"It's the results that matter, not the method." That is the Singaporean way, with what better example than our tough exam-based educational system? For the past four months, I've been putting all my effort into learning and mastering the two Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) pieces we are playing, with only the goal of getting Gold with Honors in the SYF Central Judging. For those of you who do not know, I am in Hwa Chong Military Band and I play the flute. The SYF Central Judging for Bands have begun this Monday. Four days have passed, and now it is our turn.
From day one, all the blood, sweat and tears I have put into band has been for the sake of getting that prestigious Gold with Honors, and I do believe that we can get Gold with Honors. I'm not blowing my own trumpet here (ha ha, so funny), I really do feel that we can achieve that goal. Yet today, when my seniors gave us our 'prep talk', one of them said something that floats hauntingly in my mind.
He said,"The journey matters more than the goal. Of course, the goal is still important, but it is the journey that matters." This is indeed true. If at the end of the journey, the traveller has not changed for the better, then what was the point of the entire journey? Sometime during all the hard work that I have put into band, I have forgotten that. I have forgotten that I work so hard, sacrificed so many hours, practiced so many times, it is not just for that Gold with Honors. It is to become a better flute player, a better musician, and a better person in general. I have forgotten that music, like death, in one of the great universal unifiers. Music breaches all racial barriers, transcends all religious beliefs, and sweeps aside all our differences to bring us together as one. I have forgotten all those, but now I remember.
As I look back, to when I first picked up the flute, when I blew my first note, when I learnt my first major piece, when I first performed in front of an audience, when I first played in a concert, when I first started learning my SYF pieces, I realise that I have come a long way since all those 'firsts'. And I know that whatever the band gets tomorrow, I will have no regrets. No matter what we get, I will know that I have improved as a flute player, as a musician, and I will continue to sustain that growth for as long as I live. In this aspect of my life, at least, the journey matters more than the end point. Tomorrow, when I play those two pieces, I play it not for the Gold with Honors, but for myself. I play those pieces to express myself, my deepest thoughts. Music played from the bottoms of hearts will reach out to and touch bottoms of hearts. Four days have passed, and only three bands have gotten Gold with Honors. The bar has been raised, the challenge has been set, Gold with Honors no longer means just a notch above Gold, but we're ready. Let's do this...
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