Beginning of O levels

A few days ago, 21st October 2013 was the start of the O levels examinations 2013. It was the English paper with the exception of Science Practical Exam the week before. English, mathematics and Social Studies has passed leaving me with 4 more subjects to go- Chinese, Combined Science (Chemistry & Physics), History and POA. I wonder what the bell curve will be like this year.... Hopefully, I would do well for my examinations, exceeding my goals and finally getting the desired results. Hahahaha :D , to a certain extent of course with the use of Social Studies (SS) skills. Get it?

My teachers dump everyone with piles of worksheets to do. It filled up all the pockets of my thick black box file. It is impossible to finish and understand every single one of them before the next paper on Monday, 28th October 2013 which is Paper 2 - Combine Science for Physics then on Tuesday, 29th October 2013 which is Paper 3 - Combine Science for Chemistry. GO GO GO!! I CAN DO IT!!! :) Cos I know I can...~.~ 

Prelims Just Ended!!!!

My Secondary 4 Preliminary Examinations just ended after 2 long weeks. I think my examinations was not well done as I feel that I was very unprepared compared to the other examinations in the past. I hope that I would do well, of course, as this is my role of a student. Anyway, my notes for  'O' level is not finished and that MOE-Cambridge exam is nearing. About 40 + Days left to the start of  'O' level examinations. I am so anxious everyday, this is seriously nerve-wrecking.

However, my friends seem normal, not nervous. I wonder if it is because they are rich and can afford to go overseas to study if they do badly for 'O' level. I want to do well so badly but I can't make my body move. Just one word to describe me now : LAZY. Sigh~~ Wondering when can I start to focus... Please start to focus now, my mind and body. Motivation and Encouragement is very important to me, I guess..

My Chinese Orchestra SYF Journey

I have taken part in 2 Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) Judging Competitions when I was in this co-curricular activity (CCA) for 4 long years in secondary school. After achieving a Silver Award in 2011, I was discouraged by the fact that we did not get the Gold Award but was elated at the same time for maintaining not dropping our standards of Silver.

Finally this year 2013, Chinese Orchestra achieved Distinction. All our time and efforts had paid off. I was very delighted and fascinated when I heard the results. I started to jump up and down in my classroom, feeling extremely excited and motivated. People started to congratulate us and I could hear screams of joy from the other classrooms.

Acknowledgements:

I would like to thank the school for supporting us. The school has helped us in many ways by buying us new and better-quality instruments and arranging public performances for us. For example, on 20th January 2013, we performed at Bukit Panjang Plaza, level 2, at the garden. The event was called the Northwest Arts Roadshow. I was extremely enthusiastic about this performance as it would be my very last time performing in Chinese Orchestra in public. We performed 4 songs:  Rhythm of the Rain, 恭喜 (gong xi), 小拜年 (xiao bai nian), 花鼓调 (hua gu diao). It was a wonderful and enjoyable experience for all of us.

I would also like to thank our Chinese Orchestra instructors and teachers whom have put in their utmost effort in helping and motivating us to press on to improve. Without them, we would not be able to get Distinction. They played a very important role in this Singapore Youth Festival Competition. They gave us a lot of encouragement and boosted our confidence level. Yup, that's my reflection. 

Singapore Youth Festival 2013

Today, 23rd April 2013 was the Official Day to Singapore Youth Festival Judging 2013. The consent form wrote 7am to 4pm. This means that we would miss a whole day of lessons again. It was a pity as our Mid Year examinations were coming in 2 weeks time and I am not well-prepared for it.

In the morning, the whole Chinese Orchestra members gathered in the music room in the morning and we did not attend the morning assembly. We needed to tie our hair into the 'Scorpion' style and make up in the AVA Room as we would not have time later. After that, we hurried to the music room to do our last SYF CO combine practice with Mr Chua, our conductor who seemed anxious. He told us to do our best and would definitely be able to do it!

We went off to the Singapore Conference Hall at about 12-1pm. This was the fourth and last time that I would be coming here and I would definitely miss the time spent performing and rehearsing for the Singapore Youth Festival Judging as I guess I would not touch or play my Zhong Ruan anymore after my Secondary School CCA is over.

We were all nervous, anxious and excited. We went into the Hall with confidence and pride, walking as though it was our stage, our performance and my last performance in Chinese Orchestra. The time passed quickly and we finished the rhythm of the Sea SYF song. Next up, was Jiang Ruan and Jiang Nu. Hoping I would not make any obvious and weird mistakes, I played it with confidence.

After the performance and the bow, we went out of the hall and put back our instruments. Everyone was discussing what went well and wrong and prayed that we would get Certificate of Distinction to bring pride and glory to Chinese Orchestra and to our school. 

March Holiday SYF CO Practice

Today, was another day of March Holiday SYF Practice. Although it was a holiday, but as SYF is approaching, there was definitely more practice. We had to reach school, music room, by 8am. For the 'La Song'. The song that half of us had to sing while we are performing. We had to remember the lyrics, know its rhythm and sing it out loudly. The practice was from 8am to 12pm.

It was easy to remember and I kept practicing at home. Even though I only needed to sing the last line but "All for One, One for All", since half of us were going to remember and sing it, then I should remember it too. As I am still a Chinese Orchestra member. It was great and I always sing it when I am walking home. But I think that the "La Song" which is a "Min Yao" is a bit weird and feel that the members will not sing it loudly as they are all so shy. Hopefully, I am wrong and it would all go well.

After a 45 minutes practice of that, our Chinese Orchestra Conductor came and we started to practice with our instruments. Although we did not put in the song during our practice as were not prepared, I hope that we can put it in in our next practice which is next monday. Hopefully, all goes well and we would get the 'Certificate of Distinction' for SYF judging. 

SYF CO Practice

Today, on 4th February 2013, there was another SYF CO practice. From February month onwards, there will be Sectional Practice on Monday, 2.15pm to 5.15pm, Friday after school, 12.35pm to 4pm and lastly, which is so unfortunate, we also have to come to school every Saturday, from 10am - 1pm, for sectional practice. Because of this, I will have lesser time to study or do what I want to do or rest. 

The competition will be held at Singapore Conference Hall during the April Month. So, there will a total of 4 CO practices a week including the friday morning CCA Day. However, I feel that these practices are necessary because we want to achieve the Certificate of Distinction for the Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) Judging 2013. But I also feel that Friday afternoon, we should not stay back for CCA as WHY is there CCA DAY in the first place? One reason is to let the CCAs take place in the morning so that the students can go back early and do their homework in the afternoon. So by staying back for another round of CCA, I would feel so restless most of the time. As my music instructor will only come on Monday practices, so it will be very boring on Friday practices. 

Anyway, today's practice was in the music room. It was as usual, playing the SYF songs : "Rhythm of the Sea", "The Fourth Chapter:  江源" and "江怒"。We also practiced the songs from the NUS Examination Grade 3-5 songs to help us to improve our skills further. It was a great day and the day passed too quickly.

Badminton with Rachel 22nd March 2013

Today, 22nd March 2013, I went with Rachel and her family and her tuition teacher to play badminton at Fuchun CC. We went into the hall there and started to put the net up. We took out our badminton rackets and shuttlecocks. We played in pairs. Me and Rachel had not played for a few months but we managed to play badminton without picking up the shuttlecocks too many times.

I realised that I had improved even though I had not been playing for a while. That was weird. It was raining heavily after one long hour of playing badminton. It started raining at about 3pm. But we were happy that we were playing indoors. Then we took turns to play badminton and we were all sweating profusely, After about another 1 hour and so, we packed up and left. It was a great day of physical activity. I felt happier and less stressed after playing badminton. It was a fun day.