Thanks, Teacher
Friday, March 7, 2008
With the keyboard at his command, Joshua is now working towards his Higher Music paper at "O" levels.
Joshua Ong was in Pri 5 when he showed an interest in music. Seeing that, his parents bought him a digital piano as his Christmas gift that year.
Since then, Joshua, who is now in Pasir Ris Crest Secondary School, has come a long way in music, offering Higher Music as an O-level subject and composing songs. Among Joshua’s works is a song that expresses his gratitude to his form teacher Mrs Grace Low, who has given him a lot of support and help.
As Joshua was undergoing intense preparations for his Performance Diploma when he was in Sec 3, his parents made a decision to take him out of school after Term 2 so he could better concentrate on his music. Required to repeat the level the following year was not easy for Joshua who had to join the class as a "repeat" student. Fortunately he had a good form teacher in Mrs Low, who understood how he felt and tried to fit him into the class.
Mrs Low took pains to explain to Joshua's classmates why he was repeating a year of study. She also helped Joshua to catch up on his other schoolwork and supported Joshua’s decision to offer Higher Music for his "O" levels. This subject extends the study of Music at the "O" level by providing musically talented and academically able students with the opportunity to focus on one additional area: an essay, performing or composing. As Pasir Ris Crest Secondary School is a Centre of Excellence for Music in the East Zone, Joshua, as well as the other music students in the school, enjoys convenient access to performing facilities and music resources.
Joshua is focusing on composition and is working on an ensemble piece. “It will probably be a piano duet,” he says. Describing Joshua as a "motivated" music performer and his achievements as "a result of hard work", Mrs Low remarks that Joshua has the discipline to stick to "a very rigorous practice schedule."
In addition, as Joshua could not sing well, Mrs Low helped to recommend other students from the school to sing his songs, so that Joshua could take part in competitions. “She is the first teacher who recognised my musical talent and recommended singers from my school to sing my songs,” remarks Joshua. He also credits Mrs Low with extraordinary understanding and help in balancing his interest in music with his overall studies.
In appreciation of Mrs Low’s encouragement and support, Joshua wrote a Mandarin song for a recent school competition as a special tribute to Mrs Low. It was fittingly titled “Thanks!”.
Click here to listen to “Our Homeland” - Joshua’s first song. Written when he was 12 years old for the 2005 National Day Song Writing Competition, the song saw Joshua walk away with the First Runner-up position.