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Monday, May 19, 2008

ONCE A SAINT, ALWAYS A SAINT

Crap.. I can't believe my blog is still working.. Haha. My last post was almost a year ago.

Anyway..

Seated in the Victoria Concert Hall with band members I had played with for a year or two; looking at the four walls where beautiful sounds were about to resonate upon, my right leg began to tremble and my heart started racing.

Hey.. Wait a minute. Why in the world was i feeling nervous?! I'm not the one performing! I'm a member of the audience.

But the fact remained that I was truly nervous. Perhaps it's because i've been there. I know what it feels like to wait in anticipation for the first note of the concert to start. Will that be our perfect chord that we rehearsed so hard for?

I was speaking to Janice on the train back home. "Our babies were sitting on our seats" was how she affectionately described the above situation. SAJC Band 07/08, you have done the alumni proud.

Sure, there were the sqeaks, squawks and stammers. But this is what drew me to SAJC band 4 years ago and what the band has always been about- A showcase of Band Culture. This band is different. It can have imperfections in the music but still impress because it brings a culture to the audience. A culture of musical excellence, brotherhood (and sisterhood), creative genius, tradition, ups and downs and the list goes on..

Even though I haven't sang the college song for eons and probably forgot most of the 2nd and 3rd verses yesterday, I still hollered myself hoarse (Up and On!). Perfect choice of encore piece.

You guys will be graduating with pride from the SAJC Concert Band. :)

The alumni probably saw many things last night that we have done before. While playing the game of "EH COPY!!!" that I'm sure a great number of us were playing last night, aren't you comforted and beaming with pride to know that a piece of us still remains in the band we hold so dearly to our hearts. Our legacy lives on!

What I was especially proud of yesterday were 3 youngsters whom I've been walking closely with since they were 13. They entered Secondary School looking a little lost, joined the band and started farting around with old instruments.

Now they're directing/acting/conducting/playing in musicals.

What an achievement Farah, Rui Qi and Benny! :) (Although Benny could be more humble about it :P)

Also.. Shi Lin! Thank you for taking care of the double reeds these few months. I'm really grateful to have juniors like Jia Hao, Elissa, Alison and you.

Many a bewildered/embarrassed friend asked me last night, "Why in the world are you wearing THAT (Maroon Saints shirt)?!"

"Patriotism", I replied.

And I meant it.

(Please pardon my poor vocabulary. The closest word I could think of was patriotism)

I'm a fashion disaster. Just ask the countless people who have tried to make me over. :) (High 5 Momo) I choose comfort over class, sentimentality over suaveness. Why do you think I pulled the maroon saints tee out of my wardrobe instead of something that would make me look a tinge less uglier? Haha.

I have beautiful memories donning that top. I salsa-ed in it, cheered in it, chilled in it, mugged in it, rehearsed in it, visited juniors in it. My shit moments were also spent in that top. That maroon saints tee tells my story to all whom i've shared many a special moment with.

I would never exchange my old maroon saints tee for the best looking piece of fabric in the world!

SAJC Concert Band 07/08, thank you for adding another evening of special moments to the plethora of beautiful memories already stored up in my old maroon saints tee. :)

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails." -Proverbs 19:21

Once a Saint, Always a Saint.

Happy Birthday Momo!!