STS Symphonic Band Concert

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Last Saturday, we all trooped excitedly to watch Heather's school band concert. The school band has been working hard for the concert as well as the upcoming trip to Singapore for the music exchange programme.

Overall the girls did well. We managed to take some photos during the concert.

The band kicked off with the “Band Overture” and throughout the night you see the band girls having different attire for the different kinds of pieces played.

The Taylor Swift songs saw them all in pink and whites.




The flowery hippy dresses for the Beatles Song “ Here, Now & Everywhere”.

The black number for the "Full Throttle Funk".

Apart from the band performance, we had the Holloback girls performance. Faith enjoyed the very upbeat hip hop style.
Then we were highly entertained by the Desperados an offshoot of the band. These girls won the St Joseph School Idol Competition. They were cool.

Few days before the concert, Heather was asked to fill a 3 min gap between presentations. She chose “Croatian Rhapsody” coz she said it will not require a lot of practice time.
This video clip sees Miss Tan just out of the shower and having a final go at home before the real thing.

Grandpa was worried that Asher might doze off half way thru but he was wide awake till the very end. Faith was swinging and feet tapping or was is stomping ?? to the upbeat numbers. Hubby had a difficult time holding the camera with all that movement next to him.

As the curtains fall , and the instruments kept temporarily we just want to say we are proud of you HAT....eventho u make a lot of noise with the trumpet when u practice but you sure was good in all the presentations.

Not Your Typical Mom

I know a lot of moms who are very zealous in getting their kids involved in many activities (be it in or out of school) , joining competitions , learning a thousand and one stuff etc etc. I on the other hand wish that my kids are not so involved. I am always telling Heather... no more activities for you whether in school or in church. Being involved in the school brass band already consumes a lot of her time especially with the upcoming concert and Singapore trip. It's practice practice practice!!!!

Jordan is another one who gets this raw deal. Just keep to the minimal i.e Red crescent (no choice as he has to choose 1 uniform body ) and the Swimming Club. No Futsal or Football Clubs or Choral Speaking or whatever and also no tuition.

I take my hat off to moms who ferry their kids for the countless tuitions and activities. They are always on the road weaving thru traffic or jammed up somewhere.

I like to have my kids at home with us instead of out everywhere involving in various activities. Doing things together as a family is important to me and that includes doing house work together. Though chores are not high on their lists of nice things to do yet they are expected to do them as I believe that their contribution is not only towards their school, church or community but it is also towards their family. Helping each other is of utmost importance. My children grow up in an atmosphere where they see family members helping each other. We are a close knit family and we know that when help is needed we can call on each other. Heather was very touched and encouraged by Alex who helped her raise funds for her school brass band concert.

I also know of moms who let their kids do what they want and leave all choices to them... and in addition, they feel guilty if they were to chastise them saying that they couldn't bear to hurt them. I for one would not be able to walk that path. My kids make choices with our advice. Sometimes we let them do certain things and sometimes we put our foot down. They get grounded if they go out of line n Jordan will get spanked if he goes way out of line. My kids will tell you that mom is strict. My son has this phrase “ Mummy you are so bad.” Why ? Coz I tell him to study and practice piano!!! I had a tough time getting him prepared for his Grade 6 piano exam . It was a battle to get him to practice an hour everyday prior to the exam. My prayer then was “ Lord .. I only ask for a pass. 100 marks will do.”

Jordan's final practice before going to exam on 4 April.

My kids know I have expectations for them to excel especially in their character building. Many parents push their kids to be straight A students and give them plenty of tuitions etc but I find it sad that they stop there. They neglect the character building part where godly values are not considered important. All the parents are interested in is the scores of their test papers. I hear comments like “ As long as they do well in their studies that's all that matters.”

I beg to differ coz I feel that the call to be a mom is a high calling and I need to make sure that I do my part well.

I am sooo pleased

Yes I am real pleased coz we did better in the sales this year. The overwhelming support from the general public was most encouraging. To all who helped in any way big or small , I just wanna say I really appreciate what you have done for the children with special needs. Without your support, we could not have done what we can with them.

We all have dreams for our kids and parents with children with special needs also have dreams for their kids. We at Perkata want to be able to make a positive difference in the lives of not only the children but also their families as well. Being an NGO we have to be very proactive in soliciting funds and making sure the school runs smoothly.It Is always a big challenge to raise funds for the school as there are so many NGOs in Kuching.

However, I am glad to hear positive reports about our sales. Crowds comment that there is such a variety of things to buy and eventho food is expensive, they are always many good bargains around. We even have phototaking with a snake this year and Starbucks was in with their coffee. I had an overdose of Starbucks coffee !!! I mean it was only RM3 so I just drank lah. OK!!! Now I know why I had soo much energy. I even went back on the night of the sales to clear up stuff with hubby. The coffee must have given us this hyperactive rush of adrenaline!!!

After the sales, there is usually a lot of loose ends to tie up and of course the post mortem. We try to improve on our sales to the best we can so we would appreciate any constructive feedback.

Until the next charity project comes along, I am going to put up my aching feet and have a good rest.





Jordan and Nathan selling Nee's cakes at the sales.