Tag: #LO5

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Project Week

November 29th, 2019

Investigation:

At UWCSEA, we have a wonderful opportunity to go on a trip with others all by ourselves and planned all by ourselves throughout South East Asia in order to complete one or more of the CAS objectives. (maybe more)

For my project week, I am quite interested to do an activity, most likely hiking, but I would most like to do an environmental service, especially with my GC—Gili Eco Trust. This is because we need to maintain a relationship between the school and the NGO we are working with.

Initially, we had some mingle activities and introduction to what Project Week is. At first, it was difficult to find a group that had similar interests and groups that I could find myself working well with. However, almost to the last minute of the deadline, I found a group that I could work with and I have some hopes and worries. Fortunately, there are some people I know including one person from Solar for East and another a member of my GC (is the co-vice chair with me). They seem to be a group that will do work and won’t slack off. However, I am not so connected with them at the moment and I am worried because 4 of them are in a relationship and that could end in a disaster both for them as a relationship but also onto the rest of the group members. But hopefully, everything should be good. Our group are planning to go to Gili and with the GC and hike on Rinjani Dawn. So it that sense, it has really lived up to my hopes for project week.

December 5th, 2019

Preparation:

For our preparation, we have made a plan (and it got accepted) and contacted our supervisor. We are planning a schedule and draft email to the NGO among many things that need to be done. As of right now, our preparation is looking pretty good. In this group, I actually haven’t done a lot of work and it has been spread out, which is a positive and benefit in working in a group. Also, in this case, things are going much faster than if I were to do this individually and in this kind of project it is always better to be in a group assuming those group members not only work well with each other but are somewhat productive.

 

 

Right now, my only main concern with our plan is about hiking. I’m quite an adventurous person and don’t mind hard work so, if anything, I would like for the hike to be as challenging as it can be. Some of my group members are not as adventurous so we need to compromise a bit. So far, we have a provider that will help us, and I am a bit worried that they will provide us with too much, meaning that they will do all the cooking, carrying and setting up the tents. The only good thing would be that we are supporting mainly locals but for me, I would feel too privileged and lazy if this were to happen. So, my hope is that I can at least relieve the load on these providers and help them too.

#LO5

January 24th, 2020

Preparation:

So far in the planning process, we have done a lot, from contacting the NGO and action providers to picking hotels to plan flights to doing all the necessary requirements for medical information and lots more. A lot of forms have been stamped and signed as well.

The process has been quite hectic and there has been lots of planning that I never thought of when going on a trip albeit it is also an unusual trip with lots of hiking and working with service partners. But despite this, there is a lot of planning involved in this sort of trip, even for just a few days. I feel as though project week and the whole journey from planning to execution, is an amazing opportunity that will help me in future projects and really just planning and working together as a team. It is a very special and privileged opportunity and I am quite excited.

February 11th, 2020

Unfortunately, due to the 2019-nCoV situation or Coronavirus, the school has decided to cancel all overseas trips until August 2020. This was decided by the Singapore government in support of international crisis management. It is quite disappointing and it was a once a lifetime opportunity but one cannot get or do everything in their life, and I already have a very privileged life and so I perhaps shouldn’t complain. Although sure, it would be a great experience and I would love to embark on this exciting opportunity, the actual trip part was the only thing left we needed to do. We did a lot of planning and this is a great learning experience that I can use later on in life as planning and organisational skills that are similar to planning trips or just planning, in general, are essential to keep on top of things and in some ways reduce stress.
So Project Week will not be happening this year and hopefully, next year’s Grade 11s will be able to embark on this exciting opportunity.

 

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High School Urban Gardening (Propagation)

September, 12th, 2019

Investigation:

For parts of Grade 9 and 10, I was with the Urban Gardening service group and I really liked the experience, both because I was interested around the issue of the environment and because I liked the actual gardening part of it (it was a bit meditational). Unfortunately, I do not have the time to do the Urban Gardening service due to having other CAS experiences that cross over the time for that service, so I chose to do the parent service—Urban Gardening Propagation. However, this will be a slightly new service experience yet will still retain some elements of my previous service. I have some skills in gardening so I can develop and use these skills in this service. I hope that through this service, I can make some sort of difference at school in terms of the environment and gardening.

In today’s session, we just did a few Ice breakers to get to know each other as well as exploring the gardens at school. So today, was more about investigating what propagation is and what it involves in this service.

September, 26th, 2019

Preparation + Action:

In this session as well as the last session, is that we’ve been planning to give some seedlings and plants that we’ve grown from cuttings and seeds to some members of our communities that have asked for it and for grade 1 classes (where they will learn to grow their own plant). We’ve transplanted and propagated Thai basil, sweet basil, holy basil, parsley, peppers, and lots more. We’ve decided roles in each of our groups and the benefits of working in a group in gardening are that we get things done a lot faster when we work well. Below is some evidence of what we did in our sessions:

  

In these images, I have shown me planting and propagating some of these plants which includes the holy basil and sweet basil. I am also preparing the soil (the darker in the foreground has more nutrients and the behind where a member in my group is preparing with peat moss and pearlite which is good for propagating seeds).

#LO5

October 3rd, 2019

In this session, we made a video with Mr Erikson (A Spanish teacher here at school, is the head of the gardening services here and has a degree in horticulture) on the theory of propagation including propagating seeds and propagating cuttings from plants, a well as transplanting when the plants are big enough. As mentioned in a previous reflection, I can use some of my previous skills in gardening including that of transplanting and growing plants to propagating as well as learn new skills and develop those skills from it. In this theory session and in the process of making the video, I learned a lot about propagating plant including where one should take cuttings from so the stem cells will grow into roots and how to plant seeds. Some of this knowledge and skills, I had learnt before but others were unfamiliar and new to me, mainly the theory.

#LO1, #LO2

November 7th, 2019

During the last few session, we have been propagating a few new seeds and cuttings and mainly transplanting plans like chilli, aloe vera, dill, basil and other plants into bigger pots so they grow sturdier and larger.

Action:

November 28th, 2019

In the past few sessions, I have been continuing taking care of plants that we have propagated and in addition to that, I have been in charge along with another member of the service, to track the plants and seeds. Besides, we have made a few of our first deliveries to K1 students who have a unit on growing.

Although in a way, we are making an impact, I felt like by delivering these orders, was really the moment in which I felt that I have made a difference. And another project and client we are going to work with is from my friend’s service for an elderly home and we are planning to design a system in which the elderly can take care of plants which is good for both the planet and their mental health well being, which will be a great opportunity.

January, 23rd, 2020

For the past few weeks, we have been getting orders from various teachers, staff and grades. For instance, this week we have got orders from middle school about a few plants that we have propagated and that will be delivered after Chinese New Year. These plants include coriander, peas and lettuce.

Some plants have been successful such as the peas, watercress, dill and basil. While on the other hand, other plants such as lettuce, watermelon and other plants haven’t’ been as successful or have died. One really needs to get the conditions right and some plant that we have grown are not native to Singapore or the climate, so these plants are even harder to propagate and take care of.

This service has been quite relaxing and I think it may be because of the tranquil and almost zen-like experience of gardening. I feel like these sort of gardening environmental services are not only good for the planet or at least the school community, it helps also a lot with the mind and gives the mind to relax and not worry about any of the stressful environments and thoughts we mostly experience every day.

  

#LO4

February, 27th, 2020

We have got recruits and surprisingly my brother joined and it was actually a complete surprise but I guess we have common interests. Anyways, as a team-building exercise with the new Grade 9s and one FIB (Grade 10) last week, we grew together as a team and getting to know us better. The benefits of a fresh team are usually that they will work harder and listen more, however as time progresses, that productivity will get lower. However, I have a goal, along with the grade 11s to work harder and increase our collective productivity. Today we also had a little intro session into propagating, transplanting, planting and mixing soil for the new students. It was quite satisfying to teach and to realise we actually know a lot about horticulture and gardening.

With this new journey with the Jazz Band, which has rehearsals on Thursday after school at the same time as the service, there will be a clash. However, talking with both the supervisors and jazz conductor, we have come to an agreement that I will go to Jazz band every second week and perhaps a little less often if needed and during my frees and free time, I will plan the session and record any updates. I have free on Thursday morning so it will be perfect for that. Urban Gardening, as a reflection mid-way about, has been very meditational, fulfilling, relaxing and enjoyable. Of course, the environment is important to me and is a significant issue I think needs addressing, however, gardening is also quite relaxing after school and is quite meditational and relaxing. I am even having a lot of fun with the other students in the service so it really is an enjoyable time and something I look forward a lot. So with that good news, I will try to work harder to make more out of this amazing time I have with this service by building relationships with others and improving the sustainability at our school which makes me feel more valuable (and more valuable to life that I am doing something productive and helping others/nature even if it is quite small) I guess.

#LO4, #LO5

April 29th, 2020

SERVICE IN THE CIRCUIT BREAKER

During COVID-19, we are not able to reach our garden on the 6th floor, yet we are all trying to continue our learning progress at home. In the boarding house, the boarders in our group have collectively started a watering programme for all the green spaces at school to keep them healthy and alive during the circuit breaker. There is even a  herb garden where a couple of times a week, it is watered and weeds are removed. This is one way of continuing our learning and an act to keep our school and community green. Others from our service, including myself, are also working from their own gardens nursing the plants and experimenting with new species.

Examples of some of our gardens at home and the boarding house:

Mine:

      

 

We are all trying our best, and we encourage everyone else to do the same. Our service would under normal circumstances provide young plants but we also promote the benefits of being outside with nature which we should appreciate, especially in these times. A small pot in a sunny window is a starting point – use some seeds from the fruits and vegetables you have and try it out! We are all looking forward to returning to the garden and helping people again, but we are all trying to get the best out of the situation, and we would encourage everyone else to do so as well. 

#LO3, #LO4

 

Update on the garden:

I have learned a lot through gardening at home. For instance, the challenges of protecting seedlings from lots of water/rain, sunlight and other factors since they are so vulnerable. I think one has to take care of seedlings every day because one day they just might die and could have been prevented if one monitored them every day. In this environment, anything can happen but you get an amazing feeling when things grow really well. For instance, this week has been a rainy week and the mint looks amazing. So what I have learned is that mint and other herbs need a lot of water which I will make sure to do. But because of the rain, the snails arrive to munch on many of the herbs, especially the basil, which has been a bit of a problem. Also, by putting the papaya and banana into bigger pots, they are now growing extremely well and hopefully, we can get some fruits soon. There was one moment where the lemon tree produced more than 50 flowers but only two survived. Thankfully just today, I saw new flowers sprouting so perhaps more lemons will grow!

Beans grow really quickly and since they are sort of a vine plant, I have put a small bamboo stick so it can wrap itself around. Most of the other plants are still just small seedlings and it may take weeks until they will grow to a substantial size, making gardening also a patience exercise. I have noticed that plants do seem to grow a lot slower here than at school but that might be because the soil, pots and the irrigation system (I don’t have one at home) are of better quality and allow the plants to grow better and more quickly, despite myself having better access to the plants every day. So good tools are also important in gardening.

14th June 2020

In terms of the update of the garden, I’ve more lemons growing on the lemon tree and two are almost ripe so that’s great. The banana is growing as well as always. We got papaya but they died out really quickly and I think it was because there weren’t actually pollinated. All of the herbs are growing well including the mint, parsley and basil. I have eaten some of the lettuce and spinach that I am growing. They are difficult to grow as they have originated from Egypt and Persia modern-day Iran, so it is a different climate than here in Singapore. Anyways, I have got help from my Uncle who is an expert on plants on how to take care of tomatoes, and they are growing fantastically well. the beans, unfortunately, died out. My uncle said that the chilis need their soil to dry out but once in a while to be drenched in water. So I have done so with the chilis as they seemed to wither and they are still growing strong today. (add photographs later). What I will try to do is to grow more plants that are native to this region, not only to help the local ecosystem but these plants will most likely grow better than the plants suited for a European or western Asian climate that I am trying to grow.

In terms of the urban gardening propagation service, I am really disappointed that we couldn’t do much. As soon as the circuit breaker period began, almost nothing has happened in the service and a lot more could happen. I love urban gardening because of mainly two reasons. The first reasons are obvious, and that is that gardening is a really meditational and enjoyable way to in some ways albeit small to help the environment around me be growing own food instead of buying in stores where the air or freight miles have some carbon impact. Providing a small little ecosystem, if it is big enough, for a variety of species and provided it is big enough, may cool a building or the surroundings a bit. Also, it takes in carbon dioxide and gives fresh oxygen and cleans some the of pollutants in the air.

The second reason that I have noticed is that it has been really fun to work with others, especially when I find that I have common interests in gardening and other interests not even related to gardening or sustainability. I have made new friends and built existing relationships from being in Urban Gardening and working in groups hasn’t hindered much progress but rather made gardening more productive by bringing in different skills and help each other out. It has also made it very enjoyable. The benefits of collaboration have really helped me out in friendships and making gardening a lot more fun.

That’s why I was disappointed with the progress we have made. I missed the experience so much and not only did I think it was a great way to continue the service, which we were also asked to do by the service executive team but to connect with some of the people that I have found really fun to talk and work with. So within two weeks of the circuit breaker, I made a hangouts group with all of our members discussing what we could do such as weekly or occasionally google meets, growing our own garden and lots more. The response was great, as a few of us were interested and things seemed to go underway. Then it seemed as if nothing happened for a while but our adult supervisors than contacted us and for a while, we had weekly goals to complete like growing something new, eat something from the garden, take a picture of something interesting in the garden, share ideas or videos that could help with gardening and so on. I thought this was great, and it was for just a few weeks as we commented on each of our discoveries and updates and things seemed to be going great. However, not everyone contributed and after a short while, it died off. Of course, I can’t just bombard them with lots of activities and challenges to do or to get angry that there hasn’t been much progress. They might be busy with other things and don’t have the time to work on service.  But, next year, I might in some ways be able to continue the friendships I have built-in urban gardening. Now urban gardening has just plummeted and that really fun experience is now gone. I won’t be able to join the service next year I think so it has been very disappointing. I have liked my environmental services in the past, but urban gardening was the service I was always keen to partake in every Thursday afternoon. It was an amazing experience. However, we did do at least something productive, where we did attend a session on the service expo next year. Of course, not everything has been the most productive, but there have been elements of service despite covid.

Despite this, I have made progress in my garden but I have been worried about the minimal impact I am having on the environment. Of course, as I mentioned, there are many ways that gardening can help, but I feel like, at the small scale that I am doing, it doesn’t provide much help in the local or even global environmental issues and ecosystems. If a garden is big enough then yes it can contribute or if many around the community have their own small garden, that can also help. I am making some impact, for instance, I seem many grasshoppers (although I try to move them away from the lemons as they love them), dragonflies, bees, ants, snails, squirrels, bats and lots more that perhaps wouldn’t bee there without the plants and garden. But the impact I am having is very minimal. But ethically, it better to do something than nothing and the experience we have had in urban gardening has inspired many of us to focus on our own gardens that together have a much larger impact.

Urban gardening has been great, and I hope that the friendships, and learning that I have developed in this experience, can to be further developed outside the service and I will always remember the great times we had.

#LO4, #LO5, #LO6, #LO7

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High School Gili Eco Trust

September 10th, 2019

Investigation:

I have been with this GC (global concern, a group at school that works with an NGO) since Grade 8 and I am going to continue this service in Grade 11 and 12 aiming for a leadership role, which will most likely be vice-chair. As with many of the activities and services I am with, this has an environmental focus where we raise money for the Gili islands to help restore the coral reefs and taking care of the island through bio rock technology (a structure with an electric current that runs through it, that allows coral to grow on the cage-like structure), eco-tourism and waste management. (For more information visit their website).

Image 1

Image 2

Sources:

Image 1: Gili Eco Trust. (2012). En.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 10 September 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gili_Eco_Trust

Image 2: Gili Eco Trust. (2012). En.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 10 September 2019, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gili_Eco_Trust

Preparation: 

I used to be the media advisor, where I was working on our blog (link), but now I will be moving up to a leadership role. The leadership team from last year (now in Grade 12) will remain in leadership until Swimdonesia which is an event that will happen on the 11th of October. This is an event where we work together with tow other GCs, Surf Aid and Jakarta Street Kids,  to raise money for our respective Global Concerns. During Swimdonesia Gili Eco Trust we responsible for the managing of the obstacle course named “The Destroyer”, selling our merchandise and products throughout the event by the pool, and providing entertainment for the visitors. The Chair, Vice-chair and I have already had a meeting with the other GCs, reflecting back on what we did and preparing some ideas for Swimdonesia this year.

During this session today, we helped the new members by teaching them about what the GC is and what are major events are. We asked them to create presentations about what the GC is, what our events are, what are some solutions to the problem we are addressing and a bit about the Gili Eco Trust NGO.

———————————————————————————————–

Sep 24th

Preparation:

Carrying on from the last session, we discussed some of our roles, contributions and ideas for the Swimdonesia event in October. Our GC has the role as the games and in a sense, the carnival manager at the Swimdonesia event to attract more people than just swimmers. Last year, the use of the Destroyer was really effective but we want a bigger audience. The other two GCs are head of the food and drinks, and the actual Swim for Life contribution.

Our GC will be there to MC, sell our products and be head of the games. Below were a plan and map of what we might be doing.

We decided to of course have the Destroyer where we will have lifeguards around it. We have also decided to add an area for pool games where the guests (mainly children) play around with noodles, balls, frisbees and more. We’ve also got two games and a quiz where if you win, you get a free express pass (one time) to go cut the line (because last year the lines were long and to incentivise people to learn about our GC and come to the event). These games include the water gun game and a ring toss. We also have a quiz on our GC and the event.

#LO3

October 11th, 2019,

Action and Reflection:

Today, we had the Swimdonesia event and a lot of things happened. Some things were better than last years and previous events, and other things were not as good. Anyhow, it was still a great event. To reflect on this, I will use a SWOT Analysis or Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.

Strengths:

  • A lot of people showed up including a few middle and high schoolers which are quite unusual for such events as many students in this age range, mainly high schoolers, are not as willing to give up time to support a service event even if it involves something really fun like a giant obstacle course. Also, this was despite the quite short advertising period which I think was about two weeks.
  • A lot of young kids, mainly primary school, showed up to go on the destroyer and play in the water play area from, and there were still about 20 people who still wanted to go on the Destroyer (the obstacle course) at 7:30. So it was very popular. When we started the event, almost a hundred kids ran to wait in line and that was exciting to see
  • Our GC helped a bit in food stalls and we sold a lot of pizza and a few drinks as well as other food.
  • The Swim for Life went well as always.
  • Regular announcements as well as publicity on our cause and why we are hosting this event
  • Lifeguards and no one got seriously injured.
  • Quite a few people stayed back to help clean up.
  • Time was utilised effectively by cleaning up early

Weaknesses:

  • Almost no one came to our stall to buy our stuff and I don’t think we sold anything. Also, the only thing we could sell was Surf Mud (a zinc cream that is more sustainable than regular sunscreen). So from that perspective, we couldn’t help our GC or NGO (Gili Eco Trust), however, the sales from the tickets were really good.
  • Not everyone from our GC showed up or couldn’t make it (or perhaps skipped)
  • The lines were sometimes ridiculously long and it kept a lot of people waiting
  • The event was not targeted to parents, adults and older students (although some came)
  • Perhaps not everyone really understood the cause despite the announcements, which could be because of the Destroyer is a big part of the event
  • Although most of the Destroyer and stalls were set up, we were not as prepared as we could be, for instance, our banner was in the wrong place, it took a while for the event to start rolling and took a while to get the hose in place.
  • The entrance band would fall off in the water
  • A few issues in checking the wristband ticket as some parents just needed to pick up their children so a confusion there on who can pass.
  • We didn’t have that many opportunities to interview the swimmers because they were hesitant and they said no to us
  • The instruction for some roles was not clear-for instance people doing water safety didn’t really know what exactly to do in the water (or even where to start in the first place until asked a teacher) Additionally some roles were also assigned to people in our GC and another GC, communication was lacking in that there was an overlap of roles.
  • An excess of sugar for the candy floss machine – not estimating consumption well enough?
  • Switching roles-sometimes hard to find the next person after the 1-hour slot is finished
  • Wristband check seemed redundant because they were already checked by wristband sales

Opportunities:

  • There was good weather, lots of sun and no rain or thunder.
  • Despite the short advertising, it was effective enough to catch the attention of many people who came to the event.
  • Since the event was going on for a long time, most people could attend despite the activities they may have had after school as there would be at least some time on that Friday afternoon that they were able to come.
  • For food sales, collaborating with sustainable food distributors
  • Advertising to parents, using it as an opportunity to educate them on issues relevant to GET → spread it to the community through them
  • Communicate better with other GCs
  • Selling other products, finding other successes like Surf Mud
  • Starting advertising earlier so it is fresh in people’s minds at the beginning of the year
  • Perhaps the last meeting before the event can have all the relevant GCs meet together to clarify 
  • As an MC we are allowed to hype up the event and keep everyone’s energy going.
  • Merge the food ticket and entry ticket stall
  • Roles should be distributed to GC’s as early as possible, so that extra manpower can be calculated and games can be planned ahead of time with all variables in mind.

Threats:

  • Not everyone from our GC could attend and that could be because they were willing to, although a few came. The reason for this is that not everyone joins a GC because they are really passionate about the cause or want to help. Some people come because they have to or they think its a good idea, or their friends come. That is the consequence of having services so freely available at this school because there is almost a guarantee that not everyone will have enough care or will to do the extra or take part in events that we host. So that is quite a big threat meaning that we lose manpower at big events like this.
  • Some events happened on the same day as Swimdonesia such as Friday Night Lights and other sports events, as well as regular activities. Also, MUN (Model United Nations) had a conference on that day.
  • Only the near school community are allowed to join (due to Singapore regulations)
  • Unable to do all the activities we had hoped because of the short time frame.
  • Some disorganisation around sessions before the event (G10 and G11 3-way conferences causing confusion)
  • Need more merchandise to sell 
  • We had to work very long tiring hours, we stayed for the whole event which was a bit boring because we didn’t have much to do.
  • Didn’t communicate enough with other GCs – unorganised distribution of roles through time, as sometimes too many people (until 5) and then not enough (later on) – especially Water safety
  • The destroyer was the biggest attraction if it rains almost no one will show up.

In order to improve we need to:

  • Stricter rules and make sure everyone in our GC comes
  • Get of class earlier to help set up
  • Make sure we have more time to prepare, advertise and be ready for the event during the weeks leading up to it.
  • Have more time to prepare for other activities to cater for more people
  • Include activities and amenities that will attract a larger audience so more donations and proceedings going to our NGOs and cause.
  • Be more organised
  • Have a line system organised and more activities so the lines don’t have to be so long.

 

 

     

#LO3, #LO4

November 19th, 2019,

Demonstration:

Through Swimdonesia, I have learnt a few things and has evoked some important thoughts. Firstly, I have demonstrated as a committed member of the GC and I feel as though we organised the event really well, as there were not too many issues and we raised a lot of money. The biggest issue perhaps was that not everyone did attend and support with the event from our GC. The reason for this is that not everyone joins a GC because they are really passionate about the cause or want to help. Some people come because they have to or they think it’s a good idea (sometimes with intentions that being part of a GC looks good on a CV or resume), or their friends come. That is the consequence of having services so freely available at this school because there is almost a guarantee that not everyone will have enough care or will to do the extra or take part in events that we host. So that is quite a big threat meaning that we lose manpower at big events like this.

This does mean that even in our sessions, not everyone is involved and not everyone is involved productivity. In order to be productive, one has to either care for the issue or the work needed to be done (which could even just mean that you find it fun) or that you have a strong will. Unfortunately, this means that not all our GC members are there or can help as much as they can, however, that being said, it is always good to have more people helping out even if it is not that much, it can relieve the load. Or let them do menial tasks—just kidding. To be frank, there isn’t much I can really do about the situation other than hope that next year’s leadership is as productive and passionately as this year’s leadership. Although I am quite independent and usually like working alone as I find it both easier and quicker (as group work can involve people who don’t share the load with you or use you to do the work. Also decisions can take longer to finalise and sometimes, the work to be done takes longer), there are times when group work is beneficial. For instance, in design, working with other people is really important because you can bounce off of different people’s ideas and in turn make a better design.

This isn’t too different from this year’s leadership of which I am apart of. When you have people that you like working together and are as passionately and productive as you are, then working in a group is great and for me personally, it is quite relieving to take off the load sometimes. In addition, being vice-chair means that I’ll have to become more of a leader (which I am okay with but I do have difficulty talking or rather articulating my thoughts as spoken words, especially with people I am not as comfortable with or new with) which will be a new experience for me.

Our GC is there to both create awareness and to support our NGO (Gili Eco Trust) through fundraising. In the past and this year, our support has gone through events like Swimdonesia and Family Fest and raising awareness and selling products, where the profit goes to the NGO, as well as some minor ways we support the NGO. As you may have noticed if you’ve been reading some of my other posts, I am worried about the environment and in a way, strive to improve it. We’re taking action internationally in a different country to combat life underwater in the form of coral reefs and it’s an ecosystem as well as climate change and material waste on the island. There are many environmental issues but I feel like the biggest involves with energy—that causes climate change—our consumerism and related to that, the artificial nature of the materials we consume. Of course, there are other issues like soil erosion that have little to none correlation to energy or consumerism, and even if soil erosion is a critical issue, and it is, I feel as though our consumerism and climate change is really the biggest issues. In some ways, our consumerism is affecting climate change as plastics and other artificial products are made from oil which increases demand and therefore possibly both the degradation of the environment but even climate change as well.

That’s where a problem and the ethical issue lies in terms of the environment. Although our event is quite environmentally friendly through eco-friendly products that we sell to the reuse of glass to buy drinks in, and that we are supporting an NGO that has some significance although not large, to help environmental issues on the Gili Islands in Indonesia, we are sort of promoting consumerism, through the products that we sell. The best way to help the environment is not to buy eco-friendly products or recycle, but it is to reuse and repair those products. Product selling is not too big in Swimdonesia so we are focusing on Family Fair. So even if we are selling ethically produced products, it’s not the best solution. Yet we sort of has to raise money in order to support our GC. The environment is a complex issue and has many causes and effects and in my opinion, the environment is the biggest, most complex and most critical issue of all, if we are to survive and solve all other problems (which of course is impossible to solve all problems in the world).

Moreover, I also feel like awareness is no big issue here at this school because people are already very aware of environmental issues and the issues we are looking at to help even if it means that most people don’t have enough motivation or passion to help in a more significant way.

Furthermore, now I have become vice-chair of the GC along with another member of the GC. We’ve been working on goal setting, improving our portfolio/blog that I created and working towards finding new products to sell in Family Fair of next year.

#LO4, #LO5 #LO6, #LO7

January 21st, 2020

For the past few weeks, we have started to prepare for Family Festival in March, in which is a big bazaar and event at school where all the services try to raise money along with cultural exchanges through food and carnival-themed events mixed with outside small business to advertise their products or services. We have prepared by planning to make our stall more interactive through posters, presentations and videos. We have also been planning and preparing new products (of course as ethically produced and sustainably sourced and manufactured as possible) to sell at the Family Festival and future events. These products will help us raise more money and support our NGO on the Gili islands.

However, due to the coronavirus outbreak, Family Festival is cancelled. So we have been planning other ideas. Below is a brainstorm of some ideas.

 

Instead of planning for Family Festival, we might be planning something small for Ocean’s day and we have ideas to plan for some sort of sale of food to fundraise for our cause. It is a difficult tie as our regular schedule has been disrupted by the virus and we cannot have a group of more than forty people.

Furthermore, I have been in charge of the portfolio and making a variety of posts with a small team to comply with the service standards that we have been set and are targeting. This will be important for new recruits next and allows the school community to research into our GC and learn more about us. We will also improve our portfolio so it is more accessible to all and is easier to navigate.

Gili Eco Trust, although we perhaps make slower progress than my other services like Solar For East and Gardening, there are so many skills that I am learning that I haven’t been able to in other areas. Being on the leadership team, I have definitely progressed more in my communication skills as a leader and working with others to strive for a common goal. I haven’t been the best speaker nor the best leader, but through this service, I have at least improved on these skills which are important later on in terms of going into the working force as an adult and job interviews.

#LO1, #LO4

April 22nd, 2020

We are living in quite a unique time right now because of the COVID-19 situation and almost everyone around the world have had and are having similar experiences with COVID-19 such as working from home, school closures, lockdowns, social distancing and many other methods. In Singapore, we have had almost a complete lockdown where schools are shut down, non-essential business are closed, people working from home, mandatory mask-wearing outside and when outside, only for much-needed exercise and buying groceries. This, of course, will affect the organisation and our service in Gili Eco Trust but despite the Circuit Breaker (that is the name of the lockdown here in Singapore which was extended to June the first from May the 4th), we still do some of the work that we still can.

We will start to have some regular meetings online as we do for our classes and the Service Executive team at our school are going to collaborate with all other GCs and services with their portfolios and placing these portfolios in one place so the school community can find them easily and learn more about what we do. So far things are going well with our GC but of course, it will affect our ability to raise money and to support the NGO.

#LO3, #LO4

#LO1, #LO4

14 June 2020

Gili Eco Trust has taken a sort of a downturn as we haven’t been as productive as we haven’t achieved that much. However, we have recorded a presentation for the AGM or annual general meeting with the service exec team, made a few progress in contacting the NGO and justifying the environmental and ethical impacts of the products we might sell next year and so on. It is not like it has not been any progress but there are always more things to do.

Throughout the whole year, Gili Eco Trust has been for the most a great time and experience. A chance to do something for the environment at a larger and global scale than other services I partake in. We have fundraiser quite considerably though not as much as an average year, and we have had many successes in Swimdonesia and our portfolio. I will attend Gili eco trust meeting next year, but they’ll most likely be to hand off to new members in the service. Since I am considering a Gap year, great experience would be to help out the NGO in the Gili islands at some point so I am in some ways continuing that experience. Hopefully, things will turn out well in the service next year and our team right now will try to make most of it until the end of the year.

November 22nd, 2020

Now it is nearing the end of my time at Gili Eco Trust. Honestly, it has been quite an amazing time and has definitely been a helpful way for me to boost confidence in myself but also to further explore and develop, as well to take action, on the environment and my interest and passion for environmental sustainability. This is the service I have been with for most here at any time at this school. I definitely thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a great way to feel like I was making an impact not local but in some ways globally and locally in our school community.

However, there are things that I both wish I could have done and my worries about this sort fo service program. During university, my gap year most likely and definitely who I will be and what I will work with will have big ties and connections to some sort of environmental thinking and action. However, despite taking some action in this service, I don’t nearly feel like it was enough or that it contributes much to the society and world at large. Sure, we did raise quite a large sum of money and it has helped fund for bio rocks to build coral reefs, waste management schemes and aid to the local community in Gili after the Earthquake. However, there are definitely ways we as a service e could have been more productive and expanded our awareness and action. But the things is, of course, that is difficult especially with IB and the age that I am. I would have liked as my deepest desire to have taken a big impact in terms of the environment at this age but it doesn’t seem possible. This is because there is so much work that needs to be done in terms of school, relationships with friends, family and teachers as well as enjoying the life I have. I wish I could do more for the environment but for now, it seems that it has to suffice for small individual action and some slightly larger local and global action that may not be entirely so significant. Yes, I am part of a gardening service, solar installation service and this Gili GC among the individual action I have take and small campaigns I have done in Singapore with a few Swedish organisations like SwedCham and IKEA. I am not entirely convinced or content with my actions as I feel I could if I really tried, even though it is difficult here in Singapore, to reduce my waste to almost a minimum and take more environmental action.

Despite this, hopefully in the future, although if there is a future (but I am still optimistic despite Covid and lurking environmental issues especially Climate change), that who will be and my work/job will very much revolve around environmental sustainability.

#LO6, #LO7

 

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Rock Climbing

September 9th, 2019

Investigation:

I decided to go rock climbing (see full explanation in the CAS profile post) for a few reasons. I have climbed for a long time and was in this activity a part of grade 9. This is a sport or at least an activity that I find really enjoyable. Also, my brother, who climbs with me a lot, will be joining which will make the experience even more fun as we are quite experienced climbers and get along really well.

Preparation:

During this session, we had a coach for the day, were we just revisited some basic skills of climbing, bouldering and belaying. My brother and I have been to this particular gym before (located in Our Tampines New Town Hub) called The Rock School Climbing Gym. We have belay cards and since my brother and I have climbed for quite some time, our role in this activity could be to mentor and help others to improve their climbing ability. I, as a quite experienced climber, will challenge myself on new challenging routes including those of 6b and 6c as well as harder bouldering routes. If I have the time, learning to lead climbing may be a new skill I could learn.

#LO1

Here is my climbing above 

Here (above) was our warm-up area where we did a few pull-ups and other warm-up activities.

#LO1

September 30th, 2019

During this session, we’ve been preparing for a climbing competition on the 29th and 30th November, at Climb Central (a climbing gym in Singapore) hosted by Dover (the other UWCSEA campus)

In this Climbing Team Invitational, there will be three categories: Bouldering (climbing without a rope), top rope (including climb a high wall with rope and belaying) as well as speed climbing. We will compete for both individually and in collaboratively in our groups usually with a partner. In this session, I have been climbing with my brother for the top rope as we may be competing in the same age category (even if my brother is a little young) to improve our climbing together and being able to climb collaboratively together. In top rope, it is very important to have a good connection with the belayer (the one on the ground) and the climber to prevent any mistakes and to ensure a smooth climb. A belayer has to always be aware in case the climber falls or needs help with something. Also, the climber must have trust in the belayer so maintaining a good connection and relationship is important, especially when climbing on difficult climbs or in competitions. Besides, the benefit is that one can gain a good friendship and relationship.

Also, I have noticed that even if speed climbing is a new skill, I have noticed that I am pretty good at it. This may because I have climbed for such a long time so that unconsciously, I know where to put my hands and where to put my feet. However, there are new skills, which are extensions of some that I know, that are needed in speed climbing. One skill is more of a mindset—usually, when climbing, one looks both down and up to find a hole and really plan out, but for speed climbing that takes too much time. So when speed climbing, one has to look up all the time and only glance down at times. Another skill that is needed, that I and developing is the skill to jump rather than reach. By jumping up, one is covering more distance in a short amount of time, and it is a useful skill to have when speed climbing.

Bouldering can be quite difficult and it is a skill I have had for a long time. This is a skill I am always developing by challenging myself during each session as well as asking a question to instructors on how to complete a move. Bouldering involves many skills including strength, agility, balance, good articulation ( in that one uses good technique and placing foot and hands in a sophisticated manner) control and focus.

 

#LO1, LO2, LO5

November 18th, 2019

Unfortunately, I have fractured my wrist in skateboarding accident (despite wearing wrist guard and full protection) doing a big 180 frontside air. This will definitely impact my performance in rock climbing for a few weeks and since I cannot climb it may mean that I will not be able to climb in the competition. However, during the weeks and sessions before I fractured my wrist, I improved a lot on my speed climbing where now I can climb up an 8m climbing wall at an average of six seconds. and sometimes under six seconds. I’m also quite comfortable on 6b climbs and 6c are not too difficult. Besides, my bouldering skills have also improved quite a bit.

     

This is one of the walls and with top rope like these, 6C isn’t too difficult to climb as I can rest.
  

However, climbs like these, which are auto-belay, doesn’t allow me to rest so sometimes 6bs can be more challenging, due to more difficult holds

 

 

This is speed climbing and the key thing is not looking down and jumping as far as you can to reach the next hold. The helmets are a bit of a nuisance (but a must from the school due to safety issues) and would rather not have them but in some cases, especially real rock climbing outdoors, than it is a good idea to have one.

 

The bouldering has an unusual scale but in reality, every gym has its own rating and scale for bouldering. Bouldering is something challenging but a lot of fun. It requires a lot of strength and in some cases mental strength even if half the skin may be all that’s holding you. It requires also a lot of skill to know how to place one’s ha hands and feet to maximise strengths and steadiness in order to climb higher. As you can see, I am still injured, however, I won’t be able to compete in the climbing competition.

#LO1, LO2, LO5

November 30th, 2019

Action, Reflection, Demonstration:

The climbing competition was held over two days including a gala dinner. I attended both the gala dinner and the second day of the competition. I was very disappointed that I could compete because of my wrist injury. It looked like a really good competition with lots of activities and fun. The challenges including bouldering and top rope (my brother told me it was really tough and there were a lot of climbs), and there were also mini challenges including hang times, group speed relays, climbing with oven mittens, speed climbing, climbing with sticks and a few more. Some were a bit unusual but still sounded fun. Unlike most competitions, there were some group competitions instead of only individual climbs which were interesting.

I wish I could be there and compete to not only compete with and against others and compete in these peculiar challenges mentioned before, but also to grow as a climber and to find a connection with other climbers. My brother told me that he became good friends with other climbers from other schools and instead of being competitive, the competition was challenging yet inclusive.

However, hopefully, I will be able to compete next year.

  

My brother competing in one of the challenges.

 

IMG_1823

Here is also a video, and unfortunately, the person on the right is not me despite the similar hairstyle.

#LO4

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February 10th, 2019

Unfortunately, I am unable to participate in this activity anymore because of the New Coronavirus outbreak. The Singapore government and the school have put tight restrictions on activities outside of school like rock climbing, so I cannot participate more in this activity nor will I do Project Week. I wish I could climb more with the school but that won’t be happening any time soon.

Through this activity, I feel like I have been able to grow as a climber and building relationships with instructors and schoolmates. This activity has further pursued my interests in climbing as well as my brother’s relationships with his interest in climbing. It is a great benefit to climb with others as one challenges oneself, even more, when others around, perhaps to boost one’s ego, but even then, the support can drive one’s ability. I perhaps won’t have the chance to do more Rock Climbing at school as I am thinking of investing my time into other sports like Track and Field, Football (maybe) and CrossCountry. But I will try to compete in the next competition of which I great opportunity was missed. Although I haven’t progressed immensely as a climber, I still feel like my skills in collaborating with others and my spatial awareness and strength have in some way improved through climbing. I do a lot of sports that involve with the legs but not much with the arms, so it is good training with rock climbing so that I am exercising the whole body, and rock climbing is a very whole body thing. However, despite all the drama with the virus, I will continue climbing outside of school as it is a really fun activity and challenging.

#LO2, #LO5

Posted on

High School Symphony Orchestra

September 10th, 2019

Investigation:

I have been with the middle school and high school symphony orchestra, as a cellist, since grade 8 in UWC. I have also played the cello in the orchestra at my old school from grade 6 to 8. I really like to play the cello and really like to play as a group in an orchestra, where we play a range of pieces from classical to modern to scene (movie) music. I want to continue playing the cello but also have aims of possibly playing the double bass on some occasions as we are missing a double bassist in our orchestra. I have skills in both these instruments which I can develop through the orchestra and work with the orchestra to develop my music skills.

———————————————————————————————–

September 17th 2019

Preparation: 

In today’s session, we started looking and playing Sleigh Ride by Leroy Anderson which is a Christmas song which will be perfect for our Wavelengths concert in December. This is a string double bass part below which I will be playing which gives me a chance to try something new and jazzier with the double bass. This will be a new skill that I may be able to transfer to a possible chance at the Jazz band. In this session, we clarified our different roles as different musicians playing different instruments to practise at home and be able to play without sight-reading so we can improve as an ensemble, not as individual players.

#LO2

———————————————————————————————–September 27th, 2019

CAS Audio Conversation Reflection

———————————————————————————————–October 15th, 2019,

We’ve been working on a new piece which is Kashmir by Led Zepplin, which may seem unusual for an orchestra to play (as it is a rock song and not the more usual classical music piece) but it actually works. In this piece, I have to work around the rhythm and the notes are not too hard (I actually almost just play the D note in this piece) and listening to the other players. This will be a quite interesting piece to listen too and although I have a quite an easy part, it will still be fun to play this piece and something different as well.

November 26th, 2019,

Despite my skateboarding injury, I can still play, and it is getting better. We have been working on a new piece called Glow, and it is from Disney World of Colour Winters which will go nicely with our winter theme in the concert. This is a relatively easy piece despite being in B major (meaning lots of sharps so like black keys on a piano) and we are working with the choir in this piece. So it is a great learning opportunity to play music along with a choir which I actually haven’t done. It is both a new and familiar learning piece. The human voice is a special “instrument” so it is quite unfamiliar and new in that sense. So playing music to fit harmonically is a bit of a stretch, however, the same principle of listening to other players and one’s own in an orchestra is essentially the same thing. So that is a skill I am developing through the partnership with the choir in this piece, as shown below.

#LO2

December 18th 2019

Action:

Today I had my concert where I played the three pieces: Kashmir, Sleigh Ride and Glow. We had two dress rehearsal before the concert, one on Saturday last week and one on Tuesday of that week. From my point of view, the concert went really well, not only our performance but all the other performances including jazz band, Sonos (singers), marimba, samba and more. This year, the concert was quite unusual this year where instead of a traditional formal concert, there were a lot of unusual acts along with the music. For instance, the circus club performed with the middle school orchestra, there was salsa dancing in the jazz band, solo performances, and for the first time, we played along with singers in the string ensemble. Also, not to mention that the pieces we played in the orchestra were very untraditional, and not classical. We played a quite a jazzy Christmas piece and a rock piece along with drums, electric bass guitar and electric guitar. There were no classical pieces either.

 

More evidence (more?)

 

December 19th 2019

Reflection and Demonstration:

The concert went really well even if I made a few minor mistakes in playing, but luckily in an ensemble, it is barely noticeable. However, since the double bass is a relatively new instrument and I’m the only one, it does require me to really focus and the double bass is sort of like the rhythm and I guess engine of an ensemble so I have to keep it steady. Also, playing more vibratos and better bowing will be things I will be working towards next year and next year’s concert in March.

It has been really fun to work with the ensemble and the concert was both amazing and fun to perform in. By trusting that others in an ensemble will practice and have as much fun as you have, it can create a really exciting and great performance.

#LO1, #LO4, #LO5

February 13th, 2020

In the Symphony Orchestra, we have started two new pieces, of them is the Greatest Showman which we will play together with the Middle School Orchestra and the other a Brahms piece (the fourth symphony). His piece is from the Romantic classical period, so for a double bassist, the pieces may be difficult with difficult rhythms and melodic harmonies that are similar to a cello solo or violin melody. So this will be something to work on. In addition, we have tried playing a few theme songs from Lord of the Rings and the Firebird by Igor Stravinsky. These have been more sight-reading practices. I am not too bad a sight-reading, but when it is with difficult rhythms and high notes, especially on a relatively new instrument like the Double Bass, it will be challenging. However, I am committed and these are great practices, that can even help with other instruments I play like the piano. Despite this, I also think that being able to hear and interpret music is also important, and not just reading exactly what is on the page. Sort of like poetry, interpret the meaning or theme or idea that the poet is trying to convey.

Today, I have also been fortunate to practice with the Jazz band, on a piece called the Sunny Side of the Street. This is a relatively easy piece because it is a solo and there is a rigid form (of course I can add some improvisation). Also, instead of only giving the loos skeleton structure and having to create a bass line or walking bass line, I can follow the notes given as shown below similar to any other piece I play in the orchestra or Chamber Ensemble. So I guess it is an easy start however, I will working on a few bass solos and perhaps do some improvising but still largely keeping to the written notes on the sheet. This sort of music is meant to be exact and not laid back, pieces during this era usually kept at the same pace and with precision and tightness (not quick agitated ones but full and concise ones) on notes.

#LO4, #LO2, #LO1

14th June 2020

Almost nothing has happened in terms of orchestral music but I have continued my learning of the double bass and other instruments at home. For instance, instead of partaking in an ensemble with others, I did it myself through an app called Acapella. I have recorded many jazz pieces by playing the piano, double bass, guitar and since I have an electric piano, saxophone and drum kits sound as well. Even if I am not actually playing these instruments like the sax or drums or trumpets, or just brass and wind instruments in general, I have developed an appreciation and some knowledge in the ways they replayed in an ensemble. What I mean is that for an instant the sax usually plays the melody or improvises and solo, the drums provide the backbone of the piece and I have learnt a few jazz and R&B type beats and so on. I have played Green Onions, All of Me, In the Mood, Blue Bossa, Autumn Leaves and more. So this has been a fantastic experience to develop and improve on the strengths that I have in many areas of music and musical instruments.

I will certainly partake in the symphony orchestra next year, most likely playing the double bass but perhaps the cello in some cases. It has been a great chance to continue the orchestral journey I have had since middle school across two different schools. I absolutely love the experiences I have had and there are a few sentimental feelings in playing in the ensembles as I have played in them for so long and have always been enjoyable. I have improved my skills in new instruments and improved my listening skills as well. I will be grateful for the experiences I have had in the symphony orchestra.

#LO1, #LO4

22nd September 2020

I had my first orchestral session today as I was sick last week and I am quite excited about this piece. Like last year it has elements of jazz (The piece is neo-classical but has elements of jazz and 20th-century music styles). So the real difficulty I have had is switching from the thinking in the emphasis on beats 1 and 3 to 2 and 4. Sometimes it is really difficult to get that pattern but once it is set it becomes second nature. It is sort of like flying to another country and adapting to the new time zone, so I am switching my inner clock to another style. My aim in this year’s orchestral session is really to have fun, it is my last year here and I want to make most of it. I love playing music so orchestral pieces will be fun and hopefully, I can spread that joy in performances if that will be allowed of course due to Covid-19.

#LO1, #LO4

24th November 2020

We had a recording session of the piece above which was exciting and great. I made a few mistakes (with the rhythm) so I think that my goal for future pieces is to really work with the rhythm as that is often the most difficult part of a music piece for me. It is nearing the end of the year and we have just been practising a few Christmas music that we will record for the younger students at our school. Next year, we will start more classical pieces of music and although it is nearing the end, the symphony orchestra has truly been a great experience and I will miss playing with a big, talented group. I am also grateful that I have been able to challenge myself with the double bass. I hope that in the future, perhaps during my time in university, I will still be able to practice music and play in some sort of band or orchestra because it has really been a fascinating and exciting experience throughout my time here but also at other schools. I was quite fortunate in grade 6 in my old school because we all had to play an instrument and in the school orchestra. I realised how much I really enjoy playing music so I am really grateful for that experience at my old school.

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High School Chamber Ensemble (Includes ITP)

September 9th, 2019

Investigation:

I decided to join and audition for the High School Chamber Ensemble because of two things. One was that I was interested in it and wanted to try something new. The second reason was because of my hopes for joining the jazz band. Although I can already play a few instruments such as the cello and piano and could perhaps join the jazz band playing the piano (as I already can play really well and have played jazz pieces before), I wanted to join the jazz band playing a more interesting instrument. Last year I started playing the double bass and since I am a quick learner (due to my previous music experiences), I am already fit (and have been accepted) for the high school chamber ensemble. I do not have time for the Jazz band right now, or at least during their audition and rehearsal times so I have decided to start with this ensemble for hopes to be better at playing the double bass and possibly be able to join the jazz band on one fo their performances as a bassist (my orchestral conductor and organiser of the chamber ensemble plays the double bass and sometimes plays as a sub in for the jazz band (since there isn’t anyone playing the double bass at the moment except those playing the electric bass) which means that I could work with him to reach that goal).

Preparation: 

During today’s session, we introduced to each other and started on play two pieces, one a Beethoven piece and the other a Romanian folk dance. My role is to play the Double bass and to provide the rhythm and overall accompaniment to both pieces. Since the double bass is a relatively new instrument to me (although I am still able to play the pieces below), this will be a new experience for, as well as a new experience as I have never played in a chamber ensemble before. In order to develop this unfamiliar experience, I have prepared along with my conductor (who plays the double bass) to have ITP (Instrumental Teaching Program) to practice on the double bass. ITP is also a new experience of which I have not taken before.

In addition, I find it quite beneficial to work in an ensemble, especially with a double bass being a new instrument as I can listen to what the others are playing and maintain the same tempo and feel of the music. Since all of us are very good musicians, it was quick enough for all of us to start playing these pieces. However, it is a challenge to know what to listen for and being able to both collaborate and work together as musicians while still maintaining good articulation and style of one’s own instrument. So there is a bit of juggling with playing in an ensemble.

Below are the two pieces we have started working on:

 

#LO2
#LO5

———————————————————————————————–September 27th, 2019

CAS Audio Conversation Reflection

October 14th, 2019

I have had a few ITP lessons with my orchestral teacher who plays bass and I have played a few exercise pieces such as these below:

These are quite easy, but they are a good way to work on my articulation and bowing, as well as fingering, to be more prepared and confident when playing the difficult pieces in the ensembles I am in. Also, by being more confident in the playing I can focus on other techniques as a musician and will have an easier time at the following tempo and learning new pieces. I will be soon working on a bit of Jazz. In a way, this is quite vital for me to do this as the bass is still a relatively new instrument.

In the Chamber Ensemble, I have been continuing to work on the Romanian Folk Dance which bowing, articulation and rhythm are all quite difficult. This will be the areas I will be practising on.

November 4th, 2019

Today, I have been working on jazz including simple walking bass lines and walking blue’s lines. I have been doing some individual study in the walking bass lines and some of the jazz pieces (and even some rock pieces) that I play on the piano have similarities in the jazz I play on the double bass. Jazz is just a simple (sometimes complicated) skeletal structure in which musicians can improvise and play along. On the piano, when I improvise, it is all about following the chord structures or the main chord on the piano. For instance, when I play Green Onions (which is not jazz technically but has elements of it), I play around the F minor blues scale. When I play the double bass, I look at the chord that is currently being played and then play the notes in that scale. Sometimes I go up chromatically and sometimes I go up or down arpeggios and major notes in a scale. Also, by playing the double bass, I have been able to acquire more knowledge in jazz but also become more confused about what jazz really is.

Source: Louis Armstrong Quote. (2019). A-Z Quotes. Retrieved 5 November 2019, from https://www.azquotes.com/quote/10818

#LO2

January 13th, 2019

Today, My orchestra teacher and I noticed that my posture for holding the bass or rather when playing notes was off and possibly due to my wrist injury I created a new habit of playing wrong., so something that I will be working on for the next few weeks is developing my playing skills especially my hand posture and sustaining notes. After trying the correct posture I noticed that I came closer and closer to the bass and was not relaxed so it will take time.

This week we have been working on Capriol by peter warlock and And is a very famous and rememberable tune that I’m sure most people recognise. .We were going to play this in the orchestra a few years ago and at the time I was playing the cello but know I’m laying bass and although the parts are a bit easy and different it is still a fun place to play, but the downside is that there is a lot of rest and one where there are about 30 bars of rests, making me feel like the brass section of the orchestra, just kidding.

Unfortunately, I am unable to participate in this activity anymore because of the New Coronavirus outbreak. The Singapore government and the school have put tight restrictions on performances and events with many people. So the concert in school and the Esplanade concert will be cancelled. However, the Esplanade concert will be postponed to December.  Despite the bad news, we will have a relatively small performance in the Music Department for a few Middle and Junior school classes (they will rotate so not everyone at once) and we will play a few of the pieces in the symphony orchestra and perhaps the chamber music ensemble as well.

So far, both orchestra and chamber music has been going well. I have been able to keep up and balance with my demands from academics, yet still have intense but enjoyable sessions with the chamber music ensemble. We have even stayed after school for extra practices (usually after the orchestra because all of us lay in the orchestra. I am really glad that I pursued music as an after school activity here at UWC.

#LO1, #LO4

April 20th, 2020

We are living in quite a unique time right now because of the COVID-19 situation and almost everyone around the world have had and are having similar experiences with COVID-19 such as working from home, school closures, lockdowns, social distancing and many other methods. In Singapore, we have had almost a complete lockdown where schools are shut down, non-essential business are closed, people working from home, mandatory mask-wearing outside and when outside, only for much-needed exercise and buying groceries. This, of course, will affect the organisation and our service in Solar For East but despite the Circuit Breaker (that is the name of the lockdown here in Singapore which was extended to June the first from May the 4th), we still do some of the work that we still can.

We had a meeting online with Google Meet where we discussed a possible performance online where we each individually play a piece and then put it all together so it becomes like a real performance, and share this piece to the wider UWCSEA community. This is going to be lots of fun but also challenging because we are going to have to play the same tempo and the same tuning otherwise it can go horribly wrong. TO solve this, we will all tune to A 440 and have the same tempo (headphones on so with a metronome and not disturb the sound of the recording). The piece we will play will be the Romanian Folk dance by Bartok.

#LO4

14th June 2020

The only thing we managed to do in this circuit breaker period is an attempt to record a piece collectively but that went horribly wrong because we started around the beginning of the circuit breaker period to record this, and only a few of us including myself actually recorded our individual parts. This was disappointing that nothing really happened, but hopefully next year, we might have a concert and perform or practice new pieces.

In terms of the whole year, the chamber has been an amazing chance to practice a new instrument and moving to different genres of music like Jazz. One of my goals for this year was to expand my musical knowledge and that was defiantly met. I even learned a new instrument and I am grateful for the people who have helped me and the opportunity to grow in many of these ensembles. I am most certainly going to continue this journey next year and Chamber has absolutely been so amazing every practice session.

22nd September 2020

In this chamber ensemble this year, I hope to develop my skills in the double bass playing both modern classical and classical music to enhance my music skills. In addition, I hope to be more active in my notes on music sheets, I tend not to write a lot of notes and thus forget and don’t actively improve sometimes, so my aim this year is to actively take down notes on particular sections of music such as outlining a rhythm or circle an important dynamic marking or writing down fingerings and bowing and so on. This will not only help me practice but it will ultimately help be more active and contribute more to the ensemble as I am not racking my brain for a particular thing my instructor told me two weeks ago about a particular section in the music.

I have a study to look at which will help me a lot with the baroque (Bach) piece as there is a lot of sixteenth notes and scales which is quite difficult to play quickly and articulately on double bass. So that is something that I will work on.

Besides, the other two pieces are fairly manageable and the Despedida piece (a Filipino piece with marimba) isn’t particularly difficult but has an unusual and confusing rhythm because of all the key changes. But since the rhythm repeats itself, just getting it in the head at the start of the piece will make the playing of the music a lot easier. The switch between 6/8, 2/4 and 3/4 seems daunting in the beginning but after a while, it makes sense and isn’t all that difficult. It is just about getting that feel which I will be working on with this piece.

This is an exciting opportunity to play the double bass again and in a style and setting, I am very familiar with. But despite this, there is a lot to be learned especially with the Bach piece which is quite challenging.

   

#LO1, #LO2, #LO4

31st October 2020

Today we had a recording session of the 1929 piece (above image) at school which we will then send to the school community. We would have played this piece in the Wavelengths concert at school but of course due to Covid that will not happen. We might have a chance to play at the Esplanade concert hall in February but so far not likely. It was a great chance to play with others and hopefully share this piece with others. During the practising and actuating recording, it was really important to listen to others, breathing together and making eye contact with other players so that we are all on time and play harmoniously with others. It can be difficult to focus on others and oneself but with practice, it makes it easier. It is a lot of fun to play with others because it adds more richness to the music and it is a lot more fun to play with others than individually. Like there is a connection between music and people.

#LO4, #LO5

December 2020

Up to this point, we have been able to record the Marimba Concerto, the Price Quartet and the Bach Double despite the covid restrictions. It is nearing my end here with the Chamber Ensemble group and I have been ever so grateful for this experience, playing really challenging pieces with only strings and improving a lot on my bowing and playing higher notes on the double bass (new skill). The Bach double piece is a quick tempo and with lots of arpeggios and scales that can be difficult with the double bass, but I was able to overcome this challenge. I will continue playing for the chamber ensemble group next year and I will keep playing music and the double bass (as well as cello and piano) for the rest of my life. I have learned a lot as an ensemble and have made great friends as a result. This has honesty been a fantastic experience and a tremendous experience to share with the community the pieces we have been working on.

#LO2, #LO4