Friday, 5 February 2010
TPJChoir
Personally, some things going on within TPJChoir are making me feel rather down. If you're a member of TPJChoir (especially if you're in the exco), do not take this post as a bitching or flaming post of libel. I'm only doing this because I feel that putting problems like this out in the open is easier for everyone else to handle and we all know we hate underlying hate and intentions that are never clear.I hope, dear reader, that you can read and comprehend this in an objective manner.
Also, don't take me wrong. I enjoy singing and I want to be able to enjoy singing.
Which is why this is bothering me so much.
You see, as of late, I have begun to feel a lack of care or concern for the choir and its inner workings. I feel that sectionals for the basses were becoming increasingly slow and ineffective not through any technical faults but more of problems that lay within the attitudes of some of the singers.
A few others and I feel that the section leaders (for basses at least) are getting rather egoistic with treating the singers like three-year-olds and not being able to accept most any form of constructive criticism or advice from people who actually learn music theory. The section members are also to be blamed for not caring and speaking up.
The only solution that I can think of here is for the leaders to realise, accept and reinvent their methods or choose others who can do a better job to be the leaders instead because the current leaders make the sectionals more of a waste of time than actually learning and perfecting songs. And this is a great cause of concern for some of the members.
Another problem I see would be that some of the admin leaders not explaining much and instead, just enforcing rules and opinions. They come up with a rule during committee meetings and when they relay it to the choir, it becomes a commandment that should not be questioned. Little effort is made to actually elaborate and explain to the rest of the choir why such rules have to be implemented and instead they just expect the rest of the choir to plainly accept such rules and regulations.
What I suggest is that the rules or ideas be calmly and rationally explained to the choir, so that everyone can understand the angle the committee is coming from and that too will help in letting the whole choir feel more connected and understood. Furthermore, when people turn up for the practices because they want to and not because they're forced, I feel that a lot more progress can be made.
The other problems are the many little problems that add and snowball to breed disdain and hate within the choir. Such problems will again be the attitudes of certain people and the lack of any willingness to come for practice in the first place.
All this results in my shift in priorities which in turn cause my actions to come off as slack and say that I don't like the choir. As a result, people may think of stripping me of my Logistics and Wardrobe Master positions.
All three of which I can agree with. I used to look forward to attending choir practices and loved the time spent there with my friends. That then made me want to help build, maintain and inspire a little community of TPJCians who have the passion for singing hence I tried for the position of President, which I didn't get. Instead I got Logistics and Wardrobe Master (and recently Publicity IC), which I was still cool with because I got to contribute to the choir I loved.
But with the choir in its current state now, and my feelings towards it as a result, I cannot blame anyone for thinking of me as one who doesn't like choir because I don't. Not in this state. And if there's someone more suited to hold my position in the choir, I'll gladly give it to them because the reason why I wanted to hold one in the first place was to help the choir. If someone can help it more than I can, I have no qualms about giving up my position.
It's not the same sociable, happy group that I used to know and love and when I compare that to some other CCAs whose sessions I have joined a couple of times, I just feel plain sad.
TPJChoir is not the sociable and happy group of love that I remember it to be and I find it to be a terrible waste. Which is why I felt compelled to post this in hopes that someone can read it objectively and perhaps cause us all to take action to better ourselves.
And if any J1s interested in joining choir read this, do not let this hinder your decision. My only advice to you is to ask yourself if you truly have the passion for singing that can carry you through problems like the above. Because if you don't, it'll just be sucky for you (as it is for me right now watching other CCAs actually having fun and succeeding) and also sucky for the choir. It's a lose-lose situation if such a thing happened.
That is why I did not sell illusions or lies about any CCA or subject combination; I do not want any of my juniors wasting their time on such trivial regrets.
,
Az
Posted by Az at 12:12 am
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