All in the Family

One of my favourite stories about my kids growing up is the report my son brought back from a kindergarten when we had just returned from the USA in 1995. He was about 5 years old and the report was concerning a test the teachers had conducted on him about his musical ability. The report said he showed "no musical ability".

Fast forward to 2007. You can see him doing the drum solo at the recent Butterworth Chung Ling High School Wind Orchestra Concert at the Dewan Sri Pinang (see video above captured with compact digital camera). But I thought they sounded better the last time they performed the song and I was right. The conductor zipped through the performance.

Brian is also the band's student conductor and its Chairman.

It was an "all in the family" affair that night. The eldest daughter, Vivian, who is starting her Vet course at UPM next week was one of the MCs. She was also the Band's chairman a few years ago and she played the drums too.

The youngest daughter, Jillian, is also following the 2 elders' footsteps. She's one of the drummers in the band too but also plays the synthesizer.




Ha, what's all in the family without the parents? My wife was there to "cut the ribbon" because we donated a bundle (a very small one compared the big donors) to help raise funds for the Band (66 students plus teachers) to go to the Jeju Island Summer Music Camp in South Korea in August 2007 at the invitation of the South Korean Government. Wow, I can tell you the PTA of this school is really loaded. They gave RM40,000 for this trip. And the Chief Minister gave RM10,000. Many well-wishes and businesses chipped in too. I think the Ministry of Culture gave a contribution too (like RM30,000). The whole trip will cost more than RM190,000. The South Korean government is sponsoring the accomodation and breakfast only. Hey, I am proud of this kids. They are working very hard as they are officially representing Malaysia.


OK, I know you were counting. Me? I was cameraman, mah. So, "all in the family" lor.