Life's Theater

Music - the one language that brings people from all backgrounds and cultures together.

The scene, atmosphere and energy that exploded at SMU's Grand Opening's Rock Concert on the 20th January was simply awesome. Of all the SMU gigs that I have ever been to or performed at, this gig takes the cake.

Never in my wildest dreams, would i imagine a 200 - 300 strong crowd composing of local/foreign/exchange students, faculty, deans, school administration staff and outsiders all dancing, jumping, head-banging, singing along and rocking to the concert. Even the Minister for Education, Thaman Shanmugaratnam, who graced our event, had praises for the bands. I sincerely hope that he enjoyed the concert.

In the face of all the raving reviews from staff, faculty, friends and strangers, it seemed almost naive for me to have worried, before the concert, about a possible poor turnout, more than partly due to the fact that the concert started at 9.30 pm, an abnormally late time to hold a rock concert in campus grounds.

With an insane time schedule to follow, Bernard (the rock concert's 2IC) and I were literally managing the concert by the minutes, checking our watches constantly to ensure that the concert began on time and that the bands all stuck to their performance durations, for all 3 scheduled bands to have sufficient stage time. The precision with which time was measured by its seconds was truly another aspect of the experience of the gig. Thankfully, the concert's program went well, with only several minor hiccups during showtime.

The inclusion of Ngak's band into the show, as the external band to grace the event, was a decision that thankfully, yielded positive results, as they are pretty well known in the pub circuit, but relatively unknown in SMU. Thankfully, this gamble paid off. Many thanks and credit would go to Firdaus, who helped contact and source for the bands for this concert, providing valuable advice and council on the external bands. I owe you much thanks bro.

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I am also very proud of 7 Till Dawn, for putting up one of the best shows we ever had, at the Grand Opening Rock Concert. Truly, in every gig that we do (despite not making it for JamX 2006 Finals, or winning the similarly rigged Euphoria @ Indocine event last year), we always aim to connect with the crowd and rock the stage and always walk out the performance venue accomplishing our objectives. Nothing beats the sight of the crowd abandoning their inhibitions and rocking to our music, or hearing them singing along to our songs louder than our monitors, or to experience the shouts of a frenzied crowd demanding "We want more!" to express their desire for an encore. These are the little things that will make up one's life memories.

Truly, the friendships, shared experiences, jamming time, suppers and common ambitions will, I believe, bring us to our desired destination one day. For now, all we have to do is to take things one step at a time. Hopefully, when we have graduated, we will still be jamming together, making music like how we do now and following our dreams and passions.

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Talking about dreams and passion - Thank you Jamiel, for re-introducing the beauty of music into my life (read the link. I was a member of the Caribbean Curry Puffs). Without that fateful initial push from you, I would not have become the person I am in SMU and would not have found my place in this institute.

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Certain persons in SMU praising the SMU Bands that they were on par (or better, in the words of my mother who attended the concert) with the guest bands, also made my day, allowing me to prove the value of our own local SMU talent. The positive comments and feedback received from other musicians out of SMU who attended the concert were also very encouraging.

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Putting all this aside, now that the Grand Opening Rock Concert is over, 7 Till Dawn will now have to focus on preparing for Bondue's Dinner @ Timbre on 2nd February and the Combined Concert (Studio Comm, Guitarissimo and SoundFoundry) on 3rd March.

It's going to be a busy semester. *smiles*

It was a first for me, in meeting an old friend who shares the same number of summers as me, who is pregnant. The sensation was queer, in a manner that was neither positive nor negative, to say the least.

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Yet, after having the inspiration for this post for the last five days, with the concept of a comparison and reflection on my life with that of my peers, I still cannot place a word to that queer sensation or to put a finger on how exactly it has affected me cognitively.

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However, I do know that this feeling has inspired me towards the composition of this post, which spawned from the introspection that I underwent in search of a definition ot this reaction which I experienced in meeting a pregnant friend.

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At being slightly over a quarter of a century old, meeting a five month pregnant friend impressed upon me a certain benchmark on the current standing of my life. Upon this introspection, my first descriptors of myself was that of an unemployed undergraduate who simply has an interest in music and drama, who tries his best to make the most out of his undergraduate experience, juggling both academically and non-academic interests.

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At this age, in the methodologically clockwork society I call home, common expectations dictate that I should already be establishing my career path and purchasing the necessities of life that the others in my age and educational category are pursuing or have obtained.

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Despite my constant worrying about my future employment prospects, I always wondered and questioned the attractiveness of these ideals, in the face of my pursuit of my passions and my entrepreneurial dreams. Am I being idealisitically stubborn, romanticizing my ideals of my future or fuelling a passionate dream that may turn out to be hollow and empty in facing the demands of the real world?

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Truly, I am cautious of disappointment and fear certain failures, as my mind's eye gazes into a contemplative and speculative world of myself within the advancement of the next decade.

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To Eileen, I wish you and Keith all the best and send all my blessings to your wonderful daughter, who will be acquainted with two wonderful parents in four months time.

My take on a Haiku exercise done in Creative Tactical Communications class, with the subject matter being that of our favourite movie -

The Matrix Haiku

Robots Rule the World,
'The One' Frees Humanity
Truly - Are We Free?

To the Transformers fan who may be reading this blog, this video may be worth checking out. The video was purportedly created by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), a Lucasfilm company that handles the CGG for numerous big budget Hollywood films.

Hopefully it is a clip from a movie that may be produced in the near future.

In reading this article "It's a fiddle!", I am beginning to feel that Intellectual Property Rights laws pertaining to music are beginning to get really out of hand. If such a law is passed, the costs will definitely be transferred to the purchaser of the musical instrument, whose playing of a familiar riff or lick is nothing more than simply the testing of the instrument, which does not constitute a public performance.

In the event that such a motion is passed and that a public performance is defined as any recognizable music/riff that is heard by anyone other than the musician himself, I shudder at the thought of how draconian our IP laws in Singapore may become in the years to come.

Coupled with the news on the crackdown on online lyrics and music scores, I seriously feel that the music industry, in years to come, may regret its decision in making such a move. In increasing the gradient of an already steep learning curve for musicians by restricting sharing and removing and limiting the number of sources where budding musicians can learn how to play the songs which they love, such a law may backfire in that fewer and fewer people might decide against becoming a musician. The lack of learning resources and the high prices of buying "original" music scores (which are only released by a handful of bands/musicians, as most musicians do not publish their scores) would, in turn, alienate the followers and lovers of music.

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If you feel against what the MPA is doing, why not sign this online petition?

Super Fir's MSN nick- "My robot more power than your ninja turtle"

To Super Fir - "My ninja turtle more power, OK?"

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To those who have not allowed their inner child to perish as they grow older and take on more adult responsibilities in life, do join in the fun - Bash Super Fir verbally on MSN. Tell him how much more powerful your Robot/Ninja Turtle is!

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To Wanida, all the best for your driving test tomorrow!

Remembering this motto (credit goes to Darnie for coining this phrase) and your blind spots will ensure you a swift and successful route to your license!

"Kan Chong Will Not Prevail!"

The swiftness of it all stunned me into speechlessness. Utterly astonished, I was reeling in shock and yet, surprised by my own sense of relief, which dawned on me in the latter half of the hour. It has finally come down to this, based on both internal and external circumstances, lending the words to my mouth that I dared not speak, supplying a reason for this division.

No longer will I have to drag my feet and swallow those sentiments of dread, or to suffer the rants, accusations and justifications by another, sometimes rigid, stubborn, temperamental and self-righteous.

On another hand, I do look fondly back on the shared journeys and of the lessons which I have learnt and experienced.

A fitting farewell it was, I suppose, with nary a char on the bridge, left intact. Thank you very much and goodbye. Let us hold a fitting tribute and interment to what was and was not, through maintaining the silence of the bang that went off soundlessly.