Yap Fangyi
Clarinetist
Drum Major
Ngee Ann Secondary School Symphonic Band
I believe our journey towards SYF Arts Presentation as a band had been a fulfilling and memorable one. Although it may not have been the most smooth-sailing, we’ve learnt to stick together as a band and realize how we can work better together.
When we first started preparing for our performance, not all of us knew what we wanted to achieve as a band and how we can do it. Not everyone in the band started out with a desire to achieve, but we believed that it was possible to commit to the band together as long as we still had the intention to do well.
Over time, we began to discover the importance of every band member’s commitment, and we learned to devote more of our own time and put in more effort into music-making. It has to start off with an individual’s willingness to learn and improve before we can achieve and make a difference together. Eventually, we understood what we are working towards, and this drove us to do more. Working towards giving our best shot for our performance had provided us with a common goal that brought us closer together as a band.
We’ve also learnt to re-evaluate our priorities and do our best in keeping up with all of them. With limited time in band practice sessions every week, we learned to make the most out of whatever little resources we had. We struggled to juggle between teaching our new Sec 1 band members and focusing our band practices on SYF preparation. This was because we did not have a junior band director for our Sec 1s, nor a lot of time. However, we understood the importance of giving whatever we could to our juniors so that we can progress together in the future as one band. Hence we learned to make sacrifices and work with whatever time constraints nonetheless.
Our band may also not have had the most performance opportunities to prepare ourselves for our on-stage experience during our performance, but I’m happy that we’re not afraid to step forth and do our best. We gave the best we could on stage during our performance, and that’s what matters most now.
I feel that we were only able to accomplish whatever we had with the unwavering support and love from our seniors and alumni. They were really the ones who pulled us closer to strive for musical and performance excellence with their dedication to the band. They never gave up on trying, even if it seemed that all their efforts went to waste as the outcomes were not shown then.
The truth is, their efforts really did impact the rest of the band and made us stronger together. If not for their care for the band and their passion to make NASSB better, we wouldn’t have been able to give what we had given. I look up to them and I hope we have make them proud.
Even with our seniors, we didn’t go on our SYF band journey alone. Our band director, Mr Goh has always been there for us, believing in us even when we may not believe in ourselves. That’s the most remarkable and biggest form of support we could receive, because without faith, we wouldn’t have a goal to work towards and we wouldn’t have a direction that we can move forward together. Without him, we won’t be NASSB because we just wouldn’t be enough to be called a band. Our band is grateful to have him for all his hard work and contributions to keep us together and help us advance. We hope we have made him proud too.
I think we are quite a privileged band to receive support and encouragement from many others which helped push us to greater heights. I hope we will continue to work hard and even harder so as to give our best yet again.
Through our practices together during this SYF journey, we had more opportunities to bond with one another and forge significant memories, which was fulfilling. I wish that our SYF journey in 2 years’ time will be an even more exciting and important experience.
I hope we continue to strive to embody our motto, ‘One band, one sound!