Saturday, February 23, 2008

Stay Tuned for AJCAACO Website...

AJCAACO will be launching their official website before June 2008. With the help of Serene, Huiling and Zhiliang, a basic website has been created (however not yet published for public viewing).

The primary purpose of the website is to attract AJCO juniors to join Anderson Junior College Alumni Chinese Orchestra (AJCAACO) and update current members about recent news and events. A secondary purpose is to publicize that AJCAACO offers performing services to organizations during various festive occasions.

For anyone who surf this website, (s)he will first be greeted by a musical composition by our very own AJCAACO member, Mr Tan Kah Yong instead of other visual representations (simply because we are from a musical group where sound matters more than images).

Here are some screen shots of the website:




Hopefully with an additional website (on top of our blog), we are able to reach out to more members. Stay tuned for more updates.

@@@AJCAACO - We Have a Blog & Soon A Website@@@
***Liang Ah Lucas***

Thursday, February 21, 2008

A Toast to Performers of Rabobank CNY 'Performance'

"By the way, would just like to thank you and your
Alumni Orchestra for providing us with nice background
music for the past 2 days
... Really appreciate it!"

(Natalie, Rabobank International, Singapore Branch)

Congratulations to AJCAACO. We have succeeded in our first 'assignment'. Thank you all the performers for your participation. Despite many of you are new to the Rabobank repertoire, you all manage to create an excellent CNY atmosphere for the function. Thank you EXCO for your help in various aspects of the mini performance. Thank you Jianjie and Jianwei for taking over my roles in the first day of the performance. And of course, thank you Kian Hock for your wonderful photography skills.

Here is a photo journey from the rehearsal to the performance day:

It all started with an email in December 2007. Rabobank has decided to invite AJCAACO to their 2008 CNY function after a year of rest in 2007. (We have performed for Rabobank as early as 2003.) Every Wednesday was a stressful day for Mr AJCAACO President as he was worried about the progress of the practices.

He wondered what he can do to improve the situation despite everyone has already put in their best efforts. Time is running out!!! In a week or two, representatives from Rabobank will be coming down to AJC for inspection. However, seeing that everyone is enjoying their practices, Mr AJCAACO president felt comforted...



And we also have an army guy coming for practices. He must have gotten confused with playing his M16 in the day and cello in the evening and back to his M16 rifle at night on every Wednesday.

The happy group of performers after practice despite the D-day draws nearer and nearer... In the blink of an eye, it is the performance day...



Since a bulk of our performers are first timers for such performances, many of them were worried due to the unfamiliarity. Probably many of them were surprised by the formality of the function.

However, with the leadership of the very experienced Lim Kian Kiat (1st Batch AJCAACO President), many of them managed to calm their nerves.

Also, with good preparation done by Tat Kuan and Qi Ling, all the instruments and performers reached Sime Road safely without any hiccups.

Finally, the SLs managed to ensure things are run smoothly within their own sections.


The experienced individuals (See pictures above) like Chunming, Lilian, Erik, Siqiang, Zhongneng and Jianwei were so relaxed. Rabobank performance is just like eating rice everyday. With them around, things will definitely turn out fine. After settling down, everyone got into action at 7:30pm (See pictures below).



Finally, the first day ended with both the guests and performers smiling away. And one performer grinning away (See picture below).



Thank you everyone again. Thank you Rabobank for giving us the chance to perform for their yearly CNY function. I hope everybody enjoyed the experience and that all of you will come back to join us for more AJCAACO activities. Finally... Kian Hock, next year remember to take a picture of the BIG DOGS in the Rabobank GM's house!!! Haha!!!

@@@ AJCAACO - Rabobank CNY Function 2008 @@@
***Liang Ah Lucas***

Sunday, February 03, 2008

AJCO Logo...

While the Singapore Chinese Orchestra uses the treble clef to represent SCO, one talented artist of AJCO uses Zhongruan to represent AJCO. The alphabet S, C and O form the treble clef which is drawn using Chinese calligraphy brush strokes. The words on the left side of the treble clef showing "新加波华乐团" and "Singapore Chinese Orchestra" lies on the 5 musical bar lines. Interestingly, the nicely designed AJCO logo has a similar representation.


I must say this is a very creative piece of work done by a few of our AJCO juniors - Hui Quan, Jia Kai and Jing Wan. I must say... IT IS IMPRESSIVE!!! As opposed to SCO's logo that is represented by a western musical notation, the AJCO student chose the Chinese musical instrument Zhongruan formed by the alphabet A, J, C and O. Similarly, the presence of Chinese calligraphy style is evident in the design. Good work!!!


I hope that AJCO and AJCAACO members can relate ourselves to this logo in future. It is our visual identity on top of Kah Yong's composition - Euphony of Bonds Across Time - which is our aural identity.

@@@AJC(AAC)O - We Have Our Own Identity @@@
***Liang Ah Lucas***