Love. 

Have your kids ever entered this phase where they simply hate bathing even though they used to love the water-splashing fun? It's almost Iike they just wake up one day and decide that enough is enough with bathing, and they start battling each bath with screams and cries. It's every Mommy's nightmare to deal with such resistance to bathing. 

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It was curiosity that prompted me to attend the 10th National Piano and Violin Competition Prize Winners' Concert & Prize Presentation Ceremony at the Victoria Concert Hall on Sunday. I am no expert listener, and can't tell the difference between great works of Beethoven or Mozart, but I was curious about the performing standards of the prize winners and I was itching for some good classical music that weekend. It has been a long time since I attended a concert too. 

My other (secret) agenda was to expose Ch and L to more classical music and hopefully, be able to appreciate why they learn to play the piano and gain some inspiration to be more diligent in their own music-making journey. 

A biennial event, the National Piano and Violin Competition is jointly organised by the National Arts Council (NAC) and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO). It serves as a talent development platform to discover and nurture young musicians to artistic excellence, and provide opportunities to perform before renowned international adjudicators like Mr Charles Castleman (violin adjudicator) and Ms Anna Jastrzebska-Quinn (piano adjudicator). A total of 25 winners emerged from among 159 participants, and I saw two familiar faces among the group of proud parents that evening. 




This year's edition saw a special commission by local composer and 2003 Young Artist Award recipient Dr Zechariah Goh Toh Chai. His pieces - Quinquagenerian celebration and Quinquagenerian Jubilation for piano, Ondeh Ondeh variations and Two Sketches for violin - were used as competition pieces and performed at the Prize Winners' Concert. 

Ronan Lim Ziming, 1st Prize Winner of the Violin Senior Category, also bagged the final edition of the Goh Soon Tioe Outstanding Performer Award of $10,000 for his outstanding performing qualities in Ondeh Ondeh and Lutoslawki's Subito (1992). 

Luiyi Retallick, 1st Prize Winner of Violin Artist Category

As anticipated, the concert was indeed a spectacular showcase of the top prize winners of all categories who displayed the highest standards of classical music. The concert opened with performances by winners of the Piano and Violin Artist categories, accompanied by the Metropolitan Festival Orchestra conducted by Maestro Chan Tze Law. The two winners played well, but I wasn't particularly impressed for some reasons. 

We were very much more impressed with the younger ones. From their performances, the dedication and passion towards excellence in the classical music scene exude strongly from each prize winner. I was most impressed and captivated by Jordan Alexandra JunYi Hadrill's vivacious performance of Wieniawski's Variations on an Original Theme Op. 15. 

Jordan Alexandra JunYi Hadrill receiving her prize from Guest-of-Honour Mr Ng Chee Meng, Acting Minister for Education (Schools)

It was interesting to observe Ch and L throughout the concert - one sat through most parts with an intent gaze, seemingly appreciating the display of talents, while the other fidgeted in the seat and wished to be out of the concert hall. This certainly has to do with the amount of exposure to such concerts, and I hope there will be more of such family outings. It was also the littlest's first exposure to classical music in a formal setting, and she had to be whisked out of the concert hall after the first performance because she talked too much (apologies!). 

When asked to name a performer who left the deepest impression that evening, the three kids replied:

"My favourite performer is Wang Huang Hao Jia because he plays the piano very smoothly and his posture when playing is good. He does not slouch like some players when they are playing softly." said Ch. 

Wang Huang Hao Jia, 1st Prize Winner (Piano Intermediate Category)

"The best performer in my eyes is Tricia Ng En Lin, [as] the song that she performed was very attractive and lively. She could move her fingers so quickly on the finger board." mentioned Eu, classmate of Ch.

Tricia Ng En Lin, 1st Prize Winner (Violin Junior Category)

Said L, "... favourite performer is Ronan because Ronan got an award and his piece is well-played and nice." 

Ronan Lim Ziming, 1st Prize Winner (Violin Senior Category) & Winner of Goh Soon Tioe Outstanding Performer Award

Well, I do hope they have rubbed off some passion from these prize winners. 

The next edition of the competition will be in December 2017. Watch out for it and I would recommend bringing your child along if he is learning either of the musical instruments. 

Do hop over to Pianomania for his detailed review of the event if you want to find out more. 

Disclaimer: All photos are provided by the National Arts Council, unless otherwise stated. 

Children's Day has always been the most special day of a child's primary school life. Most often than not, the child comes home with a bag of presents and sweet treats generously blessed by their teachers. It is amazing how generous teachers can be during Children's Day, and how much thought they put in to make this day memorable for their pupils. 

Although memories of my own school celebrations are fuzzy now, I still remember we always had performances in the school hall, and our teachers would entertain us with funny skits or songs. Community singing of the Malay song "Semoga Bahagia" was also a tradition. School hours would also be shortened. 

This year, I had the privilege of celebrating Children's Day again - as a parent helper. On that day, all the pupils went to school in their favourite colour instead of their school uniform. 

I could sense the excitement brewing in the air as I stepped into the school compound with the kids. The teachers dedicated a lot of time to prepare for this event, and they even stayed till quite late the night before, to decorate the compound. I have to commend the teachers for their effort. They did a wonderful job in creating a celebratory feel with colourful decorations, balloons, gifts and performances.  



As with past Children's Day celebrations by the school, there are always two segments - a concert in the hall where the kids are treated to a variety of purposeful performances which focus on the school values that fit the celebration theme, and a 2-hour carnival where the school compound is turned into ONE BIG PLAYGROUND with food and games stalls. To make the celebrations more meaningful for their pupils, the school has always used this event to raise funds for charity through the sale of coupons. Each coupon is priced at $1, and they can then be used to purchase food or play games during the carnival.

This year, the teachers made the CD Fiesta extra special for the Primary 4 pupils. These young ones had a chance to get into action and actively "work" for this charitable cause. They were tasked to manage their own game stalls with friends from their Co-Curricular Activities (CCA). With this opportunity, the pupils had to put the skills they acquired into practice. These 10-year old pupils had to plan the game prior to the event, organize the equipment and manage manpower help, take care and account for the coupons collected, as well as other entrepreneurship skills needed to attract "customers" to play their games. 

It didn't matter if the children had to miss out some fun while tending to their game stall. That 30 mins of duty gave them the experiences and fun of being in charge like a big brother or sister of the school. For some kids, this could be the first time they had to open up and talk to a school-mate they have never met. 

There was a variety of game stalls - there were those that challenge your dexterity, a crafting stall that personalise keychains using shrink-art, the popular bouncing castle, and free movie screening too. 

Other than helping out with the 9 food stalls and 18 game stalls, some of us from the Parent Support Group (PSG) helped to plan and manage our "F1 Car Racer" game stall. Very glad that we were given such a big air-conditioned room for this purpose! Do you also know that the whole racing track was done up by 3 mommies?!

This game attracted a big crowd of boys over to pit their skills against others in a game of remote-controlled car racing. We even had a pit stop for repairs or a change of batteries. 

Parent helpers for our F1 Car Racer game stall

Thanks to the kind gesture and generosity of Canon Singapore, each young F1 car racer received a 4R print-out to preserve this precious memory of the fun they had at the car racing game stall. The print-out came with a nice paper frame for display too. Other than the children, parents also went wild taking photos with other parents whom we have formed close friendship with, as well as our own family photos. And to add to this special occasion, we also had a photo with a rare visitor of the school!

Daddy ZY took leave that day to be the Photobooth photographer

The printing "aunties"

It was a pity that there wasn't enough time for me to check out other stalls, but thoughtful Ch and L bought some fries, hotdog buns and drinks for ZY and I. Er teachers... maybe a longer carnival time next year?

Some of the pupils were approached to share what they liked most about the CD Fiesta, and this is what they say:

"The Primary 4s got the opportunity to run the stalls for the school. I was assigned to help with the Young Innovators' booth. This to me was very satisfying." ~ Randolph, P4 

"I enjoyed the novelty games, especially the ones we picked marbles with chopsticks. And most importantly, we got to win prizes." ~ Randilyn, P2 

"I liked racing car the most as I had an opportunity to race with my friends and it was very exciting!" ~ Wei Xuan, P2 

"Loved playing at the "Score" game stall because I can score many goals and win prizes." ~ Brendon, P1 

"Love the CD Fiesta, like games and food, especially cotton candy." ~ Hew, P1

"Seaweed chicken... and art key chain." ~ Zoey, P4 

Other than raising a remarkable sum of $5989.67 for Community Chest, this Children's Day Fiesta accentuated many values and positive attitudes a child should have. I am exceptionally impressed and heartened to know that a friend's daughter donated about 100 books from her personal collection and sold them at $1 or $2 to do her part for charity. That is what Children's Day should be about, isn't it? It's not always about the receiving, but the willingness to pay it forward.
"Chasing the Rainbow" was this year's CD Fiesta's tagline to reflect the pupils' pursuits to fulfil their dreams. As we look forward to next year's Children's Day celebrations, let us remember this year's theme - that there will always be a rainbow out there, waiting for our children to catch it. We may not see the rainbow every day, but we know that it's there, and will appear at the appropriate time. The key is, no matter how slow it takes, we have to keep moving towards it, and not be contented to just stay on the spot. 

Let us not dictate which rainbow to chase, but allow our children to chase the one they like, be it big or small.  

Disclaimer: All photos are from the school and PSG, unless otherwise stated.