Choir Performance

Woohoo!!
I had the chance to rejoin the SMK Batu Lintang choir to perform on Wednesday night at Crown Plaza for the Yayasan Sarawak Jubilee Perak bla bla.
I learnt the songs "Getaran Jiwa" and "Aduh Sayang" the day before Wednesday at Jeremy's house so I more or less knew the song. From Wednesday morning we practised at school (soooo nice to be at BL again...!!) and then went to Crown Plaza in the afternoon for rehearsal and all that.

Ryner and Izzati - future violin maestros??!!

The REAL violinists...

Homeless children on the (carpeted) streets!

Megan, our fantastic pianist

The choir during rehearsal. Such a bummer that no one was able to take our picture during the actual performance except some newspaper reporters - takkan we go and ask them "eh can send to me ah?" so... *sigh*

Making up! *someone* taking the opportunity to get on camera!!

Lina, Susan and Azrin... aghh which is which? They all have the same hair!! Help it's the attack of the short-haired crazy-girls-with-too-much-humour clones!!

Ang Wee Cheng, our conductor!!

Do not fear, it's the great Men In Black!!

Susan Lau who makes any dull day seem comedic - after I took the picture of her eating, she went, "Was my fork up? No? Oh... darn it." I couldn't stop laughing!!

More people...

Teachers - Miss Susie and Mdm. Luk!!


It was fantastic. Loved it. It was great to meet the teachers again - Mdm. Luk, Mdm. Anita and Miss Susie. And also to sing and have fun with my favourite choirmates like Ang Wee Cheng, Susan and Lina Lau, Izzati, Jeremy, Akasyah, Azrin, Ryner, Maxi-Sexy-milian, etc.
I love singing in choir. It had been so freaking long since I heard or sang in a good choir.
And what's more, I'll actually get a certificate for KK marks state level!! Wahahaha...

Tag

Blah.... tags.

8 things I am passionate about:

God

Piano

Guitar

Choirs

Tennis

Designing stuff

English (reading, writing...)

American Idol... (omg David Cook won!! Heheheheheh I knew it I knew it)

8 things I say too often:

Really...

Ummm...

Oh.

Ah.

I see.

Hehe.

Hoho.

..(nothing).. (well I too often say nothign right? hehe)

8 books I've read recently:

My school books.. study le... (yesyesyesyahooooexamfinallyoveromgomgcantwaittogetback..!!!!!!!)

Bible

Empress Orchid (I read halfway and was so bored, couldn't go on..)

Tuesdays With Morrie

A Walk To Remember

Alice in Wonderland (the complete version!! so susah to read le)

The Jungle Book (also the complete and unabridged one)

Battlefield of The Mind

8 songs I could listen to over and over again:

Somewhere Over The Rainbow (whichever version be it Jason Castro, Katharine McPhee, Il Divo, etc)

Here In My Life (Hillsongs)

Assuredly Yours (Paradise)

God Loves Ugly (Jordin Sparks)

End Of The World (Blake Lewis)

Hosanna (Hillsongs/United)

May It Be (Enya)

Only Time (Enya)

8 things I learned last year and this year:

what the heck there's so many damn things we learn in Form 4 and 5...!!! But anyway apart from studies,

How to make friends... fast (being in Banting forced me to open up and speak out... totally blew myself away!!)

HTML (more or less lah, googled up help sites)

How to read Bible properly (Pastor Mark Varughese in camp!!)

Debating

How to actually study poperly (from a book called "Study Smarter not Harder" by Kevin Paul)

Play a liiiiiiiitle bit of drums

How to keep many many secrets from some people's parents because they will be KILLED if their parents found out... and I would also be KILLED if I told so no choice lah... *sob*

Watch a movie without asking too many questions. Ooh wait I still do it sometimes. Oh well. XD

8 people I wanna tag:

Lik Pin

Andre

Hoi Yen

Sin Yee

Ryner

Jeremy

Yvonne

Nat Sia

But don't want to do never mind lahhhh.. tags are damn annoying eh?

Step Up 2

I just watched Step Up 2 - The Streets (2008), and I loved it! It's a sequel to Step Up (2006) which I also loved because all the dancing is so artistic and cool. I mean, it's not like I can ever do those moves but it's fantastic!



And as all my favourite movies go, I loved it because it speaks about how you have to go for your dreams, do what you love!! The main character, Andie, loves dancing but is rebellious and her guardian (her mom died) made her go to the Maryland School of Arts. She is kicked out of the top dance crew, the "410", and so instead forms a new crew with her new friends at MSA.
It speaks determination, fighting for your dreams, never giving up!!



And then when 410 threatens them and vandalizes their school, they give up momentarily. But when they get the message for The Streets starting that night, they dump their school's fundraiser-whatever and got dancin'!



My favourite quotes:
"Don't give up - be yourself, because life is too short to be anybody else."
"It's not what you've got, it's what you make of what you got."
and as it says on the movie poster, "It's not where you're from, it's where you're at!"



Supercool dancing in the rain! I wonder if they all get fever after that.. hmm.
There was something strange, though, there was this girl, who was a semi-antagonist, "Sophie". Her real name is Cassie Ventura. I kept thinking she was Jordin Sparks cos they looked alike...


Cassie Ventura


Jordin Sparks

Hmmm... XD
Anyway, I liked the movie, I don't know about you, I'm not all that pro in hip-hop/street dancing but I thought the values were inspiring and all. XD

Bitter-Sweet Farewell

Farewell to...
Justine Henin



I was quite shocked (and slightly relieved) by the news of Justine Henin's immediate retirement from tennis - at the age of 25 only!! even worse than my then-favourite player Kim Clijsters retiring at 23... what's wrong with these Belgiums??!! - because she was the world no.1 for like, 117 weeks!!

Her achievements included winning her seventh and final Grand Slam singles title at the 2007 US open, beating both Serena and Venus Williams en route, the only player ever to beat both Williams sisters at a Grand Slam and going on to win the title; In 2007 she had her most successful season ever, winning 10 titles (including two majors) and becoming the first female athlete to pass the $5-million mark in a season; was of the most successful players of all time on clay, winning Roland Garros four times in five years (2003, 2005, 2006, 2007); Won every major title except Wimbledon, taking the Australian, French and US Opens at least once, along with two season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships (2006, 2007) and an Olympic gold medal (singles) in Athens in 2004; she also led Belgium to its first Fed Cup title in 2001. (from here)

I am shocked because she really was a fantastic player. She had a beautiful backhand and was a very determined player. Her second serve was always the killer (because she was too short to put in a good first serve... hehe) and her drop shots and volleys were BRILLIANT. However I am slightly happy because she always managed to beat my favourite girls like Maria Sharapova, the Williams sisters, Ana Ivanovic, Tatiana Golovin, just to name a few. But lately she has been beaten, so frankly I'm relieved because she gave the world of trouble to the other girls. Hehe!

But I wonder why she quit? She said she had no more feeling, no more motivation or drive to play the game. That's so sad! I guess she really played because of her mother. When she was small she told her mother she would win Grand Slams, but then her mother died shortly after so Justine was determined to play well for her mom. (or something like that??) I guess she didn't really have the passion or love for tennis but just played hard to achieve success. That's quite a pity, you know. It's like students who study just to get A's or kids who are being forced to play piano and not love it to bits... *sigh*

But anyway, good luck to Justine Henin, I hope she finds happiness in life (I doubt it, unless she finds Christ! Hehe) and a new husband...?!! XD XD

Cheating

It is saddening to know that the practice of cheating during exam is rife in SMK Methodist. I heard of shameless tales of people "partying" and paying frequent visits to the toilet - not for aromatherapy but to look for answers in textbooks hidden in the toilets. Sometimes even 4 to 6 people cram into a cubicle reading the book! (NOT to carry out forbidden fantasies, mind you!!)

It is sad that this is happening right under the teachers' noses, plain as day but rampant and unchecked. I myself went there this morning and was greeted by a flood of students asking me questions about Form 4 Sejarah. Some of my friends from other classes later told me how their classmates and themselves cheated by staying in the toilet for about half an hour, passing papers around and SMS-ing with handphones. I am saddened by the ignorance of teachers and students alike - how is it that these things escape the eyes of invigilators? Is this bribery in MES??!!

What is the motivation to cheating?
Students can crumble under too much pressure and having not enough time to study. Some just are too lazy to put any effort into studying. Some have tried without success to do it the hard way. Too much competition sometimes make top students fall into disgrace. I've been there, done that, but the end results of it all? Failure to score in SPM if it continues to be done, not to mention public humiliation at the event of being caught.

What is the purpose of exams?
It is to test students how much they know and how much needs to be done to improve. But when students cheat, they defeat the whole purpose of the examination. How would they learn if they don't study and don't give themselves a chance to make mistakes? For example in previous exams last year, I made many errors in Chemistry in relation to explaining electron arrangement so now I am more prepared to do a similar question in Paper 2.

What happens when hardworking students spend so much effort and time and then others take the short and easy way to get better marks?
I would feel so freaking discouraged. But most of the time people who cheat donn't do too well - from my experience, anyway. I used to be , regrettably, one of those who cheated last year especially for Pendidikan Moral and Biology, but now I know the consequences of it which is the suffering in Form 5 to relearn all those that I did not properly study and memorize the freaking nilais. Last year I did horribly for Biology even with a stack of hidden answers, which is a lesson to learn that cheating gets you nowhere. At least, if done ineffectively... I also copied my friend's whole Physics paper for the first monthly test and I got 95 (even higher than the friend I copied from! Hehee) and everyone thought I was really good in Physics but because I did not make any effort to memorize the formulae for motion (I still don't know it by heart because it is given in the exam papers) I suffered all throughout the year hating Physics. Now I like it because I did my part to study!!

I would much rather work hard, get good results and be so proud of myself than to do it dishonourably. It feels so much better, I would learn from any mistakes I made in the test, and it would glorify God. I am happy to be able to say that anything I get for this mid-year exam will be all the fruits of my hard labour and God's grace. And I think I did quite well so far - except for Sejarah, because I just suck at it. By God's grace I might scrape by with a B?? Xo Xo Xo

As for those of you who actively cheat in exams and are proud of it, let me advise you, as one who've seen it all - don't cheat in Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Add Maths and Sejarah. They are the subjects that you MUST fail once or twice to learn really well. It's not nice to fail but in the long run it benefits you!!

By the way you can criticise me or condemn me for cheating last year but I know I was wrong and as I said I've learnt from my mistakes. (especially if you're a holy person like Reverend Ryner) I know what it's like to cheat and I know what it's like to work for your achievements - it is so much better to sit for exams not for your own glory but for God!!

Happy Mothers Day

To all the mothers...




To my mother
and all the women who have been like a mother to me,


Thank you for all your love and care
Thank you for your endless (and sometimes needless) concern
Thank you for your sacrifices
And constant scolding to make me learn


Thank you for being there when I need you
And still staying there even when I don't
Thank you for making me grow and mature
Teaching me to work even when I won't


Thank you for enduring the pain and grief
When I unknowingly hurt your feelings
Thank you for (mostly) having an open mind
So that we can clear up misunderstandings


Thank you for being the best you can be
So that we can love each other
Even as I'm growing and learning to do the same
Thank you for always being my mother


by Samuel Kana Lis (Mothers Day 2008)

The MES Choir

Yesterday, 11th November 2008, I played the piano for my school's choir in the division level choir competition at SMK Telok Panglima Garang. The MES singers wheezed sang the songs quite feebly and could hardly be heard (I would say the same for most of the other choirs that took part, too), and were off-key during the second song and the movements were messy (owing to the ONE day of proper practice before competition), so no surprise that the choir didn't win. (Tabitha Long claims that we got 4th but I doubt it)



I have a lot to say about why the choir sucked really bad.

1. It was so very last minute. I think there was a combined 10 hours of practice through the few days we practiced. Only one day of actual rehearsal. How can that compare to the many months and the hundreds of hours that professional choirs (like the SMK BL choir, of course! hehe) practice to perfection?! This is very much the teacher's fault, I think.


as compared to


2. The wheezers singers were mostly... musically and vocally challenged. The first time I heard the choir, I really wanted to die. Not because it was too beautiful for words but it was atrocious. To prevent grief to others, I took it upon myself, with the limited knowledge I gained from two years of singing in the SMK BL choir, to train them and do away with the wheezers singers students who just could NOT sing. That left me with 20 or so students who were occassionally in tune. Again, teacher's fault because she just went around the afternoon session asking whoever wants to join to come. It's not that there's no talent in the school, but no initiative from teachers to get THEM in the choir.



3. The songs were not suitable. They chose to sing "Nyalakan Tekad" and "Terlalu Istimewa". There really wasn't much that can be done with the second song because it is basically a song to be sung alone. The first song sounds annoying.

4. Surprisingly enough, the winners (they were the last choir to sing) actually sounded quite nice. I mean, they are no match compared to SMK BL choir (hehe) but at least they were in tune and their movements were entertaining. SMK Bukit Changgang (no. 1) sang "Nyalakan Tekad" with a James Bond feel to it, and a medley of Malay songs. SMK Sijangkang Jaya (no. 2) sounded boring but then again everyone else sucked so bad... hehe!

Even now I still wonder why in the world did I get myself involved? I had a dream that I could transform the choir into something of quality but they just... sucked so bad. But I did my best, I made many friends, and I tired myself out again.
WHY am I so freaking active this year? Even last year the most I did was sing in the choir, but this year I've joined the division level tennis, debate and calligraphy competitions, became a pianist/choirmaster... you would have thought that being in a new place and having SPM would make me less active, but no! I've been doing so many things, I wonder if I'll regret it?!!

Brooke White

Because I have very limited time to watch TV, AND because I don't have Star Movies channel, I watch practically the whole of American Idol 7 on Youtube. This week, I am very sad that my favourite girl, Brooke White has to leave.
When I watched her tearing up when they announced the results, I myself wanted to cry also, because it really was an awesome journey, and she was brave. But all the contestants were really good and colourful, so... it's anyone's contest, really! I wished Syesha went out though. TT

Here's the clip of her being eliminated. May she find success in the music industry!!