Saturday, May 21, 2005

On Insecurity

Everyone is afraid of the unknown.

The feeling of not knowing what is to happen; of what to expect; and what will become of the future.

This feeling of uncertainty sux, and I can understand that.

As the result of this uncertainty, insecurity arises, and some of us out there, decide to safeguard our own interests by putting up a super strong defense, or even launch a preemptive strike at people whom we perceive as threats to our present status. And in the process of us attempting to prevent what we perceive as a possible eventuality from becoming reality, we unintentionally cause what we fear to happen, and may even catalyzed the entire process...



Quoting from Qingyu's blog :

"we are all afraid of the uncertainties... we don't want to lose the things we gained... and because of this we have become so obsessed with our pursuit of power and the things we want... until we forgot our original aims...

and in the end.. that's how u lose the things u didn't want to lose... in exchange for the things u gained..."


Sigh.. yet I dunnoe how to resolve the sticky situation that I'm now in... Maybe it's the way I carried myself, that caused people to be wary of me even before getting to know me... Or maybe, it's just becos of me. Haiz..

Cre8tivesparks at 5/21/2005 10:20:00 PM

0 gave a piece of their mind

Nothing

I hate to admit it, but I think this is going to be one of the worst year ever.

So much for a birthday dat falls on Friday the 13th.



Nothing seems to be going right ever since. Argh.





Haiz..



P.S. Nonetheless, must thank you guys, from the 61st Batch Training Wing, for the cool tee~ (I like da punk look!)
Alvin, Sugui and Jinsen for da 'surprise' dat almost burst my tummy...
And the many many well wishers who have called/smsed/msned to send their greetings. Thanks guys~

Cre8tivesparks at 5/21/2005 04:22:00 PM

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Friday, May 13, 2005

Friday da 13th

Having my Birthday falling on Friday the 13th (yes, I checked. It was a Friday too when I was born), I was absolutely shocked to see this screaming in my face at my bookmarked 'dictionary.com' homepage.



Word of the Day for Friday May 13, 2005

triskaidekaphobia \tris-ky-dek-uh-FOH-bee-uh\, noun:
A morbid fear of the number 13 or the date Friday the 13th.

Thirteen people, pledged to eliminate triskaidekaphobia, fear of the number 13, today tried to reassure American sufferers by renting a 13 ft plot of land in Brooklyn for 13 cents . . . a month.
--Daily Telegraph, January 14, 1967

Past disasters linked to the number 13 hardly help triskaidekaphobics overcome their affliction. The most famous is the Apollo 13 mission, launched on April 11, 1970 (the sum of 4, 11 and 70 equals 85 - which when added together comes to 13), from Pad 39 (three times 13) at 13:13 local time, and struck by an explosion on April 13.
--"It's just bad luck that the 13th is so often a Friday," Electronic Telegraph, September 8, 1996


Triskaidekaphobia is a fairly new word (first found in print in 1911) formed from Greek treiskaideka, triskaideka, "thirteen" (treis, "three" + kai, "and" + deka, "ten") + phobos, "fear." The adjective form is triskaidekaphobic. One who fears the number 13 is a triskaidekaphobe or triskaidekaphobic.

There are many theories about the origin of triskaidekaphobia. In medieval Christian countries the number 13 came to be considered unlucky because there were 13 persons at the Last Supper of Christ. Fridays are also unlucky, because the Crucifixion was on a Friday. Hence a Friday falling on the thirteenth day would be regarded as especially unlucky.

Some famous triskaidekaphobes1: 1. Source: "It's just bad luck that the 13th is so often a Friday," Daily Telegraph, September 8, 1996
Ha... so there's actually a term for the throngs of people out there who fear the day I was born... Mwahahahaha~

Cre8tivesparks at 5/13/2005 06:48:00 PM

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Wednesday, May 04, 2005

I'm back

Haven't been blogging for a long, long time.. Not that I do not have to urge to, but somehow, just din really have the luxury of time to sit down and really blog.

If you have noticed, I have just changed my blog skin and also the background music recently. Thought it’s about time for a change and this current skin will reflect my current mood better. Like what my BSM (Band Sergeant Major) said, I still have a ‘long journey ahead’ of me… and I’ve got lots of stuff to learn, hurdles to cross and hardships to overcome. Nobody said it’s going to be easy, but I’ve just got to try… to pull thru it and prove myself.

Life back in Bands has been quite hectic... and even a tad stressful to a certain extent. But if anyone were to ask me, I’ll still reply with the same conviction that I still prefer life back in Bands. Not that I’m mad about parades and drills and stuff, but at the very least, I dun feel like some walking dead booking into camp everyday other day, just to dutifully waste 9hrs of my life away on a daily mundane basis.

Been thru quite a lot of my firsts in the past 1 plus month in SAF Band B. My virgin OCS parade, funeral (yes, we have to do them.. it’s a state obligation), Presentation of Credentials, countless Guards of Honour parades and also my very first Changing of Guards (COG) parade as the main band!! Learnt a lot along the way too.. ha~ Just for those of you fellow Singaporeans out there who’s totally unaware of such a thing as the COG, it is held on the first Sunday of every month when the Guards on sentry duty at the Istana changes over. The parade will commence in the heart of Orchard Road, between Hello Singtel building and the Heerens’s where the new guards, the Silent Precision Drill Squad (SPDS) and the main band will march off to the Istana, where the ceremony will den take place will the old guards and the supporting band waiting there.

The COGs (main) are always considered a fun thing to do for us bandsmen, cos it’s the rare chance for us Bandsmen to bask in the limelight as we marched proudly down Orchard Road in our smart Number 1 uniforms amidst throngs of curious on-lookers. As for me, my very first COG experience is definitely something I’ll find hard to forget, given the pressure of the preparations for it (first COG and I’m playing the snare drum.. (God! Have to memorise so many new marches!!) and also the funny incidents along the way. (Chenguo lost all his March cards… and even his shoe!! Bwahaha~!) Of course there were stressful and trying times when minor conflicts arose, due to the need to perform to expectations, the differing approaches to doing things, the tight time constraints etc, but all these are what make life in band interesting. Unlike my previous stint in MDC, everything was just such a bore. All the shows and dining-in and whatever were hardly interesting. (I was literally stoning thru all of them..) =P

Met up with the CO peeps again, after such a loooong time. Was back in HC to watch their last rehearsal just before the SYF, which is on the 3rd of May. Was very touched to see the whole lot of juniors working so hard, all with the same conviction of getting that Gold with Honours. Gave the percussion section some advice and its great to see them really giving their best to improve their performance in whatever way possible.

Was there at Singapore Conference Hall (SCH) to support them again on the actual day, given that I’m on off. Must say it was quite a drama the whole day thru.

Initially, I was supposed to meet them all in Hwachong, but becos of the stoopid 157 bus I was in, I din make it on time. Stupid driver was driving so damn slowly dat he took all of half an hour just to drive from Bukit Batok to Bukit Timah Market, where he finally decides the bus has broken down! Argh~! I mean, shdn’t you try to drive at a normal pace instead of that snail-like pace?? (No offense to you, Sugui) And, for goodness sake, dun let more people on board if you suspect the bus is breaking down! And he din even seem to noe wat to do when angry commuters tried to get off the bus, even before he declares the bus to have broken down. Neither did he give clear instructions or explanation on wat the heck was going on. He seemed even reluctant to let people off! Gawd!! He din give out the complimentary bus tickets or even cancel the last trip when he declares the bus to have broken down!! Wat nonsense! But I was in too much of a hurry to give a damn. Wat luck!

Rushed down to SCH to pass the juniors the stuff I bought for them to use for the competition. (Anti-slip placemats to minimise unnecessary sound while switching between auxiliary percussion instruments) Thank god I made it in time, if not, I’m really going to make sure that stupid driver get it from me.

Watched NJ perform in the concert hall itself when suddenly, Pehling called. “Where are you? I need help!” I was thinking along the lines of someone from our team having fainted and in dire need to be revived or something. Turns out she just needed someone to help carry the loads of juniors’ barang barang. Kaoz~! We looked like 2 anxious parents watching kids compete when we scurried across the front of the stage with loads of their kiddie stuff lar~!

Watched Hwachong perform at the extreme right of the first row instead. Wasn’t really a nice spot to be in, given dat the 2 double bassists are basically all that I can see le. But it was still quite an experience. Initially didn’t felt much, just listening to them… it was only when I turned around and saw that glint in Pehling’s eye, the brows that were locked in perpetual apprehension and the cold sweat on her forehead dat I realised just how much this means to each and everyone of them. The teachers, the students and Wei… It was den dat I felt fidgety too… with butterflies in my tummy, so to speak. (How apt.)

Wasn’t their best performance, I must say. Glitches occurred where everyone least expected, and some of which are pretty obvious. But still, overall it was a wonderful attempt, given that <<梦蝶>> is pretty ‘alternative’ in the CO context, and technically, more challenging then the pieces put forth by the other schools. Thankfully the judges are in favor of more subtle, subdued pieces over the loud, majestic ones.

The eventual results were extremely gratifying. Hwachong emerged Champion as the only junior college that was awarded Gold with Honours. As expected, the kids were jubilant, seeing their weeks of hard work and efforts paying off. The complete results for SYF 2005 Central Judging - Chinese Orchestra (Junior Colleges / Centralised Institute) are as follow:

GOLD with Honours:

GOLD:

SILVER:

BRONZE:

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Glad to have finished listening to 1 song 14 times in a day, (dat stupid set piece) and joined in the post-competition celebrations with the kids. Ha~

Cre8tivesparks at 5/04/2005 04:19:00 PM

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