I'm very sorry for not posting any blog entries for 2 days. I'm really very busy these few days so I really could not find any extra time, hope everyone does not mind. I will also not be posting tomorrow as I will go to school at 8.00a.m and come back at about 11.00p.m due to the 85th Anniversary Concert. I will explain what will happen in Monday's entry.

Okay, so I will start with Thursday. I had xiao zu practice at 7.30a.m which ended up in 5 hours of scolding from my Erhu teacher because the whole Sec 2 Erhu group played mu4 gui4 ying1 very badly. So he went through every single part of the song and scolded us as we went along. He said that our standard are world's apart from our seniors when they were Sec 2. So the atmosphere was bad but I did learn something from that day's practice.

And I took the same bus to school and back: Service No. 66, SBS2714L. I know this is a very minor issue so I'm talking crap again but somehow I remembered this very clearly. After arriving home, I made a fatal mistake by taking an afternoon nap and wasted precious hours. But the night was more meaningful. My counsin who is currently studying in NIE, NTU gave me some very good advice about how I should plan my time. I have to admit that my time management is extremely poor so I'm really grateful for the wonderful advice given.

Friday. Finally, we had the chance to rehearse for the school's 85 Anniversary Concert on this Sunday as the stage is now ready. But as we wasted a lot of time moving the instruments and chairs (especially the big instruments for da3 ji1 yue4), so the vice-principal was not very happy. Nevertheless, the rehearsal was quite okay.

After returning to the MPH, Mr Tan Guan Chye brought up the issue of changing the CO uniform again. This time, they brought in a issue of whether not only should the uniform itself be changed, but wheter the tie should also be changed. They were suggestions to chagne to blue, purple, pink, yellow, etc ties which seemed quite disgusting. After 1 and a 1/2 hour of intense discussion, we held a referendum to decide. Of course I supported keeping the present CO uniform. The results were very close: 33:31 votes, my side won.
(Yaeeeee!!!) So we kept the present one. Eventually, da zu and xiao zu practice ended at 6.30p.m and I went home.

As for today, there was da zu at 8.00a.m (again). I foolishly thought that there will be xiao zu at 7.00a.m, so I woke up and went to school early. After da zu, there is xiao zu as usual, where Zheng Ming and Brandon went through qing4 dian3 and mu4 gui4 ying1 with us. I also got the mu4 gui4 ying1 mp3 that I mentioned in the previous entry from Zheng Ming, who was kind enough to burn the CD for me and Yao Hui. I said that I tried to download the mp3 from the internet but actually I had heard wrongly. Rather, it is Zheng Ming who provides the mp3 for everyone. Arghh. So I spent time searching for the mp3 for nothing!

At 9.00p.m, I have private Erhu lessons which was originally scheduled at 8.45p.m very Sunday but I changed it just for today due to the performance tomorrow. So now I have to sleep early to get ready for tomorrow, which is also the last day of the March Holidays. Time really flies. (sigh)



posted by Gimmicker at 9:07 PM

Went to school today for CO and saw Yong Lin on the bus 174. We chatted about the price of a bus pass, and whether it is cheaper for him to buy one.

What the whole CO is supposed to do is to rehearse for the Founder's Day Dinner Concert scheduled on this Sunday, 21th March. But it turned out that the stage is not ready yet due to the heavy rain the past few days. So we settled on xiao zu practice, where we repeatedly praticed one 'paragraph' which the whole xian2 yue4 was not very familiar with. I learnt quite a lot from today's practice. Then we returned to MPH for da zu but it was cancelled. So we were released after the debrief.

After that, I played soccer with some CO members. Sec 2s (+ 3 Sec 3s and 1 Sec 1) V.S Sec 3s and Sec 4s. So of course we lost, 6:2. Not that I like soccer v. much (or rather I don't know how to kick properly), but since everyone wants to play, play loh... until 2.00p.m!!! What a waste of precious time! But (sigh), "shi2 guang1 yi4 shi4 yong3 bu4 hui2" (anyone knows this song??), time and tide waits for no man...

Then I took 66 back home, and saw Yao Lei getting up the bus at the first bus stop when the bus turns into Jln Jurong Kechil from Upp. Bukit Timah Rd. Yao Lei says he lives at Jurong West, yet 66 only goes to Jurong East... Never mind about him.

I seem to be talking a bit of err..."crap" today. Hope everyone don't mind. Right now I'm trying to downloading the mu4 gui4 ying1 gua4 shuai4 mp3, which is one of the songs for the Esplanade concert. And tomorrow got xiao zu at 7.30a.m, so I have to wake up early. That's about all for today.

posted by Gimmicker at 9:26 PM

I will give a simple book review today instead of the usual narrative style. (Unfortunately, I think this is even more boring than the usual style. But I'm giving a try.)

Today, I spent a few hours reading finish a Chinese novel at one go which is entitled "huan4 mie4 de4 tian1 cai2 meng4", which literally translates into "the gifted dream that burst". The plot almost got me tearful.

It mainly talks about a gifted girl of 19 named Yu Hui Ying who, from young, was forced by her mother, Xue Qing to be the best. So she has to do logical IQ questions and etc. She was thus able to get in the gifted class through the gifted streaming test in Pri 3 and came out as the "top of the top" in the gifted class and even topped the school in the PSLE, 'O' levels and the 'A' levels. Because of Xue Qing's determination to breed Hui Ying, her husband, Yu Le Gang could not stand Xue Qing whose heart was as cold as stone (Xue Qing had neglected her husband for years) and they got divorced.

(Years Later)
Hui Ying was studying in an American university and fell in love with an Arts student, Cui Zhe Hao there, who brought her into the world of Arts (Since Hui Ying's life only revolved around Science and Maths, she knew nothing about Arts). For half a year, she thought that Zhe Hao loved her, but in the end he loved someone else (Sophie) whom he had only known for less than a week. As Hui Ying was always looked after by her mother, she was unable to accept it and killed Zhe Hao and Sophie. Out of desperation, she commited suicide. However, her death brought together her father and mother once again.

This story is one full of love and hatred and has highlighted certain issues about Singapore's education system and its effects on parents who tend to force their child to be the best. At the age of 19, Hui Ying has a bright future. But she was unable to accept the outcome of her relationship with Zhe Hao since she always experienced success in whatever she did. Thus this story led me thinking on the loopholes in the education system, which may be corrected with time with the tremendous changes in the system this few years.

Even though, the plot is relatively simple, the language usued in the story is so rich that the strong emotions of each character expressed makes the story very touching.

posted by Gimmicker at 8:04 PM

Today is the start of the March one-week holidays, but work is just as much as usual.

I reached school at 7.30a.m for CO practice, which actually starts at 1.00p.m! I know, I'm kind of stupid to arrive at school 5 and a 1/2 hrs (!!!) before practice starts. But actually I don't know why I did that. I just remembered going out and bringing my holiday homework to school to do. It seemed so automatic that I don't know what happened.

Anyway, I completed my homework at 9.00a.m and then slept on the bench at the Lit. Corner (beside the 2 table tennis courts above the canteen) for 1 and a 1/2 hr. Afterwards, I ate lunch and practised my Erhu songs till 12.15p.m. Honestly, I know that this is a very stupid thing to do. Somehow, i was so tired that I even slept on my Erhu case! Within this few hours, I was like in a dreamy state and not knowing what I am doing. A very funny start to this day.

Then what happened was that almost everyone in Sec 2 Erhu arrived at 12.30p.m at the MPH (Music Practice Hall/Multi-Purpose Hall) when dazu starts at 1.00p.m. Usually about half will arrive 5 min late. Somehow everyone's bus was so fast. And da zu rawks! Mr Tan Guan Chye even praised the xian2 yue4 section until the whole orchestra was in an uproar. Actually its true that we indeed played qing4 dian3 xu4 qu3 quite well and up to standard. No wonder playing that song seemed to have that shiok feeling (Ha Ha!) Of course there is always a need to improve.

After CO, Mr Tan announced that we will have to change the CO uniform for the Esplanade concert. Said that our current uniform has a history of 10 years so we need to change with the times. What is worse is that he suggested changing to black shirt with HCJC pants (khaki colour). Urgh!! Seem quite disgusting. I don't see what's wrong with the current U of white shirt and HCJC pants with a dark brown blazer. I think it is the best combination and much better than the traditional black-and-white suit. Furthermore, I already bought the CO uniform (the same as the councillor uniform) which will go to waste. Many people are disgusted by this decision. But at least for the founder's day concert, we still get to use the current one. And of course I hope this change will not be implemented.

Because CO ended at about 5.15p.m, and I have class at 6.00p.m, I rushed back to Bt. Batok but was still late for the class. This mad rush for today is finally coming to a close. Luckily there is no practice tomorrow, so I can try to pia finish the holiday homework.

posted by Gimmicker at 7:36 PM