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Tuesday, November 17, 2009
I know I shouldn't be blogging, looking at the immense work that I have ahead of me. Not to mention other wonderful happenings that are worth this space like my father going for Hajj this year, or the MacRitchie outing last Sunday, Hilwan's bday, Shirah's wedding or me having a new crush over the girl who changed the Powerpoint slides during the Haflah.... but..  Yuna!! She's performing again in Singapore at The Arts House Chamber and guess when... 12 December 2009 - on my birthday~ how sweeeeeeet...... That would be a perfect birthday gift for me... (lol, I'm beginning to sound and blog like my ITE student again) On an after-thought, I actually hope that it would rain heavily on the 12 December especially at Siloso Beach so that Zouk Out will be canceled and send those loosely dressed people home. It is alarming to know how people can still go out to have a party in an uncivilized manner at the beach, the mixing of males & females scantily dressed with liquor and techno music playing would only invite danger. It is definitely a disturbing sight. If the world would end during the party and the scenario would be like as described in Surah Az-Zalzalah, with the earth shaken and man starts crying in distress. I could have imagine those going to Zouk Out, regretting every second - drowned in their own swimming costumes. I prefer a quieter, acoustic setting on the 12 December 2009... in an exclusive evening with Yuna who tries to make a difference in this world with her music. - remykm ___________________ When the earth is shaken to her (utmost) convulsion, And the earth throws up her burdens (from within), And man cries (distressed): 'What is the matter with her?' On that Day will she declare her tidings: For that thy Lord will have given her inspiration. On that Day will men proceed in companies sorted out, to be shown the deeds that they (had done). Then shall anyone who has done an atom's weight of good, see it! - The Earthquake: 1-8 Labels: musings Bookmark this article at 
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Saturday, November 07, 2009
I find that several of my ITE students have a lot of misconceptions about me. And I'm writing this explicitly so that they realise the truth. 1) I'm not flirty My students both males and females deserve a great amount of attention. If you look at their backgrounds, either they come from broken families or have parents who don't do their part much in nurturing their children. I play the role of a big brother. I'm concern about students who don't come to school for a long time and don't submit assignments. I'm concern about students who live their lives aimlessly - going to class and spending a lot of time on Facebook and not doing assignments, or going to Zouk at night and mixing around with party animals who drink and smoke. Technically, if I'm mean enough, I would have send this students off. Force them to quit ITE and go manage your own life. But noooo.. I'm a good guy. And patient too. I gave a lot of second chances. I made the effort to ask them how are they doing, whether they have any financial difficulties, emotional problems etc. I'm giving them the attention that they are missing in their lives. I'm NOT flirty. Period. 2) I don't scold people for nothing I talked to Ydee's mum during the Meet the Parents session yesterday 6 Nov - telling her that at times, I do scold her son because I wanted him to be disciplined and successful. Ydee's mum even encouraged me to scold Ydee if neccessary because she is concern too about her son. She talked about other people's negative perception of ITE students and how she thinks otherwise. She believes that ITE do produce successful students and a great platform for student's development. 3) I'm not a liar I know of a student who is angry of me (perhaps still angry with me). In life, sometimes the truth hurts. People need to have their faith rewarded. I'm concern about my students - I look at them like my own brothers and sisters. I love them. I've said this to a student: "Before you can learn to love someone, you must learn to hate him / her first." She misunderstood the message. Love is not just between a boy and girl. Love is a universal feeling. A mother loves her child. A friend loves her close buddy. A prophet loves his people. A teacher loves his student. Love is about caring for one another. Wanting him or her to have the best in life. Love is about NOT being selfish. Its about looking up for each other. Love is also about hate - but hating temporarily until one sees the true feeling. 4) I'm not racist I have a class where the majority is Malay, the Chinese students make up about one third and there is only one Indian student. I believe that I'm a Singaporean and I believe that God makes us different in our races so that we can learn about respecting each other & learning from one another. I admire my Chinese student from China, Wu Heng for being very, very respectful. Everytime he sees me, he would smile and greet me. He bought me a gift for teacher's day and he wasn't even a top student yet he is morally disciplined. 5) I do have a life I know of some students who behind my back, would speak something negative about me. And they tell their other friends, "Mr Remy is this...that...." And their friends (who are not even my students) start to get the wrong impression. And when they meet me, they show their false impression. The only reason why they talk to me is because I'm their teacher. I believe that our life is short and I believe that there is a God. Soon enough, the TRUTH would emerge and we will see the true colors. ___________ There are perhaps more misconceptions that my students have on me than what's being listed here. I hope one fine day, my students will start to see the light. I'm not a perfect person and they should know that they are not perfect too. We should learn to accept each other for who we are. - remykm . . . . . Labels: musings Bookmark this article at
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Monday, October 26, 2009
Behold~ This is going to be one of the most memorable picture of my life...  That dude on the left is me... and the one on the right is.. YUNA!! And she wrote this to me, behind one of my ticket stub:  Omg. She loves me. Period. I never thought we could meet up in person one day - alhmdlh. It happened on the 25th October 2009, 7 Zulkaedah 1430H. The same day my friend Fairus Bahari got married to Noorfazihan Kasim. The same day when Liverpool beat Man U 2-0. Well, it started when my good gig-goer friend Nur Hakim informed me of Yuna performing in Singapore for the Mocca 10th Anniversary concert. She was actually just an invited artiste performing alongside with local bands like The Sallys and Postbox. Yet - the main reason why I got the tickets was because I had wanted to see her performing a set of songs live upclose. I remymber travelling to Danga Bay, Johor with my parents and younger sis on the 31st May 2009 just to catch Yuna live @ a TV3 Jom Heboh concert. Me & my sis had to stay overnight at my grandmother's place in Johor that night. When we reached the place, we found ourselves 'drowned' in a huge crowd of Johorians and we watched Yuna performed from like 1,000 metres away with only 2 songs. This time round, thank god, despite the free-standing concept, I got to watch Yuna performed upclose not once but TWICE during the Mocca 10th Anniversary concert - both on 24th October and 25th October. I went with Ana and Ayu for the 24th Oct performance. I had initially wanted to pass the tickets to Efy (who was the one that introduce Yuna to me earlier this year) but could not find time even to do that. The performance was supposed to start around 6.30p.m but got delayed around 2hrs. Fortunately, I arrived late but came right in time after maghrib to catch the first opening act by Postbox.  For the 25th Oct performance, Hakim text me that he got a ticket but could not go, so he wanted to pass it to me. How sweeeet! msylh. So, after attending Fairus's walimah at Woodlands on a Sunday afternoon with Zo, Hilwan, Adi, Ruzaili, Sarah & partner, I went on a cab to DACC at Mjd Alkaff before getting onto another cab to Tanah Merah to collect the ticket from Hakim. I was late for the performance obviously but alhmdlh got there in time during Yuna's turn to perform and she was singing "Backpacking Around Europe". Yuna performed different set of songs on the two days during the performance. The only familiar ones that I know were "Rocket", "Blue Sands", "Deeper Conversation" and of course, "Dan Sebenarnya" which is actually a break-up song that Yuna wrote for her friend who was undergoing a painful time after breaking up with a lover. The song begins with "O Bulan.." which is an expression that one would say out, sighing and contemplating on things that happen while looking at the moon.  I also got to know that "Rocket", a B-side song liked by many was actually about Yuna's guitar - an instrument which she treasures a lot and she mentioned in the lyrics "...I can't believe we almost got famous for nothing baby.." Its how she got noticed by the world online and become famous after posting up her songs that she wrote on MySpace, perhaps.  The Singapore Arts Museum, I would say is a very convenient venue. The nearest MRT being City Hall or Dhoby Gaut depending on one's preference. Mjd Bencoolen is just a walk away and the streets are brightly litted with SMU and Raffles City around. The performance was staged on the second floor of the building which looked like a small chapel. The SAM museum itself was previously the former St. Joseph's Institution.  When the tudung clad Yuna performed in the chapel-like room, it appears gothic and a fusion of sermon-like ambience with a tinge of jazz flavour made the setting religiously funky.  The crowd for the 25th Oct performance was not as responsive or many as the one on the 24th. I grab the chance to went close to the stage (as it was free-standing). For the 24th Oct performance, Ayu managed to 'book' a spot very near to the left-side of the stage and we even got a chance to seat on the amplifiers. Yuna, Mocca and The Sallys were performing right infront of our faces.  Both 24th and 25th performances have their memorable moments. I got Yuna's lead guitarist, Pa'an to sign on my Epiphone Les Paul Goldtop when I saw him sitting down alone just outside the entrance on the first night performance. Pa'an is very big guy and he uses a simple Squire guitar with a lot of stickers on it. I also bum into a few members of The Sallys while in the Gents. Apparently at that time, I was holding a toothbrush to clean up my braced teeth in the toilet and The Sally's keyboardist offered me some toothpaste out of the blue! He also carries around a toothbrush and toothpaste. I also bum into Hafriz on the first night performance. (I already bum into him during the Hujan concert at RP earlier) I spotted Ahmad Khabab and Hannah Maria too during the concert.  Msylh, what a memorable weekend. Thank you, thank you so much for giving me this. Life's good. - remykm ________________ "..Cause even if they go away, I got the feeling that you're gonna stay.. It's like I'm picking up a miracle off the sidewalk.. Like kitten in the box, Don't contemplate yourself, you say.. Cause you're all you've got.." (Rocket) Labels: song Bookmark this article at
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Wednesday, October 21, 2009
 I gave the first Al Mesk Abyad to Hilwan and the second Al Mesk Abyad to Fidd the Oud to Imran the Bakhour to Mohksin the next Oud to Ishak the next Bakhour to Salim, or was it Oud and the last Oud to Faris Fong, or was it Bakhour Psyful got the last Al Mesk Abyad I picked the Blue Water because it was the only one ...and I realise I forget to give one to Adi. Attar perfumes are symbols of something sweet, poignant & transience. The temporal sweet smell leaves behind scented memories that one wish would stay on longer~ - remykm ___________________________ ..he asked, "so, is this the part where you'll say goodbye?" she replied, "its time for you to open your eyes & heart for another person". Labels: musings Bookmark this article at
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