Annual General Meeting

AGM. This year was my 5th AGM. Time sure has flown by.In 2011, I became a librarian with Rachel Wong, Ming Yen, Jia Yinn, Ching Wei, Zhi Ying, Ghee Shaun and many others. We sang "Here In My Home" for our official appointment of being a librarian. We have been with the librarian board for so many years. From our first one day camp to our last one that we organized this year, many memories have been made.

Today we have finally stepped down from our posts and passed on the committee to our juniors. We hope that they will uphold the discipline and ethnic of librarians. At 12.30pm, we gathered at the library. Juniors were all lined up outside in their ties and tags awaiting to be seated in the library. Row and rows of empty chair awaited the arrival of their behinds. The AGM began with a few announcement and some words from our teacher advisor, Puan Monica. The best librarian, best shift and librarians with the most merits were awarded with their prizes. Then, each form 5(except for two shy ones) starting with Ching Wei took turns and gave a small speech. We only hope that the juniors will absorb our words of wisdom and put them to good use.

Next, the form 4s presented us with tokens of gratitude. We all got a drawing of ourselves in a specially decorated wooden frame and an envelope with dear messages from them. We continued with the dissolving of the old AJK board and the announcement of the new one. The form 5s stepped down one by one according to their departments. It was a heart warming sight of hugs and heirlooms passed down from one department head to a new one. The event moved on with the presentation made by the form 5s and the video by the form 4s in memory of the retiring librarians.

After that was celebratory meal. Cupcakes of three different flavours, drinks and a poppy seed cake was served. All handmade by the talented juniors of ours. After a miniature photo taking session, we ended the session and grabbed lunch. By the time we came back, our last mandatory shift of the year was over! It was a happy day and we were finally relieved of the responsibilities of being a librarian. Today is the day that marks the end of our years of slavery and work but not the end of our friendships.

Q : Compare two characters

Based on the novel "Step by Wicked Step", written by Anne Fine, there are many different character. The novel is about 5 children that share their stories about how they handle their broken families after reading Richard Harwick's story. I am going to compare and contrast Richard and Colin. There are clear similarities and differences which can be observed throughout the story.

Firstly, Richard and Colin both love their dads. They both missed their fathers. Richard at times misses his father and sits by his father's grave. "Sometimes I sit beside my father's grave and I run my fingers over the letters of his name..." However, Richard's father died while Colin's mother brought Colin and moved away without the stepfather's knowledge. Richard had lost his father forever and he wanted to tell his father so many things. "...stamp to wake him up and tell him all the things that had gone wrong since he was taken from us." Meanwhile, Colin was still searching for his stepfather. He is very determined to find him. Colin remembered the exact date his father left. "Five years, eight months and seven days."

Secondly, they similarly are ignored by their mothers. They both did not get any attention from their mothers. Colin's mother is unaware of how he day dreams in school. Richard's mother did not show any form of care towards Richard. Both of them did not feel their mothers' love. The two boys differ in the ways their mother had neglected them. In Richard's case, his mother did not defend him when Reverend Coldstone treated him badly. This shows his mother does not pay attention to her child Richard. She do not defend Richard when Reverend Coldstone sends him to boarding school.  "All that my mother did was lower her eyes, or look away..." Richard feels she has become a traitor. "...I believe she is a traitor to my father's memory." In Colin's case, his mother is unaware how much he missed his stepfather because she is too busy working at the canteen and doing household chores.

Lastly, Richard and Colin believe that running away is a solution. Both of them decided that running away will make things work. In contrast, Richard ran away from home with the hope that he would make life more pleasant for everyone. "Mother, I think, would find life more pleasant without my dark looks and scowling face..." "Mr. Coldstone would greet my disappearance with pleasure." "As for Charlotte, she would, I am sure, learn to live without me..." Colin has plans to run away to find his stepfather. He has saved up every penny. He even does three paper rounds. "I keep practically every penny that comes my way. I even do three paper rounds." In the end, Richard realizes that running away does not solve any problems. He goes home to find everyone is dead through Charlotte's letter that was left for him. "...send this letter to our old home, to tell you why you return to cold, cold silence." Colin is still waiting for the time he is old enough to run away. "As soon as I'm tall enough, I'm off."

As a conclusion, the two characters suffered much pain and sorrow. These two boys do not received enough love for boys their age. No one cares about them or how they felt. No one is there to hear their thought out and advise them. This could have changed Richard's life differently if his mother had done so and provided attention, love and care. Sadly they did not, while Colin has not, realised that running away does not solve problems. In fact, running away can affect the people around you and burden them in many ways just like in Richard's story. Acting out of impulse like Richard has damaged his family. We need to think wisely before making a serious decision in life.

Music is life

I have always been fascinated with music. It amazes me that music can take a person out of their ordinary life and place them in a world of their own imagination. It amazes me that people have collaborated over time to create this beautiful form of expression. For me, it is precisely the thrill and excitement of being taken on a musical journey .

I remember my first experience with music was my mother playing her CDs filled with love songs on the radio in our hall. I remember specifically listening to the romantic melodies that have made me into such a romantic today. Ever since that initial impression became solidified in my imagination many years ago, music has became a form of release for me. Even if I am having the most stressful day of my life I can turn to music and all my problems dissipate.

I started singing when I was 7. It was the first time I faced my stage fright head on. I loved singing and I just wanted to show the world how good I could be. I remember getting consolation awards throughout my years in primary school. The singing competitions they had every year were a highlight for me. I was amazed by the winners, the school choir and many pop singers that reigned supreme on radio channels.

With each year my love for music grows. Every new journey I discover through a new song always leaves me feeling such deep emotion. When I make music with the instrument I was born with, I feel a deep connection to the form of creation. When I began singing in choir, I loved it straight away. The melodies were not impressive at first but if I held on long enough, that would change. I knew I did not have great listening and a strong voice at the start but after 5 years of solid training with Harmonix Youth Choir, I have become much better.

 I have had times when I've sat down to study and could not get my mind in the right place. I would play the music that I loved. The different genres had so many different purposes. Music could calm and to sleep. I could drift away into sleep with music, it felt as though awaking to a dark sky just like in a dream. Sometime I wonder if I could have been a Musician in a previous lifetime, or conducting a symphony. Music is truly the most beautiful form of creation I have found to date and it will stick with me all my life.

Malaysian Mental Literacy Movement MIND Competition 2015

Do you know how to use the enormous power of your brain? These professional people who participate in MIND Competition sure do! The competitions branched into three main ones which are the memory competition which consists of 4 different categories (random words, random numbers, random alphabets and random dates and events ), mind mapping competition which has 3 sections (given topic, speech and text) and mental calculation. I participated in the random words memory competition and mind mapping.

These competitions were very interesting experiences. During the mind mapping competition, Shu Ming, who is an ex student from my high school who has won in the competition before, sat beside me. It was such a coincidence! We managed to talk to her just before the competition started. If not mistaken, she had been taking part in this competition for close to 5 years. Her mother was champion twice in a row before this year so she was not allowed to take part this year.

I learned the skill of pencilling in the game sudoku. It was so exhilarating. Now I know, how to solve those advanced sudoku's if I have some time on my hands. I even met this guy who is an International Master of Memory. Not many people have this title. He even offered to give talks in my school on how to help memorising. He told me our brains have very powerful visual memory and not so great verbal memory. So when memorising things, we should picture it in our head. I have become fond of mind mapping and visual memory since then. It has really changed me in how I memorise things. It is a great skill to pick up.

The competition really puts your memory to the test. 4 pages with 60 words each to be memorised. I could barely make one page. Haha! Everyone starts from somewhere so I plan to improve myself in that aspect to be ready for next year's competition. I would suggest this event to anybody. It is open to all ages and was only RM10 year if you were not registering under a school. It was an enlightening journey and it really taught me many things including how tiring solely brain activities are.

Family Day Out!

Raya is here and everyone has gone back to their home towns. KLCC and the huge grounds of Kuala Lumpur are pretty much occupied by the tourists and people of all ages and races. My family took up this chance to visit our beautiful Malaysian capital - Kuala Lumpur. We drove down to Kanna Curry House early in the morning to grab some delicious Indian breakfast. If you have not been there, you have to try the branch at Seksyen 17. I absolutely love their thosai. The curries they serve are mouth watering and you just cannot get enough.

After a worthy breakfast, we drove down to Kuala Lumpur. Passing the huge bridge that separates Selangor and Kuala Lumpur on one of the oldest highways which was once the only way to go down to KL. It was fun having my mother as our own tour guide. We passed Masjid Negara and the National Textile Museum. We stopped by at the Majestic Hotel which  is this old revamped hotel that has a beautiful interior. My mother insisted it was really nice inside so we parked somewhere across the road and went in.

We drove down and stopped at Dataran Merdeka. We parked our car there and got out to explore. We walked down the road and visited Central Market (Pasar Seni). We walked the long rows of stores and I dropped by to visit my friend Christopher at his father's camera store. We also walked down to Petaling Street and drank the air mata kucing that my mother suggested. Refreshing on a humid day like today. My mother also told us the story of her boss treating her to chicken rice in Petaling Street. Sadly, the store had been replaced by another store after all these years.

We drove down and parked around Pavillion. We walked over and admire the many high end restaurant & bistros. We walked through and made our way to the front of the mall. We even dropped by Sephora. They had some of the very expensive branded products. We visited Lot 10 and KLCC after lunch. When we reached KLCC, we went out to the beautiful huge park that they have. There were plenty of cosplayers to my surprise. Apparently, there was a cosplay competition held in the POPULAR Bookfest. We explored the 6 halls of books and stationary at the bookfest. We stopped at a booth selling designed paper punches. The stationary and etcetera section was what my brother and I browsed through the longest. We bought a shoe bag, whole bunch of stationary, an umbrella, biscuits and some other things too.

We finally went home after hours and hours of walking, shopping and going out and about. It was a good day and I enjoyed visiting Kuala Lumpur's hot spots after so long. It was my first time at Pasar Seni and Petaling Street. I am glad to have experienced these new places with my family. Hopefully, we can go there again sometime soon. It was a great family day out!

Sunway University Open Day

Today, I attended the Sunway University Open Day. It was my first time at a university for an open day. I hitched a ride with Hui Yan along with Jun Ren after our class photo taking session at school. It was an enlightening experience. Recently, I was interested in taking up actuarial science so I had some research to do and what pathways that Sunway Uni offered. When Hui Yan, Jun Ren and I reach the entrance of the new building. We were greeted by student ambassadors that lead Jun Ren to the talks and workshop regarding his interests while Hui Yan and I got to talk to a counsellor about ACCA and ICAEW.

 I attended the jobs in financial services talk which started at 11 in the morning with Hui Yan, Kai Ning (even though she was not interested), Hao Zhe and Jia Yong. Jia Yinn also showed up with her parents. I found the idea of taking the course and job prospects interesting but I still have my doubts about selling my soul to actuarial science.

After that talk, Kai Ning went for her science talk about neuroscience and bio med while the rest of us took a campus tour. We went to the IT labs and took a career personality test which determined our interests. I found out I may be more interested in Arts than any other thing. Sometimes I wonder whether I seem like a artsy creative student. I still had the heart to be take up graphic design. Next, we visited the physics labs and explored the animal exhibition. We saw Ariff there and his pet iguana. We saw the different types of snake, geckos, hamsters, an adorable rabbit and a green frog that jumped onto Kai Ning's leg.

Then we got on our way to visit the art labs as I was interested. The rest of them tagged along and we pretty interested in the building models made by the interior design students. Sadly, we missed the talk at 1pm and grabbed a little bit of lunch before we parted our ways. We rushed off to the 2pm talks as we were already late. At first, I wanted to attend the ACCA and ICAEW talk but that little voice in my heart whispered to me and managed to convince me to attend the other talk. I made a rash decision and made my way to the communications talk without realising it was for mass comm and other forms of communication.

I was so embarrassed when I picked up my things and left the talk after a good 10 minutes. I ran back to the Sunway college building for the think differently art and design workshop. I missed pretty much the first half of the workshop. All I can remember was the speaker talking about how parents think there is no market in the artistic industry. Then he told us to design a logo of our future business. All I could think of was that logo I did two years ago for Art Class. It was the logo of a tea cup made of  "C"s of different shapes and sizes in multiple orientations. The design was an improved version of the previous one. I knew it was a logo where minimal colours were to be used. Simple and interesting but still told a message.

I thought the girl who thought of the sheer black "Mash" fashion store logo would win the small challenge. Surprisingly, I did. I laughed at myself in my head. Fate really brings nice surprises sometimes. I won a Sunway art and design department t-shirt. Gladly they had an S size which I could fit into. I was proud of myself but I did not really learn much other than learning from the other participants there.

I got to know Hui Ting. She is from Subang Utama and I met some of the girls from that school earlier this year during the INTI Science Quiz. She was a nice girl. She also left the communications talk and made her way to this one. I walked back to the new building. I found my mother talking to Jun Ren. Then the rest of them found us and they went off on their own. I stayed with mother and we managed to see counsellors for the Foundation in Arts for Pre-University studies. We also got the chance to speak to the head of the art department, Mr. Augustine Wong. It was nice to speak to a professional about it.

Today was a great experience but I still have not gotten to the decision of the lifetime. No matter what decision is I shall make the best of it. With passion, you can excel in what you love.

Catholic High Choir Exchange

Last week, this week, next week and one month after that! Choir events here and there have filled up my schedule. Yesterday, the participating choir members gathered in the school canteen at 8 in the morning. I chewed on some freshly prepared kaya and margarine bread as I walked to school. The cars on the roads scarce. Barely a soul seen on the roads. Inside school grounds, it was a different story. A whole group of the purple clothed choir kids were in the canteen. Mickeymitez had already began their practice and the basketball team had began perspiring under the warm morning sun.

We made our way to the hall for a short practice before we boarded the bus and departed for Catholic High. When we reached, we were greeted by two ushers near the gate that lead us to their Dewan Kuliah. We were pleasantly welcomed by a group of students from Catholic High choir. It was quite a nice surprise. There was a red carpet and confetti poppers too. When we entered the hall, the two others BUD4 and Bukit Bintang were already there. The rest of Catholic High was waiting for us inside the hall.

The event started with grabbing a partner. I partnered up with my old primary school friend Pei Lin! It was a long time since we saw each other. I enjoyed the few hours we were able to talk and share our experiences. She is in a youth chamber choir called Singaholics. I am guessing they are the Subang Jaya Chamber Choir as they are under Young Choral Academy too. We played a few games then proceded to the sectionals. We separated to our respective rooms. After that was combined practice which was followed by the school tour.

I enjoyed the school tour because we got to see interesting places like the Harmonica and Guitar Band room. It was a room which was at the back of the hall and has a ladder leading up no the ceiling. We had a short performance from one of the band members. I also made a few friends. We made it back for the prize-giving, performances and combined song. Then we took a mountain pile of photos with the Catholic High Choir peeps.

In conclusion, the whole trip was very enjoyable. Even though there were some inconveniences, it was still a good experience. This was an event held by the students for the students. We had fun and everyone went home all smiles. We grabbed our lunch and piled back into the bus to go back to school. It was a great morning well spent singing with people who love music as much as I do.

13th Malaysian Choral Eisteddfod 2015

An eisteddfod is a Welsh festival of literature, music and performance. For 13 years and running, Young Choral Academy has organized a choral eisteddfod in various parts of Malaysia. The event has an impressive history which consists of different festival lengths, different symposiums for children and youth choirs and many outstanding tutors and guest conductors that come from all over the world. This year, the Malaysian Choral Eisteddfod(MCE) Youth Symposium was held at Sri Kuala Lumpur, Selangor on the 13th and 14th of June. It was a great way to end the mid year holidays with a bang.

The guest conductor this year was Timothy Cloeter, Associate Professor of Choral Conducting at Bowling Green University, Ohio, USA. He is a sensational conductor! He taught us about the hidden meanings of the songs we sang which are "If Music Be the Food of Love" and "Carry Your Heart with Me". I am speechless to how patient and interesting a conductor he can be. Even his warm ups were delightful. He taught us to use our hands during warm ups to help with our pitching and flow of notes. He also enlightened us about the nine notes scale. It can also be sang in canon.

We first learned the song within our parts during sectionals with the tutors on the first day. Then we had a combined session with Mr. Cloeter. It was very enjoyable to be able to work with him. He taught us countless things like manipulating tempo and volume to intensify a song. He made us stick to the markings on the score pretty strictly but also conducted in a free manner with an open heart and full of expression. He never once made us feel incompetent during the combined sessions.

After that, it was lunch! The meal every participant must have been waiting for. Everyone queued up in a long line for our chicken rice, roasted chicken, stir-fried bean sprouts, popiah and soup. It made up a very palatable meal after those few long hours of hard work. After lunch, we were then separated for the masterclass with the respective tutors. We got paired up with Tenby International School, Ipoh and our tutor was Miss Liu / Liew (it sounds something like that). She turns out to be Miss Tracy's best friend. She advised us and gave really good pointers after we sang "Let the River Run. I met some really nice people from Tenby like Emily, Nicole and Wan Wei.

Next was the second combined session we had with Mr. Cloeter. He then worked on the specific rests he wanted us to focus on and utilized the parts with rallentendo(slowing down) in the songs. He also taught us the ending part of Loch Lomond. It was very fun. The guys and altos made up this bouncy tune while sopranos chirped the catchy melody of Loch Lomond. The announcements for tomorrow's closing concert was given and we gaily left the school.

The next morning was concert day! When we reached the school, everyone assembled in the hall and Mr. Cloeter conducted our warm ups once more. Then we were arranged on the stage and floor according to our voice parts. It was a packed stage with over 300 choristers crowding together. Shu Xie and I were trapped behind two rows of sopranos with our back to the piano. It was not the most comfortable position we could be in. During performance it was worse! We were packed like sardines and we felt highly ill at ease in that position. I, for one, have slight claustrophobia and it was horrendous to be squashed there.

The concert was amazing and I revel in the euphonious music we heard. The Sam Tet boys really knew how to put on a show. Their rendition of a Pentatonix song was stupendous. I was particularly fond of the songs that USJ 13 and Seafield sang. SMK Seafield's conductor, Gaya(that is what I call her) sang a solo with the choir supporting her. Their performance of an arrangement of "Hey, Soul Sister"(if not mistaken) and that solo was mellifluous. The concert ended with our combined songs and awarding of certificates. It was one of the most enjoyable festivals I have been to. I will never forget this year's MCE.

Self confidence?

Where has thy confidence gone?
The battle has barely been won.
You used to believe in yourself.
Why not now?
You may wonder how
To get back that confidence
And say goodbye bad habits. Good riddance!

You toss and turn all night long
Thinking about the things you might do wrong.
You stress about not being good enough.
Was THAT was your best?
You should offer no less
To be better than the rest!
If you would put down that phone,
get on those books. 

Motivation? Where has that gone?
If you had it, half the battle's won.
Don't give up now,
You've barely started.
Focus on your life.
Not just live but thrive.
You used to have confidence and bravery. Where has that gone?
Better change that soon,
Before you meet your doom.

Beware of the road bullies!

ROAD RAGE! Raging on the road and endangering other people. Road bullies out there make people feel uneasy and unsafe. They display aggressive or angry behaviour by rude gestures, verbal insults, deliberate unsafe driving, threats and in worst cases, violence. They intentionally harm or pressure other drivers mentally, physically or cause damage. What are appropriate forms of punishment for road bullies?

These are forms on punishments that are given for different crimes under different situations. Firstly, you should fine these road bullies on their first offence. This is depending on how dangerous the driver is. As the road bullies repeat their actions, this fine should increase to the maximum then taking other steps. This fine would be a reminder to the road bullies of their bad behaviour or wrong doings. As the fines increase, the holes in their pockets become bigger. They will start to feel the pinch for their less serious crimes. This is a form of prevention too before it escalates in to something dangerous like causing accidents that kill.

Next is revoking a person’s license. With their crimes justified, there offenders can no longer drive for a certain period of time. These road bullies that exert pressure on other drivers and make them uneasy with their actions like beginner drivers should be treated like one. They shall face a penalty time that is based on their crime. This gives them ample time to reflect on their crime and hopefully make them change their ways. If in worse case, one can make them retake for the exams after the revoking of their license.

Thirdly is jailing a person. Jailing a person for an amount of time gives them more time to reflect. This also keeps them away from being a bad example to the society. Of course, this form of punishment has the process of police catching them red handed. This is also supported by proof through trial and court. How to punish them in jail? Send them to detention. This is a way to calm them and make them think of their wrong doings. They key to this is counselling and rehabilitation which lead to my next point.

Counselling and rehabilitation is a great way to help these road bullies. Trained counsellors can help them to express and manage their anger which they express through reckless driving and aggressive behaviour.  Most of the times, the source of the road rage is suppressed anger, love or family problems, wanting to attract their families’ attention, stress and bad parent role models. In rehabilitation, the aim is to correct their behaviour so they can turn over a new leaf and go back out in the world. This is a proper form of punishment for those who drive dangerously on the road.

The point of all these punishments is to reduce the cases of road bullying to the maximum. There will never be a perfect way to completely stop there road bullies as there will always be some extreme cases. All I ask is for drivers to be mindful of their actions and be aware that other drivers are human too because to err is human. We make mistakes and we forget sometimes. Forgive and forget the actions of people on the road unless it is life threatening or dangerous. Till next post, cheers!