14th April 2011

14th April 2011 marked a turning point in the history of PRSS Choir.

It was our big day. SYF 2011.

Everyone was up and early in school at 5.45 am. Put on make-ups, changed into costumes, and started warm-ups as well as some SYF pieces. Our SYF pieces were: The Wind (set piece), Soleram, Kasar Mie La Gaji. Enjoyed a light breakfast that included a slice of pandan cake from Bengawan Solo and honey supplied by our school canteen vendor. Shortly later, Mr Toh and the instructors (Miss Nabilah, Miss Cindy Chia, Mr Asaph Leh, Mr Marcus Choy) arrived. Ran through the SYF pieces again. Did some close-your-eyes-stuff to calm our minds. Then started on the second run of our SYF pieces. They were pretty decent, but we could still breakthrough it.

At around 8.15 or so, we left the school for SOTA. On the bus, we were not allowed to talk. Only allowed to do warm-ups, partial vocalisation, hissing, that sort of thing. Sat beside Lee Boon, and we used handsigns, writing-in-the-air or lip-read to communicate :)

Arrived at SOTA. Simple designs that beautified the school. I liked them. Anyway, we got registered. Continued with the hissing exercises and all that stuff. Took an escalator that looked like an air ventilator.

Arrived at the rehearsal room. We only had 10 minutes to do whatever we wanted. Sang a few warm-ups and moved on to the SYF pieces. We sounded good :) Felt pretty confident. After 10 minutes, we left the rehearsal room. Waited a while more before we entered the concert hall to perform for SYF.

This was the one and only moment that we have worked so hard for months, and we were determined not to screw it up. I would say that we sounded really awesome for The Wind and Soleram, but rushing through the last part of Kasar Mie La Gaji. I was really impressed, because we had never done it all so well during any of our rehearsals. Walked down the stage elegantly and watched Jurong West Secondary School perform.

Eventually, before we left SOTA, Mr Toh commented on our performance. He felt that it was really impressive, even though there were a couple of sharp/flat mistakes and rushing through Kasar. Other than that, we were good.

Personally, I thought of at least achieving a Silver award, which really shocked me when the results were released at 5.15pm. We got a GOLD award. We finally got what we longed for. All our efforts and sacrifices had paid off. :D The sense of achievement is definitely indescribable.

All in all, I would really like to thank PRSS Choir for leaving the graduating secondary 4s and 5s a memorable choir experience that ended off with a "bang!". The preparation for SYF was really tough and we had to make plenty of sacrifices, but we pulled through and soon, the next batch will be tasting the fruits of our labour, e.g. an overseas trip with the Choir. I am really proud of everyone in the Choir for making this possible, regardless if you were part of the SYF group. Although the graduating batch won't be able to join in on the "fruits", which is quite a waste, but I really would hope that the Choir continues to sustain with a Gold or even a Gold with Honours, under the guidance of Mr Toh. Finally, our utmost gratitude should go to our wonderful conductor, Mr Terrence Toh, and the instructors for their painstaking efforts and commitments to coach and improve the Choir.

Our Choir has definitely grown through many experiences, and hopefully, we can continue to soar to greater heights! :D