Stamina in musical pursuits

Dear readers,
theokwek reveals his aforehand-hidden school identity with a flourish, and encourages us once again with words of sincerity and perseverance (Taonanites take note).
The Straight Times Editor

Past Friday, RI held its Annual Cross-Country Race, where the five houses – Hullett (of which I am a member), Buckley, Bayley, Moor and Morrison – would pit runner against runner in terms of athletic fitness and stamina.

I myself cannot claim to be an excellent runner, as since young, due to lack of physical training, I am severely lacking in this category.

The sun blazed down on the Reservoir, sending shockwaves of light bounding off the ripples and into our eyes, as the gravelly path encircling the lake drove pins and needles through worn shoes and into our feet. Secondary Ones had a ‘discounted’ 3.2 km walk, one kilometer shorter than that of the other levels. Though designed to be an easy track, it still proved a nemesis for many of us.

The jog started easily, and I paced myself against my classmates, but the unpredictabilities of crowd movement made our plans go awry. Soon we had all lost sight of each other, and before long both Start and Finish points were well and truly blotted out of sight by pulsating bodies.

Many have said that competition is about your spirit and stamina, and in this case neither held out for me. By the time we’d covered one kilometer, I was still jogging but some around me, from my own house as well as others, were already slowing to a walk. The thirst did nothing to help, and soon I too felt like grinding to a halt.

I am sad to say, it was start-stop, start-stop for me all the way till roughly the 2.8km mark. Not a very efficient method of running indeed, but one tended to feel like that when somebody else was leaning on your shoulder for strength and your feet felt like lead after a school day. As my internal engine threatened time and again to give up on me, various emotions shot through my head: envy at those who had taken French leave, whether I should stop to take a few photographs, whether any fortunate malingerers had escaped our predicament, so on and so forth.

Suddenly, a bend in the road brought me within sight of a waving yellow banner. Another fifty meters down the road told me that it was a banner of Bayley house, wielded by three enthusiastic Secondary 4 pupils who were standing like lighthouses in the heat of the day cheering their juniors on. Encouraging remarks were sent airborne all around me, as the boys greeted their housemates and pushed them on. Lucky them, I thought. Where are my seniors when I need them?

As I passed them, however, I was startled to hear a concerned voice calling out to me: “Hey, cheer up! Get a move on!” Lo and behold, it was the Sec 4 Bayley house cheerleader, waving me on. Puzzled, I wondered: Wasn’t this an interhouse event? Why are they cheering me on?

Then I realized that beyond the blanket of fun and activities that House events like this offer us, they tell of a bigger sense of unity – as a school. RI, to apply a cliché, was a ‘big family’, with all Rafflesians as brothers. But something else showed too – this unifying spirit was what gave rise to stamina and perseverance. Not athletic ability alone can uphold the strongest runner. He needs the bonds of friendship, trust and mutual encouragement to spur him on.

As I looked back, that waving yellow banner was the last straw that broke the stubborn donkey’s back of laziness as I dug my heels in and sprinted down the sunny path, a renewed vigor in my heart.

Being a musician, I tend to relate such experiences to my musical pursuits, and I must say I have gleaned much from the cross-country race. Music, too, though meant as an instrument of peace, is sometimes wrought with the woes of competition – skill against emotion, technique against melody – as earnest musicians battle it out in an arena of talents, not always in good sportsmanship.

Yet we must always remember that throughout our years of practice, failures and lessons learnt, music is never an easy route, and we need the understanding of fellow musicians to bear us through the rutty journey. Stamina is awarded to the sportsman by companionship, so it is among musicians. Only then can we truly enjoy the fruits of our endeavors, and rejoice in the world of music.