The Missing Page

This is for you lot, whose edition of the school magazine 2008 did not have the article on Choral Speaking. Oh wait, that's everyone's!

Ok. I just had to get that bit of sarcasm out of the way.

Seriously, ignorance really is bliss. I had absolutely no idea that the article I wrote got scrapped until this morning when I was flipping through past year magazines and came across the Choral Speaking article there. I forgot all about it. Now I can't believe I actually forgot all about it. And so silly me just had to wait until the school holidays before realizing it.

The choral speaking article has always been in the magazine dang it... Of all years they decide to cut it out, it had to be this year?? And without at least letting me know about it... -does the Fern derisive snort that some of you will recognize, especially Jess-

This bothers me because choral speaking was one of this year's happiest memories for me. I've always enjoyed reading past teams' achievements in the magazine and was looking forward to present an article of my own. Bleh. Now that article isn't going anywhere except this post, read by you patient people who have been putting up with my ranting for the past few paragraphs. Thanks, by the way. :-)

Article:

The words ‘choral speaking’ and ‘victory’ have always come together in the same sentence year after year for CGL choral speaking teams. Naturally, when our turn came to take on the competition this year, we felt tremendous desire, not to mention pressure, to uphold that great CGL legacy. Our team of 4 Arif girls braved the task and set off on a journey to try and defend our ‘champion’ spot in the Kelompok Level with our piece entitled, ‘Senses’.


We had so many practice sessions to the point that we could probably recite the entire script in our sleep. The Kelompok Level competition was held in the afternoon at SMK Heng Ee. Every team present performed to their very best that day. All our hard work and preparation for this day paid off as we performed flawlessly and captured the attention of the judges. As the results were being announced, our team basically formed a long chain of held hands and prayed as hard as we could. And, what do girls do when they hear great news? They scream, of course. And scream we did. We only gave the emcee the chance to announce up til SMK Convent- before we drowned out her voice with our cheers of happiness.


Now we were headed for State Level, where the competition would be much fiercer with heavy contenders like SMK Convent Bukit Mertajam and St. Georges’. There was no doubt that we threw our hearts into the performance and did the best we could do. Once again, when the results were announced, we held each other’s hands until all blood and heat drained from them. The teams were announced one by one for the consolation prizes and our heart rates increased for every team called. Finally, the top three positions were between us, St. Georges’ and Convent BM. The emcee’s words were purposely slow and torturous for all of us.


She announced St. Georges’ ‘Help! I’m A Teenager!’ as third place and our team started whispering hurried last minute prayers and mixed ‘Ohmigod’ and ‘Please... please... please...’ and so on. Alas, she announced our team next for second place and our faces fell in disappointment. Convent BM claimed top spot with their piece, ‘Sweet, Bitter 16’.


But it wasn’t over yet. The emcee announced there was one more prize to give away. ‘And the Best Conductor award goes to... Lee-


Cue the familiar screams of CGL girls again that successfully prevented the emcee from finishing her sentence. Thank goodness there weren’t any conductors other than myself who had the surname of ‘Lee’. It was truly a wonderful moment as I went up to collect the trophy amidst the cheers of my classmates. The cacophony was amazing. It was almost as if we actually won.


All in all, second place isn’t bad anyway. We managed to get this far, and we get to return back to school RM600.00 richer. Puan Gan, thanks for your never-ending support and advice. We really appreciate all you have done to help us. Also, thanks to Pn Lim Yen Lee and Ms Leong for being at the competition as well to provide moral support. And to all the other teachers, thank you so much for your advice, patience and allowing us to have your lessons to practice.


Truth be told, we really did win during this choral speaking competition. It didn’t have to be the certified, champion-of-the-state kind of victory. The fact is, through this competition, the bonds of friendship between us were strengthened tenfold. We helped and supported each other with complete sincerity whether during the happy or sad. We defined the meaning of teamwork and what it meant to have love for each other and love for our school. And that, is a victory in itself.


Ohmigoodness. I just realized I didn't get my prize money either. Good grief. XD