String Ensemble - Better days, Better rehearsals, Better soccer!

I totally agree with him. My schoolmate from class 3M (i think) says that everyone reads a scandal (referring to Paul's) , but ignores logic. Which is what is happening to my blog! But no one ever tags...only I talk and you'll listen.

Anyway I sent to Jaren 'New York Mining Disaster 1941', and he started changing the lyrics upon hearing it.

'Have you seen my prick, Mr. Jones?
Do you know what its like in the INSIDE?'

I keep straining my ears to hear a sound,
maybe someone's DIGGING underground.
Or have they all GONE HOME TO BED,
thinking those who once existed must be dead.'

This was a song composed by the BeeGees, rather macabre if you can see from the lyrics. (I mean the real one).


Ok then we had English ASSESSED COMPREHENSION, which basically means comprehension test, and yep, Raffles Institution distorts words.

Pop Quiz!!! - Topical Assessments.
Exams! - Common Tests
Projects (which takes up lots of time) - Performance Tasks

This was a comic strip I drew a few days ago. I gave it to SungMing, and he commented - said that it was a little sketchy and it wasn't funny enough for people to Roll On The Floor Laughing Out Loud.




CCA - Raffles Institution String Ensemble.

It's not the same compared to when I first entered it in Sec 1. The camaradie was brilliant, and all of us cramped into one small blue room (the one underground beside the library, the one with a dark corridor leading to it) We would eat chips, peanuts, and a small group of us would be reading New Paper, and some of us would be playing our instruments, and Sec 1s 2005 (us) would run around and like play catch?

Then, everyone was happy and joyful! Such good times lol. Then I was Sec 2 the next year, and still Mr. Sze (our conductor) was the same, and we shifted to RJC, where we played soccer during breaks. The camaradie was still fantastic, and we would have camps, waking up at 7am and walking to J8 together, brushing teeth, drinking Ice Milo with McChicken and talking about latest gossips.

Now I'm Secondary 3, and the friendship bonds are still there. But it's still not enough. Mr. Sze talked about friendship between each and everyone of us, and how they still can be improved. You know, I've checked HCISO, and they're bonds are much stronger than ours. Maybe its because the way we'r taught and the way they're taught.

Hwa Chong emphasizes on Chinese traditions, have respecting your elders and helping your friends whenever, wherever. Raffles does different; being a Thinker, a Leader, a Pioneer, already start to show the signs of 'One man for himself.'

Back to RISE! I'm not afraid to say there has been much politics surrouding the Secondary 4 of this year. But I can safely say that the leadership positions are all suitable, except that we need to bring back the camaradie we all shared when RISE was a few years younger.

We all show concern, but the feeling is not strong enough. We share frienship bonds, but not all of us do. We all know each other, but not too well enough.

String Ensemble is all about getting together to make music! Why so much tension in the air nowadays? What's more, we'll just in secondary school, and we get to have fun every break! Why should there be any arguments, any finger-pointing (literally and figuratively ;)?

Simple. We need these: 1) Everyone does his part! Don't talk during rehearsals, don't waste time by interrupting. By doing your part, you read your scores, practise hard, and if you need help, just ask your seniors! And don't be late for rehearsal!

(sorry 'George' and John, I wasn't clear about the rehearsal but I manage to get a definite answer in the end, right? :) )

Thats all, so easy! We can have more breaks thus, and rehearsals can flow more quickly, with more time for soccer.

Sections shouldn't be against each other! How is an orchestra to function together when, for example, the 1st violins are against the 2nd violins?

I thought of this upon seeing Adriel's private message: where's the joy in RISE?

We NEED TO BRING BACK THIS JOY! I hope any string ensemble member who stumbles across this knows what my dream RISE is; one that has every rehearsal bring fresh memories, one that has every note in it filled with purpose and practise!

THis year's Secondary 1s are brilliant, John and Xinmin are in the right track, 'George' and Samuel are willing to learn, Sec 2s - John Yu and Yunfei are improving, and WenHong has always been consistent. In the violins we have very strong Secondary 1s and Secondary 2s, and the viola section has RenHao, Ben, and MingJian, all three of them are quite proficient at the viola, and Adi has always been hardworking and good in the bass, with Darren always with a cheerful smile.

Let's look forward to better days ahead, better rehearsals, better soccer!

Plus, a Gold with Honours!

(P.S. This is totally written by me, so if you'll have any errors to point to put in on the tagboard, and no one is to take responsibility to this. And blah!)