|
. . . . . |
| are tied in 2000. God's plan is clearly really wonderful. |
|
|
| Like a dream came true, I was asked by Miss Sharon to continue to be in |
| Team 2k. Due to my music exams though, I reluctantly rejected. It had been a |
| tough decision for me to make - I had waited for one whole year to help the |
| school grab back the championship! |
| Nevertheless, I appreciate how Team 2k frequently asked me to join their |
| discussions, which made me always feel like still being a part of the family. |
| Every little thing Team 2k did would remind me of the many sweet adventures |
| our Team 99 had. Such a feeling is rather peculiar, is it not? [note] |
| But our times have passed, Nick would agree with me. Sadly (to me), after |
| so long, we of Team 99 are as if strangers to one another, once again. But the |
| memories play afresh in the heart. I once felt like being able to take over the |
| world with them. They were wonderful teammates - all fully bustling with |
| potentials and capabilities. |
|
|
| This year's magazine very obviously is modelled after last year's. In fact, |
| so obvious that everything seems to fall short (mayhaps because those |
| were MY designs and MY concepts anyway, hah). |
| Together with positive acclaims, the magazine committee 99 had also |
| received heart-shatteringly many critisicizms last year, due to the totally new |
| designs. But like what Kian Hui said, at least after one whole year, the effect |
| of our effort is now clearly apparent. Who cares what cynics had to say, |
| we have evidently made a change in the history of Highian magazines by setting |
| the new template for upcoming magazines to follow! I had also gained much |
| experience, plus the contention of chasing after my dreams (heh). [note] |
| There was an inter-school webpage competition this year - completely |
| unrelated to last year's though. At least we could get 1st placing this time |
| (twebkhs.tripod.com) and make the principal pretty proud. Praise the Lord. |
| The achievement is nothing, nevertheless. Other schools in other cities would |
| have easily squished me, I know. As if the adoration (nostalgias die hard, heh) |
| has grown into fear. |
|
|
| So finally: AmusA in piano, Grade 8 (TCL) in violin, and Grade 5 (AMEB) |
| in d.bass. The violin exam was really God's grace. I sat for it during the end of |
| the year, right in the middle of SPM! Still can't forget Mrs. Yeo's "Don't worry. |
| I don't even need to say good luck, just don't worry!" |
| Is this the end of my music education this long? I have greatly enjoyed the |
| times together with the "music family" in Avant Garde, SONS and Mr. |
| Leong's. My (many) music teachers have been absolutely wonderful. So were |
| my fellow comrades, orchestra friends, and my violin and d.bass accompanists |
| Grace and Amelia. They were all great! |
| I still get teased being a bassist in SONS though, "Whoa, you're |
| playing Tartini's Devil Trill Sonata on the bass!?" |
|
|
| Like every other boy (I guess), I have a tale of a quiet, reticent and taciturn |
| girl who has inspired me in my quest finding myself and entering adulthood. |
| Quite unbelievably, she is much more "popular" now. At least boys start |
| to flock around her. But with both our shyness, we still can keep the |
| immaculate silence in aeternum, heheh. |
| Thinking back, there are many twists and quirks in this little tale. Most |
| importantly, it really is teenage infatuation - fun, totally unpredictable and |
| innocent - nothing more. |
|
|
| I salute my friends, the "elite team" I would call it, whom I have strived |
| together both intellectually and psychosocially in the years of higher secondary |
| education. |
| We have worked hard together (only to be called to the principal's room, |
| during the last few weeks of the school term, to be briefed on how we were |
| "the school's hope"). The merriment was memorable. There were battles won |
| and battles lost. Amidst the strong competition, so was the encouragement. |
| We may be fighting for the top awards in both the science stream and the |
| entire school, but I am proud that none of us are supermen (at least not |
| hitherto). Honestly, we all are adolescents entering adulthood. We have our |
| realistic share of problems with teachers, pimples and girls. [note] |
| I never got the chance to take a group photo together with the "top 5" |
| students of KHS. There was a heated sentiment on who will be receiving those |
| very top 5 awards of the school (the 2 Examplary Students and 3 Best |
| Students). I really praise the Lord for the results. Like Miss Susan said, just |
| accept the award and let the glory be to God. |
| Unlike Form 4, Form 5 did not have that many "new" events happening. |
| Instead, aftermaths that linger shadows and trails of past events in 1999 (some |
| bittersweetly nostalgiaic) were aplenty. The seriousness of SPM had made |
| everyone more or less grave, but fortunately the jovial classmates were there to |
| spice the classes up. All these made Form 5 become an intense drama of |
| emotions, in contrast with the action-packed Form 4. [note] |
| I have enjoyed my times in KHS, and I am fully content. I had been a |
| nameless student, making my slow way around with different friends at different |
| times in different positions, like a great adventure movie. With the Examplary |
| Student award of 2000 unbelievably in my hands, so ends my strife this long |
| in KHS. Period. |
|
|
t is spectacular to see how loose ends left over from 1999
"The trips, performances and anecdotes with the state orchestra have also been very rewarding. Many pieces now have their sentimental values! Say Mozart's Symphony No.40 in G minor and I will recall the bassoon part..."
"The uncertainty about the future is heavily mutual. But best of all, there is no sappy melodrama to herald our departure - no handkerchiefs, overdone T-shirts and webpages. Just a straight road ahead. That's the spirit!"
Stop searching for me -- I'm NOT in this photograph!! Just thought of putting something to remember these humorous classmates -- they are the best.
"For a moment, I was thinking, was it not for the compulsory Female Examplary Student Award, all the top five awards of the school would have been monopolized by us boys, heheh. But nah, Audrey deserved the award."
"Look around the school compound and all these years of merry fighting will flash back like films without sound. The spectres of my jolly friends stay there -- meet again, mates, if God is willing, when the fighting ends."