First Inaugural Dean's List Award

An award for Foundation students who have achieved a Dean's List standing in the last semester! What could be better than that? And what could be more enjoyable than to receive an award in recognition of one's academic excellence?

Nevertheless, it was nothing so special. It was just a short award ceremony with a speech from the Head of Foundation Studies, Associate Professor Dr. Noor Asmawati Zabidi, followed by the award ceremony itself. We received no certificates; all the certificates awarded were just dummy certificates. We were told that we would receive our certificates later. I wonder when will that be.

Anyway, exams are just next week! I hope I can do just as well as last semester, if not better. I hope I have no slacked as I feel that I have.

It is hard, extremely hard, for me to believe that a year has almost passed, almost without my knowing it. I had looked forward for the six-week holidays but not this soon, really. However, I am just as eager to finish off my Foundation studies in UTP so that I can start my undergraduate studies next year in January, which will last for another four years.

So, what's next? (Muses off for a while)

Angel of Music

After reading a post by one of my coursemates regarding music in Random Rantings (I've got a similar post there), I am compelled to write about my experience of learning music.

It is rather hard to believe that I have already been into music for almost ten years. I started taking up music lessons at the age of nine, an age which many people would deem as "too late" for music education; most of them who learn music took lessons at the age of four to six.

I can't really tell what made me decide to learn how to play the piano (actually, it is "pianoforte" or some even call it as "fortepiano"). It started off when I saw the Kimball piano (it is obsolete, I believe) standing in the hall of my grandparents' house (where I shall be moving into soon). That was when I was just about four or five years old. I knew nothing about the piano then, but I was fascinated with its ability to produce different tones and found the functions of the pedals. The seed of learning the piano had been planted then, but it grew ever so slowly.

I never knew that my uncle and aunt, who was then still living with my grandparents, could play the piano and I was immensely impressed when both of them played a duet. Perhaps, that was the leaping point for me. I knew that I could have started learning music at that age, but I knew not what was it that held me back from attending lessons until I was nine years old.

The opportunity came when my parents' office moved to an area near my house. There was a conservatory of music just a few blocks away from the office. It was there then that I told my mother about my interest in learning music. She approved of that immediately, for I used to spend my days in my parents' office without having much to do. She took me to the conservatory and enrolled me. I told the principal that I wanted to learn the piano.

My mother thought that I wanted to learn music just for the sake of learning, or just for the fun of it. However, when my parents' office was shifted off again, and the conservatory of music did not provide private (in-house) lessons, my mother decided to stop having lessons from that conservatory (because it was a hassle to fetch me up and down). Therefore, I had a new lady teacher (my first music teacher was a man) who would come to my house every Saturday or Sunday to teach me music.

I never had a piano in my house, until my third and fourth paternal aunts came back from The Netherlands to visit. Before they left, quietly, my third aunt purchased a Kawai upright piano without my father's knowledge. My father refused it at first after the piano dealer called my father, but then after knowing that it is a gift for me from my aunt, he consented. My fourth aunt bought us a new 29-inches television.

With a piano at home, I had my lessons with my new piano teacher who literally watched me grow up (I was then shorter than she was; now I am way taller). She had been teaching me piano for seven years, watching me undergoing puberty (blah blah blah), listening to how my voice broke, paying attention to my playing the piano and so on.

My mother still thought that I took up piano just for fun, and it wasn't until when my teacher told her that she wants to enrol me for my first ABRSM Theory examination that my mother knew that I meant business. She readily paid up the examination fees and I took my first Theory and Practical examinations the following year.

These were the moments when I got exposed to Classical music. Back then, I admired Richard Clayderman's playing and was a great fan of Ludwig van Beethoven (now Chopin, Brahms, Debussy, Tchaikovsky are some of my top favourites in addition to Beethoven). This was mainly why I got minimal or almost no exposure to modern music such as Rock or Pop (I must admit, I am one of those "hardcore" Classical musicians who do not consider Rock as music, even until now *grins*).

I got a distinction for my first Theory examination and a merit for my Practical, but towards the end of my musical education, I got distinctions for my Practical examinations and would only pass or pass with merit for my Theory. My teacher said that I am more of the type who like to perform, which suits me well if I were to take up music until Diploma level (Performance or Recital only).

Sure enough, I continued my piano studies (skipped Grades 2 and 4) until Grade 8. My teacher suggested that I switch to Trinity College London (TCL) for my Grade 8 instead of ABRSM for it was said that TCL examinations are easier compared to ABRSM. I was indignant and insisted that I go for ABRSM Grade 8. I had my way, of course, and I passed my Grade 8 Practical with distinction, with a score of 141 out of 150 (my highest)! Though I was one of the highest, I don't think I was the highest.

Encouraged by my Grade 8 results, I was determined to finish up my musical education up to Diploma. I considered TCL for my Associate Diploma, but as the fee was too high (the exchange rate back then in 2004 was 1 Pound Sterling to 7 Ringgit Malaysia) I decided to take up my Diploma from Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB). My neighbour, who had taken examinations from AMEB said that it is much harder to pass the AMEB Diploma compared to TCL though AMEB is much cheaper. Nevertheless, I was always up for a challenge and decided to continue with AMEB.

My teacher was reluctant to teach me then, because she also had only an Associate Diploma and I was her first Diploma student. My mother and I insisted that she teaches me because I find her a very nice and dedicated teacher. She finally consented and checked the tuition fee from the quotation provided by AMEB. She gave me a prize which I couldn't refuse. She wanted RM200 per month. It was cheap! I remembered calling up other music centres and they demanded at least RM350 per month!

I only had about ten months to prepare for my Diploma because I was determined to finish it off within a year before my SPM examinations. It was no easy task as I spent almost two months selecting pieces for my examination. So, in the end, I had only about four solid months to practise (the other four months were spent on music analysis and searching for books). After that four months, I sat for the exam (I was nervous!) and the examiners (two of them) were rather pleased with my performance. In the end, I passed (I didn't know that I did quite well for I wasn't happy with my performance that day) and obtained my certificate stating that I am now an Associate of Music, Australia bearing the title A.Mus.A (or AMusA; watch your pronunciation, Joe!).

I thought that my quest for learning music would end here. It was not the case. I am still determined to continue pursuing my musical studies on my own. Now, I want to take up the Diploma in Public Performance by Australian GUILD of Speech & Music to obtain the Dip.PP.AGM title.

I have now changed my piano. Although my new piano is still a Kawai, it is now an upright GRAND piano, slightly bigger than my old one.

It has always been my dream to own a Steinway & Sons piano, but as one first-hand Steinway would cost up to RM800000 per piano, I guess I'd better postpone my dream.

How would I rate my learning experience? Well, all I could say is that it has been an unforgettable one; one filled with passion and emotion.

A Steinway & Sons piano (courtesy of Steinway & Sons). Will the appearance of this piano in my house remain as a dream forever?

Point of No Return

OK, for my next few posts, you can expect the titles to be named after the names of songs that are found in the movie The Phantom of the Opera. I know it is a little late, but I must admit, I have just recently watched the movie. How would I rate it? Simply 5 out of 5.

So, what is so interesting about the title? Well, let's put it this way. In our life, we have constantly passed many points of no return, often without our realising it. It is not that we have a choice whether to pass it or otherwise; it's due to obligations.

I'm sure that you could figure out yourselves what types of points of no return are there in this world.

These are the points of life that you whereby there is no turning back. All you could do is just look forward to what is ahead of you. There is nothing that can be done. There have to be no regrets.

Let me be frank now, I have just passed a point of no return. So have you.

Examinations

Examinations are something that the human race can actually do without. What is in examinations? Who were the first ones who came up with examinations?

There are people who said, "If only I could go back in time, I'd murder the person who came up with the examinations idea." (NOTE: I used the word "IF". This is only an assumption. For those cyber-authorities out there, in no way am I implying that I am going to commit that heinous act. People nowadays, especially in law enforcing department, can be very tedious and particular about things. *Sheesh*)

Examinations originated in China about 2000 years ago. The main purpose of examinations are to gauge the cognitive abilities of a particular individual. Examinations are meant to see how well one can understand a particular subject and how much knowledge that one has acquired.

So, are examinations a necessity in our life? That I leave it to you to ponder for yourselves.

Although examinations play an important part in society, a lot of people have misunderstood the real purpose of having examinations. Many think that examinations are meant to gear you up towards a better future, or that examinations are to enable you to become a doctor, engineer, lawyer or so on. Many people still have the opinion that examinations are to determine how intelligent you are (or how stupid you are, depending on from which point of view).

Nevertheless, if the purpose of examinations were just to ensure you a better future, then we will merely be robots. It's not examinations that determine whether your future is bright or not. It's education and knowledge. Acquiring a lot of knowledge is important for a brighter future, not examinations actually. Unfortunately, people have often associated knowledge with examinations; the better you do in examinations, the more knowledge you have. Therefore, students would want to achieve straight A's in their examinations because that would mean that they have learnt a lot. So, what about those who score B's? Do we say that they have acquired less knowledge than those who scored A's?

Personally, I think that is a rather unfair justification. Just because one doesn't do well in examinations does not signify that he or she is unintelligent or did not acquire more knowledge. Other factors must be taken into account, such as the style of marking and many more.

Society has this mentality that if you have acquired the necessary knowledge, then you should do well in examinations (and thus you're intelligent). There are those who didn't do well in examinations, and yet they have an huge resource of general knowledge, which enables them to take part in competitions such as the National Science Quiz, debates and so on. Are they not intelligent in their own unique ways, too?

Whether are examinations necessary or not, they are here to stay. And as long as society doesn't scrape of the inappropriate mentality about examinations, there will be those "unintelligent" ones who would be shunned off in one way or another.

That is indeed a sad situation.

Accents

What's in an accent? No, I'm not referring to musical accents but to the accents that we use in English.

It's known that we have Malaysian accent, British accent, American accent, Indian accent and so on. It is just how we sound when we converse in English. When a person speaks in English with a Chinese accent, it simply means that his English bears a Chinese feel.

Therefore, what is wrong with these accents? I had a conversation with a friend on the telephone, and he commented that my English sounds "nice". I assume that he meant that I don't have the Chinese accent in my English. Well, in a way, I must admit it is true. He said that he was embarassed of having this Chinese accent while speaking in English.

For a while, I thought, what is wrong with the Chinese accent? Do the Chinese in China speak English like a typical Englishman?

Actually, the most important point is why must we imitate the British accent or American accent? Just because the British are the native speakers of English does not mean that we must follow their style of speaking, too. Accents come naturally to us, it is not something that we can imitate. Therefore, there is nothing to be shy about if you speak English with a Chinese or Indian accent. In fact, it is perfectly OK as long as you are understood. That is more important in communicating with people in English.

However, I also agree that there is no harm for people to rid themselves of the Chinese accent and speak in English in a more "natural" tone. Perhaps, this is to build a good impression. Well, it is not to say that there is nothing you can do. There is one thing that you can do to reduce the Chinese-accented or Indian-accented English of yours, if you have one.

Firstly, you should use the correct pronunciation of English words. They have stresses at certain parts of the words. For example, the word "subject" has the stress on "sub" so you should stress more on the first syllable of the word and soften on the second one (actually, it depends on what you mean by "subject"; whether you're referring to it as a noun or a verb). To improve your pronunciation, you should refer to the dictionary always and learn up the phonetics used in the dictionary. Attempt to pronounce the words according to the phonetics. Correct your own pronunciation and try to always converse in English using appropriate intonation and pronunciation.

No matter how much you try to be British or American, you can never speak English like them (unless you live in the USA or the UK for years). Let me emphasise here that having a Chinese, Indian or Malay accent in your English is something that occurs naturally due to your frequent use of your mother tongue. I speak in Mandarin very often too, and my English used to be Chinese accented. However, knowing the correct pronunciation and practising good intonation allowed me to reduce the accent and thus enables me to sound "nicer".

Some space to breathe in now

After a hectic day of helping out in the drama competition (Grand Finals), finally I've got some time to rest my weary brain and get the organising of the drama competition out of my head. Now, I am really more ready to concentrate and focus for my examinations.

The drama competition was quite a success, despite the fact that there were mishaps here and there. Sorry Jared for one of the errors in the lighting part!

The drama teams were superb, each group trying to display their best. There was a strong sense of humour in all the dramas, though I find that the audience have quite a dry sense of humour.

Nevertheless, from the looks of our VIPs, everything seemed to be satisfactory. We managed to minimise technical difficulties during the drama competition and we managed to make quite an impression. In fact, the VIP even mentioned that instead of having a drama competition within the English Programme, we should have a Inter-Programme Drama Competition! Oh well, we'll see if that turns out well.

Anyway, to some minor matters. Did I tell you that I have agreed to join the UTP Debates Team? Well, it's not that I'm really that enthusiastic anymore about debates (in fact, I can't tell for sure how committed I can be in the team), but as my lecturer had tried so hard to persuade me to join, I couldn't find the heart to turn down her request anymore. However, my consent was rather conditional. I can't be bound to the debates team at all times, and if I feel that I have other priorities that need my immediate attention, then I shall not be able to just focus on debates alone. I may even need to sacrifice debates.

Part of me wanted to join debates because of the experience and the general knowledge that I can learn. However, part of me refuses to join because it consumes a lot of time and, as I said, I can't be sure about how committed I can be towards the team. I don't want the team to suffer because of my lack of commitment. I find that it would be utterly irresponsible of me and very unfair to them.

Still, I have joined and I shall give it a try. University level debates are nothing like secondary school debates anymore. There are two styles of debates, namely the Asian Parliamentary Style (the usual Parliamentary style debates that we see in secondary school debates) and the British Parliamentary Style. Both styles have vast differences. In the Asian Parliamentary Style debates, there are two teams (one Government, one Opposition) in which each team comprises three members. In the British Parliamentary Style debates, however, there are four teams (two Government, two Opposition) with each team comprising two members only. There are opening and closing teams in British Parliamentary Style debates, so we'll have Opening Government, Opening Opposition, Closing Government and Closing Opposition.

British Parliamentary Style debates are generally more difficult than Asian Parliamentary Style debates, especially if you are in the closing team. However, it is a good challenge for debaters who are constantly trying to improve themselves.

During the holidays, from the 9th of December 2006 to 11th of December 2006, I shall be engaged with seven other debaters to go down to IMU in Bukit Jalil for a debate competition related to health and science issues. It's British Parliamentary Style debates and I am not familiar with that style so I shall be going as an observer. Jared was lucky enough that my lecturer selected him as an adjudicator. No, it's not that I've not adjudicated debates before in real competitions. It's actually rather nice to get a chance to see first hand on what a British Parliamentary Style debates are like. Besides, I get to holiday in Bukit Jalil! I won't feel so bored just staying at home, right?

Well, Jared, I certainly hope that you'll enjoy your adjudicating and that you'll learn a lot about adjudicating. Besides being an observer, I'll do some personal adjudicating on my own, huh? Then, we'll compare results. Let's see who is more selfish in giving marks (normally, after comparing with my other adjudicators, I constantly found that I give lower marks than other adjudicators; but still we agree unanimously on which team wins). Hehe...

A messenger

I am very sure, that at any point of your life, you have been a messenger before. What is the role of a messenger? It's simple. You just need to help someone to deliver a certain message to another person.

But, being a messenger isn't such a great thing to be, especially when there is a risk that the message that you were supposed to deliver didn't make it to the recipient. Worst of all is that you deliver the message to the recipient, but the recipient got instructions from someone else that contradicts your message. And when everything blows up, the messenger gets into deep water from the person who asked the messenger to deliver the message.

Being a messenger isn't a very honourable thing to do. There are risks involved, and more often than not, messengers do not often get appreciation. Sometimes, when the messenger delivers the message and the recipient knows that the message (though is original and exactly from the mouth of the originator) is out-dated or inaccurate, the recipient does not immediately consult the messenger or inform the messenger that the message is inaccurate, and more often than not, the messenger will remain oblivious to the fact that he or she kept on delivering inaccurate messages until things become worse.

Then, the worst part comes: one of the recipients would then tell you that you are wrong. If you were told off nicely, perhaps you would accept the correction happily. However, often, that is not the case. People might or would raise their voice to correct you, and give you that patronising look. The messenger would then feel under-appreciated and guilty of giving wrong information, yet frustrated that someone who knew about the correct information did not bother to rectify the error immediately.

It's no fun to be a messenger, really. For me, experiencing what I have described above made me felt that I have been given a slap right in the face. I don't know whether I should feel bad or I should feel angry (my instincts tell me that I should have the latter feeling). I feel bad for giving wrong information all this while, yet feel angry that (at times) my work is not appreciated.

Cigarettes and a moment of realisation

Today, at around 12.30 p.m. I made my way out of the campus to Ipoh to settle off something at Majlis Bandaraya Ipoh. It started off as just a normal trip back to my hometown; I took a bus from UTP all the way to Medan Kidd. Then, from the Medan Kidd station, I took another bus to Ipoh Parade.

After completing my task in MBI, I decided to have lunch in Ipoh Parade. It was about 2.15 p.m. then. In Ipoh Parade, I met an old Michaelian friend of mine who is currently studying in Lower 6. We had a talk for a while before we parted.

I made my way up to the food court of Ipoh Parade when I spotted some teenagers near the internet cafe. One of them, I am sure, was a Michaelian. His Michaelian Military Band t-shirt gave away his Michaelian identity. I wasn't sure if his friends whom he was accompanying were from the same school, but they were having a great time, indeed. While it is strictly forbidden to smoke during school hours and within the school compound, these group of students smoked out of the school compound. I observed them for quite some time; they were having a great time taking huge puffs.

Sometimes, it makes me wonder, has our Prime Minister, Dato' Seri Abdullah Badawi's "Tak Nak!" campaign gone to waste after all? All the efforts that he had made to combat against smoking seemed to have produced the reverse effects. Instead of reducing the number of smokers in the country, I see that the number is growing, and to students as young as 16 or 17 years old!

Through education, it is known that smoking cigarettes affects and harms our health, and once addicted, it is just simply too hard to kick the habit. However, curiousity brings the worst out of a human being sometimes, and people sometimes just cannot resist the temptation to know what is it like to smoke. So, once they got hooked to it, they couldn't release themselves.

How weak mankind are! We perish easily under such heinous things that we create! We are so easily controlled by just a burning stick known as cigarettes!

Nevertheless, I ignored them and had my lunch quietly. At about 3.00 p.m. I left the shopping complex and got into a bus; I was extremely on luck that the bus arrived upon my leaving the complex. I returned to Medan Kidd and from there, I took another bus back to campus.

During my journey back to campus, I was the only passenger in the bus. There were no other passengers (except three Burmese, who left the bus after a short trip) throughout the whole journey from the bus station to my campus. Throughout the whole trip, I observed the behaviour of the bus driver.

He is just a typical Malay man, who somehow got my respect as well. Before my coming up to his bus, he asked to where was I heading for. I said that I wanted to go to UTP, and politely he said that it would be RM2.50, which I paid him instantly. Before I went up his bus, I went to another bus which stated that it was also going to Tronoh, but I was rudely put away by the driver who said that he would only go as far as Tronoh town, and wouldn't reach UTP at all (note: both buses are from the same company).

No sooner had I left the bus station back to campus, it started to rain. I was thankful to have an umbrella with me. Being the only passenger in the bus, I set at the second row from the front. It wasn't a special bus, just a normal one, but with a blaring loud engine. The engine roared so loudly that I almost couldn't take it anymore.

We passed Menglembu, and it was there when something struck my mind. He met another bus driver, a Chinese one, from another company. The Malay driver simply waved out to him and the other driver jokingly showed an "I've shot you" hand gesture (then the Malay driver laughed). It was an obvious scenario where both the drivers were merely acknowledging one another. No sooner did the bus which I took passed a hawker centre and seeing the owner of the centre, the bus driver hailed to him and said, "Hey! It's raining!" and the owner of the hawker centre said, "Yes, so I've got to close now!"

Though this Malay driver may (note: may) not have good education, he certainly knew much on how important it is to socialise with people. I was taken aback when I saw the friendliness of this so-called middle-class community.

Eventually, after about half an hour later, I reached the main entrance of my university. It was raining heavily so the driver even offered to stop me at the bus stop about 50 metres ahead. I declined the offer and he asked me if I had an umbrella. I told him that I had so he let me off. I was walking through the main entrance when I saw about four or five cars coming and were heading into the university as well. None of them stopped to offer me a lift back to my hostel.

While somebody with not much education understands the meaning of lending assistance, I am surprised that people who drive into the university, supposedly with good education, lacked that understanding. Part of me was disappointed that throughout my walking journey from the entrance back to my hostel, nobody stopped their cars by the roadside to offer me a ride. Well, it is not that I would request anybody to do so when they see me, but I would think that a person who has proper education would naturally step forward to give a helping hand to those who need it. The Moral Education that we had had simply failed. Uneducated people could be no more barbaric than those educated ones. While I was hoping for a Good Samaritan, sadly, there was none.

While our country prides on its "friendly nation" status, I believe that it really needs a review. With such hostility being practised here, I doubt if that status should remain in our country.

I am tagged

Great! Just as I have got back my network connection, I found that I was tagged by an old friend of mine, Aw Sheng Yuen. As I am in rather a mood to reply the tag, I'll do so now.

Four places that I've lived in:

1. Taman Falam Bintang, Ipoh (near Taman Star)
2. Taman Sri Kurau, Ipoh (my present one)
3. (soon to be living in) Taman Merdeka (nearer to SMI)
4. N/A

Four things that not many people know about me:

1. I can appear to be extremely calm during quizzes or tests, but inside me, I could be struggling to think of the answers.
2. I sleep late now (usually 2.30 a.m. or 3.00 a.m.)
3. I like to hang around with friends very much (it's just that I'm restricted sometimes)
4. I dig deep down into the roots (meaning to say that I always want to know the reason) to know about why something happens (especially during lectures)

Four movies I could watch over and over:

1. Sepet
2. Gubra
3. Chronicles of Narnia
4. Fearless

Four TV shows that I loved(d) to watch:

1. Mr. Bean
2. The Apprentice
3. House
4. Air Crash Disaster

Four places I've been on vacation:

1. Western Europe (The Netherlands, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany and England)
2. The United States of America (Los Angeles and Las Vegas)
3. China (Shanghai in 2003 and just recently, Beijing)
4. Thailand (Hatyai and Songkhla)

Four of my favourite food:

1. Western food (which include chops, spaghetti, etc.)
2. Oriental food (the ones I get to eat at home)
3. Thai food (especially Tom Yam flavoured)
4. Fast food (except hamburgers)

Four places I would rather be in:

1. Melbourne, Australia
2. Wellington, New Zealand
3. Washington, North Carolina, USA
4. HOME

Four favourite songs (all classical):

1. Chopin's Revolutionary Etude
2. Rachmaninov's Moment Musical No. 4
3. Brahms' Symphony No. 4 in E minor
4. Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata

Four persons whom I tag:

1. Jared Ee (he hasn't been updating his blog much)
2. Ng Jia Min (she NEVER updates her blog unless she's being pushed to do so)
3. Lee Seng Foo (he's getting lazy to blog now so I'd like to give him some motivation)
4. Tan Kah Soon (he's recently got in touch with me again, and he blogs, so I must victimise him)
   

I'm online

After days of not being able to go online because of a technical problem of my LAN port, I am now, at last, online again!

I had been complaining and reporting to the IT and Media Services Department about the disconnectivity of my network. I have actually waited for weeks before they took action at last.

Nothing interesting has happened much. Just yesterday, we had an English Drama Competition in Lecture Halls 1 and 2. Teams who performed their dramas during tutorials were selected to go for the preliminary round. There were a total of twelve teams, of which only four would be selected to go for the finals (but only three will be selected this time, because none of the drama teams in English 2 are qualified to enter the finals except one).

I have been feeling tired and exhausted these days. Normally, I would only sleep after 1.00 a.m. but nowadays, my sleeping time starts at 12.00 midnight or even earlier. Perhaps this is due to lots of activities in university that I have participated. Well, sleeping earlier doesn't do harm to my health, right? In fact, I'm rather happy that I can sleep earlier now. I faced some problems trying to sleep earlier back at home because of my sleeping style in university.

I've got nothing much to update about, except for the fact that examinations will be in about three weeks time and there are lots of tests to finish, not to mention that there will be one more Mathematics assignment left! I am looking forward to finish off this semester and begin my new semester next year as an undergraduate. Come to think about it, one year has passed like the wind indeed.