“Last year, together with 81 of my students, we as Malaysia won 2nd place at the World Association of Marching Show Bands (WAMSB) World Championship held in Taiwan.
It was the proudest moment of my life, as the Band Director for the Victoria Institution’s Cadet Corps Band (VICCB), which is the first marching band in Malaysia that started in 1909 – and the oldest in the whole of Southeast Asia.
I am proud of the team. We spent 6 months in preparation, training them to perform at their best. During band camp we spend 8 to 10 hours training, even during Ramadan (fasting month) we would practice after terawih until sahur.
Yes, after sembahyang terawih, from 10pm onwards we would practice until 5am in the morning.
The competition in Taiwan last year was held one month after Hari Raya Aidilfitri, so we didn’t have any time to bond. We had to practice, practice, practice. And they only had 2 weeks off for Raya holiday.
And I actually work full time as a software engineer, so as the band director I had to go and practice with them every weekend to make sure we are ready to compete on an international level.
To motivate them, I told them to do their best, to bring out their ‘A game’, and to not feel regret because we have already practiced and worked together as a team.
‘Don’t let down your teammate’, I would say. And managing 80 different boys from ages 13 to 17 with different behaviours and attitudes to work closely together is not an easy feat!
And in that competition, we broke our record, achieving a score of 91.63 (out of 100), considering that we had 9 judges from the US, Canada, the Netherlands, to name a few. We didn’t think we were able to get that score, and we did, Alhamdulillah.
And even though Taiwan won 1st place, many of our students cried, because we lost by 0.6 points! But I told them that they have done what they have been trained for, they have done all they can.
My dream is to always bring the best out of VI. And as the oldest marching band in Southeast Asia, there are a lot of traditions and standard to uphold so there’s a big shoe to fill.
It all started when I saw my older sister played the trumpet at Sekolah Sri Putri. Afterwards, when I joined Victoria’s Institution, I watched the band perform at Pesta Flora Dataran Merdeka, and was really fascinated. When I got the opportunity to get involved with the marching band during my student days – I picked up the trumpet.
Tapi, I think there’s a negative perception by Malaysians that marching bands aren’t exactly a ‘cool’ thing to do. It is also seen as a ‘Western thing’. And it takes a lot of time to practice.
We don’t just sit for a few hours and then perform. We invest a lot of hours in it, especially with us training outside under the hot sun, and many people don’t want to ‘berhitam’ their skin.
Right now, we’re struggling to get new members to join the band, as student enrolments are also down. And once the Form 5 students graduate, we have to start from scratch, looking for new students to train all over again. New year, new members, new problems. We have to start from 0, it’s quite a struggle for us.
I think you (students) should join a marching band; it is a very athletic activity, you need to have good coordination, memorization of the music notes, and have good body posture so as to march, drum, and to play the flag. Also each musical equipment requires a different skill set, and you should be trained for a minimum of 2 years.
Sometimes disciplining the students can be tough, and cash is lacking, as the instruments are very expensive – the tuba costs from RM20,000 to RM30,000. No sponsors, no band, and maintenance can be expensive as no matter how much we teach the students, the instruments will be damaged and unusable within 3-5 years.
As long as you are passionate about it you will always find time to do so. And the more you get involved, the more you perform, plus with the music and teamwork – the more you will be drawn to it.
And remember, the World Association of Marching Show Bands is the highest competition in the world. You, students, will have stories to tell, as you make the country proud.
If you have the opportunity to do something out of your comfort zone you should totally do it. Don’t be afraid to try everything.
And as long as my service is required by the school, I will continue as long as I can – continuing the tradition and the standards of Victoria Institution’s Cadet Corps Band is all I’ve ever wanted to do.”
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