I just CANNOT let go of band!

It is 2 days after the Passing out Parade. I came upon the post by Yue Sheng in our band blog and I realized I just can’t let go of band! This post shall be my “last words” for you guys in band so I can rest in peace. (The pop “sharing” session is just too short for me to tell you all important things!!)

The 1 ½ year as a leader in band is the most meaningful and enjoyable time in my life. Whenever there were proposals or planning to do, the other leaders and I would always stay until very late to discuss. I can still remember the day I got the Drum Major post. It was my birthday. The very moment we were given our posts, we had tasks to do. We stayed back late to discuss about them. But we never get anything out of it. During meetings, as mentioned by Yue Sheng, I am always the stubborn one, Timothy and Eric the clever ones, Yue Sheng the one who wastes time and Yun Song the one that stops him. It was taxing but it was worth the efforts when the proposals that we planned worked out fine.

Life is so fun in band. I got to know many friends in band. We have been through so much together that we have a very strong bond between each other. It’s safe to say that if anyone of us were to have difficulties in any thing, even outside of band, the rest of us would sure help him out. In the preparation of SYF this year, I could see that happening - all of us had been through the exhausting 8 – 10 hours of practice, woke up at 4 a.m. every Saturday to practice for SYF and pulled through the taxing 8 – 10 hours of practice that followed, came back every day in the March Holidays, been through the daily morning practices, and many other extraordinary feats. We did all these TOGETHER. We sacrificed for one and other. We stood side by side when faced with a challenge. We encouraged and spurred each other on when some of us felt like surrendering. None of us had forsaken each other. Therefore, we are more than just friends, classmates and schoolmates; we are brothers.

Band impacted my life the most. It inspired me. It shows me that I am capable of so much more in life. Whenever I felt like giving up, I would look back at the times I spent together with my other brothers in band. The fact that we had conquered so much seemingly impossible obstacles shows that there is nothing in the whole word that we cannot solve. As long as we believe in ourselves and put in the extra efforts, nothing can bring us down.

However, I felt the real spirit of the CHSSB disappearing. Our fraternal bonds have weakened. Our zest in our music has diminished. We are losing our faith in music. We no longer have the stamina to “tahan” the pain of practicing and put in the hard work into our music. We complain at the slightest pain. Why have we changed so much after the silver? What happened to the ruggedness and the love for music that we possessed back then when we were preparing for our SYF? Are we no longer brothers?

I urge all of you out there not to forget the days we been through together. We had sacrificed so much for the band; we MUST NOT forsake each other now! We shall put in the extra efforts now to truly get up on our feet and look ahead. Believe in yourselves that you are capable of much more when you face any form of challenges. Stare the challenges in the face and never let it defeat you! 咬紧牙关地度过那些挑战! Believe me you will come out of it a better man!

Nonetheless, I truly enjoyed my 4 years together with you, brothers. I hope I have left a legacy behind for you guys. The story of CHSSB will now be passed on from us, the sec 4s, to you guys. Do write another wonderful and captivating chapter from where we had stopped!

One Band, One Sound, One Brotherhood

En Hao 19/07/07

NOTE: This post is by, AND SOLELY, by LEE EN HAO, EX-DRUM MAJOR OF BAND, as he doesn't have a blog account yet...not me!