You know when the secondary 4s played their swansong, they left with much hope in their heart. the hope that this band will come through and clinch a gold once again at the singapore youth festival. the hope that the band will look to their leaders in times of need. the hope that the band will work together and not against each other. all these problems sprouting in the band is only due to one reason. and that reason is known as discipline. in the band today, i see zero discipline, both self discipline and discipline amongst members. i can see juniors talking back to seniors, i hear about politicking amongst the committee members, i see committment levels that are way below expectations. just pause and ask yourselves if you have been commiting any sins that are in line with these, i'm sure each and everyone has. this problem has always been around since forever. however, the only reson why it used to be suppressed to a minima was that the leaders showed control over the members. there was a sense of respect for the seniors. when we abolished the need for written band rules, it came with the understanding that we are to respect our seniors, instructors and teachers in charge at all times. i've seen many classic examples of this rule been broken, but many times punishment has been let off. as band members, you all need to decide for yourselves what you want and how you are going to achieve it. it doesn't really matter to seniors as they have already clinched their gold, and so when they go out, they are able to tell people that they got a gold for SYF. however, in terms of instructors, why Mr chew is so angry that you guys are not pushing yourselves is because at the rate you guys are going now, even with divine intervention, you can only get at most a silver. and this reflects badly on him and his reputation. this also reflects badly on ourselves. how a terrific instructor such as himself could produce such a lousy band. the band needs to make an effort to work at it. a matter of priorities and principles. since you have been officially inducted into the band, your principle should be that, its a committment you've made and you should stick by it. don't let distractions get the better of you. indeed, studies should remain your top priority as a student, however, there will always be time for band. it may sacrifice some leisure hours, but if you are able to sacrifice that and make band fun, then everything evens itself out. it's gonna be disappointing to see a band with so much potential crumble due to lack of determination and drive. you guys have what it takes. but its now a matter of do you really want it? how badly do you want it?

seniors before you put their sweat and blood and tears into raising the band from the ashes. when our ex instructors left, beatrice and yiching took resposibility of the band along with their committee to carry us through the window period. and that was less that 6 months before SYF. When mr chew arrived, you guys don't know how blessed we felt that we had such a wonderful instructor, no doubt strict and stern, he knew what we wanted and we delivered. it was a team effort we did with of course the direction of our instructors and the grace of God. Still, hard work should not go unrecognized. first of all was Jacqueline's fantastic solo that stirred the entire singapore conference hall, next was the oboe solo of beatrice that raised goosebumps with the tingling melody, then was the clarinet section's fantastic coordination that belted out a beautiful timbre of chordal melody followed by a solo passage for the clarinets. the trumpeters and horns together with the trombones made a very good timbre of brass ensemble, the tubas supported the bass line throughout with a fantastic tuba solo by shan chun. percussion kept the tempo steady and going throughout and the flautists provided much melodious tunes to the ears. this was what syf was, a chorus of music that felt better than anything, why? to us, that was more than just music, that was months of hard work that paid off. many times i remember the scoldings we got from yiching and beatrice, occasionally jacqueline. the various sections that worked hard. i remember even the pumpings that the clarinet section got from the SL for being too noisy or unproductive. all these you all are going through now is nothing compared to what we went through. we went through a communistic environment where everyone had to work hadr and long for our survival. you guys are going through a more democratic rule where you seem to have everything you want. however, don't forget where all these came from. are you really goning to let your seniors down? are you really going to let the instructors down? are you willing to let the school down? are you willing to let yourself down?

the most i can do as a senior is to remind you that nothing good comes by easy in this world. its all about meritocracy. you work hard, you get it. you don't, then too bad. i'm certian that some of you after reading this would think over what i said and decide for yourselves what you want. i'm also certain that some of you would let this roll off like water off a duck's back. i've said my piece and come what may, its up to you all to decide. if you want a bronze, then by all means go for it. but the disappointment would definitely bother the seniors who have put in so much, SO MUCH, effort into bringing this band up.


all the best,
zhiwen