♥ NJ AK

Sunday, April 26, 2009

The countless CCA practices in TC36/Amphitheatre?

The countless times we practiced cetok for both Carousel and Zafar, to the extent of suan-ning our dearest Qimin’s hands?

The warm up of crescendo(s) almost every practice?

The times where we look forward to breaks just so we can get biscuits?

Staying inside TC36 during breaks cause we do not have any dinner while the rest went to the other room to eat?

Browsing through everyone’s angel-mortal gifts and envying people who got big presents *cough* *Christabel* *cough* *Ferrero Rocher* *cough* and smiling secretly to yourself when you find your name on one of the huge pile of food?

The n times, where n=infinity Jocelyn Senior gave looooong debriefs? (No offence Jocelyn!)

The many encouragements given by Mr. Dzul during practices?

The time where we played Carousel and the-mysterious-man-with-a-guitar who supposedly walked 4 storeys up suddenly appear and compliment us for our playing?

Mr. Dzul’s classic ‘If…touch wood’ *touches wood* ‘something happen to me that day’ *touches wood again*?

Another classic liner: ‘we try one last time, then we try one time more then we go for break'.

Mr Dzul’s many funny expressions which made playing the 2 songs much more entertaining?

The very first time we try out our blazing red blazer which nearly had all of us fried?

The surprising ‘Best outfit award’ given to us? (Until now I’m still suspicious over ‘You can never go wrong with red’)

The sound of dropped angklungs which made the whole ensemble go ‘OOOHHH!’

When we kept complaining about how hot tc36 is with 48 people inside but we still stayed there anyway?

Chai Ying’s classic ‘Try the 67176 for Zafar” *nudge* *Hwei Yee* *nudge*?

Hwei Yee’s constipated+mouth to one side face when playing angklung?

The star players of Angklung Ensemble: Wanlin, Elizabeth (Mortal!), Shi Hong J

Our love-hate relationship with the red blazer?

The morning exercises on Saturdays? Especially the part where we cheated ( 1 to 10) and both Jacob and Ilyas refused to cooperate.

Waking the NJ Boarding people up on Saturdays through our music?

All the ‘GO PEIXUAN!’ cheers before we started playing Carousel?

Smiling so hard our jaws nearly dropped.

Practising walk in and walk out WITHOUT any sound for n times, with n=a number close to infinity.

The 'angklungkia' cheer to the tune of xin nian dao, invented by the boys?

Having a member (Weijie) who has birthday(s) almost every Angklung sessions? *stares at Jacob, Yilong and Kaiwei*

And the finale: The shock we had when we realized that Weijie (no offence!) could speak more than 6 words. In fact, he can speak A LOT.

I’m sure that there are still many many Angklung memories that I have not mentioned above. And I hope that 10 years down the road, this is what you will remember from being in NJC Angklung Ensemble, the fond memories we had together.

The end result is important. Like what hwei yee told me, ‘Of course the result is important. We care about it’. Undoubtedly, this is very true. Saying that I do not care about the result, is an absolute lie.

Getting bronze equals to having lost bragging rights for 2 whole years, losing the reputation that the seniors have built up, a possible decrease in membership next year, a less than perfect testimonial…

But so what?

As the saying goes, ‘Failure is the mother of success’. Bragging rights can be regained after 2 years. Yes, it’s a long wait, but it’s certainly not forever. Likewise, reputation can be built up all over again, and those who have heard us play will know that we’re still as good as last time. Membership next year not only depends on SYF results, but also the amount of effort the juniors put in next year during CCA Day. Last but not least, shame on you if you joined Angklung just because you want ‘SYF-Gold’ to be printed on your testimonial (Which I believe none of us are).

People have been asking me on the reason for getting bronze. Though my answer is always the standard ‘we tried our best. There’s a mismatch of style between our music and the judges’, I always feel this tinge of dissatisfaction. How can our ‘best’ be pegged only at Bronze standard? Surely our hard work is more than a Bronze. Mr. Dzul’s compositions (Labyrinth, Carousel, Zafar, Rasuk, Oasis, Hayat) are certainly much much more than Bronze. They are not something any award can measure. I have heard of this quote somewhere and would like to share it with all of you ‘Just because you deserve to win, does not necessarily mean that you will win’.

How very true. While we may feel unfair and unjust, we have got to acknowledge that the judges have their own reasons for giving us a Bronze. Their reasons might not be something we can accept, but it’s definitely something that we must respect.

So people! As cliché as it may sound to you, cheer up coz there’s something to look forward to! College Day and SISC. This is a great chance for us to show to the whole school that hey! We’re certainly not Bronze standard. J

To Mr Dzul: You’re the coolest conductor (truth to be told, I only come across you haha) I’ve ever met. I really really respect you for your passion towards music and how you stand true to your own style despite setbacks. There’s always something new to learn every Angklung session, which I would not have learnt had I stayed in the classroom and mug my days away. Like what you have said before, we are learning so much more stuff that cannot be taught in lectures/tutorials. Thank you J

To the ex-co: I’m not exactly the most co-operative member around since I’m always late (but hey! I contribute to Angklung fund k!). I’m also far from the best player, but I really thank you guys for the compromise you have made for me. (Letting me go Maldives trip, and yet join SYF etc)

To the seniors (J2): I may not be close to you, but I really want to thank you for making Angklung Ensemble such a great CCA to be in. Special mention to Shi Hong who created jokes after the release of SYF results to lighten the atmosphere. It’s really really appreciated. And the pretty drawings made by Kai Teng/Sherin before SYF. I look damn hot. Haha.

Lastly, I shall end of my first ever post with a group picture!