A Birthday Poem

Here's another poem.
It wasn't natural for me writing this one,
cos I usually don't try to rhyme.
For me, it's restricting, unnatural and it may end up sounding like some sentimental lyrics from some soppy ballad.
The last stanza is a bit removed from the earlier ones,
cos my cynical streak kicked in then.
So you may read it as two separate poems if you wish.

Some expect presents from all,
saying "It's MY day after all".
Some give presents all around,
"It's my day, and love will abound".
Some give presents to their moms,
for the labour pains before they could come.
Yet some refuse presents and all those stuff,
saying they don't care for 'all those fluff'.

Some boys like the notion of getting older,
cigs, beers, R21 movies will soon be in order.
Most girls don’t like getting older,
it’s goodbye to flawless skins and slender shoulders,
Some remain child-like as they age,
Unclouded innocence their image.
Some become jaded before their time,
cynical and scornful before their prime.

Some like to celebrate at home,
with candles, cake and champagne foam.
Some would rather celebrate away from home,
to avoid the ‘So when are you getting married?’ in mom’s usual tone.
Some kids prefer celebrating at McDonalds,
they get ‘Happy Meals’ and a photo with Ronald Mcdonald!
Some eat noodles and eggs on that day,
for longevity and health they pray.

Some say:
presents,
notions of getting older
and celebrations
are but things
that mark a most randomly begotten date.
But others maintain:
coveting nice presents,
watching their first adult movie on their 21st birthdays,
or posing with the red-haired clown with a perpetual smile,
prove that they are not here by chance.

Harold and the Purple Crayon

Someone WISE and MIGHTY once said that we should all keep as much spontaneity, inventiveness, curiosity, child-like faith and innocence in us, even as we are growing up.

This simple video tells it all. For your viewing pleasure while you are taking a break from your revision. (Don't forget to go back to your books though!)

A Lomantic Poem

i was at east coast park
doing my marking by the beach today.
here's a poem i composed as i sat looking out to the sea.

The Lomantic Beach
This stretch of artificial beach
is what we call
nature -
an escape
from the burdens of city life.
a row of evenly spaced out stone benches,
neat state-planted coconut trees
(make no attempt to pluck the coconuts, lest you get fined).
a pair of young lovers strolling on the narrow beach,
she brushing an imaginary itch off her thighs every now and then,
her city-acclimatised skin unused to being touched by nature,
he whispering into her ear:
'dis place not bad leh,
got sea, got sand, got wind,
more lomantic den orchard load leh.'
they tread cautiously,
she almost stepping on a half-eaten burger king broiler
(the CIP students chose somewhere else for their mandatory mission today),
the breeze grows stronger,
bringing in an incense from the nearby refineries.
we thank them.
for we would not have our beautiful city without the income they bring.
soon it will be night.
the lights of the oil tankers will brighten the horizon.
but just for today -
we will imagine them to be luxury cruise ships
and the lights are but
decklights warming the soft skins of young lovers reclining on the decks.
- just to be lomantic

* if you don't understand the poem, try sticking out your tongue and putting it in your cheek. do that and read it again.

Dying Young

the pccg lesson we had earlier today was on resilience.
we looked at the lives of terry fox, and closer to home, dr william tan.
both are persons who are immensely resilient -
able to face their physical handicap bravely,
and despite of their disabilities,
thought about people who needed help
and worked tirelessly to raise funds for the needy.

as i was preparing for the lesson,
i thought about another example of a resilient person.
that is joan chan, an ex rgs/rjc girl,
who died at the age of 19.
although her physical body succumbed to cancer,
her spirit did not.
she was described as a 'fighter' by all who knew her,
and in her own words too.
you can read what she said on her blog http://onlyskindeep.blogspot.com/
and on the blog her friends created for her http://joanchanshufang.blogspot.com/

it's a great loss when someone young dies.
the only instance when i've experienced someone from school dying,
was when i was in my second year at junior college.

2 first year girls (one formerly fr rgs, another fr nygh) drowned after their raft went under water on an obs trip.
i remember on the next day,
the student council put out 2 condolence books
and we all went to put in our messages of sympathy.
the whole school was in mourning,
and the atmosphere was quite gloomy for some time.
the vice principal teared when she addressed us a few days after that,
she told us how she'd make sure she kissed her own children every morning from that day on,
knowing how fragile life could be.

i later learnt that one of my friends was the 'angel' of one of the deceased girls,
(the girl was in his junior class, and was his 'mortal' in the angel-mortal game)
and the day before the accident,
she'd written a letter to him.

it's sad when young lives are lost,
when we think of the unfulfilled promises and aspirations,
what they might have achieved.

in the case of terry fox and joan chan --
when we see how resilient they were before they passed on,
and how their spirit touched thousands of people -
people who used to complain about minor discomforts in their lives
but became converted and found new meaning in their lives
when they realize what they're suffering is nothing compared to terry fox and joan --
then we know that their legacy and their fighting spirit have lived on,
blessing the generations to come.

having said that,
do value your life
and try to achieve your dreams!
The Best is Yet to Be!
(pardon me for stealing the acs motto, though i'm no acs boy, but that motto's apt here :)

Online SRQ 1

Will my Sec 4 students please respond to the following paragraph, or to any part of the essay I've given to you.

Click on the 'Comments' hyperlink at the bottom of this post and start posting. Remember to leave your name at the end of your post. You may also respond to comments by your peers and I will also comment on your comments (:

'Some critics of the stand that war produces no winners, only losers, may claim that wars are fought for heroic and noble causes by providing examples of wars fought for unification of territory as in China, or against barbarians such as in the case of the Crusades. However, they have forgotten that these are merely excuses for more sinister and dark agendas, such as genocide and for the lust of power.'
~ Ng Khiang Ching Rona (RJC 1997)

SSO Concert

i've just come back from a sso concert.

i love symphony concerts.

i remember my first sso concert.

it was in 1994 -

an outing with my sch's string orchestra.

that was how i started getting interested in classical music.

i love the sound of the different instruments playing together.

it's a joy that you can't get from playing the piano.

the concert today started with richard strauss' tone poem-

till eulenspiegel's merry pranks.

i don't really fancy richard strauss.

think he's a bit excessive and over the top.

but the performance today was okay.

the swiss conductor thierry fischer made the textures sound very clear.

and there was actually some attractive waltzy bits.

the highlight of the night for many was

venezuelan pianist sergio tiempo playing chopin's piano concerto no. 1.

yest's newspapers described him as one with a 'tousled mop of dark hair and liquid brown eyes...looks more handsome in person than he does in his publicity photos'.

but i didn't see lots of screaming female fans or groupies leh.

i guess classical music will never have the same appeal

as pop and rock,

which are more immediate and 'in your face'.

the typical audience you meet at classical music concerts are

ang mohs, music students and corporate sponsors.

anyway sergio tiempo was an amazing pianist -

highly virtuosic and completely effortless in his playing.

his fingers ran up and down the length of the keyboard with such ease.

i didn't realize chopin's concerto to be so difficult,

though tiempo made it look easy,

the runs are hard to execute lah,

and to play it so delicately and poetically,

no joke man.

okay, my top 4 of the most difficult piano concerti:

1) brahms' concerto no. 2: its sheer length of 50 mins is enough to kill. added on to that is a solo part that sounds so symphonic, chordal and requiring large hands and immense strength to play.

2) chopin's concerto no. 1: difficult to achieve the delicacy and poetry required of the piece. the bland orchestral part is quite redundant, really.

3) rachmaninov's concerto nos. 2 and 3: okay, here we have the ultimate 'hollywood' concerti - gorgeous and soaring melodies, wears its emotions on the sleeve, lush and thick orchestrations. you would know rach 3 if you've watched the movie 'shine'. again, music which is not really to my taste, a bit over the top. i like things subtle.

anyway, after the concerto was the intermission,

and when i came back from my toilet break,

lo and behold,

sergio tiempo was there signing autographs for his 'ardent' fans,

flanked by a policeman and an esplanade representative.

well, i'm neither a screaming female fan nor is he my favourite pianist,

but i took some pictures of him signing the autographs,

just for the thrill of it.

the pictures are rather blur,

cos i was using my lousy 2 megapixel phone cam. here they are:

next on the programme was berlioz's symphonie fantastique

this is my favourite symphony after schubert's unfinished symph.

it's a loud and bombastic work.

berlioz is crazy,

the symphony was inspired by his mad infatuation for an irish actress.

there's a story in the music.

it's about an artist's unrequited love for some girl,

then he takes opium,

and in his drug-induced stupor,

he hallucinates about killing his beloved,

he is sent to the guillotine,

and it ends with his beloved turned into a witch who mocks his dead soul.

the 3rd movement (slow movement) was the most boring,

at the end of it,

about 5 people evacuated from the hall -

most of them were families with young children.

i never understand why parents bring their young children

to such symphony concerts.

they are wasting their money

and boring these poor kiddies to death.

how can you expect a 6 year old to sit quietly

and listen attentively to straight-laced musicians

in their serious-looking black suits and pants

play serious-sounding music for 2 hours? sheesh

those concerts in the park at botanical gardens

or the afternoon matinees for kids (which sso does once in a while)

would be more appropriate for these kids.

the 4th n 5th mvts of the symphony were my favourite.

in the 4th, entitled 'march to the scaffolds',

the artist is led to the scaffolds

for 'killing' his beloved.

the music is so darn descriptive:

at the moment just before the execution,

this recurring tune is heard (which represents his beloved)

and then it's the chop of the axe,

which is depicted by a swift stroke on the strings,

and we can even 'hear' the decapitated head dropping

and blood dripping as represented by the string pizzicatos.

the final movement is the most grotesque of all.

the artist's beloved has now turned into an ugly witch

and is now mocking him.

the clarinets play the recurring tune in a grotesquely modified form.

berlioz even quotes the dies irae theme (G F# G E F# D E E)

and turns it into a bombastic and macabre dance of death

in the rousing finale.

i like music like that,

slightly irreverent and grotesque.

though, i didn't quite enjoy tonight's performance.

i thought that the conductor was playing things a bit too safe.

i mean, sure he's swiss

and they are known for their precision, accuracy, efficiency (you know how a swiss watch is yah?)

but i would've preferred it if he had roughened up the music a bit,

and bring out the passion more.

sure, he opted for neat ensemble

and the sound was really opulent,

but i just wish he could've taken some risks.

well, but i'm sure impressed with the sso.

they've improved so much.

the winds and brass parts in tonight's works are so hard to play.

richard strauss's winds/brass parts are designed to kill them.

a story goes whereby a frazzled horn player told the composer imploringly,

"mr strauss, the horn part is too difficult! It doesn't mean that if it can be played it on the piano, it can be played on the horn!"

and richard strauss replied "my dear boy, i can't play that on the piano either".

sabbath day tmr,

gotta go and sleep now. bye