GERMANY!!!
the highlight of my year... what I've been sacrificing all my Sat (and Sun) aftns for... 2 Golds in Bremen. Woohoo! Hamburg was great shopping, the Harz towns were picturesque, and Berlin was so full of history and life. was so reluctant to come home... and crash back to reality. after waking up early to go back to work the next day, i was out sick for TWO (thanks to the flu that stu darling was nursing throughout the trip). slowly getting over it but remembering still gives me a high. just finished compiling all of our (me, Sam's, Gowri's and Justin's) photos - view some here. One of these days i'll get down to posting what we did there...
On a more significant note, i'm proud of helping to raising awareness abt the lack of funding for local arts groups... take that, NAC! and long live choir.
"In the run up to the Olympics Games in Athens, we are constantly seeing substantial media exposure to the Games itself and, of course, to the hardworking athletes who will be representing the nation. But unknown to many, Singapore is already an Olympics winner, although not in the sporting arena.
The competition in question is the 3rd Choir Olympics held in Bremen, Germany. In the world's biggest choral competition, with 83 participating countries, Singapore put up a good fight and emerged fourth, behind only to China, host Germany and South Africa. This is the best outing by any Singaporean contingent since the first Choir Olympics in Linz, Austria back in 2000.
Five choirs - Victoria Chorale, Victoria Junior College Choir, Hwa Chong Choir, National Junior College Choir and Tampines Primary School Children's Choir - returned with seven Golds and one Silver, behind China, Germany and South Africa in the medals tally. In addition, VJC Choir was placed first in the Mixed Choirs category, while Victoria Chorale came up runner-up in the Folklore A cappella category.
Yet, there was only a whimper in our local media over this achievement by local choir groups. As of now, there wasn't any note of congratulation from National Arts Council - and let's not even mention monetary rewards - for all the hard work put in by all the choirs.
True, the Choir Olympics may not have the advantage of having an illustrious history behind it, as compared to the sporting Olympics, but that should not discount the efforts from the five choirs that put Singapore at the peak of the international choral scene. Just as athletes put in time and effort to excel in competitions, so do choirs. Students have to fit in practice times in between studies and exams while working professionals have to sacrifice their weekends. And just as athletes need money for their training and competitions, choirs are often largely self-funded and have to raise money to compete in overseas tournaments. For example, the trip to Bremen took Victoria Chorale two years of fund-raising to materialise.
With the current emphasis on the sporting scene in Singapore, one can only hope that the initial blueprint to turn Singapore into an Arts Renaissance city has not been left to merely collect dust."
Ok tired of posting, it seems so anti-climax trying to recount everything now.
On a more significant note, i'm proud of helping to raising awareness abt the lack of funding for local arts groups... take that, NAC! and long live choir.
"In the run up to the Olympics Games in Athens, we are constantly seeing substantial media exposure to the Games itself and, of course, to the hardworking athletes who will be representing the nation. But unknown to many, Singapore is already an Olympics winner, although not in the sporting arena.
The competition in question is the 3rd Choir Olympics held in Bremen, Germany. In the world's biggest choral competition, with 83 participating countries, Singapore put up a good fight and emerged fourth, behind only to China, host Germany and South Africa. This is the best outing by any Singaporean contingent since the first Choir Olympics in Linz, Austria back in 2000.
Five choirs - Victoria Chorale, Victoria Junior College Choir, Hwa Chong Choir, National Junior College Choir and Tampines Primary School Children's Choir - returned with seven Golds and one Silver, behind China, Germany and South Africa in the medals tally. In addition, VJC Choir was placed first in the Mixed Choirs category, while Victoria Chorale came up runner-up in the Folklore A cappella category.
Yet, there was only a whimper in our local media over this achievement by local choir groups. As of now, there wasn't any note of congratulation from National Arts Council - and let's not even mention monetary rewards - for all the hard work put in by all the choirs.
True, the Choir Olympics may not have the advantage of having an illustrious history behind it, as compared to the sporting Olympics, but that should not discount the efforts from the five choirs that put Singapore at the peak of the international choral scene. Just as athletes put in time and effort to excel in competitions, so do choirs. Students have to fit in practice times in between studies and exams while working professionals have to sacrifice their weekends. And just as athletes need money for their training and competitions, choirs are often largely self-funded and have to raise money to compete in overseas tournaments. For example, the trip to Bremen took Victoria Chorale two years of fund-raising to materialise.
With the current emphasis on the sporting scene in Singapore, one can only hope that the initial blueprint to turn Singapore into an Arts Renaissance city has not been left to merely collect dust."
Ok tired of posting, it seems so anti-climax trying to recount everything now.
aethyrs made a splash at 10:33 pm
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