I woke up at like 6ish in the morning even though there was no school, and nope it wasn't to watch the finale of The Amazing Race, but to rush down to SCH for SYF for JC CO.

It has been a good 1 year since I stepped into that place, and the feeling was surreal. After, SCH is the place to be for CO music in Singapore. For the last few times, I entered as a performer. Today, not only did I enter in the capacity of an audience, but also in the shoes of a graduated senior, watching the performance and the results thereafter my fellow juniors will be putting up.

So at 9am we were seated guaily in the SCH waiting for the thing to start. The first school had 23 people only, when the minimum people required was 24. And they had no suona which was like hmm. Pass. Next school was impressive in the choice piece, but it got too noisy and excessively loud in the end (they had 4 da gus btw wts). But overall I think they stunned everyone cause the first school was mediocre, plus they come out with stunts (they had these handheld mini drums and they were shouting). The next school also another loud and noisy song. HCCO was next. They came out and they had new attire (O.O). Ok. They took like the least time to settle down (there was this other school that needed the conductor to shift the stands for them personally, and they keep banging here and there). Not bad. The erhu people even had a small cloth to put on the floor so that they can change their instrument without making noise. Naise. Then off they go, but while changing the erhu, one of the hit the score stand (quite loud some more and it was a soft part). Tsk tsk. But overall their set piece was nice. Then their choice piece. Suona came in bu zhun. Oh no. Then the back part the cymbals never clap correctly, and we started staring at each other. Overall it was ok, but could have been so much better, and the schools in front were not bad (albeit the noisy part), so the risk is there. All of us were like scared to breathe or anything, and to be honest we were quite scared (due to some weird reason)The remaining 6 schools 4 schools chose to go either extremely noisy, or extremely wierd. Noisy (like the school opposite us) to the extent that the entire 5-6 minutes were ONLY made up of suona, 3-4 cha and many drums and shoutings, till the point that my ear is in pain after their entire song.

So after many tries, we tried to go back to listen to the results in the afternoon but they told us we cant cause its not open for the public. But strangely, I was in trepidation, and it felt as if there was certain uncertainty in the air. I really dont know how to explain this, but it felt as if I was one of them waiting for the results. You might think that I am crazy or what, but I guess that after being so emotionally attached to something every single bit of news regarding that still matters to you after all. I was at home when qiyu sent be the message, and I couldn't help but smile. I think the award meant a great deal to the batch as this would be their last SYF and it ended perfectly, just like mine. It also meant a great deal to wei lao shi, after the freaky cat high incident this year, and I can declare that every single member of HCCO will not be where we are today without his guidance and expertise. I can still remember all his analogies, like using a ball point pen to write on the chicken rice wrapping paper compared to a brush on calligraphy paper, or when he tried to speak in english, like fei-ling for feeling, you are eggcellent etc etc, or his teapot in which he will bring for every lesson to pao cha. I remember when I was in Cat High we never really appreciated him, but when I went to HC, everyone adored and really respected him.

When I started out in CO back in Cat High, there were many stuff that deterred me from enjoying the CCA totally. Sometimes it was the idiots who refused to keep their mouth shut. Other times it was their attitude towards their CCA, in that they just join for the sake of fulfilling that particularly requirement. To be honest, I never really enjoyed much and had at times wished that I had joined another CCA instead.

But this point was proven wrong once I stepped into LT3 for my first every CO prac in HC. I can still remember wei lao shi sitting there with a big smile on his face and recalled me instantly, and that many people around me were chatting and were friendly, even though I am like the only guy not wearing either all brown or all white. The vibe was there. However, when weilao raised his hand, everybody stopped their chatter and concentrated on the practice. This was when I realised that these people may be playful and chatty, but they do pay more attention to the music they produce, and it impressed me. I remember that the first prac was to go through the set piece, and we went through once entirely even though it was like the first time ever to touch the score, something that has never happened in CHSCO before (then, not now). Over the next 3-4 months as we geared up to our very own SYF, it made us all realise that SYF is not just a competition. It is a performance, not just for the judges and the audience and the seniors, but to ourselves. It is not about whether you get the GWH or gold or COP (though sadly in our realistic world today it is indeed still a benchmark), but about the things and bonds you gained over the past few months of hard work. In HCCO, we believe that every performance we put up should be the best, if not the very best. I think it is this kind of belief that made every single of us and subsequent batches continue to produce this kind of music and results till today.

Looking back at the juniors on stage today, it really reminded me 4 years ago when we were all on that very stage, performing our pieces for our own SYF. That kind of feeling, till today, it still very difficult to describe. I really miss the times we had with my batch performing together, and sadly, as we carry on with our lives, that chance will never materialise again. Performing with others instead of performing together with a bunch of crazy people that you have bonded with is a different ball game together. Somehow or rather we know that we can rely on each other should we falter, and that we all share the same goal together. Its just sad that there will never be another platform for us to enjoy together as an orchestra again.

Sorry for being so emotional today lol, but couldn't help it haha. 8 years on with 4 GWH. You can say that I am shameless or braggy, but we are the only JC to have gotten all GWH since its introduction, and I am proud to be one of these privileged people, and am proud to be from HCCO.