|
[Sunday
29 Nov 2009 @ 10:05pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Requiem - Faure |
] |
Advent is finally here -- and it really is my favourite season of the year. Spiritually, Lent is perhaps more meaningful to me, but for the fact that it is 1) a time of penance and 2) it coincides with some of the more stressful portions of the school year, it isn't always the most enjoyable time period. Much as Advent and Christmas have become so commercialised, I think it's still possible for there to subsist a true spirit of Christmas alongside the gift-giving and merrymaking. Anyway, I like Advent because that's also when I get to meet up with friends I see too little and friends I don't see at all and I think altogether that makes Christmas what it is for me. To be able to tell someone that you love them without any suspicion or guilt (or to use the Love Actually phrase, 'without hope or agenda') is perhaps the best thing about the season. That it comes right after major exams is a big plus-point, of course.
Carolling is one of those things I've been looking forward to every year since Sec 2 (which makes this my 5th year going carolling) and this year it seems to mean much more to me. Partly because I'm closer to my choir than I was just 2 years ago and I'm more comfortable in my position as conductor than I was exactly a year ago, partly because of a newfound outlook in my faith. I mean, I'm glad I'm pretty much beyond all the old Catholic-Protestant disputes and that I've been able to stand firm despite all that; what matters to me more is spirituality and devotion rather than theological inquiry -- no doubt still important, but it only tells half the story of the Christian life. Studying in church has proven interesting, not least because of the occasional conversations with Jarvis and Br. Jude, or because of what non-Christians who come over say regarding the church or religion in general. Can I truly say that I have grown closer to God over the last few weeks, after going for weekday mass almost everyday, I don't know for certain. But I'm looking forward to carolling because I think that's going to be yet another meaningful expression of what it means to be a Christian. And I hope that the choir camp will be helpful in reinforcing that attitude, along with the usual fun, laughter, peace and joy.
No, of course I'm also looking forward to carolling for all the parties, the suppering and the usual banter. I don't think that ought to be underestimated! Something with which to keep me busy before my brain rots is always welcome, too.
Anyway, today Lucas showed me a most strange hymn. If only our hymns today had this sort of content. But then again, this isn't stuff for the fainthearted.
( THE UNICORN IS CAPTURED )
|
|
| NO FEAR, SHAKESPEARE |
[Monday
23 Nov 2009 @ 09:04pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Random Chopin Waltz on pg. 62 of my piano book |
] |
I honestly feel thrilled that the A Levels are about to be over. And I'm glad that the Renaissance paper is our last, because it's such a lovely note to end on. Of course unlike most people this is going to be far from the last Literature exam of my life, but still, in about 20 hours' time I think I will be quite glad to be able to think about Literature outside the context of written exams for some time.
And I suppose since today was my last day of studying in church, a big thank you to all who have come down to study with me without any religious objections to the location -- Hon Yee, Michelle, Kellie, Melly, Ming Yang and anyone else I've missed out! As I said yesterday, Literature is really one of those subjects that isn't meant to be studied alone, so your presence has been much appreciated. Likewise to those whom I've studied with in various other locations -- Junjie, Ziwei, Weiling, etc. Hopefully the next time any of us meet it will be not related to academics.
Since I have no sonnets of my own, this is all I have to offer:
Sonnet 18
By Anthony Baldwin
(sorry, Will)
Shall I compare thee to a bale of hay?
Thou art more dusty and far less neat.
Rough winds do toss thy mop about, I'd say,
Which looks far worse than hay a horse would eat.
Sometime thy squinty eye looks into mine
Through stringy, greasy hair that needs be trimm'd.
And ne'er a horse had such a stench as thine,
As though in stagnant sewers thou has swimm'd.
Thy disgusting image shall not fade;
This my tortured mind and soul doth know.
O, I should love to hit thee with a spade;
And with that blow I hope that thou wouldst go.
So long as I can breathe, my eyes can see,
And I can run, I'll stay away from thee...
|
|
| Sniffing the twilight |
[Friday
20 Nov 2009 @ 11:35pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Mass in C Minor (Waisenhausmesse) - Mozart |
] |
Today, returning home from school I opened up the latest issue of The Economist, only to discover that the front cover read, 'HOW TO FEED THE WORLD'. Like, hello, material for 2011 A Level Econs case study much?
On a vastly different note, I'm really looking forward to the end of the A Levels. While I expect Tuesday will be rather anti-climactic, I think I will remain pleased to be leaving JC on a highly positive note; it's a very gratifying feeling that I can't quite explain. I really feel that I've achieved much during these 2 years, I've done many interesting things, I've had some of the best opportunities I could ever get in JC -- and most of all it often doesn't feel real when I think about all the friends I've made. So I'm just glad to be leaving JC without any bitterness -- no grinding and gnashing of teeth. It's been a very meaningful 2 years. (:
These few days I've been listening to so much Mozart (everything but his Requiem) I'm surprised at how much I'm receiving from his music. I mean, I was never a fan of Mozart's music (or the Classical period, in general) but his Masses are suddenly so uplifting, after all the Angst-ridden classical music there is in my music library. I guess it says something about how much I'm looking forward to this Advent and Christmas, after these long weeks of studying and sitting for exams. I was never good at being single-minded about studies, but it's something I've had to learn while on the job. Still, I'll be happy to not be a full-time student for the first time in 12 years. As Lucas says, 'Learning is fun, studying is not'.
After the A Levels one of the first things I really want to do is to sit somewhere nice and cosy (i.e. not at home, not in church -- my mugging hideouts) and just read pretty poetry. And, oh yes, write some poetry, too. Any sort of personal writing regime is just impossible with the A Levels going on.
Neruda's poetry always makes me believe that there is nothing mundane, that there is so much richness to life, even in sadness, if you would just live life.
Leaning Into The Afternoons
Leaning into the afternoons I cast my sad nets
towards your oceanic eyes.
There in the highest blaze my solitude lengthens and flames,
its arms turning like a drowning man's.
I send out red signals across your absent eyes
that smell like the sea or the beach by a lighthouse.
You keep only darkness, my distant female,
from your regard sometimes the coast of dread emerges.
Leaning into the afternoons I fling my sad nets
to that sea that is thrashed by your oceanic eyes.
The birds of night peck at the first stars
that flash like my soul when I love you.
The night gallops on its shadowy mare
shedding blue tassels over the land.
-- Pablo Neruda
|
|
| AMDG |
[Saturday
07 Nov 2009 @ 08:33pm] |
So my 18th birthday has been 100% alcohol-free, for reasons we all know. This is my first mugging birthday, and hopefully the last one. It is, however, not the first birthday I've been sick on (I'm almost fully recovered, though). It's also my first Facebook birthday, so thank you to all who posted on my wall/sent me messages. And it was my first HALMM birthday, which thankfully did not spawn any embarrassing moments.
Anyway, thank you to all who remembered and sent your love in one way or another. On a day when I'm both sick and stuck in one room mugging for the most part, it means a lot.
What Is Our Life
What is our life? The play of passion.
Our mirth? The music of division:
Our mothers’ wombs the tiring-houses be,
Where we are dressed for life’s short comedy.
The earth the stage; Heaven the spectator is,
Who sits and views whosoe’er doth act amiss.
The graves which hide us from the scorching sun
Are like drawn curtains when the play is done.
Thus playing post we to our latest rest,
And then we die in earnest, not in jest.
-- Sir Walter Raleigh
|
|
|
[Sunday
01 Nov 2009 @ 08:58pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Se in ogni guardo - Vivaldi |
] |
Has anyone realised that our A Level International History paper takes place on the 20th anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall? *cue question-spotting*
Happy All Hallows' Day to all!
|
|
| The best is yet to be? |
[Friday
23 Oct 2009 @ 08:25pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Love Divine, All Loves Excelling |
] |
Last night was our Graduation Ceremony, which proved to be far more interesting than I'd expected. Also, the people sitting around me were shocked at my ability to actually sing Chinese songs (I mean, you only graduate once, right? might as well sing along), which was rather amusing in itself. Clearly I did not spend my two years in Hwa Chong Choir in vain.
Incidentally, leaving ACSI I never thought I would hear a prayer being recited publicly in school again, until Ms Wong gave the Irish Blessing towards the end of her speech (omitting the last line, of course):
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.
And of course, 'Mug with passion, so that Cambridge will mark with compassion'.
<3hc. More after A Levels/Prom.
|
|
|
[Sunday
18 Oct 2009 @ 07:13pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Nolo Mortem Peccatoribus - Morley |
] |
This is updated list of books I want (and will hopefully fill my time during NS):
Poetry
John Milton Paradise Lost
Pablo Neruda 100 Sonnets
Derek Walcott Selected Poems (or any other good introductory collection)
Fiction
J M Coetzee Waiting for the Barbarians
Yukio Mishima The Temple of the Golden Pavillion
Yukio Mishima Spring Snow
Albert Camus The Stranger
Drama
Tom Stoppard Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
Non-fiction
Soren Kierkegaard Fear and Trembling
Pope Benedict XVI Jesus of Nazareth
1) If you own any of these and would gladly lend them to me for an extended period of time (I am a slow reader), do let me know.
2) If you are ever looking for a gift for me, Penguin Black Classics, Faber&Faber and Vintage editions are my favourites.
|
|
|
[Saturday
26 Sep 2009 @ 11:42am] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Salve Regina - Poulenc |
] |
With some relief, the Prelims are over. I can only say that this has been the strangest exam season of my life (maybe the A Levels will beat that). For a start, playing Bridge with Melly, Jamie and Hon Yee for almost an hour right before yesterday's KI paper was rather gratifying -- especially in retrospect, when it turned out the long passage was nothing we could study for. Next, the varied company I've been mugging with each different day. And of course, all the attendant bizarre conversations and jokes. Also, I felt completely at peace after realising I am but a single drop in the sea of Brahman handing in my IS and, well, the longest H3 in Hwa Chong (41 pages, thanks to my IS-long appendix). It hasn't really felt like I've just completed a major exam, but then again I'm rarely really stressed over exams -- I just get annoyed at mugging, which isn't quite the same thing.
So I shall think about how to spend the next few days not mugging. Catch up on reading, check; go out, check; watch movies, check. And oh yes, start listening to music again. I haven't really been listening to music very much because often once I start it takes even longer for me to get off the computer (as if MSN wasn't enough). As I tell people, Classical music is hardly the best music to study to when it's music you understand.
And I also quite like this hymn:
Abide with me; fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide!
When other helpers fail, and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me!
[...]
I fear no foe, with thee at hand to bless
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness;
Where is death's sting? where, grave thy victory?
I triumph still, if thou abide with me.
|
|
| For them that weary of mugging/life in general... |
[Sunday
20 Sep 2009 @ 07:32pm] |
Okay, here's a riddle of sorts:
There are two diverging paths; one leads to Heaven and the other to Hell. At the fork of the road stands a pair of twins, one of whom only tells the truth while the other only tells lies. You can only ask one question to both simultaneously to determine which path leads to Heaven. There are no further assumptions to be made. What is the question?
(At present I only know two solutions, one of which is a yes-or-no question. I would like to find out any more elegant solutions.)
|
|
|
[Thursday
17 Sep 2009 @ 08:40pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Litany of Saints (Gregorian) |
] |
Most of the time reading Hamlet I just gloss over the play-within-a-play, but I didn't today, and it was rewarding:
Player King: [...]
Purpose is but the slave to memory,
Of violent birth, but poor validity;
Which now, like fruit unripe, sticks on the tree;
But fall, unshaken, when they mellow be.
Most necessary 'tis that we forget
To pay ourselves what to ourselves is debt:
What to ourselves in passion we propose,
The passion ending, doth the purpose lose.
The violence of either grief or joy
Their own enactures with themselves destroy:
Where joy most revels, grief doth most lament;
Grief joys, joy grieves, on slender accident.
This world is not for aye, nor 'tis not strange
That even our loves should with our fortunes change;
For 'tis a question left us yet to prove,
Whether love lead fortune, or else fortune love.
The great man down, you mark his favourite flies;
The poor advanced makes friends of enemies.
And hitherto doth love on fortune tend;
For who not needs shall never lack a friend,
And who in want a hollow friend doth try,
Directly seasons him his enemy.
But, orderly to end where I begun,
Our wills and fates do so contrary run
That our devices still are overthrown;
Our thoughts are ours, their ends none of our own:
[...]
|
|
|
[Thursday
03 Sep 2009 @ 10:03pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
The Four Seasons - Vivaldi |
] |
BEETHOVEN ONCE OPINED, 'MUSIC IS A GREATER REVELATION THAN THE WHOLE OF PHILOSOPHY'.
ERGO, ON THE EVE OF MY KI PRELIMS, I AM LISTENING TO GOOD CLASSICAL MUSIC INSTEAD OF MUGGING. (Never mind what my IS says about Beethoven.)
|
|
|
[Friday
28 Aug 2009 @ 10:35pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
O Domine - Guerrero |
] |
Aha, another one. No, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) celzhmar, it's not in Lianhe Zaobao. Finally, something not about politics.
http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Story/STIStory_422249.html
Let's learn from critical literature too
IT IS heartening for any lover of literature to know that students here will, in time to come, learn to better appreciate the literature of their own country ('In the pipeline: More S'pore literature texts for schools, new anthologies', Aug 8).
While I generally agree with Professor Edwin Thumboo's views on the ability of literature to articulate a nation's hopes and aspirations ('One people, one nation in poems', Aug8), I feel the case must also be made for literature critical of one's society. Political and societal commentary in literature is nothing new, dating back to Aristophanes of ancient Greece, who was even prosecuted for slander in one of his plays. His successors in modern literature can be found in writers such as George Orwell and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Singapore, too, will have much to learn and gain from reading similar literature about itself. Our Government is known to favour only serious discussions on societal issues. Literature is no less serious. It does what mere statistics and intellectual arguments cannot - give a human face to those who feel unjustly treated. Teaching such critical or satirical literature in the classroom is not to condone its views, because the study of literature prides itself on discerning analysis and judgment. Rather, it can serve as a means of broadening students' horizons and alerting them to parts of society less familiar to them. It is complementary to National Education and Social Studies. The onus would be on the students to see if their experiences of life in Singapore actually cohere with what such literature portrays. Take, for instance, Alfian Sa'at's bold poem, Singapore You Are Not My Country (1998). Certainly such a declaration will not resonate with everyone, but it would be worth examining if Singaporean society is truly as 'statistics-starved', 'spooked by armed archipelagos' or 'running to keep ahead', as the poet asserts. Of course, local literature is not always about Singapore, nor should it be. Yet equally, there is value in studying poetry written in an introspective, personal style, such as those by Cyril Wong. For when literature students read such inward-looking poetry and discover similarities with other lyric poetry from poets as diverse as Sylvia Plath and W.B. Yeats, they will have much to gain from realising how such a body of poetry from around the world collectively articulates a world without borders, rooted in common human experience. Michael Wee
|
|
|
[Thursday
13 Aug 2009 @ 08:56pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Amarilli - Caccini |
] |
Wow, it's been over a year since I last learnt a piece of music (choir aside) for a teacher. So for once I'm not just sitting at the piano playing what I want to play, but learning Caccini's Amarilli for my Voice lesson tomorrow. I can barely remember practising for my Grade 8 (though I remember not practising the other pieces my teacher made me learn, but sight-reading during every lesson). I guess this is where self-discipline comes in once again.
|
|
|
[Sunday
09 Aug 2009 @ 08:23pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Symphony No. 40 - Mozart |
] |
For the first time, Singapore's NDP features... a GREEN BARNEY.
So I say again, 'I love my country, just not her policies'.
|
|
| Oscar Wilde once opined... |
[Monday
03 Aug 2009 @ 12:07am] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Greater love hath no man - Ireland |
] |
So, I haven't been this prolific since 2 years ago (which is still not very prolific, anyway). Increasingly, I do feel the need to express myself in ways other than prose. Prose is too honest and too much like speech. It is 3rd August, after all, and I am beyond nervous phone calls and tentative propositions.
Anniversaries
These days, the moon misses her period
And I forget my sleeplessness again.
How else do the months not add up, without
Your reassurance? Every afternoon is August,
Accidental ashes lining the sidewalk.
You say you do not believe in ghosts, but
In the absence of air, the trees are watching.
I remember most of that August, following
Your shadow like a child fixated on
The movement of stars. These days,
It is difficult to be planetary, as
My voice does not enter your orbit. Darling,
Let us return to Easter, after forgiveness.
Poetry, they say, cannot tell the story backwards.
|
|
|
[Sunday
21 Jun 2009 @ 10:52pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
MacFarren - Orpheus, With His Lute |
] |
If there is one person or more on your friends list who makes your world a better place just because they exist and who you would not have met (in real life or not) without the internet, then post this same sentence in your journal.
Like laiqualaurelote more often than not it isn't that I wouldn't have met them without the internet, but that I wouldn't have become friends with them and got to know them so well. And without the internet and those friends, I would not have come out of secondary school whole, that's for sure.
While not mugging, if I haven't been sleeping, eating or being distracted, I've been thinking a lot about my options for the future. And for the first time since probably the end of secondary school, I've been reconsidering my career options again. Not that I've had any revelatory insights yet, but the whole routine of mugging makes me think about more things than I otherwise would, for better or worse.
On another note, I like our Orpheus, With His Lute recording from the VCH rehearsal a lot -- probably the best of all the recordings we did. Not being the final product, it reminds me more of the process we went through as a choir and as a committee.
|
|
|
[Sunday
31 May 2009 @ 10:40pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Dido's Lament - Purcell |
] |
Creative Arts Programme 2009
1st - 5th June
Prince George's Park Residences, NUS
I will have only limited access to email, so the best way to contact me will be via cellphone!
|
|
|
[Thursday
21 May 2009 @ 09:59pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Ascendens Christus in Altem - Victoria |
] |
So, SAT1 sucked, but in other news (quite literally, this time):
http://www.straitstimes.com/ST%2BForum/Story/STIStory_379529.html Political changes must win over younger citizens Straits Times forum, 21 May 2009 TUESDAY’S report, ‘New strategies for a new world order’, on the President’s speech to Parliament hinted at what might be, to some, political liberalisation. Given past precedents, any change made to Singapore’s political system will certainly be implemented with caution. Such changes must be sufficient to overturn the cynicism of younger voters who want greater involvement and participation in the political process. Where parliamentary politics are concerned, the best litmus test for any reform to the current group representation constituency system is its ability to elect a Parliament whose composition more closely reflects political parties’ percentage of votes. Based on the last general election, the Workers’ Party garnered 16.34 per cent of the votes, but it holds only one of 84 seats in Parliament. In Britain, which also uses a similar first-past-the-post system, the opposition Conservative Party holds roughly 31 per cent of parliamentary seats, which reflects the 32.3 per cent of the popular vote the party obtained. Ambiguous or seemingly half-hearted attempts at reform will only further increase scepticism. The People’s Action Party (PAP) should accept the possibility of greater opposition party involvement and acknowledge that other parties can also bring in a fresh generation of political leaders in their own right. If the PAP can still be elected with the same resounding confidence even after meaningful reforms to the political system, it will certainly win over more fully the younger generation of voters. Michael Wee Ha. I have finally been published by a newspaper other than TODAY.
|
|
| Gold with Honours! |
[Tuesday
05 May 2009 @ 10:42pm] |
|
rioHC, I am so proud of you. Here's all my love.
|
|
|
[Monday
04 May 2009 @ 10:33pm] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Sounds of Joy; Orpheus, With His Lute; Que rico e! |
] |
Dearest rioHC,
THERE is sweet music here that softer falls
Than petals from blown roses on the grass,
Or night-dews on still waters between walls
Of shadowy granite, in a gleaming pass;
Music that gentlier on the spirit lies,
Than tired eyelids upon tired eyes;
Music that brings sweet sleep down from the blissful skies.
Here are cool mosses deep,
And thro' the moss the ivies creep,
And in the stream the long-leaved flowers weep,
And from the craggy ledge the poppy hangs in sleep.
-- Lord Alfred Tennyson, Song of the Lotos-Eaters
For all the tears I've shed, for all the moments of joy I've shared and for every single ounce of love I feel for this choir in my heart, I will sing my best tomorrow and remember.
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
|
|
|
|
