Having to handle the responsibilities and stress of being a leader is not that easy. Now I finally understand the amount of pressure the previous BLs and SLs had to go through.

You represent... angst.
You have an extremely cynical outlook on just about
everything. It's okay to sulk and be
depressed, but life is short, and you only get
one. It's only what you make it, and only you
can make it improve.


What feeling do you represent?
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Yeah I'm a slacker right? I don't do anything for the section needless to say the band. And everything I have done so far is negligable? Ok, if thats the case, why don't you people try to take the initiative to do something?

Well, it seems my own personal blog has becomed into a blog for band politics. Haiz. What can I say?
I guess my workload will be increasing soon as *some* people have started to hate band so much. If you hate band so much, why not just quit band? Quit complaining. If you have so much energy why don't you use it to change the band instead of whining like a loser. If all you can do is whine, I seriously look down on you.
Whats the use of crying over spilt milk? We have to make do with what we have now. If we are going to carry on dreaming about the past, we will never get far in life. Look ahead to the future. Think about the things we can do. The changes we can make. The improvements that will happen. Everything that will happen in the future is decided by the actions that we take now.
Splitting the band into performing band and training band will not help Xinfony V much. The performing band members will have to play for the whole concert in both performing band and training band parts. Do you expect half the band to play with a tired embouchure? Their playing will get sloppy and will eventually drag down the whole band.
An alternative to this is to set up an alumni band, which will play on their own or with some of the present members, to perform some pieces. With the alumni band, training band and the ensembles, Xinfony V can be covered easily.
The alumni band will play a few pieces, which will take up about 30mins, the ensembles will occupy another 20 mins, 15 mins interval, then the training band will have a much shorter performance.

I don't really encourage the idea of splitting the band into training band and performing band.
By doing so, the training band members will feel neglected and will not have a sense of belonging. As a result, the band's morale will suffer greatly.
After splitting, the performing band will improve faster and the training band will not improve as fast as the performing band. This creates a big gap between the performing band members and the training band members. After the performing band members graduate, who will take their place? The present training band members? Will they be up to it if they are neglected in the training band? Therefore splitting the band is not a good idea.
Also, after splitting, the members of the different bands will spend less time together and feel less united as a band. As mentioned earlier, the training band members will feel neglected and will not have a sense of belonging.
Although splitting the band means that the performing band can play more pieces and provide a more interesting repertoire for concerts, it is not worth sacrificing the future of the band for it.

22nd March 2004,

What I have seen today really disappoints me. Why can't you control yourself? Each time you stop playing, you talk. Aren't you tired of talking? Do you have that much crap to talk about?
You see the person in front holding the baton? Have you any respect for the conductor? Be it student conductor. Or whoever. If you don't give a damn about who is standing in front, at least respect the baton. The baton is an object that should be respected by all musicians.
It’s only a matter of time till the teachers, conductors or the leaders blow up. And that won’t be too far.

You people resent the things Brando is doing now. But I do not agree with your thinking. Do we have to do these because Brando hates us and picks on us? No. It is because the band is just too ill-disciplined. And people are not doing what they should be doing.
Some can still be strolling in at 4pm. And during practices, people can be doing homework, talking and stuff. Even the leaders ( old and new) does that. When there are announcements to be given out, you talk. When you are told to do something, you complain. What is this? You still call yourself a band member?
Band is supposed to be a uniform group. Yet we can't compare to NPCC or BB or any other uniform groups. People take ten seconds to form up. Us? We take more than ten minutes. People loitering here and there when they are supposed to be having sectionals.
Why can't we change? If we were more disciplined, things can be done more efficiently. Practices can be ended more early. There will be less practices a week. You people will not have so much stress from the leaders, Brado Tan, Darence Leng and the teachers in charge.
Can anyone of you even go outside and proudly say that you are from Xinmin Symphonic Band? No. I doubt anyone of you even dare go out proudly in your band uniform.
Xinmin Symphonic Band used to be a gold band. But after the seniors left, we are crippled. You blame the seniors for not teaching you all properly. But think again. Do you even have the motivation to learn? If yes, you would find means and ways to improve yourself. Because of people like these, our band's standard has dropped so low that now, we are not even comparable to a COP band.
Why? Because we are not motivated enough to even make a small effort to be disciplined.
In that case, why have you joined band in the first place? If you are not prepared to give, then join some clubs and not the band. Since you are already in here, you should be giving your best.
You know what Brando said to me just now? He said, the band is shocking. The woodwind sections can't play. The clarinets can't play. The saxophones can't play. You still call yourself a band?
Seriously, you people need to do a bit of reflecting on your actions. You think you are right? No. I think not. This is the wrong kind of attitude to give. Carry on like this, and the band will surely fall.