Something funny during contact time

during class contact time today,
the students had to go to the hall
to practise the 90th anni song.

(btw, the song is very nice and tuneful,
it's by this well known local musician called iskandar ismail,
check this out if you don't already know how prominent he is.
http://www.nus.edu.sg/cfa/groups/music/jazzband/bio.html)

i was having some difficulty locating my class initially,
as the sec 1s and 2s were scattered all over the place.
so i was walking up and down,
looking left and right
for quite some time,
before i finally turned around
and lo and behold, they were behind me
all the time!

from the cheeky grins some of them had,
they must have been quite amused
at my confused demeanour
as i searched high and low for them.

but at least i found them.
my babies were safely settled down.
(i'm beginning to think of my students as my 'babies', like how some of my colleagues do)
but they are 'big babies' already --
in a twinkling of the eye, they will be sec 2s,
and they will have a batch of sec 1 juniors to take care of.

i hope they will always remember what i've told them
at the start of the year.
even if they've been treated not so nicely by some of their seniors,
they shouldn't do the same to their juniors.

some students think that it's natural to follow everything their seniors do,
so if the seniors shout at them for no reason,
or force them to do menial things very matter-of-factly and scorn at them,
they will replicate these unruly behaviours
in their subsequent dealings with their own juniors.

this is very wrong,
it's as if you are venting your frustration for your seniors
on your poor juniors.
And you might be starting a vicious circle,
for your gullible juniors might imitate your behaviour just as well!

but don't misunderstand me,
i'm not saying that if your seniors ask you to do things which might seem insignificant,
they are bullying you.
things like doing backstage work during performances,
carrying props and equipment,
or cleaning up,
which many sec 1s do,
especially during ccas,
are tasks which will build up your character,
and make you humble and willing to serve the common good of the cca.

however, if your seniors command you to do these
in an unreasonable manner,
overwork you, or take you for granted,
then it is wrong of them.
it infringes on your right as an individual
in a democratic society
and you ought to raise this to your teacher.

if you do meet such unreasonable people,
there's some consolation for you...
in time to come, only 2 things can happen to them.
either
1) they 'mature' and blush when they recall their childish action of ordering you around just because they happen to be one or two years older, or just a little more experienced than you.

or
2) they continue their unreasonable behaviour and get cast out by all their friends.

but remember, my big 'babies'....NEVER BE UNREASONABLE TO YOUR JUNIORS IN 2008
you might make others fear you for a while,
but the true mark of a good senior is when you earn the respect of your juniors.

okay, enough about that now,
let's talk about the 90th anniversary rehearsal yesterday at raffles city.

we left the school at 11.30am,
did 2 runs of the programme at the venue,
and only managed to leave for school at 5.30pm.

the 'musical' in the performance
neatly chronicles the history of nygh.
the dancers were all very good,
and our choreographer mdm chen lili
has done a wonderful job in making everything so oriental,
something befitting a school that prides herself
for upholding good chinese values.

i saw some of my students wearing thick make-up
for the performance.
it takes me some time to get used to something like that..heh
because they look suddenly so grown up with all that rouge.

when we were waiting for our turn,
i had some interesting conversations with some of my colleagues.
one of them told me how posh the ladies was,
with a couch and all.
so i went to check out the gents,
and was disappointed that there was no couch,
but lots of mirrors!

i was also asked to pretend that i was the conductor of the guzheng ensemble,
and had to walk up the stage upon cue.

i had once dreamed to be a conductor (of a symphonic orch, not a guzheng ensemble!),
it's nice to be able to stand in front of a hundred musicians,
and to draw out beautiful music with the wave of your arms.
hmmm...maybe someday.

ps did i ever tell you that one of my very first wish was to be a bus driver? :\