannot make it without God. From there, I will then be more willing to seek help from older bros in Christ to help me with my problems, as mentioned above. Another perspective I look at this would be also sharing these problems to peers with the same interest, to allow them to learn from my mistakes, my sins and thus also encourage one another to continually grow in Christ.

Putting my confidence on God is something I learned during a lunch meeting with Moses (my Bible Study leader). I shared to him about how I was worried that I was not ready to receive a Bible Study (BS) contact, basically not ready to be a BS leader because of the problems I have, as mentioned previously, about how I was unable to do God’s work naturally.

That was when he asked me, “How long does it take for one to learn how to be a true Christian?”

“A lifetime,” I replied

And indeed, it is true. As the Chinese saying goes “活到老，学到老” (live till you’re old, learn till you’re old). Indeed we grow as a Christian so long as we continue to live as one. That’s why we always need the Gospel, to grow. I realised that I usually dared not try new things, like leading in a BS group or sharing the gospel because I did not have the confidence to, in contrast to music where all my confidence seems to be found. Thus, in things we are called to do that we feel that we aren’t good at, we should learn to trust in the Lord that he will continue to guide us slowly and transform us to be more Christ-like in accordance to His plan for us, thus relying on Him and His word to change us daily and not on our own strength, for we ourselves can never reach God’s standard with our own abilities.

So for the year 2010, whether I will end up in Music and Audio Tech or Audio-Visual Tech or even JC. I will to continue to trust in the Lord that he will not just ‘groom’ me into a better Christian, but to slowly reveal himself to me through His word, that I will be honest with Him and His People, Rely on His Power to do His work and to live a life of a Redeemed Chao Lang*!

*Chao Lang(smelly man)- a person who cares for himself only

After the O'levels?

YAY!!!!!

O'levels are over!!!!

but it's funny how come I still a little exam stress...lol. maybe I'm juz not used to the holidays yet...or else just worried about my results already... still, I'm really looking forward to my birthday on the 20th Nov, indeed I have just received my early birthday present this year from God : A Sennheiser Infra-red Headphones IS380 !!!

Now that's cool. Since no wires are involved in the process, I won't have to worry about messy wires lying around the house, all I have to do is charge a VA151 accupack and it is ready to be used!

well, how I got it, well I just went to our school's Graduation Night and won it in a lucky draw! nice, it is like the first time I won a lucky draw so I'm like exhilarated, but I suppose God wanted to give me my 16th birthday present that I won the 20th prize and no because I got lucky today, after all, I was never in a lucky draw...

of course today was one of the most sentimental days as it will be the last time we get to see each other this year, at least for me as I will most probably not meet up with them during the release of the O'level result, where there will be more of tears of joy and sorrow rather than tears of getting to meet up with each other again.

well, my holiday is going to be a very busy one, it won't be long b4 I will be moving into a new house soon, and get my VERY OWN BEDROOM and MY VERY OWN privacy, as all teenagers desires although of course my family members are welcomed into my room so long as they can bear with the colour orange...:P why orange? cuz it's my favourite colour(it makes my room so bright that visitors would probably go blind and never dare to step foot into my room unless of course they don't mind the colour...). so for those who wants to check out my new house or my new room pls come to me personally. (unsafe to type address here)

well, packing and moving things to the new house does not make my holiday a busy one. after all, I have already finished packing my stuff yesterday. It's me participating in short serve in Singapore Youth For Christ(SYFC) that makes it busier. indeed, I would really hope to gain more knowledge and more experience in the area of evangelism and also partially on other areas like fellowship, prayer and worship...I think, cuz I believe there is more to that than meets the eye. yup, this period in short serve will be 'full of surprises' as seb told me and I seriously don't know what to expect in SYFC, particularly in the section of the performing arts, so I will be meeting a SYFC member, Randy, in hope to gain enlightment when he shares his expriences and work out a schedule that will hopefully fit my timings during the holidays...well, just to let you know, I am actually interested to join the performing arts group in SYFC and thus I am having lunch with randy to work out my rehearsal schedules. hope things would go well for the both of us.

other than that, I am also in the logistic team for our Student Fellowship(SF) year-end retreat, which reminds me that I have to contact Genevieve to find out how's progress so far for the logistics team, it's only a few more weeks b4 the retreat itself, so I getting ready to go shopping for props and items...and probably go on a market research for the best food prices(although food prices are still high). Nevertheless, preperations for the SF retreat must be made in order for our retreat to be held smoothly (can't image us going without food during the retreat).

Another upcoming thing would be the christmas event comiong up on the 23 of Dec, so far I have approach a few friends who either gave me a cold shoulder or juz said that they MIGHT be coming, so I hope to get in touch with them to confirm their attendance and hopfully take this chance to share the gospel with them since it is after the O'levels and also after short serve. By then I should be fully-equipped with the knowledge and skills in order to evangelise effectively, unless I don't patyattention to the talks and sermons(which I hope that's not the case).

so pray that:

• for God's guidance and wisdom to allow me to manage my holiday time well
• That I may be able to brace myself for any challenges that I face during the short serve
• Chirstmas event to be meaningful to these friends and pray that God will soften their hearts for them to hear God's word
• I will still praise God regardless of the O'level result I receive next year
• God will grant me the strength and wisdom to decide on which academic route to take (JC or poly) and allow me to adapt to that environment

oh and b4 I forget, the answer to the last Song Rec Test:

and your next challenge..lol:

song rec13.mp3 -

Chinese Is Over, O'levels Aren't

YAY!!! Chinese O's are finally over!! At least I think so...I'm still wondering if we were going to have Chinese in prelim 3. Some say its pointless since the Chinese o'levels are over..but otherssay that there's still prelim 3 for chinese so that chinese can be used to appeal to your JC thorugh your prelims...so yea...please comment if there should be Chinese exam even if the chinese o'levels are offically over(except maybe for those who intends to retake).

okay...b4 that ANSWER to previous challenge:

some drama there...lol. Wasn't that hard right? try this one:

Song Rec 12.mp3 -

Not simple right? but for synth rock lovers, this song is probably very familiar, once again the instructions:

1. Listen
2. Guess the Song name and Artist
3. Find out the answer on my next Posts

Enjoy!

lol...now that SYF is over, Chinese O'levels are over, what's left..the rest of the subjects in English..sigh things have not been too good these few days. have been bombarded with Maths and humanities homework, plus some english and physics homework to add up to that pile of papers, so far, i dun rmb doing any of my tuition hw yet...lol...becuz I probably dun have the time to..

But life in school is not that stressful after all. there still some sense of humour in the air like how we usually argue with the teacher to compromise hw deadlines.

The following piece of artwork is also a another example why life in school isn't that bad:

“You told us to put our chairs on the table,

but you didn't specify how you wanted it to be placed.”

- An artwork by Luke Nicholas Lim Wei Ren

okay, here's some background information in case some of you don't get the joke. well, like every routine in the classroom duty roster, we had to sweep the floor, clear our the bin, clean the board and arrange the tables and chair neatly. However, the slight difference is that we were also assigned to put the chairs on the table as part of the arrangement of tables and chairs so that it would be easier for people on duty to sweep the floor since the chairs does not get into the way unlike pushing them between the legs of the table.

Well, since we were pretty much bored of putting it upright and straight on the table, why not change the old routine a little? So, Luke and a few of his friends came up with this idea of placing the chair in such a manner as shown above by sloting its legs into the compartment underneath the tabletop. After all, it does not really get in the way of sweeping the floor, and even if it does, nobody would bother to sweep the floor anyway.

Well, so far we did not fail the classroom cleaniless check this week, nor were we punished because of this. It's probably because the teachers could appreciate our form of art in school just by using simply a chair and a table in a classroom setting. So during this period, let us all learn the proper way the distress perhaps through doing some artwork like Luke, or even crack some jokes to liven the spirit in school. Sometimes even arguments with the teacher, brings some ways of humour in our daily lives in school too.

So, in the meantime, do enjoy the artwork.

O'level Chinese Papers And Oral Over..Now to Listen in Chinese...

lol....i promised to blog again after the Chinese O's but I guess it is not over yet...today, i just took my Chinese oral today so I'm left with the Chinese Listening Comprehension which I'm certain that i will own it..unless I am absent of course...

anyway, back to the Song Rec Test, for those who are still cracking your head over the name of this song...let me enlighten you...

THE MAN WHO CAN'T BE MOVED by THE SCRIPT and so, here the next challenge:

Song Rec Test 11.mp3 -

well, this is too easy for rock listeners...but I understand that there are a few who sill didn't know this song...so please help them by answering this song rec test correctly..the song name and artists...so:

1. Listen
2. Guess the Song name and Artist
3. Find out the answer on my next Posts

okay, back to the chinese o'levels...according to my entry prove I only have:

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so it won't be long b4 i totally neglect chinese for the rest of the year as the remaining subjects I'm taking for O'levels are all in Englilsh...hopefully I won't neglect chinese for the rest of my life...

anyway, today's oral examination was a tense one...indeed very tense...we came in early at 12.30pm way before our oral starts at 2.15pm for a briefing of what to do and what not to do during the examinations...yawn..the same thing again and again...Greet, Smile, and Thank your examiners...maintain silence in the hall...and blahblah show your IC and entry prove what not....

so there I was sitting with my classmates and other schoolmates in the neighbouring class...our bags have been placed at the side of the hall and all I had was two oral revesion notes (which weren't exactly very helpful to me) and my IC and entry prove(though I later realised that an entryprove was not required)..

We have been told not to leave the hall b4 3pm to ensure none of us will blurt the topics covered in the oral conversation to latecomers...so candidates who arrive after 3 pm will not get to take the oral examinations...so, I'm not revealing what the topics are at least untill the Chinese Oral examinations end...

Anyway, this is a grave sin I guess that I did in this Oral examinations...i seriously pray hard no SEAB staffs are reading this...

Image this...I was in a quiet school hall..the slightly smaller than the size of size of three volleyball courts and I happen the be seating where the examiners are across the other end of the hall..and thorugh the slience, I overheard the coverstion question in short abrupt phrases....

Immediately I knew the subject for the conversation...so I kinda panicked since I was rather unfamiliar with this topic...so I actually had some last minuete preperations before the oral examinations :P. So i guess having a good ear sometimes do have their advantage..

So yah, to SEAB, I apologise for the little cheat code I used...but to others, if you can maintain slience in the hall and have good ears...you might be able to get clues from the oral examination...so let this be one of the good reasons why you should maintain slience in the examination hall... so that's all, take it or leave it is up to you guys then...

CHMA Band Auditions

hi guys, again long time no post...firstly, just like to apologise to the I-Media members for my uncultured behaviour before the Catholic High Musical Awards (CHMA) Band Auditions, just wanted to let you guys know that condensers mikes are very sensitive and that the stage monitors were too loud. This caused feedbacks during the band's performance...

Anyway, why am I talking about PA..Ishould be releasing the answers to my previous challenge..which is Song Rec8:

And yes, your next challenge:

As usual:

1. Listen
2. Guess the Song name and Artist
3. Find out the answer on my next Posts

ok..for readers who does not know what CHMA is:

"CH Music Awards is an annual school talent search competition which presents the school's musical talents a platform to showcase their abilities. Organised by iMedia, it is one of the large-scale school concerts in Singapore."

Quoted from http://chmusicawards.blogspot.com/

yea..so last tuesday (19 May) was the CHMA band auditions. Well, I was there to support two bands because my classmates were performing too...lol. Basically, here's some of the songs performed my the various bands

A Tout Le Monde - Megadeth

well, this song was performed by Eugene Tan's band. And they made a very good attempt with this song. (btw, Eugene managed to clinch the Merit Award for Instrumental) Anyway that's not the point, I must say that Eugene really had a lot of difficuities singing this song, since the vocal range is very wide, and he had to sing in the "rock" style. So far this is the first time I heard him sing and I would say he really did their best....Good attempt. Other than that, I would say the musicians did a good job during their performance, could see a lot of effort placed into this performance. Sadly, their place in the finals were taken away from them.

To be with you - Mr.Big

Away from heavy music, we have Andrew Lai's band on stage. Ooo...now this song was popular in my bro's teens. Playing the classics tunes of the 1990s was a pretty good choice, specifically for Andrew Lai, who sang this song decently during his band's performance. I felt that it suited him well. And he was accompanied by the Bass guitarist Toon Yang in the chorus. Ian was also in this band as the rhythmic guitarist if I'm not mistaken. Well, if I'm not mistaken, Bryan Ng was the drummer keeping the beat and Kee Wen was the lead guitarist playing the solo tune on the Acoustic. Well, despite a few feedbacks and mistakes, they overcomed these setbacks and performed well getting themselves into the finals. Congratulations Andrew and Ian, also to Kee Wen, Toon Yang and Bryan Ng.

Kids - MGMT

Well, for Shaun Paul's Band, I was expecting to own the entire CHMA just like like the previous CHMA Awards last year. Well, true enough they really transformed the hall into a discotheque with this song. Michael, I must say has already thrashed me in music, not only is he able to play the guitar better than I do, now he even sings better than me..sobs....Oh, I just loved the way Brian Cheang played the drumset, especially during the solo when he hit the two different crashes, it was way cool. Well, he walked off the stage with the kick pedal off the kick drum, and a dented crash cymbal...he must have enjoyed that performance. Well, Bryan Goh coodinated very well with the drummer, and turned the timbre of the bass guitar into synthbass. Shaun Paul had his effects on the electric as he played the main rift, I found it weird at first but later understood why he had used this effect ofter I listened to the song. Well, not forgetting derek who showed the virtuosity of the keyboard during his solo. I must say, they were one of the better bands performed during the Audition. Well, they inevitability made to the finals...Congratulations guys.

So much for saying all these, I just realise I have only:

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I guess it time for me to mug now, will post again after the Chinese O'levels

CHSCO Mission Accomplished

This year..I can finally be at peace, because CHSCO has finally clinched

GOLD WITH HONOURS!

so I may now retire from my Assistant Section Leader (ASL) posts in peace, of course after choosing the next SL to take over the group. This year's SYF result was really by God's Grace which showered on CHSCO, otherwise we wouldn't even stand a chance against other superb chinese orchestras from Hwa Chong and Evergreen.

but before I go into the details...it's first of all time to announce the answer to the previous challenge. Here is the answer for the previous challenge (please increase your speaker volume):

This is Home - switchfoot

well, not really a well known song isn't it? that was the piano rift for switchfoot's this is home. Now for the next challenge(please boost your bass at 80hz):

SONG REC TEST8.mp3 -

I'll give you a clue, it is by the same band as the previous song.

As usual:

1. Listen
2. Guess the Song name and Artist
3. Find out the answer on my next Posts

okay...basically here is an account on what happened after we perform after SYF:

As we walked out of the Conference Hall, we got increasingly worried for our Gold with Honours award. We had messed up the ending part of our set piece, 蝉歌。 Our only hope was left on our choice piece, 梦蝶, which could have been better if I had followed the conductor’s hand closely。

Our goal this year was to clinched the Gold with Honours award, to prove that we, Musicians of Catholic High Secondary Chinese Orchestra (CHSCO), is worthy of the Gold with Honours award, and that our previous Gold with Honours award was not by chance, but by our hard work and determination.

We all walked out of the hall and we were greeted by 龙老师‘s teary eyes. She told us that whatever the results may be, so long as we have done our best, she will be satisfied. As usual, we made our way down to the lobby with our instruments, putting them back into our bags and cases and divided them to heavy instruments which were to be placed in the lorry, and light instruments which will be carried on the bus. After putting my instrument in the loading bay, I hurried back indoors hoping that I have not missed out any chance of entering the conference hall. To my dismay, I learned that we had no access to the conference hall until every school have finished performing.

We waited impatiently outside the concert hall, eagerly waiting for the ushers to grant us access to the concert hall. Some of us went to the toilet in hope that they would hear “Catholic High School Chinese Orchestra Gold with Honours!!” through the PA system and rejoice in the toilet like how it was done during our last SYF.

I strolled down the stairs to the vending machine and bought myself a drink hoping that it would allow me to cool down, but it did not. My mind raced rapidly, thinking of how I should face my seniors when I have failed to mould my juniors into CHSCO members of Gold with Honours standard, thinking about a speech I have to make after the SYF to spur my juniors on, thinking of how my efforts of waking up early in the morning for morning practice would have just gone down the drain if we had not clinched the Gold with Honours award for our SYF.

I dragged myself back to the entrance of the conference hall, this time, I saw that our orchestra was lined up, looking ready to barge into the conference hall.

“This shouldn’t take too long” I mumbled to myself.

I slipped my way through the crowd and joined the queue, beside my CCA mate Guo Chang. We were acting childish, playing ‘scissors, paper, stone’ when he asked everyone to join in for a game of “Heart Attack”, while waiting for the other schools to enter the conference hall.

Soon, it was our turn to take another step into the concert hall, this time not on stage, but to the seats all the way at the back where I had a great view of every seat on stage. At this juncture, I had finally understood what my conductor mean when he said that even a movement of an eyeball can be seen offstage by the audience. Indeed, even a person who sits right at the back of the hall will be able to spot this if he or she is sharp.

The air in the hall was rather arid as first, all the schools that had performed on that day (22 April 2009), were eagerly waiting for the results, expecting it to be released soon. This year, things were different; the judges could have had a hard time deciding who to give the awards for they took what seemed like forever to make the final judgement.

While waiting, some students had their hand phones out, frantically pressing the number pats, some who decided to be silly, started clapping their hands, attempting to trick others to clap. However, had failed and was even jeered by most of the students in the hall.

I decided to ignore the silly jokes, took out my earphones, and listened to music while taking a short nap. Somehow, the tense environment slowly disappeared when I lay there.

Finally, the door opened, and five gentlemen (I reckoned) walked through the grey doors as everyone appalled to welcome them, they were the panel of judges of this year’s SYF. The MC later walked in and introduced them individually, of which one of them was the composer of蝉歌; another was a conductor from CCAB I think.

Now, the moment the CHSCO, No. 55 of the SYF competition, have been longing for this past 2 years has arrived, The Results. The MC started reading the results starting from Chinese Orchestra No. 49. When the MC announced that Evergreen Chinese Orchestra had the Gold with Honours award, Evergreen screamed loudly, till my ear drums almost burst. At this instant, most of us were getting anxious. Now that 1 Gold with Honours award has been taken away by Evergreen, will we be able to clinch the Gold with Honours award? Will be get Gold instead since Hwa Chong was bound to get Gold with Honours?

Then, it was No.55, Catholic High School. The air-condition suddenly felt colder, as all of us gripped on to our seats as we watched the MC bring her microphone up and opened her mouth.

“No.55 公教中学, Catholic High School,” she paused, “荣誉。。” and the rest was lost in our cheering, our entire Chinese Orchestra jumped out of their seats and punched the air. It was as if it was a miracle, as if all of this was probably just a dream while I am still sleeping in the conference hall, but the pinch on my hand was enough to prove that this was reality. We had accomplished our mission; we have retained the Gold with Honours.

After all the results had been released, we started singing our school song and cheering as we marched out of the conference hall, like soldiers back from a victory war. We shouted and yelled until some of us lost our voices. Some were just too exhausted to cheer as they had used up all their energy during the announcement of the result.

This year’s bus ride back to school was probably the quietest as compared to the previous SYF where we were so noisy that the bus driver reprimanded us. Guess we were all tired after 2 years of energy-draining and stressful days in our practices, and deserve some rest.

From here, I have finally seen how my hard work as a ASL in my tan bo group have paid off, though it was mainly the effort of my juniors and peers which has allows our Chinese Orchestra to once again attain the Gold with Honours.

As I retire as an ASL in CHSCO, I pray that CHSCO will continue to strive on to retain the Gold with Honours standard our seniors and peers have set, and that they will learn to accept any result they get during the SYF Central Judging, be it good or bad. May the Love Of God shine through every member of CHSCO