18岁狂想曲 - AJCO Heritage Exhibition

《18岁狂想曲》

那是何等的青春年少，我们用青春谱写生命的旋律。

欢腾的快板，我们一起敲奏喜悦。

悠扬的慢板，我们合奏绵绵情韵。

让一个个跳动的音符定格，纪念我们永远的18岁。

### 苏健伟 ###

The Exhibition Theme:

18岁狂想曲 is the theme of the AJCO Heritage Exhibition held on the 18th August 2007 in conjunction with the ReUnion Concert (Alumni Cultural Performance). Jianwei (13th batch Pipa Player) came up with this excellent theme for the exhibition. Reading this poetic depiction of the exhibition conjures up memorable moments we kept preciously in our hearts.

In August 18th 2007 (when we gathered to watch The Reunion), the alumni members of AJCO ranges from 30+ years old to 10+ years old. There are those born in the 1960s, 70s and 80s (the current AJCO JC1 juniors are born in 1990). However, one common element binds us together - We were all 18 when we shared our laughters, tears and sweat in AJCO. Thus, Jianwei came up with these beautiful words as the exhibition theme description.

The Artefacts:

The exhibition consists of a display of 'historical' artefacts. Upon seeing the ancient CO room desk, the lop-sided conductor stand, the 'splinter-ful' drum stick and the old music files, the 'older generation' AJCO peeps managed to recapture a plethora of AJCO memorable images (and sounds). The valuable 'antiques' face the danger to be deemed as rubbish by others. Last Friday, the school servant threw the old CO desk into the rubbish chute while a few of us went in search for it to retrieve it back.

Stories Behind the Antiques:

Desk from the former Chinese Orchestra Practice Studio
"Back in the days when the Chinese Orchestra practice studio was situated at level one, our conductor, Mr. Ng Seng Hong, used to sit behind this desk, drumming the edges of the desk with a drum stick, while the orchestra members play to its rhythm. After more than 10 years of repeated hitting, the edges of the desk are chipped and splintered. The chipped edges were repeatedly covered in masking tape to prevent people from getting hurt by splinters. Currently, the desk is enjoying its retirement at an obscure corner in the present CO practice studio".

Lopsided Conductor Music Stand and Broken Drum Stick:
"This conductor music stand has borne the weight of countless heavy conductor scores for more than 10 years. It has also withstood the ‘abuse’ of Mr. Ng and the various student conductors as they drum the rhythm on the conductor stand using the drum stick. Now, the music stand has problems standing straight and the drum stick is irrevocably fractured".

The Forgotten Music Files:
"The grey music files once stood proudly on the music stands of many SYF competitions. Now, the grayish out-of-fashion files lies neglected in the CO store room".

Some nice graffiti left by AJCO (Alumni) peeps
(8th batch - 24th batch):

(Top): The signatures of our friends from AJCO (Alumni)

(Top): One of the first few signatures. It is my beautiful signature. Yeah!!! However, 16th batch didn't manage to get a gold award for SYF... BOO BOO... So I didn't mention about SYF unlike those whose signatures are in the next picture.

(Top): Here are some signatures proudly drawn by Siqiang (13th Batch AJCO) and Peiling (20th Batch AJCO). 13th batch AJCO clinched the first gold award for AJCO while the 20th batch AJCO clinched a gold and went into the finals. See how proud they are.

(Top): The MOST "BEAUTIFULLEST" AGELESS 美女 - Miss Heng Lena. Now you should understand why AJCians are typically poor in English.

(Top): Ming Xiong and Shujie from the 8th AJCO. Gosh!!! That was ages ago. And there are Jenny and Diana's signatures as well (though not shown here).

(Top): Xiaoting and Sophia - our two new committed AJCAACO peeps =D A couple(d) signature from the 18th batch: Lilian and Chunming.

(Top)： Though Nigel left AJCO in year 1 and went to Ngee Ann Polytechnic, he is really helpful, responsible and committed to this concert and exhibition. I am really proud of him. You can see Guo Yong and Shuwei's signatures as well.


(Top): "Huiyi is spastic... Agree Agree We Agree..." This was one of the special cheers created to tease the 14th batch AJCO president - Huiyi.

(Top): And the best part of all is Mr Tan Kah Yong who vandalized the display board with his special signature (in conjunction with the Lunar 7th month). This explains why the first two rows of the auditorium weren't left empty during the concert as this charm has warded off spirits from entering the auditorium.

(Top): The Exhibition Team
2nd Row Left to Right: Nigel, Tat Kuan, Siew Hwa.
1st Row Left to Right: Jianwei, Lijia and Zhiliang.

*Nigel came down to help right after his exam paper (his exam not completed wor).
*Tat Kuan took a day off from his work and canceled his tuition to set up the exhibits.
*Lijia gave valuable ideas from her wealth of experience working in museums.
*Jianwei came up with the 'beautifullest' depiction of AJCO in a poetic fashion.
*Xiuhua, again, supported me in this project in EVERY WAYS.

Thank you all for the sacrifices you have made to make this exhibition a success!!! Apologies for any misunderstandings we had during the stressful preparation stage. =D


@@@ AJCAACO: We Are Proud of Our Heritage @@@
~Ah Liang~