この世で一番美しい薔薇よ

My favorite song in KAMIJO's latest album, so of course I had to do a cover of it.
And I really couldn't wait to get it out, so here it is =D

On a random note, pink hair still suits me right?
Much better than the lolita wig that looked really cute until I wore it (T_T)
I really can't pull that off (i_i)

Message

And this is why I'll always keep on doing music.
Even if it's not paid, and the stress is high, and I have to kill brain-cells rearranging and counting rhythm to score it out, then practice,
it's worth it,
It's worth it.

Even without the message.
The message is a bonus though lol.

Today,
for the first time,
I heard the rearrangement in its full glory.
Not perfect, but we are almost there.
And I nearly got goosebumps.
The MIDI in Sibelius can't compare.

So awesome.

SG50 - Our Golden Jubilee

As I sat in the comfort of my home watching the live telecast of the National Day Parade,
the huge words that said 'MAJULAH SINGAPURA' or 'Onward Singapore' at the venue suddenly struck me.

It was this very same venue that we first celebrated our merger with Malaysia in 1963.
It was our safety net, to ensure that we would be able to survive, since we were so small and had no natural resources of our own to ensure our survival.
But 2 years later, in 1965, due to irreconcilable differences, we cut ourselves adrift and became an independent nation.

We wept.
We worried for our survival and safety.
People scorned and said that we wouldn't make it on our own.

Yet a year later, we held our very first National Day parade.
At the very same place we celebrated the merger 3 years back.

Fast forward 50 years, we gather once again at the very same Padang, this place of historical significance,
celebrating our Golden Jubilee and proudly declaring "MAJULAH SINGAPURA".

This year, there was no Mr Lee Kuan Yew to join us.
And honestly speaking, it somehow felt incomplete to not welcome him like we did every year. With a thunderous standing ovation.
And to see the ever-getting-more-frail Mr Lee Kuan Yew, despite having trouble walking and balancing, still stop to wave to the crowd with a beaming smile on his face. The pride he felt displayed for all to see.
It marred the entire parade slightly, but we as one people of Singapore beamed with pride in his place.

Today, we came together as one people, one nation, one Singapore to celebrate, take pride and glory in our nation's Golden Jubilee.
We have come thus far, and may we continue to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation.
Without our founding fathers, the responsibility now rests on us to march onward and not regress.

Happy 50th Birthday, Singapore.
Despite all our complaints and dissent (because let's face it. We're never content),
there's still no place like home.

6th anniversary

6 years.

Time has come one full circle.
You passed away on this day too. A Sunday.
I remember very clearly, as if my memory of that day froze in time.
I remember I was playing for worship,
and I only found out the next day.

I remember denying it for days,
I remember convincing myself you'd wake up.
I remember 3 years later, I was still wishing you'd wake up.

It's ironic that this year, of all years,
the day of my country's Golden Jubilee year should be this year.

Why this year?
Why not any other year?

6 years.
Carried along by the tide of time, I have reached the same point where I was 6 years back.
With the same conflicting emotions I feel every year on this day.

Would you get angry if I don't mourn for you today?
Would you call me selfish if I decided to commemorate my nation's Golden Jubilee instead?

This year I can't even feel the grief I carried in my heart the past 5 years without you.
I guess somehow I'm slowly letting you go.
I guess somehow I'm slowly forgetting you.

But there's one thing I'll never forget.
I'll never this day.
I'll never forget 9 August 2009, when you left us so suddenly.
And as long as I still remember, I'll always dedicate this day to writing to you.

I wish I could say, "I still can't forgive you for that, leaving like that without warning."
But what's done cannot be undone, there's nothing to forgive when we can't turn back the time.

Rest in peace.

With love.