As being an asian (me as a chinese) get pushed to do alot of things by parents. As an average person in an average family. I have to go to school 6 days a week, and just quit the one on sunday which made it 7 days a week. i quit english although mine is very bad, only because i have closing up to 10 exams this yr. well, get on to that later... School 5 days a week, thats normal, but after all those days, get made to do piano practise every night, and mathematics work that dad gives me to do, and to excel my math level, every night. Then wednesdays i have my piano lesson. and fridays, i used to have tournaments for badminton, but i quit. mainly because i was going all bad, and i didnt have the [otential to move up and keep going and i had no time to do anything else, so i had to quit for my studies... Then saturday I have to go to chinese school because i dont live in china and i have to learn my chinese elsewhere. and that day is fun because it is the only day i get tplay badminton. well, training, and my coach is a former world champion and that only goes for 2 hrs... and on sundays, either i have to go out when i'd rather stay at home, and study, and have fun once in a while... my week id very tiring, all that study. and i sleep at 11, and wake at 7 30... It sux, because i have no time to play badminton what so eva!!! ='( i have to go for 2 scholarship exams, 1 melbourne high exam (for those that live in melbourne would know... [ best school around melbourne, and is only accept top 3% of ppl frm each school, and must be withing the top 5% mark]) then 2 chinese exams, plus my normal school exams. A not so fun yr this is gonna be. Just wondering if there are any other ppl that have a similar timetable like me where thay can only dream of playing badminton and not be able to play it as often and as much as they want. Thats also another reason as to why i cant improve my skills... ='(
Yes, I have had worse times. Lab all day, library at night till 10, burning midnight oil for assignments. Other times work from 8am to 7pm, have some dinner, stay around studying until 11pm. And also have to think about paying bills, laundry, coping for the next exam, presentations etc Sometimes other priorities take hold and you can't play badminton even though you really want to. At least you can practice your Chinese with your coach but hasn't she moved back to China? Oh yeah, I never even got to the piano lesson stage. I count my life's failures as not being able to speak Putonghua and not being able to play a musical instrument.
Cheung: it's not too late for you! Pick up a clarinet and learn to play that. Sounds as good as a flute and twice as easy to play ... Sure beats learning piano. Btw, why does just about all asian parents want their kids to play piano? It has absolutely no use whatsoever except to brag to other asian parents "my kids play piano soooo good I tell you!". I was narrowly saved from the piano by my trusty clarinet, though they still bring it up every ten seconds ("you would have been so good at piano... you have nice hands... why didn't you play the piano??!!")
Good point BRL, it's always piano or violin with chinese parents Well, piano I can understand. It's a polyphonic instrument but violin? It's OK if your name is Vanessa Mae though.
Haha, yea, cheng. my coach moved back to china. and then new coaches came in, and one of them is a former world champian also. and 3 of the 4 were from the china team. And yea, I dont know why the asians always want thier kids to play piano... its quite hard, and theory is worse. But I hasitated a whole lot about playing the piano. Bet in the long term. its kewl I mean, you dont often walk into a place, and c a flute lying around, or a violin lying around for u to go up to it and play it. I mean, ur chances are more likely to c a piano that is avaliable for you to play. Especially when ur really good at it, you can play so many different kinds of tunes straight from ur head, its alot better than just playing a few simple songs. And it gives you an impression towards others 'because' ur an asian i guess...
Hehe, yeah but "Perfection" wasn't one of his better songs IMHO. And seems he can play the violin pretty good too. LOL, that's multitalented!
Well... I goto school 6 days a week, but Saturdays are for my cocuriculum activities. And we have sooo much homework. I'll do my homework at night, and if a lot more I'll wake up at 7 am to complete it. I;m in afternoon school, 1.10pm to 6.40pm. But I'm in school by 12.10pm and home by 7.10 pm. Life is a rush, especially on thursday, when i have piano class. it's at 7.30pm until 9 pm. So i have to rush to change , then eat dinner only after piano lesson! especially with all the piano exams comign up. And my teachers....they don't realize how much homework they give us I think. Especially on Fridays!! But I still have time for badminton, Saturdays. But I'll soon ahve to change it to Sunday. And I can only play badminton with my friends when we have a school holiday.
Haha, i know how u feel. It sux but i just dont get one part Joanne.. what do u mean by getting changed after piano? u have to wear a special suit or sumthing?
I used to have a schedule like you till I kind of made my own decisions. I used to have school 6 days a week as well and only played badminton like once a week at that chinese school on Saturday and there weren't many good people there. I was taking lessons with my coach at the time but me playing only once a week made it seem very pointless and boring. This year I found clubs to play at with decent people and I quit chinese school (I only did it to get a compulsory credit in highschool which was a choice of a third language and some other options). I also didn't have time for homework in chinese school either. I now play on Mondays and Wednesday so I couldn't possibly finish my chinese work in time and I also have to think about my marks in English school. So my schedule basically consists of badminton and school. Badminton is basically every other day and those days in between gimme sometime to catchup to whatever I missed that night since I may have not done that homework. I'm sure this is just a period where you're trying to like make other decisions etc. Everyone has other priorities. Yodums
Okay, when I say change means change OUT of my school uniform. Lol. I change BEFORE piano lesson, won't liek to play piano in school uniform would I? Special suit? I think not. lol.
haha, ic. u have ur piano lesson right after school? what grade? cos i suck at piano, i just play for fun mainly, but i still have lessons, i actually play music at a much higher level than what i actually am right now (which is 2 cos i suck) ah yea, and cheung, the former world champions name in english is 'Han Ai Ping' but they are in china, some place.. or did you want the names of my current coaches? Faithfully.. me..
Seems to me that Asian parents everywhere pay a great deal of emphasis on the education of their children. And they bring this 'trait' with them wherever they go, especially as immigrants to the developed countries in the West. Possibly because of their experience of poverty and hardship in their countries of origin that they want their children to have a better life financially. Unfortunately, in the process, their children have to suffer the pressures of school life like more homework from the school and worse still, tuition, exams and "forced" additional aesthetic pursuits, like music, art and dance classes. Therefore instead of enjoying school life, the children grew to hate it although there are exceptions of students who seem to thrive on exams and competitions. In fact, Singapore now tries to remodel itself to the more rounded-type of education provided by some of the better schools overseas, in the UK, US and Europe based on a more enriching curriculum, more leisurely-paced and project-oriented content. In the past many parents have complained about the rigid type of education in Singapore and not a few have migrated overseas like Australia, Canada and the US, so that their children could enjoy a better-paced type of education. And some left because of the Chinese language - that their children are unable to cope and will therefore be deprived of local university education, the admission requirement needing a satisfactory pass at about "O" level (UK) standard. Alas, but I read from some posts here that the parents are committing the same "crimes" by pressurizing and expecting their children to excel in almost everything they do - and this seems to be a lot! On the other hand, I guess there seem to be not many other options for our children. The world is getting smaller through "globalisation". A decade or two ago, you and I will not be able to communicate so freely as we are doing now on internet! Information and knowledge travels very fast. Capital can be transferred from one bank to another, from one country to another, by the mere keying-in of our instructions. We don't even have to talk to the organisation. We just act! Jobs are lost because other lower-cost economies are able to do them better and cheaper. Jobs are also lost through retrenchments because like-minded companies have to merge to become bigger to meet the competition. Smaller ones are being acquired so that the bigger boys can survive in the international marketplace. So one has to be on his toes to keep abreast of things and developments in the world. So, having a sound education to prepare us for the world of the present and the future appears to be necessary, unless one is content with standing still and then let the world pass by. Then what??? Who would have thought that China is such a threat to so many? She will become a greater threat in 10, 20 and 30 years' time. And to imagine that China was a so-called communist country, where everything is provided by the state just about 50 years ago. Now, it seems every man is for himself in China. They want to emulate capitalist USA! They want riches, comforts of life, travel, asset-building, to be better than the Joneses and are no longer contented with the socialist way of living. Hong Kong is on the verge of being eclipsed by Shanghai and may not survive much longer if their leaders do nothing about it. Chinese who were driven overseas in search of a better life may now be tempted to return to help themselves to the many opportunities hitherto unavailable. Small countries like Singapore are especially vulnerable. The region is catching up on us. We have been almost at a standstill for three years - no thanks to the Asian Financial crisis. If we do not change for the better, we will be doomed. So our leaders are now coming up with a plan to remodel and restructure the economy to help our people stay afloat and for as long as possible. The government is pumping money into the system in education, in infrastructure, in the living environment, in the arts, in sports, in promoting new businesses, in R&D, etc, to attract foreign capital and talents to ensure that we will always be ahead of our neighbours. Despite grumbled objections from those who felt that their own jobs may be threatened, the government is not stopping the inflow of talented manpower. Frankly, we owed it to the foreign owned companies here to provide the bulk of our jobs and new businesses, so it will be a disaster if foreign talent finds Singapore not an inviting or pleasant place to work and live in. In her earlier years, and even now, the United States welcome foreign immigrants and this policy pays off so well that she is far ahead of her competitors and the so-called mother country, Britain. So, when parents of Asian descent seem to be 'hard' on their children's education, it is not without a reason. If their children are able to pass the test, they will really have to thank their parents in their adulthood. A good education ensures that we can stand on our own, develop our interests, stir our creativity, make us mobile and be truly - the man of the world!
Hi JChen99 Thanks for your kind words and encouragement! How was your "selection" during the weekend? Did Badrad give you a hard time? Or were you ever involved at the 'try-out' at all? Cheers!
nah... Badrad didn't even show... and the drills... ei... if I weren't so outta shape they're nothing compared to wut I did back during the summer
Lol. Actually, you're right about that. Badminton has been taking up a little of my precious piano time. LOL.
