Simfoni Filem Nusantara by Orkestra Melayu Singapura

You might find it strange that I actually went to watch a Malay concert. Well, I didn't actually intend to go in the beginning. But after telling my mentor about the show (he has a friend researching on Malay film music), he suggested that maybe I should go catch it. He was probably joking about it, but then again, after coming back to Singapore, I thought why not get a taste of it. After all, it's Malay film music and there would probably be 1 or 2 P. Ramlee songs (I caught the musical last time...not knowing it was in Malay) and maybe get some programmes that I can pass on later.

So I went.

It's actually part of the Pesta Raya Malay Festival of Arts at Esplanade and held at the Concert Hall. It was surprisingly quite entertaining despite the fact that I couldn't understand what they were singing or saying, especially the jokes, which everyone was laughing about. The subtitling was intermittent so wasn't much good.

Anyway, they actually gave a storyline about 2 servants of a sultan, 1 a genie, the other a clown who were ordered to search for new inspiration to entertain the sultan. Somehow, they travelled through time and experienced the songs from each decade of Malay film music.

The orchestra was interestingly rather western, with strings, winds and percussions, although there were some instruments that were not usually found in a western classical orchestra. So it was that songs sung were rather close to what we hear normally with bands but instead of the usually "stiffer" audience and type of music at western classical concerts, the songs were very lively and "dancey". In fact, I think I found some of the songs vaguely familiar.

However, there was also a small gamelan ensemble, which played only during the intervals when the 2 comic characters appeared to act/speak. Having gone through some experience and "education" in ethnomusicology and gamelan music, it appeared pretty normal as I knew that it would sound really "off" if both the gamelan and western orchestra were to play together. They can't harmonise.
Then something else struck me. Gamelan music is used to accompany wayang kulit and the 2 comic characters were actually supposed to be wayang kulit characters. Hence why the gamelan ensemble only played when they appeared.

Also because of what I've been taught, I also took note of the audience's behaviour/reactions. It is interesting to note that it felt like a social event, or like a family/community outing (yes, most of them were Malay with their family) as you see clusters of people who knew each other and how they cheered/responded to the performance.

Of course I need to mention that the singers who appeared seem pretty famous in the Malay music scene by the way the audience cheered when they appeared. Special mention would be this lady singer called Rossa and of course our very own Taufik, our 1st Singapore Idol.

gee...I realise I can't go into an ethnic music performance these days without analysing based on what I've learnt.

Gadgets! Gadgets!

Once in a while, I should be frivolous and talk about shopping...or what I want to buy. Being one who likes gadgets besides shoes & bags, it's the time for considering some upgrades.

I've been wanting to get a new camera for quite a while now (a year or so?) as I feel the images I've been taking are not as good as what today's technology can offer. I don't think it's my skill (I've taken decent photos), but seeing the resolution of pics these days, my pics don't turn out as nice when compared. Maybe because my Canon Ixus 60 is only 6MGP, without image stabiliser, a heavier metal shelling and with only 3x optical zoom. Well, it's more than 3 years old.
So I've been looking around and as I liked my Ixus, am still looking at that model range. It's between Ixus 990, 120 and 200. Well, their features seem pretty comparable, so it's hard for me to decide. Fortunately, I can consult my photographer friend who can give me some advice and recommendations to help me decide eventually.

Secondly, I've also been considering upgrading my iPod to an iPod Touch. I'm pretty "moved" by all the applications I can load onto it and it has a wider screen, wi-fi and lighter weight. The only thing is should I really give up my 80GB iPod for the iPod Touch? The latest model is the 64GB, but it's at S$648. The 32GB is cheaper at S$468, but it's only 32GB! Not that I've fully utilised my 80GB, but well, with all those applications, a bigger memory space would be good. Then now Jamie Oliver has an application too showing quick 20min recipes! Hmm...tempting. Not sure when the price will go down, but still pondering. Hopefully my iPod won't bail out on me before that.

Another item which I've not gotten yet is the sound dock for my iPod. I've been wanting to get one since I got my iPod (more than 2 years?) and I've yet to do much research into that. The Bose seems pretty cool and well, it's Bose, but it's expensive. Lansing? JBL? not sure about those. My friend recently bought an iHome iP9, which he said was not bad, but I think I'll need to listen to all of them to decide...if I get down to it. Hmm...

Well, with all these big buys, I need to phase them out. I think the camera will have to be first, before I travel again, unless my iPod fails me.

Decide to Love (or not)

What is love about? As senior pastor has put it (a couple of times), it is not a feeling/emotion but a decision. It's true. A feeling/emotion fades off and if that's the only thing sustaining a relationship, then it's the end. If love is just about a feeling/emotion, it would mean that couples split & come together only when they "feel" like it, and that's not what love is. Of course there are different types of love, like friendship love, parental love and even love for mankind (agape). What I'm focusing here now is on what we call "romantic" love, although all these come from decision.

As I see it, the theory is simple, once you decide to love, your heart is opened and you can see things about a person you have never noticed before and there is acceptance and love. Once you decide not to love a person anymore, all doors are closed and you reject everything about the person (ok, this is the extreme case). Or simply, if you decide not to feel a certain way, you let go of that "feeling" which burdens you. It's all about decisions. A decision to be more than friends, a decision to be friends, a decision to not be either, etc. And all these decisions make a relationship work or not. As pastor said, "make the decision to love your wife/husband" and abide by your promise. When one says "I don't feel that way about you anymore", it's just an excuse of saying that I have decided not to love you anymore.

Not that "feel" is wrong or we shouldn't feel. I know it usually starts that way. But more than that, do you decide to continue that "feeling"?

However, there are times when we need to make the decision to "not feel" a feeling for a person when you need to, i.e. letting go, and you realise that indeed, once you make that decision, you find that you take things easier and you can take a step back and reconsider and be able to move on. It'll put you back on "ground" and you can walk again. However, only you yourself can make that decision...and to keep to it, calling on God's help is pretty useful (I know sometimes humans have a weakness to dwell too long or turn back).

500 Days of Summer

Caught the show this evening and well, I liked it very much indeed. The way it's filmed, the humour yet sadness involved all makes it work. It is a story about love. What was poignant was the message of love & destiny, yet the irony of it all was the one who believed in it initially became disillusioned about it while the one who didn't believe believed in the end. Somehow, I think it's so real how we face relationships and I believe one can identify with the protagonist (Tom), whether male or female. There was 1 particular scene when they met again at a friend's wedding where when he looked at her, you could see that he had a sense of hopefulness, yet also a sense of loss/forlornness...maybe I read too much into it, but well, I think that happens. It ended on a lighter note though, and the coincidence of "autumn" coming after "summer" which made him give that look at the end. And so he starts from Day 1 again with Autumn.

Well, what really is love? As put across, "you just know it" when it happens, just like when Summer said she just knew it (with her husband) what she was never sure about with Tom, or how Tom put it initially..."you just know".

Well, I tried to remember some quotes from the show which seemed pretty true and enlightening:

1) There was the part when his friends were talking about their dream girls. Well, what Paul said at the end struck me - "Robin is so much better than my dream girl...she's real". Don't we keep dreaming and have that ideal girl/guy in our minds? What is real is so much more important.

2) Tom has a fairly mature younger sister whom he seeks for love advice. Well, what she pointed out was that he's probably always only looking at the good things. so next time when he looks back, he should look again.

3) Well also when he met Autumn, he asks her "how come I never saw you before" after she said she noticed him at the park. Her reply (can't recall the exact phrase) was that maybe he wasn't looking.

I also suddenly thought of why I found Joseph Gordon-Levitt so familiar, besides the fact that he was the boy in Third Rock From The Sun (he has grown a lot since and lost those shoulder-length tresses he had on the show). He reminds me of Heath Ledger! Don't you find that they look alike?

Maybe I should also consider venturing to read the book featured called "Architecture of Happiness". And I'm very much considering getting the soundtrack.

What's next? Will be catching Julie & Julia next week. It's about cooking and there's Amy Adams (& Meryl Streep). It'll be fun.

I must catch My Sister's Keeper which is opening next week. Just watching the trailer made me remember the story which made me teared...I cried "buckets" when reading the book. I'll probably be weeping when watching the show. There's Cameron Diaz and "Little Miss Sunshine". Don't think I'll have time to re-read the book again before the show though.

Also, Amelia is finally coming (saw the trailer). The story about Amelia Earhart. Ok, I must admit I want to watch it because of Ewan McGregor. But she's also an inspiring woman...the trailer made me think of Aviator though.

Also saw the trailer of My Girlfriend Is An Agent. Might watch that someday if I have time (so many shows to watch!). It looks pretty funny.

Placing Reservations

I happen to think about this. It was probably due to "The Ugly Truth", which led me to recall "He's Just Not That Into You". It's about how guys, if they are really into you, they will want to "reserve you" by making a commitment (as depicted in the book and stipulated by my guy friends). This inevitably made me think of the analogy that this was just like placing reservations at a restaurant.

Scenario 1:
Say you do a walk-in at a restaurant without any reservations, there is no guarantee that there would be a seat for you. The whole experience would turn out different. You might need to queue quite a while and well, what you intended to eat might get sold out or the food less fresh. Even if you managed to get a seat, it might not be a seat you'll really like.

Scenario 2:
Let's say you made a reservation. However, you're late and the restaurant would only hold your reservation for 15 minutes. So that's it, you lose your reservation and got to start queuing again. Making a reservation doesn't guarantee you'll get your seat unless you make the point to be there on time and make a real commitment.

Scenario 3:
Let's say you wait till the last minute to make a reservation. However, the restaurant is already fully booked, so you missed your chance.

Well, just some thoughts.

Broken Umbrella

A rainy day produces a rainy song. So it is that I saw my broken umbrella being dried and was inspired to write a song titled "Broken Umbrella". So I took out my guitar and started strumming (what else?) the G major key chords and came up with the tune (which I had to try hard to remember as I had no lyrics). Took me a little more time to write in the lyrics (usually my melody & lyrics more or less "appear" simultaneously) as I tried to tie the words to the rain and umbrella, but I still managed to finish it within 1-2 hours. A rather short song.

Lyrics

Rain falls, I cry
Standing in the field of clouds

A washing down of sorrow
A broken umbrella is all I have

Chorus:
And I can't stay dry anymore
So I'm drenched in rain that soaks me through

Outro:
And the sun, seems so far away to shine through
Oh where, oh where is my rainbow

© 10 Oct 2009

Is Satan Jealous of Man?

It's always good to listen to Pastor Khong and it's been a while since I heard him preach (he was away, I was away).

Today's topic was about being confident in times of uncertainties. Life is all about uncertainties; the known knowns, known unknowns, unknown unknowns. But we can be assured of GOD's presence for all time. In fact, He appears in 2 ways that gives of hope (Daniel 7).

1) as the Ancient of Days: GOD of Eternity Gives Us A Sense of Destiny - we have security; there is no fear (Daniel 7:9-10)
2) as the Son of Man: GOD of Excellence Gives Us A Sense of Dignity - we have significance; there is no failure (Daniel 7:13-14)

~~~~~
Anyway, coming back to what I wanted to say, somewhere in point 2, this came to mind - is Satan (Lucifer) jealous of Man? I think we might have heard of this before, but as I reflected, it became clearer.

As we know, Lucifer was once the brightest or most glorious of the angels. However, GOD didn't give him the ultimate glory. Instead, GOD chose to give that to His ultimate creation - Man. Well, didn't He create Man in His image? How much more glory can one get? Hence, maybe that's why Satan is always trying to do Man in, as his pride can't take it.
Just when he thought he managed to foil Man's chance to rise up to GOD's glory (the Adam & Eve affair), GOD himself came as a man in Jesus to help Man regain our dignity and restore us to His glory. In fact, Jesus was the perfect Man, a representation of GOD and Man.
You see, GOD is always bigger. He always has the eternity in perspective (Ancient of Days) no matter how we make our own choice of decisions, whether good or bad. If things go wrong, there's always a backup plan ready for you, if you believe. (Note that the Son of God existed in the beginning, before the world began)

These reflections of mine are not to make us proud (like Satan) but to actually acknowledge that each and everyone of us are significant and we are actually a blessed and chosen people with a destiny and dignity. Can you imagine? GOD gave us the ultimate glory as being His ultimate creation. What more could one want?

The Hossan Leong Show

I caught The Hossan Leong Show on Tuesday and well, I must say it wasn't as funny as I expected it to be.

All things first, it was really like a talk show, where there was a goodie bag and also giveaways during the show, like 1 year supply of yoghurt soft cream, free makeover where the "victim" would be given whatever she got to wear (sponsored by Tangs Studio) and free bottle of wine. Of course, there was when 2 of the audience were asked on the stage to play a game.

Personally, in terms of the performance on stage, I guess the Mariah-Carey versus Whitney Housten part was 1 of the funniest, followed by the "Little Nyonya" segment. But what was really funny was the broadcast of the street interviews. I'm amazed at how much (or how little) Singaporeans know about Singapore.

I look forward to Broadway Beng in December.

Milestones in Life are marked by People, not events

It somehow became apparent to me that my personal "milestones" in life are in fact marked by people rather than events, or rather, I mark my "milestones" with people rather than events. It was not the time when I graduated from school, nor the time when I started work, nor the time when I changed jobs, etc. Even though these are important events, they seem like a faded memory, a little distant and is part of the "normal" course of life. In fact, I think the people who were there at that point of time and your interaction or responses to them would make a difference of your impression of that occasion. It can become a milestone or something forgettable depending on your impression.

People can make an ordinary occasion into a milestone, a turning point in life or at least a point when you change focus, or discover something meaningful that you have not known before. Like the time I discovered the love of Jesus, the time of "growing" with my 1st cellgroup, the time I met my songwriting friends where I started discovering new music and made me more motivated in songwriting and the direction of music, and most recently, how inspired I was by my mentor on looking deeper into ethnomusicology, etc.

Subjects have no meaning in them unless somebody injects life or humanity into them.

Recollection of why my focus in ethnomusicology

It just came back to me 1 reason I picked my mentor as my mentor in the first place (besides the point that I was very impressed with his paper and presentation during last year's NAFA Symposium...he literally became my "偶像").

I recalled that it was during his presentation that I found my focus in what I wanted to do for the specialisation I had picked (Asian music). Previously, I wanted something more than just collecting music. Collecting music is very broad and how can one really find a specialisation? Then his presentation pointed me to "music trends" or rather how some ethnic music had changed. Now I realised how relevant it was to my attachment experience which had deepen my interest in ethnomusicology.
Sorry, I'm quite forgetful (it was a year ago) and with the amount of work and admin hiccups of arranging for the attachment, I lost sight & drive for my purpose. Initially, I had actually given up on going for attachment and was in fact rather "xian" of going. But now that I managed to go, I'm glad that I went.