Soracco - Events, expressions and sharing for Buddhist Fellowship and ALL friends

Soracco's supper after music practice

2008-02-12T01:23:00.000+08:00

During first week of CNY, The Rat Year 2008

2008-02-11T17:33:00.000+08:00

Passage of Time Restaged

2008-01-20T14:57:00.000+08:00

Raffles Hotel Jubilee Hall
24 -- 27 January 2008, 8 pm
Extra Matinee Show: 26 January 2008, 3 pm

Tickets at $28, $38 and $48
Book by email: bfellow at singnet.com.sg
or call (65) 6278 0900
www.buddhistfellowship.org

Click the poster for information on the cast and story!

Check out past production's photos and download the trailer and soundtracks here.

Majulah Singapura

2007-11-27T19:13:00.000+08:00

Mari kita rakyat Singapura
Sama-sama menuju bahagia
Cita-cita kita yang mulia
Berjaya Singapura

Marilah kita bersatu
Dengan semangat yang baru
Semua kita berseru
Majulah Singapura
Majulah Singapura

Marilah kita bersatu
Dengan semangat yang baru
Semua kita berseru
Majulah Singapura
Majulah Singapura

Translated
Come, fellow Singaporeans
Let us progress towards happiness together
May our noble aspiration bring
Singapore success

Come, let us unite
In a new spirit
Let our voices soar as one
Onward Singapore
Onward Singapore

Come, let us unite
In a new spirit
Let our voices soar as one
Onward Singapore
Onward Singapore

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2007-11-25T15:04:00.001+08:00

Had to remove the Tag Board because it has been abused :(((

Messages and memories from PASSAGE OF TIME

2007-05-22T14:22:00.000+08:00

18-20 May 2007, Jubilee Hall

Hi all, I heard u all did very well yesterday, I am so happy for all of u. Keep up the great work and have another day of fun, I wish I was here to enjoy the show. Any way have fun and enjoy yourselves tonight.

Cheers
Leon Theseira

* * *

Hey everyone, good luck for tonight! Anyone got a VCD recording of the show? I’d like to watch it when I get back :)

Happy Vesak to all!

Cheers,
Xueling

* * *

Hi Xueling & Leon,

Yes, the performance was taped so you won’t miss the action!

Personally, I thought it was the BEST Soracco we had so far too!! The acting crew was great!! The backstage support & lightings were Great too!! I think all these were complemented by the choice of the venue, Jubilee Hall @ Raffles Hotel of which everyone got to see the action on stage clearly and the sound system is good.

Xueling, I guess you have known by now that your songs of “The Incredible You”, “We are the Young Ones”, “Life can do more than You” were released in the {Opening the Door of Your Heart/Passage of Time} album. Among which, I like “The Incredible You” very much. It’s very uplifting!

Hope to see you back soon! (Along with some new composed songs? :’P)

:’) With Metta & Happiness,
JAG

*Last Night of Performance!! Let’s Give it ALL that We’ve Got!!! The GRAND FINALE...

* * *

Heh… :) ok… you make me wanna fly there and catch the show. Congrats on the good performance everyone!

I didn't know Leon is overseas also?

Yup Jag, Aug sent me and Su-May the songs.. (pirating :) LOL)… I'm having the songs on repeat now. I’m obsessed with Huiling's song… i like it! the lyrics are so touching. I’ve got one new song. Sorry, stressful semester, no time to write songs… the only one i can think of are lyrics like. "I go craaaaazy, when i look at my books."

By the way, which bookstores are selling the CD ah? My dad wanna go and buy.

With metta,
Xueling

* * *

Xueling, I’ve got your song Incredible You on repeat in my car as well (I don’t know which button to press for digital repeat so I keep manually having to press the song number haha). I was singing ‘Incredible You’ with the band during rehearsals yesterday too. Great song I love it man. Let’s continue to make great music in praise of the Dharma! Good luck for your exams!

Hui Ling

* * *

Hey guys, it was a FANTASTIC musical that we put up the last 3 nights. I had a really great experience putting up the show with such an excellent cast, band, and technical crew. You guys were simply amazing. I think it is the BEST show that we’ve put up in all 3 years and we got really rave reviews for this year. Auntie Koh, Mr Lim, all Mei Lyes of the 3 generations, I think we had great chemistry on stage. Love you all to bits!

Hui Ling

* * *

Fantastic show guys! All my friends that came said it was very good. Couldn’t believe that most of us are amateurs. The energy in everyone was just amazing. Every one of us was dedicated and passionate to put up an awesome show. Indeed impressive!

Actually, on the last show, I was down with stomach flu and wasn’t feeling too good but the moment the show starts, it’s like an injection of adrenaline that just cures everything.

Feeling much better today but not tip top yet.

See you guys soon...........

By the way, anyone interested to catch Dim Sum Dollies in July?

Alvin a.k.a. Mr LIM

* * *

Hey folks!

WELL DONE!!! We ran a great show the past 3 nights despite the scary pre-show glitches that threatened to mar our run. My folks and friends who came had praises for the show and for all those involved. They are amazed at how spontaneous we are in putting the whole thing together.

Thanks to everyone for believing in everyone. Thanks for teaching me how to be a better musician and musical director through this collaboration. Thanks Angie, Mal and Ai Ling for giving me the chance to experience this. I feel I’ve gained more before I started doing this show.

Thanks especially to our unsung heroes - Pei Chong, Brothers Ong and Fook, Kelvin, Jiashun, Rong Han, Xin Qiang, Jayson, Peter, Tusita, our sisters who took charge of the costumes, Eng Chin, Benny and his transport team, Sabrina and the brothers and sisters who manned the front desk, our ushers - you guys took care of all the nitty-gritty’s while we concentrated on delivering the show. Unfortunately I do not have everyone’s contacts so I hope in some way my thanks can get to them.

Thanks to iceball, Hui Ling and Vivy for inspiring me with your songs. Trust me the arrangements were inspired by the tunes and lyrics.

Thanks for the smashing celebration, the card and the mug: have had the good karma to spend another b’dae playing for u guys!

Last but not least: thanks for the friendship :-)

Cheers
Aug

PS Apologies as usual I don’t have everyone’s emails, apologies if I’ve missed out anyone from the thread.

* * *

Added the email list from Ai Lang’s past announcement here, so hope we’ve caught everyone now. (Or at least a few more than before.)

Echoing all who’ve spoken up... Thanks everyone for working on this show and making it a good memory. ^_^

Can also recall the blunders I made (coming late, bumped the headset, disappearing to backstage, sang the wrong lines, etc...) so let me also say sorry for the inconvenience caused. =D (so now I can get over it!)

...will upload photos once I get the time...

And finally let’s continue to rock!
*plug for Moonlight* *hint hint*
I’ll be out of town for a few months starting this weekend, but looking forward to work with you all again when I’m back!

^__^
~vy

* * *

Yabadabadoooo!!!
It’s always nice to see things from another perspective. From the audience’s seat, it was every bit as enjoyable.

You all did great again! Stunning cast, great showmanship, white flashing smiles, great sets, costumes, lighting transitions and of course the original soundtrack. Great to see happy new faces on the stage and soaking it up.

MMM, your debut as a staged doctor was outstanding. Now, did you really have a medical background or was it all staged?
Vivy, good to see you doing that solo! Nice use of stage space and didn’t notice anything wrong at all. Sorry to hear that u would be away.
Wenjie, behind every successful man, is a woman. Yours is Mdm Koh no doubt.
Alvin, gee, you really brought out that father figure in you. And all along I though you were just a bad boy character. ;)
Nick, great save, at the end with the mike when Dafy’s didn’t work.
Teoh Hui Lin, great start. Hope many more to come...
Choir, backstage guys, the rest of em, kudos...
The pros, i.e. Angie, Nick, Swee Lin, Daphne, Ben & Clara, August, Ai Ling, MMM, yet another masterpiece, as usual.
August, seems like we are watching u grow up all the while...

Would love to name everyone, but won’t not cos u guys aren’t special, but becos I’m extremely bz working...

All the 3 friends whom I brought to the show (for the first time) enjoyed it immensely, had a great time and nothing but praises.

Keep it up!

Wai Hong

* * *

Hi everyone

You guys and gals said it ALL below – the kudos, etc.

Thanks to everyone for putting in the time, effort, dedication and enthusiasm into the show. Two of my friends who came last night said it was very entertaining and yet was able to show how one can learn from lessons dealt in life. They said everyone was really professional in their roles, and they also loved the set (even though it’s just a simple one), costumes, music and singing.

They thought the baby scene was purposely staged that way and it was hilarious. Of course, I told them the baby swap (from real baby to doll) was not supposed to happen. Ha! Ha!

We’ll be doing the “Passage of Time” Finale, Keep It Simple (cast version – Alvin, Hui Ling & Wen Jie) and a couple of solo songs for Vesak Day, so please keep May 31 morning free. Also we’ll need one run-through before that day – probably on May 30 night? Will confirm rehearsal date and time later this week.

KEEP SMILING!

Metta
AL

* * *

Congratulations to Everyone for a Job Well Done!!!

To me, and I believe all, if not many, felt it too... is THE BEST Soracco we had so far!!!

I felt it since the first night when the audience were all so awesome too!!!
Not to mention the least responsive audience on Sunday was saved by Swee Lin’s professional quick wittedness in saying “since no one laugh at my jokes, I laugh myself lor... heh heh heh heh”.. The way she say it was so hilarious that Stacey and I couldn’t hold our laughters but laugh our hearts out together with the audience.. From that instant, they were all warmed up.. Mandy’s bunny teeth performances sent many who came left with stomach cramps too! Of cos the same applies for our multi-disciplinary talented octo-linguistic rapper, crossdresser, show(o)manship Wenjie - aka Auntie Koh, the Super Duper cross-dresser who has since this Play having identity crisis of his gender!!!!
Our Dr MM skilful reading off his lines from his “medical record file” acting was so well concealed by his serious tone of “I’m afraid she did not make it”!!! Nick’s First Love, Angie - This S’pore Iron Lady needs no guidance when it comes to acting any roles!! Next time, we should try asking her to take on a more challenging role.. Erm... a Prawn? And how can we forget Nick’s mistress, Lena Seah. She sure makes many guys’ head hardened with her stamping of feet at the close of the mistress scene, asking for a bungalow in Johor Bahru.
Alvin & Huiling for their roles of Mr & Mrs Lim singing “Keep it simple” alongside Auntie Koh (again!) that pushes the Play to a Height we have never scale. Kudos!!!!!! And of cos, Huiling’s composed songs of “This Too Will Pass” and “Letting Them Go” melted the hearts of many and all my friends who came love Huiling’s songs so much. Not forgetting our Nick’s & Hulin’s Best Male/Female award winning Oscar/Golden Globe/Golden Horse performances, of which their common contender is none other than Auntie Koh, vying for both awards!!!! (Note: Swee Lin over-qualified for this award & is hence automatically taken out from this category)

The beginning scenes of our “closer to 60 than 50” Gonggong Peter Choo & our 2 promising rising stars which kickstart the whole “Passage of Time” juz like how the Dharma Wheel was turned by Lord Buddha 2,500 years ago. Daphne in her role of mother delivering the Masterpiece, Opening the Door of Your Heart with such angelic voice in a devilish makeover! This teaches all of us a lesson of the old adage of “Not to judge a book by its cover”! Last but not least, the irritable Sister Four, Liyan who somehow “irritates” me more off-stage than on-stage by asking me several times how she acted every single night!!! Hahaa.. Ok, Kudos to her too for spicing up the scenes wif her jealousy sacarstic-ness!!!

All these acting would be empty without our Super Band Performaces led by our Music Shen aka God, August Lum & Dr Malcolm Mah with our Cool Dude Drummer Patrick Ang.. & our Choir (Ronghan, Jayson, Hady, Vivy (another Great solo-ist too!) Stacey, Christina, May and all acting crew) led by “Goldheart” Ailing, though some of us forgot to look at her.. at times?!.. Oops!!! Haha.. Fyi, August has his 3rd consecutive Birthday doing Soracco performances!!! I guess that’s how he wishes his many birthdays to come to be celebrated too!!!

Last last last but not least, the unsung heros/heroines who made “Passage of Time” all possible:

Make up artistes: Lena Seah (Hairstylist, David Gan No. 2), Chan-mali-chan May Wern (Make-over Princess) led by Beauty Lisa
Backstage: Ronghan, Jiashun, Dhamminda Thow, Le Khing, Yamin led by our Garung Backstage Manager, Peichong
Lighting crew: Calvin & Fook led by our Manhunt (aka “Meng Nan”) cum Volunteer Head Bro Ong
Reception/Sales: Siew Khim, Connia Sia, Elaine Chung, Irene, Ivy Koo, Verena Tan, Jas Ang led by Anne Foo & our Professional BF Manager, Eng Chin
Urshers: Bro Ho K H (van service too!!), Helen Quek, Peng Yock & Jan Dharmaputra Lim led by our Great Cook Helen Goo..

Thank you once again to everyone who made it all possible!!! Sadhu x 3!!!!!

(N.B. I sincerely apologises to anyone whom i have accidentally miss out in the crew above)

With Metta & Happiness,
Jayson Abhayo Goh (Jag)

* * *

I echo all the kudos and congrats to everyone for having done such a fantastic job! I could not have put them in better words.

The biggest compliment was to have been asked to restage the show . . . so ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, please mark your calendar that the new staging is most likely to be 7 - 9Dec at DBS Auditorium. Unfortunately, Esplanade and Drama Centre are fully booked in Dec else it would have been there!

Xue Ling and Su May - any chance you will be home then?

In case you are wondering why I had not “spoken” over the internet yesterday . . . well, after the celebration party in my house on Sunday, with some sleep, my morning job at 7am which my aching body protested leaving the bed, was to cook bacon and eggs for Ajahn Brahm… the rest of the day, I was half a zombie at work. Went to bed last night at 8:30pm and crashed out!

THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART, you have all been wonderful and the best people to grow up with, spiritually and otherwise.

Lets have fun on Vesak Day at 9am (new centre) doing the finale gig once again! This Sat is Moonlight; please come and keep the spirit alive . . . Wen Jie, please remember to send a blast out to the members on Moonlight.

Love
Angie

* * *

Ha ha! With your detailed and creative write up Jason, I believe you have passed the audition to be Soracco’s marketing and promotional manager! You start work this very minute! Thank you for all the positive feedback!

Congratulations Soracco on another successful musical! I must say I was riveted to all that was going on stage. On the final night I was so captivated by the acting that I actually forgot to play the bass on not one but a few occasions!

Great job everybody. Thank you all (on and off stage).

August, what can I say man.......YOU DA BEST!! I’m thoroughly impressed and mind you I’ve been noting and studying all that you have been playing and writing! Thank you for being an inspiration! :) But most of all thank you for all the effort that you’ve put in.

THANK YOU ALL FOR PUTTING THE DHARMA ON STAGE!!!

* * *

Hey everyone! Sorrry for this late shout out. I was very, very tired. I seem to always fall sick around Vesak Day and performances. There must be some kind of karmic link.

Anyway, everything's been said and done, but I'm gonna say it anyway: Great job everyone! It's been a real pleasure working with all of you (even though I'm always falling asleep or mucking around during rehearsals). Your dedication is very inspiring to a bum like me.

As for those of you who were overseas during this period, we'll see you when you get back. Don't worry, plenty more Soracco musicals to come, if I'm not wrong.

Much love everyone. May your lives be filled with great things, and mine with restful sleep.

Hugs,
Daph

2007-03-16T05:13:00.000+08:00

The Debut Album (DA) is moving along, we've had five minus ones inserted with vocal lines - which qualifies them as 'songs'.

The sessions so far:

Date??: Iceball - her compositions The Incredible You, Live Can Do More Than You and The Young Ones at HYPE Records (Singapore Idol judge Ken Lim's recording company)

29 Jan: Iceball - OTDOYH lead (OTDOYH is a duet backed by a vocal ensemble), at HYPE Records (Mike bro's studio not available that evening - it was a hasty arrangement because Iceball would be flying off to Melbourne in about two days after the planned session)

26 Feb: Su-May - OTDOYH lead (2nd part)

13 Mar: Hui Ling - Letting Them Go (lead)

14 Mar: Su-May and Vivy - alto parts for OTDOYH, Keep It Simple, The Power of Now, Ehipassiko and Live in the Present. They like the "du-du" part so much that we're considering bouncing out a copy without the lead singer, just "du-du" then "Keep it simple if you can..."

Okay lah, quite simple

We have the Vesak show coming up... STRESSSSS AAAAH!!!!!

Singing off,
Aug

Prata Memories

2007-03-14T01:00:00.000+08:00

Monday night, in preparation for our CD recording, some of us had a run-through in the Soracco room: Su May and Vivy for the alto part, Hui Ling and Ai Ling for the soprano part, and of course August the coordinator (certainly indispensable since had to learn the songs from him! =))

Practice plus chit-chat (plus lateness -- er, that was me...) took 3++ hours (me no sense of time, around that lah). As August put it, first relaxing rehearsal session after a while, considering recent last-minute Moonlight rehearsals... heh. Guess we all missed this kind of practice ya. ^_^ (Insert message from sponsor: please remember to turn up for practice this Saturday, folks! ^_^)

Anyway. It was then that we found out Su May would be leaving for London on Thursday, earlier than originally planned. Wah!!! We've wanted to hold a farewell session for her this Saturday actually, but obviously now cannot huh.

Well, no time for a proper farewell session, but after practice we decided to hang out a while more. Eng Chin joined us too, she'd been accompanying us (from the office =)) to lock up after we're done. (So sorry for the trouble ya..) Hui Ling needed to go home though. The rest of us who had more flexible (work) schedule then headed for kopi which Aug claimed he needed. (Someone needs to keep this guy from overworking and undersleeping!)

Yep, the above guy. (Actually he ended up taking tea. The waiter mistook the order and he was too kind to ask them to take it back. -_-) The photograph was taken by Su May. Purely by chance I happened to bring my camera with me that day. Lucky! Er, would be luckier if we'd remembered to take pictures inside the Soracco room (which we'll be leaving and missing soon...) or during daytime, but forgot ler, what to do. We made do with flash lor.

Of course must also have the photo of them two together to take to London! Now that I notice, there was an incidental arrow sign pointing to them eh. (Click on picture to view the larger size.) The lights in the distance were in such strategic positions too. *sparkle sparkle* (Just my past-midnight rambling.. ignore..)

And five bright smiles altogether. Don't be fooled by the empty table, we did indulge in a nice prata (and one mee) supper before that. For my part (Su May's and Eng Chin's too I suppose?), just found out that "almond susu" meant almond (?) cookie crumbs in milk. Quite yummy.

So that's the story. Su May had entrusted us the task of keeping this blog alive while she'd be away, hence my writing here. =)) We wish her an exciting future and a great time in the next stage of her life!

Moonlight - Love Actually

2007-02-11T00:32:00.000+08:00

New home for BF at new temple

2007-02-11T00:02:00.000+08:00

We went to the new BF home to have a sound check. We lugged equipments in two cars (Mal and Alvin's), set-up and blast for about 15 minutes. There were two inspectors with some oversized mobile phone-like sets to measure the decibels and loudness. There are plans to tear down two walls and build in sound-proof layers to avoid pissing our posh neighbours off. This will be our new home sometime in April 2007. It's at Pasir Panjang, behind Hooha.

This is the slope going up to the building. This is not the main temple, but rather the administrative building. We occupy the lot on the second floor.

Now do not be fooled by this slope that seems to run into the temple premises. Alvin and Mal drove up and promptly got stuck. We unloaded the equipment, then Alvin and Mal had to reverse down the slope. It was a precarious affair as the space between the red barrier and the wall is about the width of a bus, so our drivers were posed the challenge of maintaining their course and not getting their rearview mirrors struck anywhere.

Nobody is going to drive up that slope again!

The view from the roof - can see the port

Sound test. The walls are going to be knocked down, the place soundproofed. When the new place opens you'd probably not recognise this picture.

Those window overlook a condominium swimming pool...

Vocal Training Summaries 1&2 (8thFeb2007)

2007-02-09T15:50:00.000+08:00

1 Always breath using your diaphragm to the max such that your tummy bulges forward. Don't bother breathing with your chest....for now. So we don't want to see anybody's chest rise when they take a deep breath to sing!....for now.

2 Breath through your mouth and not your nose.....same as when you speak.

3 Stand straight with your chest facing forwards and upwards in a proud manner. Feet slightly apart with one foot a few inches in front of the other. RELAX entire head, face, neck, shoulders, back, limbs.

4 As you sing, make a conscious effort not to strain and tense any of your facial, head, neck and shoulder muscles, especially when you try to reach the higher notes.

5 Be aware of how your "Chest" voice feels like. This is your 'normal' singing voice for the lower to middle notes where the sound mainly comes from the chest with the vocal chords having a characteristic buzzing vibration. When you want to sing with your chest voice, mentally make a note to 'direct' the voice to come from the chest.

6 Be aware of how your "Head" voice sounds like. This is your falcetto voice for the high notes of your vocal range. Notice that it has a smoother feel with less of the vocal cord vibration/buzz as in the "Chest" voice. When you want to sing with your "Head" voice, mentally make a note to direct the voice to come from 'above' the 'head'.

7 The idea is to be able to gradually change from your "Chest" voice to your "Head" voice as you sing from low to high and from high to low. When you are very familiar with the way each voice feels like in your throat and larynx, you will be able to manipulate it such that the change is gradual. I think it is too complex to describe it in words. ha ha

8 Remember: As you sing downwards from your "Head"(Falcetto) voice towards the lower notes, switch back to your "Chest" voice at the appropriate pitch. Some of us continue to sing downwards using the "Head" voice and forgetting to switch back to the "Chest" voice. The result is a very weak tone.

9 Practicing with the lip thrill helps us to relax the facial and neck muscles so that we may focus better on the feeling of the Larynx and throat as we switch between the chest voice and the head voice. The idea is to be utterly familiar with the way to contract and relax your larynx's muscles so as to toggle back and forth smoothly between your "chest/normal" voice and your "head/falcetto" voice......I think. ha ha!

10 Sing an arpeggio upwards using a very nasal tone. When you reach the top note, change the nasal tone to a rounder deeper tone by dropping the larynx, opening your mouth slightly. Be familiar on the sensations in your throat as you change from a squeaky nasal tone to a deeper mellower tone. Start the arpeggio with an "nee nee nee nee" and on the top note, change the "nee" to a "neeeeeaaaaaaah....."

11 To correct 'tone deafness' or the inability to sing the correct pitch, practice singing and speaking outside of your comfort zone. Sing and speak(to yourself) in all the ranges....eg deep low voice to a high falcetto voice. When you have enough experience and practice singing in all the different high and low ranges, you will improve on your ability to sing any note accurately upon hearing it.

12 Practice singing the arpeggio upwards and downwards, starting from a low key and progressing stepwise upwards until you reach your maximum pitch. The notes to sing will be: upwards 1,3,5,1,3,5 downwards 4,2,7,5,4,2,1. In the Key of C major, the notes will be ... upwards ... C,E,G,C,E,G, ...downwards ... F,D,B,G,F,D,C.

13 Have no fear! Let go of your self consciousness if you want to be a singer or musician. Your self consciousness and shyness will be a big big obstacle to you ever improving. If you want your voice to sound rich and thick, then your skin has to be thick as cow hide. ha ha!

The above lessons by John Lee was summarised (and improvised) by Malcolm. Please suggest corrections and improvements. Thanks.

2nd session on Vocal training for Soracco members

2007-02-02T23:08:00.000+08:00

First one was fantastic. We learnt bubbling! Another session has been arrange for next Thursday, 8 Feb 2007, 8pm at BF.

Vocal training for Soracco members

2007-01-31T11:21:00.000+08:00

Hi All, Dick Lee’s brother, John, has agreed to give us our first trial vocal training session next Thursday, Feb 1 from 8pm-9.30pm at BF’s Soracco Room. As this course is sponsored by one of our BF members, it’s open only to Soracco members, so do come and take this opportunity to improve our singing. Hopefully, John will have time to give us more sessions after this trial session. Pls let me know if I’ve missed out anyone.
1) Alvin
2) Alex
3) Angie
4) August
5) Bee Yee
6) Christina
7) Daphne
8) Dhamminda
9) Geraldine
10) Hui Ling
11) Jake
12) Jessica
13) Karen
14) Lena
15) Malcolm
16) May
17) Nick
18) Ren Shang
19) Rong Han
20) Su-May
21) Tan
22) Tracy
23) Vivien
24) Vivy
25) Wai Hong
26) Wenjie
27) Xue Ling (Sorry, you had to miss it.)
28) Yi Lin
Metta, AL

Youth A Cappella Events

2006-07-17T18:32:00.000+08:00

For those who like a cappella, here are some events you might be interested in:

National A Cappella Championships 06 & Vocalapollooza
Thursday, 20 July 2006
6.30 - 9.30pm

A Cappella Youth Concert
Friday, 28 July 2006
7.30 - 9.30pm

Both at Esplanade Concourse. Free entry.

More details and related events at SHINE's site. I'm not affiliated, just found out from a friend who's participating. =)

Thank You For The Global Help

2006-06-22T15:01:00.000+08:00

Hope you all enjoyed your visit to Perth, esp theGlobal Conference. There were some hiccups while youwere there. On behalf of the BF, I seek yourforgiveness for the shortcomings. As non-professionaltour coordinators, the volunteers did the best theycould.Special Thanks to Magdalene for doing all the pre-trip coordination and Jerry for taking charge while in Perth. As they had volunteered their services whilehaving paid for their own tours, it was most noble ofthem to undertake the responsibilities. May you always be showered by the blessings of theTriple Gem!

With Metta
Angie Monksfield

Gay Buddhists - HeartLandSg

2006-06-19T11:25:00.000+08:00

Kelvin Wong, who co-runs HeartLandSg, Gay Buddhists Fellowship Singapore joined us recently at the 4th Global Conference for Buddhism. Check out Kelvin's brilliant expressions of the Perth trip and his post about 2 Soracco girls. Yakiti yak : )

4th Global Conference on Buddhism

2006-06-15T09:51:00.000+08:00

Xue Ling's expressions from her SnowBellsRing blog:

Wed Night - Changi Airport
I was a little apprehensive at the airport when I realized I was the only bf youth among the excited group of BF members going to perth for the global conference. Thank goodness fellow soraccorian SM was going along with me, but for the mmt, she was still MIA. I felt a lot better when Upul and his wife Ashanti came up to chit chat with me. I suddenly realized that I hardly knew most of th ppl I was gonna be traveling with.

Thurs - Perth Shopping
Day I
The chilly morning air hit me the moment I stepped out of Perth airport. SM brazenly wrapped an SIA blanket around her slacks. Amazing… braving the perth winter morning in burms and slippers.. :P and an SIA blankie.The bus took uz down to the city where we had a Macs breakie. We dumped our bags at the Goodearth hotel and then took off to habour town for some factory outlet shopping.

I think my brain was still woozy from the 5 hour overnight flight, so bleary eyed, I just watched SM go gaga over a mountain load of Bonds undies. Poor me, the plain, triumph –undie by the box- buying babe.

Subiaco We then took off to some other little place, apparently it’ was supposed to be some hippie area, but we only found a pristine place dotted with tourist shops and cafes. Nonetheless, we dived into a choc mousse cake. Yummo. Su-May and her Bonds Bonds Bonds and more Bonds! This was followed by More Bonds undie torture in target.. * slaps forehead* . wat have I done in my past life to deserve this.. LOL :P

We rounded up the day with dinner at Northbridge ( akin to Lygon st. in melb), devouring a whole large plate of fettucine and salad between uz piggies.

Fri - Monastery Visit
Day II
We got up bright and early to go to Bodhinyana Monastery. The Abbot of the monastery and our spiritual patron Ajahn Brahm was there to greet us at the gates. The monastery was spread over 240 acres of land. Little kutis dotted the sprawling land, constructed in such a way that they were out of sight from each other. Each one housed a single monk. There were also main buildings for partaking meals, giving ordination ceremonies, and housing visitors. We had the privilege of being taken around the grounds.

Ajahn Cattamalo showed us around and explained how he designed and built Ajahn Brahm’s meditation cave and the little reservoirs that dotted the landscape. Ajahn Brahm’s cave was indeed an amazing feat of engineering. There were air inlets for circulation and a sound proofed door. It took 2 years for the monks to build it. It was simply furnished with a small statue of Buddha, a few mats on the floor and a resident upside down hanging bat.

Most of the building in the monastry was done by the monks themselves. The buildings were simple but beautiful and there was an air of sereneness that enveloped the entire place. Before midday, we lined up to give Dana to the sangha. In my haste, I dropped a lump of rice on the ground instead of into Ajahn Brahm’s alms bowl. Embarrassed at wasting the lump of rice, I bent down to pick it up, but Ajahn Brahm stopped me. “ Leave it for the ants, “ he smiled. “ Be compassionate.”

When I came back half an hour later, I spotted a few green birds happily devouring the rice grains on the ground. After giving alms, we adjourned upstairs for a blessing. The monks of the monastery and the visiting sangha sat around us. “This is a rare opportunity during a blessing,” Ajahn Brahm smiled. “ You’re getting surround sound!” And it certainly was a blessing I shall not forget. As I closed my eyes and listened to the beautiful voices of the sangha chanting in harmony, it felt as though I was being cacooned in a place of utter calmness and loving kindness. Check out the picture and the number of orbs there. Reflection of light or devas? I have no idea.

1st Rehearsal
SM and I were supposed to meet the Bfyouths at Freemantle, but we reached Perth late and had to adjoin for a rehearsal of our performance at the convention center. So we went after the rehearsal. By the time we got there, it was 8 o’clock and we had just enough time for a quick walk about around the market place and rounded that up with pizza for dinner.

Saturday
Day III: (
ok here, the language is a little more formal, coz this is abstracted from wat I wrote for the BF newsletter)

The 4th Global conference on Buddhism was held at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre on the 10th and 11th of Jun 2006. The theme: Confronting the Controversies – to create a better world, sought to deal with a some of the many issues that Buddhists have to face in the modern world today.

As Ajahn Brahmavamso, the Abbot of Bodhinyana Monastary and spiritual advisor of the Buddhist fellowship, said in his opening speech, the convention was a rare chance to get everyone on the same stage to talk about issues that we normally feel uncomfortable about and to get different views from the various traditions of Buddhism, as well as wisdom from the speakers, both lay and Sangha.

Together, with an enthusiastic group of 88 Buddhist Fellowship (BF) members, I embarked on an intellectually-stimulating two-day marathon of talks and discussions. The convention was opened by Mr Kim Collard, a well respected Nyoongar Aborginal, who gave a stirring traditional welcome to the guests. We were also addressed by Dr. Geoff Gallop, the former premier of Western Australia. There were a total of six subthemes, which was addressed by a panel of speakers, both lay and sangha.

The speeches were than followed by a discussion between the audience and the speakers.With the recent onslaught of terrorist activities of fundamentalists that have besieged our modern world, the convention sought to shed light on Buddhism’s response to fundamentalism. The Buddha described extremism as an unskilled view that obstructed dialogue, communication, knowledge and respect.

Venerable Heng Sure reminded us that promoting intra-faith Buddhism was just as important as having inter-faith understanding and dialogues, in order to forge greater understanding and prevent extremism, which was a conflict between logic and modernization with the absolute, revealed truth. Dr. Geoff Gallop also spoke about fundamentalism from the perspective of a politician.

Buddha – the peace guy
a truck driver in America who initially wanted to run Ven. Heng Sure over with his truck and turn him into a Buddhist monk hamburger when he spotted them on his driveway. But upon hearing they were Buddhist monks… “Buddhist monks? Oh …..Buddha, Yeah! He’s the peace guy! Go right on.. I ‘ve got nothing against Buddhist people” Ven. Heng Sure managed to complete his 3 step one bow pilgramage safely...

“In the future, Buddhist will be known as the ones who never fight. They don’t let themselves get carelessly angry.”

The next sub-theme looked at issue of the women’s role in Buddhism. There are long standing controversies involving women in Buddhism. A few include the issue that women could not become enlightened, and that the inclusion of women into the Sangha would reduce the period that the Buddha’s teachings survived in this universe.

Bikkhuni Dhammananda shared with us her experience of becoming the first Thai woman to be fully ordained in the Theravada tradition. She spoke up about the difficulties Bikkhunis in Thailand faced in gaining support and acknowledgement due to the rigid hierarchy that was already in place. Venerable Dr. Yi Fa reminded the audience that women were often praised in the Buddhist sutras, and many played pivotal roles in helping sentient beings.

Dr. Karma Lekshe Tsomo spoke of the need for access of women to ordination, education and leadership roles. If Buddhism were to be used as a model for social changes in the world, she remarked, we had to whip our own house into shape by giving women the opportunities they needed.

I’ve always grabbled with the part why Buddha actually said that his teachings would last a shorter length of time with the introduction of ladies into the sangha. Apparently, the style of that passage is very different from the rest and may hint that it was written by someone else instead of being cited by the Buddha.

Secret Sharing
I spotted Ajahn Brahm talking to SM and so popped by. Ajahn Brahm suddenly grinned and said to us “ Hey, let me tell you a little secret… I invited the gay and lesbian choir perform after the sub-theme on women’s role in Buddhism. You know , coz we’re always talking about all these gender issues, but we miss out those in betweens… “ :P Ajahn Brahm, he really knows how to open the door of his heart to everybody.

Gays and Lesbians Choir WA
Ajahn Brahm sprang a surpise by on the audience by extending an invitation to the Gay and Lesbian choir to perform at the event. He reminded us that while we tackled the controversies surrounding issues of the female gender, we should not forget about the non-heterosexual people who also needed our acceptance and support. The choir dazzled us with their cheerful repatoire and beautiful voices.

SM and I sat with our mouths wide open. Stress… they were soooo gooood! Hard act to fellow.. Stress… “ Ok,” SM told me. “ we’d better practise tonight.

“The first day of the convention closed with the sub-theme: The future of Buddhism – lay or sangha? It was discussed that each group of the four fold assembly were essential. And that it was not a question of the clothes we wore - lay clothes or the robes of the sangha, but how we applied our selves and the quality of our practice of Buddhism.

There was a very very cute novice monk.. awwww. SM couldn't resist trying to pinch his cheeks.. oh the kid was probably around 8 i think. heh.. in caseyou were wondering.

Dinner at North Bridge Again
We ended up running after the bus with Angie and Ailing. It nearly left w/o us! There were a bunch of Tibetian Buddhist monks there who had rather unusual practices. We spotted them walking back from the convention. Some people joked a little about their unusual practise. I felt rather sad for the monks. No doubt their rituals were unsual, and invited a lot of stares, but they were part of the Buddhist community nonetheless, and as long as they practiced the Dhamma too, they were one of us.

We ended up at North bridge at the same Italian place we went too.. It was quite fun hanging out with the whole group. J We took a slow walk back, where Angie wrapped her leg around the poor inncent statue of a kangeroo. Too bad I don’t have a picture. LOL

Our Bed Rehearsal
SM and I hooked up to her Ipod and started practicing. We made some last minute changes to the Power of now. I was still having difficulty switching from a high range of the counter melody to the chorus. Our eyes shut, we sang the familiar harmonies, trying to get the harmonies right. So engrossed were we in our tasks, we didn’t notice Ailing creeping into our room. SM opened her eyes when she started on the chorus.. and it sounded something like “ the power of…. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

We gal talked all the way till 12 plus… b4 we crashed for the night.

Sunday
Day IV
On Sunday, 11th June, 2006, we had a surprise performance by Balinese dancers, followed by an address by Ven. Ilukpitiye Pannasekara , the chief monk for the African Continent. He spoke to the audience about the progress of Buddhism in Africa and appealed for us to help spread the Dhamma there.http://www.pannasekara.com/ - Website of Ven. Ilukpitiye Pannasekara.

This monk was really really witty.. “It is not a global conference, until Africa is in there!” he said, grinning. I’ m really touched by the monks working down in Africa. There are only around 20 of them there! Most from the Fo guang shan order. Hopefully we will be able to introduce the teachings of the Dhamma to the people there.

The next sub-Theme was on Meditation- Journeys, Signpost and Destinations – Jhana, Vipassana, Satori or Mahamudra. Ajahn Brahm spoke of the importance of both calmness and insight ( Jhana and Vipassana) in the practise of meditation. Other speakers shared with the audience about the different meditation practices.

This was one topic I was really blur about. I think I only understood Ajahn Brahm’s talk. Heh. :P

The next topic: Buddhism, Politics and Euthanasia was a highly anticipated one. The speakers gave brilliant deliveries about their views of whether Buddhists should engage in politics. Ven. Dr. Yi Fa reminded us that Buddha influenced the politics by advising many of the kings during his time. Dr. Karma Lekshe Tsomo shared with us stories of her time as a student in university and gave her perspective of whether Buddhists should play a more active role in politics as well as political movements.

Permission to Die
We were also very fortunate to have Dr. Phillip Nitschke, an active campaigner for the introduction of voluntary euthanasia, to come and speak to us. He shared with us his experience of how he aided the first patient in Australia to commit voluntary euthanasia. After the speeches, the audience engaged the speakers in a lively question and answer session.

Now this was a topic close to my heart. I was quite disappointed that the sangha didn’t have enough time for both topics. So they focused mostly on politics. But they were Fantastic speakers nonetheless. Ajahn Sujato , the chairman, kept reading out horoscopes of the speakers, which was really hilarious. I got to speak to the doctor after the conference. The Buddhist view on Euthenesia is that if we end the suffering of a person prematurely, we have no way of knowing if they will be reborn into great suffering too. I don’t advocate euthanasia, but sometimes when faced with a patient who is in incredible amount of pain, what do you do when they ask to die with dignity? During the Q and A , we also touched briefly on Abortion.

Buddhists Have Sense of Humour
Ajahn Brahm than delighted the audience with a comic exchange with Johnny Howard, a puppet dolled up to the likeness of the prime minister of Australia. In the next sub-theme, the convention sought to confront the controversies that surrounded the different traditions of Buddhism – Liberation now or later: Boddhisattva or Arahant Way? Ajahn Sujato gave a Theravadan Buddhists’ take on the subject, while Ven. Hue Can left the audience in stitches over her two lighthearted, but enlightening stories of how Boddhisattvas could be found among the people we met in everyday life. People who taught us the meaning of compassion and giving. Our BF president Angie Monksfield rounded up the speeches by giving her views on how lay Buddhist could actively practise the path.

We SANG
Su-May and I were given the honour of singing 3 songs during the closing ceremony - Opening the door to your Heart and the Power of Now, songs composed by our talented Soracco keyboardist and composer, Augest Lum. We rounded off the event by singing Ehipassiko.

Blurrr Like Sotong
I couldn’t see a thing. Coz my glasses were off. I nearly fell coz I overbalanced on my heel,and my shawl kept slipping off. My voice was quivering for opening the door to your heart.. but we did great J It is such a magical feeling when you’re on stage. I get such a high when I perform. :P Sharing Dhamma through song.. it’s such a lovely feeling that you’ve the honour of doing that.. I was really touched that people kept coming up to me and SM after the performance and told us that we sang really really well, and the BF members who told us that we did them proud. :P

We got applause when we got on the bus after the conference. The bus waited for us while we dropped off stuff at the hotel. . We saw Ailing off and then panicked when we saw the bus leaving w/o us. Yah. Got another round of applause, this time for being so fashionably late.

Dinner at North Bridge Again & Again
We had diner at…drum roolll. . the Italian place again. K, SM and I shared one salad and some itlaliano appetizer thingy.. the pasta as usual.. wah really canot make it this time manz.. Then we trotted back to the hotel ahead of the group.

Monday last Perth Day
Next morning.. went to habour town with Kelvin and SM again. I bought hip hop tops. :P.. poor K tho’. He ended up waiting for us for one hour. Then we had lunch at some Swedish restaurant and then we ended up ( wat else) running for the bus again. Yah.. If SM’s bag of pants wasn’t secure.. I think we would have made quite a spectacle.. 3 crazy spore ppl running down the street with Bonds pants trailing behind us.

Visit Nun's Place
We went to Dhammasara Nuns Monastery . Had a Q and A by Ven. Sister Vayama. The nunnery was sooo peaceful too. All the nuns have this aura of serenity around them. It’s amazing. I asked the Ven. Sister my question on Abortion… I guess yah. Being a doctor, you save lives, but there will be lives I may take, eg. An abortion performed to save the mother..,but someones gotta do it. One poor lady fell and fractured her arm L. Hope she’s better now. Me, the clueless med student, had no idea wat was going on. Lucky we had 2 nurses and one doctor with us.

We couldn’t make it to the wildlife park, so the bus left us at Burwood. Where we stoned around. Lucky had SM and K to keep me entertained. Then we stoned at the airport somemore.. b4 coming back to Singapore.

My thoughts
The convention gave me a precious opportunity to confront my views on Buddhism. It allowed me a chance to think and to debate many of the questions I had, as well as to meet people of a similar faith from other places in the world. In addition to the conference, the BF members had the chance to visit Bodhinyana Monastery and Dhammasara Nuns Monastary, and listen to a talk by Ajahn Brahm. It was an enjoyable and enlightening experience and I eagerly look forward to the next Global conference which is to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks Thanks
Many thanks to Ajahn Brahm for giving me the chance to come for the conference as well as perform

Many thanks to sister Angie to making this possible and raising the fellowship to greater heights!

Thanks to Ailing for being such a great housemate and for taking care of us, as well as helping us with the songs, and for the girlie chit chat at night.

Many Thanks to my wonderful roomie and travel companion SM for looking out for me, making me laugh, torturing me with her fetish for Bonds, singing on the bus and on stage. Yez, and for being my bus-chasing marathon companion.

Thanks to K for sharing with me about the Dhamma, advising me, for being so candid and open to talk to us about Gay issues and for entertaining us with jokes. I take my hat off to him and Angie for taking the initiative to set up so things for the benefit of others.

And yez.. for waiting for 2 shopoholic gals for one hour.Thanks to sister Mag and brother Jerry for organinising everything for us. It was areally tough jobAnd thanks to the BF youths for making the trip so enjoyable, for the support and enouragement and for the lovely flowers!!!I had such a good time :P

Ups and Downs

2006-05-31T12:03:00.000+08:00

We sang to the biggest crowd ever and no one could hear us. Mics took a strike.

2006-05-29T14:36:00.000+08:00

Good afternoon Sorraco!

Although it took me quite a while to realise, Sorraco is one of the best things that happened to me.

I'd like to share with all of you what I have learnt over the past 3 years as a Buddhist, Musician and most importantly, as a performer.

To me, performing in front of an audience is about sharing with them what's important to me. In order to share, we need to communicate our thoughts across. Communication thought the arts can occur in many mediums.......singing, playing instruments, acting, stunts, speaking, dancing.....and the list goes on. A good performer is a specialist in communicating his art to the audience such that he is able to make the audience feel exactly the way he intends to. A simple example will be an Orator(speaker). In a speaking contest, it's not the person with the best pronunciation or the sweetest voice that will win. It'll be the person that is able to capture the attention and 'move' the audience that is going to take the first prize.

So we see that essentially it all boils down to having an effective channel and method of communication. This differentiates a master performer from a beginner.

So how do we develop this skill of being a good communicator? Well I believe it's all in the Buddhist teachings. Amongst many facets, the ones paramount to me are two things...........Awareness and Low Aversion(dislike).

Awareness is knowing how the audience and others react to your performance. If we don't know what the others think, then how are we to know that we have moved them or merely tickled them? The greatest obstacle to developing Awareness is having Aversion to anything, esp to people in the same field.

Lynzabel's feedback to us are a gem in helping some of us become aware of certain realities relating to what went on backstage during the rehearsals. if we are able to take it positively without any aversion, then we will be in superb condition for growth towards being a master performer. The moment aversion steps in, we will be blinded even by the greatest of all comments.

Interestingly, this 'Aversion and Awareness' issue goes both ways. As I have said above, the best potential master will learn from receiving feedback unconditionally, without any aversion. Likewise, the best way to be aware of the truth is not to have any aversion pertaining to the subject. So the best person to give feedback is someone who does not have any aversion or dislike for what he sees. If a critique can see things as they are without being averse towards it, then he is able to be unbiased and therefore more accurate in seeing the truth.

So whenever I hear someone comment about my playing, I try to accept it without any aversion. The moment I get annoyed with him or his comments, I am doomed to never being able to develop a high degree of Awareness.

Before I give feedback to anyone, I will also ask myself whether I am being objective. I will simply ask myself whether I am unhappy with the person or with the situation. The moment I detect any Aversion in me, I then know for sure that my comment or criticism is likely to be clouded by my Aversion and is therefore not accurately reflective of the truth. I will then refrain from passing any comments until I can work on lowering my Aversion to whatever person or situation.

I hope I have communicated my thoughts to you in an effective manner. If I haven't, then perhaps I better stop writing and go play my bass for you! Perhaps the way I pluck them low strings will move you to agree with me that to be a master performer, the surest way is to nip our aversion and anger in the butt so that it will never be an obstacle to developing a heightened sense of Awareness, the greatest asset any performer can have!

Cheers and have a great day of 100% Awareness and zero Aversion/Anger!!! :)

Malcolm

VESAK CELEBRATION IN PRISON 20 MAY (SAT)

2006-05-22T10:52:00.000+08:00

Hearty notes from our Prison experience
Thanks May for your generous lunch dana and making all the necessary tedious arrangements – pre and during the prison visits. We ask your forgiveness for stressing you out at times.

Thank you August for spending your special birthday with us. Also thanks Mal for your extra equipment, cabling & mikes to make sure we had a better sound system and bass then last Sunday.

And finally, thanks to everyone for contributing your effort, time, singing voices and impromptu acting abilities (especially newly discovered talent Bee Yee and Tracy) over the last 2 weekends to provide some cheer for the inmates.

So we hope to continue our get-togethers – the next one being THIS SUNDAY, at 1.30pm. We have to go through the songs for both of Ajahn Brahm’s talks on May 30 & 31, 7pm. Pls let me know if you can’t make it for the talks or rehearsal.

Metta, Ai Ling
---------------------
Hi May
It was most generous of you to give the lunch treat. We should all be inspired by your act of generosity. Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu and Thank you!
Angie
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Hmm. thought i sent out a message but no record in hotmail so here goes again, pardon me if it sounds repetitive to you.Thank you guys for giving me a chance to visit the prisons. what little i did on Saturday made me feel a little like an angel. Glad to have known you guys, the bigger angels.I'm quite sure we provided good entertainment and uplifted their spirits. Thanks for being great people. Thanks for the cheerfulness and fun-loving kindness. In different ways you guys have played angel to the little devil me.
till we meet again,The Evil Meow
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Hi May
Thanks for coordinating all the prison visits and even allowing us to spread cheer to the prisoners, especially handling the tough clearance portion with so much efficiency! Looking forward to performing for the folks there again! Cheers, Aug
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Thank you May! May this month of May be the Most Magnificent for May! :)
Malcolm
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Thanks May, you got us going
Su-May
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Morning All,
WELL DONE ONCE AGAIN EVERYONE. I think we are getting better and better. What a splendid performance in such a condition with no rehersal.
Thank you all once again for spending one whole day in two different prisons on a beautiful Saturday. Esp to our dear wonderful August, hope the rest of the evening was much more eventful and interesting......
Its a truly a great experience for me as this is also my first visit to Sembawang DRC and TMP. My regular stops are Cluster A and CWP. I was pretty shocked that there were so many of them in Sembawang DRC. And that place has got a nice stage too. I think we should go there, while its still there, for our CNY performance. I think KBC (Kaki Bukit Centre) will be another great place for us to go.
Just for everyone infor, all other prisons will be moved to Changi. By then, there will be Cluster A, Cluster B, Cluster C....... Like a big resort yah!
YES YES August, we should have more of these gatherings now that we get to know each other better since our 3 nights concert. You are right about one thing, if not for the rain, we would not have spent another 2 hours together in prison cafeteria.
I've got very good feedback from all the counsellors, even Ven Sumana said that we were full of energy and it was the inmates good karma to have us performing for them. He enjoyed the 4 Wives very much.
MAY ALL BE WELL, HAPPY AND HEALTHY and keep up the good work...
See you all real soon, May

Happy Birthday to August

2006-05-22T10:23:00.000+08:00

August celebrates his 21st BIG day in the Prison
Dear Meow and everyone else
It was indeed a special day . . esp having the opportunity to celebrate August's birthday! What a way to grow up August, with mature folks like us . . . at least we are a wholesome lot (most of us anyway)! May be sometimes, we may come across like a Mum to you. August - you are right that we should also go out and do things together and not practice and "chabut" (Malay word for "cho" in Chinese)

I am also delighted that Malcolm is remaining as our Music Director. We have come to a happy agreement that he will not be able to make every Sunday practice (ahem, lime many others) . . but he will be with us at all the crucial moments . . like the BIG shows we put. (By the way, we need to fix dates now for our next year's musical . . looked at the calendar and next Vesak will be on 31 May, during school hols. Not sure if that's good or bad. So, what say all of you if our concert is to be held on (Sat & Sun) 9 & 10 June? Will have to book one year in advance for such dates

Well, before that . . any ideas what we are to do for year end Gala Dinner to be held on Fri 15 Dec?

Many are asking for our songs on CD, so we need to work on that. Lets get it done in time for 15 Dec show with 10 songs on the CD. We now have 5 . . so 5 more to go!
With Cheers and Metta, Angie
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You're welcome and you are quite right in saying that we should spend more time at play and not just at work! :) Glad you enjoyed your 'Freedom Day' behind bars! :) MM
---------------------------
You are welcome August. Thanks to you for spending such a special day with us in prison. I don't think anyone of us would dream of doing this on our 21st. I ll make sure it does not happen next year...
Take care, lots of hugs, May
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Hi friends
Thanks so much for making yesterday such a special and memorable occasion: a double performance at the prison and a get-together lunch in-between!

I really enjoy this company a lot, we should do this more often! We have all started bonding closer especially after "Opening the Door of Your Heart" and all the prison visits that came after the show. Really, we should do more than just coming for practice then going off thereafter. The last week we had the blessing of the rain which trapped us inside the prison and got us all to sit down together at the canteen for snacks and coffee!

Thanks all once again for making this 21st birthday one that I will never forget!
Cheers
Aug

We're Going to Prison Again!

2006-05-19T13:02:00.000+08:00

Hello Everyone,
You guys are having tons of fun emaling each other. Anyhow, just wanted to remind all who are going this coming Sat. at SEMBAWANG DRC, please be there by 8.45 AM. There is only a small carpark there, so lets all wait there. The counsellor, Zenon, will be there to bring us in. He has told me that the addicts average age is about 40. They speak and understand very simple English. But he has offered to translate if the need arises. I guess it may be good to do a couple of Chinese songs. Yilin and Vivy, pls help...Cheers, no late nites on Friday guys. See ya all this Sat.
May.

Vesak Celebration in Prison on 14 May (Sun)

2006-05-16T00:14:00.000+08:00

A BIG THANK YOU TO AUGUST, MALCOLM, NICK, ALVIN, YILIN, WAI HONG, JASON, ANGIE, AI LING, SU-MAY, LYNZABEL, TRACY, BEE YEE, VIVY, CHRISTINA, LEAN YEAN ( NOT FORGETTNG AJAHN BRAMALI and PETER who ferried Ajahn to and fro) WHO SACRIFICED PRECIOUS TIME TO BE IN PRISON CELEBRATING VESAK WITH THE INMATES LAST SUNDAY.

Venerable Mun Cheng was very pleased to see the abundance of joy and fun in the "Four Wives" act, especially when the script was changed to mandarin speaking at the very last miniute. When I told her about our last minute standby actressess, Bee Yee and Tracy, she commented that this group of choir definitely have acting talents. Thanks to Nick and Angie with their superb acting. We all loved it when Angie had her lines spoken in mandarin. The inmates definitely had a fabulous time.

Thanks once again and my apologies for some hitches with the security guards when we were on our way out. Be happy everyone and have a good rest before we start rocking again this Saturday. Hey, the food in the prison cafeteria was not too bad. My first time there and I loved the coffee.

Take care, May.

----

Thanks May, Sorry we caused you headaches too. You are so organized! Hugs!

Su-May

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Well done Sorraco on another splendid performance! Wonderful! :)

MMMMM

----

Sorraco Dharma Drama Performance 06...
Sorraco Prison Tour 06...
Sorraco KL Tour 06...

What's next?

Sorraco World Peace Tour?

..>!<

Opps, sorry. Just daydreaming...

Thanks May, for pulling us in. Otherwise, I could never have seen the insides of a prison and planned an escape route... opps! Er, I mean, tasted the soup of the prison cook.

Looks like our choir members are more than just pretty faces with pretty voices... They can churn out an impromptu act plus language translation at a wit's end notice...

Just got an email from Daphne saying she's happy for us, swamped with school work, getting less regular sleep wished she were here, and she sends her love to all.

Wai Hong

----

hey that's a nice symbol for a meditating face....

>!<

ya?

Mal

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Hi All,

Sorry, I just realised I made a mistake on the venue of our prison this coming Sat. This Sat AM session is at Sembawang Prison, not Selarang. I will find out more details and let you all know soonest possible. A thousand apologies, I am a blur sotong.

Cheers, May

----

Hi May

OK to be blur la . . just LOOK SMART! Ha Ha!

Another memory to treasure in our old age . . when we gather with wrinkles hanging down our face, we shall remember the day in Changi Prison! It would be a comedy replay without the actors . . just in mind for a good laugh!

So, we do it again this Sat with even more imaginative acting . . this time with Ren Shang. Lets see if he can do the crying that Nick does splendidly every time. Hey, Nick - how do you turn the taps on? I know Ben (my son) does it with great ease as well, with BIG tears. . all it takes is a BIG yell!

Alvin - practise your acting when you see your lemon tree, ok Ha Ha. Good job! Also kudos to Tracy and Bee Yee for being so sporting . .

Singers and musicians . . you did great!

Thanks
Angie

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Sembawang? Near wakeboarding place? We can thereafter go for makan at Buckaroo, serving one of the best Caesar salads and buffalo wings.

Su-May

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Hi All,

Yes, its in Sembawang. The place is called SEMBAWANG DRUG REHABILITION CENTRE, 90 Admiralty Road West, Spore 759957. I did not even know there is one there.

Been told its just next to Sembawang Shipyard. There will be about 100 to 120 of them. FYI, majority of them are Chinese speaking. We can have lunch together after the AM session, which will end at 11.30. My treat. Su-May, you will have to lead the way to wherever that place is. After lunch, we will adjourn to Tanah Merah Prison for our PM session.

Those who need transport, call me so that I can make the arrangements. Thanks very much, seeya.

May

Four Wives, Chinese Edition

2006-05-14T23:48:00.000+08:00

To all who went for the prison visit today...

Just want to say that I really really enjoyed today's Chinese edition of the Man and His Four Wives (despite my Mandarin being 'half-filled-pail-of-water' so that's saying a lot!!)

Kudos to Tracy and Bee Yee for the very well done last-minute script translation + enacting, to Angie and Lynzabel for the highly entertaining on-the-spot improvisation, to Nick for so professionally smoothing the whole performance for our audience.

Now we know we have enough resources to perform a full-Chinese show (also the songs) if we're doing something like this in the future. =DD

~vy

We Are Going To Prison

2006-05-10T19:37:00.000+08:00

Hello Girls,
We will be continuing our PM Session at CWP after the Changi Prison AM session We will just have our lunch in the prison. Hee hee.
See you girls, are you all going to Malcolm's party on Vesak day?
Thanks, see you girls soon.
May

----------------
WELL DONE EVERYONE!!!!

This is a reminder to all those who have signed up for the above visits. Just a recap, those involved are: August, Malcolm, Nick, Wai Hong, Kevin, Alvin, Jason, Ren Sheng, Siew Kit, Yilin, Pei Chong, Angie, Ailing, Su-May, Vivy, Christina, Tracy, Bee Yee, Siao Yean, Lynzabel, Stella, Vivien.

14 May (Sun) AM Session 9.30 to 11.30 AM at Cluster A1, Changi Prison.
(Same unit we went to for the Chinese New Year celebration)
Suggest we meet at 8.45 AM at Changi Prison as alot of time required during check-in.
Please remember to bring yr I/C.
Dress code: Soracco T-Shirt and long pants for all.

20 May (Sat) AM Session 9.30 to 11.30 AM at Selarang Drug Rehab Camp.
20 May (Sat) PM Session 2 to 4 PM at Tanah Merah Prison
We will discuss the details after this 14 May visit.

For those with transport problem, suggest we arrange a meeting place (like MRT). Those with cars perhaps can help to pick them up. Call me at this no 96364738 so that I can make the arrangements.

Thanks once again for all your efforts and time.
Cheers, May

Open The Door Of Your Heart - 3-night concert 7-9 May 2006

2006-05-10T19:22:00.000+08:00

All the expressions and thank yoooous...

Dear everyone

I LOVE a(nother) party . . last night was ONE BIG PARTY.
Alright, lets get together on Vesak Day . . and we don't even have to go to work the next day!

Thank you once again everyone! Like to also specially acknowledge Bro Fook, Dudley and Ong for handling the lightings and curtains, Bro Pei Chong for managing the backstage, AND Stella Chew for helping with the light programming that help to create the right moods on stage.

What a great event . . compliments been pouring in from all directions!!
Our former President, Low Teck Suan, was full of praise, amaze that we managed to bring SO many talents together and putting up such a great show! He could feel the passion that everyone had . . . Thank you!! Sadhu Sadhu Sadhu!

With Metta
Angie
----------------
Hello everyone
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the contributions that each one of you has made.
The unseen heroes inthe backstage and reception also play very important roles though not seen by most. Also, recognition goes to the office staff and volunteers for the invaluable support pre-and post concert. My special thanks!

With Metta
Angie
----------------
Dear Bro Fook
Thank you for offering your Experience in Managing the stage lights. & Bro Dudley & Bro Eddie Ang - For your hard work on the spot lights. Sadhu!!!
Ong Eng Hin
----------------
Happy happy! Good show! Great that the audience like it!
Was gonna censor myself until XL came up with that email....Might gate crash the girl's party tonight. On other hand, might be safer to settle for an "ii divo" singalong sess with my 3 tenors partners in case SM's prancin around in her great *^$&ing G in the universe......
Echo thanks to Xue Ling, plus the rest who chip in with what they knew and can do to make something bigger and more wonderful than what each of us can do by ourselves! And to all those who put up with my inanity, erm.
Thank you all! I had a great time just watching all of you. (Not necessary in the dressing room...)
Wai Hong
-----------------
Yes, great job everyone! Thanks for all your hard work and dedication.

Spoke to Bante Gunaratana during intermission and he said it was a very entertaining show and a very skillful means to put the Dhamma across. He thought we were all PROFESSIONAL actors/actresses and singers, and what we did on stage were our full-time jobs. Wow! What a compliment.

Our ex-NMP Kanwaljit Soin also complimented us on our performance, saying she and her family enjoyed the show very much. She said they could see that we were all enjoying ourselves in our various roles – whether acting or singing – and these came across to everyone watching. Like Mal said the audience can pick up the enthusiasm and energy that we create on stage. So do keep enjoying ourselves in our next two performances.

Channel NewsAsia gave a very short TV coverage on it last night as well as early this morning. Those who missed it can also read on Teletext’s Singapore news segment or on our website, which I have amended the report slightly – as the initial coverage said our musical was made up of only 2 plays.

My editor last night used the picture of Nick & Lynzabel, so that’s the picture you see on the website. See link below: (If you can’t click on it, cut and paste it on the Address bar.

channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews
Cheers! AiLing
------------------
Su-May!! now we will have the gal's changing room overflowing with guys pre-performance...
haha.. well done ppl! keep it up! the audience feedback was good!

luv, Xueling
------------------
The energy was amazing! and everyone gave their best.

Alvin
------------------
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Xue Ling for her initiatives
to fine-tune our singing, even at the last minutes...

Thank you, Xue Ling.

Certainly, tonight's and tomorrow's performances will be better. My bowling skills get worse after the first two games. Just cannot maintain
the standard. Better count me out...

Cheers! YiLin
------------------
We had a sing a long session in the girls’ room to warm everyone up and calm nerves down – naked faces and in our undies…if you believe the undies bit. Tonight doing the same thing again…if time permits.

Su-May
------------------
I echo what Malcolm said below. Everyone (including Ajahn Brahm) who spoke to me later confirmed we have improved from last year . . . and it was a good show.
My heartfelt thanks to each one of you . . . for the sheer determination, patience and perseverance that we have managed to pull this one thru, once again!

It's certainly a team effort!

May you find loads of joy when reflecting what an amazing thing you have contributed to the happiness of sentient beings! The messages in each of the play and the songs sung will leave deep impressions and inspire them to being a better people! This is a great merit ;-)
Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!

With Metta,
Angie
-----------------
Congratulations on a fantastic opening night at VC yesterday. I thought everyone did very well! The response from the crowd was great and many of my friends told me that they were inspired by our energy, sincerity and passion! Great job everyone and esp those who were behind the scene and not on stage. Thank you all of you! Fantastic! :)

All the best for the next two nights!
Malcolm

Curtain Closing

2006-05-10T19:04:00.000+08:00

Colleagues, Comrades, fellow actors in this stage of life... Friends. As we don our make-up and our masks, heed the calls for the final time, I bid all, first, my gratitude.

For each moment behind the stage,
Before the curtain rises,
Has been spoken for,
Enliven by your spark of life.

Through courage and tears,
Trepidation, the ferocity to preserve what remains of us,
Our voice, suddenly fallen.
Then, unexpectedly, with an ounce of care and love,
Applied as a balm to heal bruised egos, failed prides.

What once succumbed to lessor things,
Now stands fulfilled in the greater glory of bigger causes.
It matters no longer who catches us when we are crest fallen.
But a sprig of love, from the tree abundant,
Is more than welcomed, embraced,
Though the seats can be cold, hard and empty.
And the cast all too focused on dreams.

The lines you speak may be a fleeting utterance,
A flutter cast and then lost in the winds and currents of time,
But to those whom might have caught them,
With the web of the heart, softly assenting,
When the magic spell is lifted,
Perhaps then.

The light of a new day finds one new dew sparking joyously in the sun.
Maybe I do not hear your voice,
I do not recognise your face, your uniqueness,
But I heard what you say.
I hear what all of you said.
And with that, I know that you were there.
As was I.

So while the night tarries,
And the audience waits,
And those backstage breathes in anticipation,
I urge you, once, upon curtain open,
To look closely.

Look your adversary in the eye; to discover your lover.
They are out there, in the darken aisle and columns,
Seeking intently, trying to find you in your nakedness,
And the message you tell.

Even though the lights may blind you,
Even though you do not hear their voice,
You do not recognise their face, their uniqueness,
Hear them for what they have to say.

Fellow cast, and members,
I have this to say.
I, of a lessor role, the jester-in-kind.
Please be kind.
For today is the last day,

And tonight all dreams will come to an end.
We were not unite in the beginning,
And perhaps, we still aren't.

For this brevity, our paths have brought us together,
perhaps in truce, perhaps in trance,
Enthralled by the momentous asking
Seduced by the task.

All too soon, the curtain will open,
All too soon, the curtain will close,
While we depict the ones we are acting,
And in-between, while we are whom we are,
Know reality and it's line, are often as dreams do.

Rejoice, Rejoice, Rejoice,
For each moment we give birth,
We fill them with our energy,
The halls reverberate with our union,
Because suddenly there is no you nor I.
All in this blaze of glory,
and then subside.

As the embers of passion fades away,
With a sigh.

Dedicated to all, visible or invisible who made this dream real, and also to a person who sat and tarried a short while and asked about dinner.

~WaiHong~

time to party

2006-05-10T16:02:00.000+08:00

Hi friends of the Dharma. First of all, allow me to congratulate all of us for a great performance at the Victoria Theatre. We have started the ball rolling with this new and entertaining way to spread the teachings of love, kindness and generosity. Big things are going to happen soon. Just you wait and see!

Tocelebrate our 'victory' at Victoria Theatre, I am throwing a Vesak Day jam party at my home, 56 Kasai Road, S 808303, this coming Friday 12th May. It is off Seletar road, which is off Yio Chu Kang Road, opposite Jalan Kayu. We party from 3pm to 12MN. There'll be music jamming, singing, dancing(yes Disco) and merry making. The theme is Sportswear cos we wanna gear up for an energetic year ahead to spread more love around the world so come in your sportswear but make sure it's sleek and funky! There'll be food and refreshments but you're most welcome to bring more! :)

See Ya!

Malcolm
96973642

Cheers! Let's ROCK!

Vocal Range

2006-04-03T11:06:00.000+08:00

Dear All,

For those who want to know your vocal range, this website can explain.

It is very "chim"! We need explanation.

Thank you.

http://www.vocalist.org.uk/vocal_range_key.html

YiLin

Thanks Yilin for the link! I found some other articles with visual aid that may be clearer:

- drawn on keyboard
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soprano

- drawn on musical staff
http://www.library.yale.edu/cataloging/music/vocalrg.htm

- listing, in a nutshell:

Soprano: C4-A5
Mezzo-soprano: A3 - F5
Alto: F3 - D5
Tenor: B2 - G4
Baritone: G2 - E4
Bass: E2 - C4

The numbers after the alphabets indicate the octave, where C4 is the "middle C", the normal octave (?) -- I deduced from the brief reading so anyone more knowledgeable in this please correct if I'm wrong. =)

All these are from Wikipedia, you can read more details from here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocal_range

=)
vy

Memories from Sunday 5 Feb 2006

2006-02-09T13:54:00.000+08:00

CNY Prison visit on 5 Feb Sunday 2 Sessions 9.30-11.30 and 2-4pm

2006-02-06T13:03:00.000+08:00

Awards goes to:

August for burning all his CNY holiday for the minuses... !
Su-May. Gee. What can I say... Did you get winks at the Womens' Prison too?
May, your pride, our joy.
Daphne, for performance despite chronic narcolepsy.

Everyone, Huat ah!
Wai Hong

---------------------------------------

Dear Soraccons

You have once again done us proud by serving the prison on a Sunday. August - thanks for all the additional effort you had put in with all the minus ones which came in very handy during the ladies session as the men could not come as well.

Thank you to all and twice the thank yous for those who came in the afternoon again to the Womens Prison.

Su May - you must really have it when you have these men winking at you during your performance. Ahem!

May - thank you for arranging and coordinating everything. You are good! Can you kindly help Vesak Day celebrations, and work JT Poh who is chairing the org committee?

Ai Ling - thanks for making it in the afternoon despite your bag locked in the centre's office.

Thanks of course to everyone . . . Malcolm, Alvin, Wai Hong, Kevin, Stacey, Judy, Daphn and Christina !

With Metta
Angie

---------------------------------------

A big thank you to you May for organising this wonderful event. Well done! Sorraco is proud of you!

A big thank you too to August who spent lots of time doing the minus one recordings and to all who have taken time to participate. Thank you all!!!

MMMMM
Malcolm

---------------------------------------

Hi All,

Thanks very much for your time and effort. Thanks for being so punctual. Ha.... Anyway, you all were just fantastic. The inmates were so happy and you guys were the reason.

Brother Soon Hin said that we did a great job and we are welcome to go back to do it again for the next celebration.

Well done. May you all stay happy and healthy. Take care,

May

---------------------------------------

shouldve gone commando. then u'd be smiling all day. haha.. great job everyone. seeya around!
hugs, daph

---------------------------------------

Gosh! Su-May, I'm shocked!
I'm a Buddhist! I'm not supposed to hear such things!

:O
Wai Hong

---------------------------------------

Ok, long in pants, roundless neck tees and shoes. Regardless of colours ya. So we are going as the rainbow. I will wear my golf attire.

Can I tell the mates about my Bonds underwear flower power prints with the best g-string in the whole f universe.

: 0 : ) : P Su-May

---------------------------------------

Sounds like a school. If we treat people like kids, they will eventually just end up being irresponsible kids all their life. I suggest we all go in sleeveless T's and tight blue jeans with stick on tattoos!
Just kidding lah

See you all there!
MMMMM
Malcolm

---------------------------------------

Hi All,
Trust everyone is in good health. Just an update on the above visit.
We are going to Cluster A1, HU2 in Changi. I've spoken to one of the counsellors and he told me there is a sound system in that room. Good news August, we can bring our keyboard and I am requesting for a guitar for Malcolm. There will be about 40 - 50 inmates, age between 20 to 60. Most of them are bilingual, a handful of them only speaks dialect/mandarin.

The counsellor suggests that we gather at a meeting point so that we ca n all drive in together. Opposite the Changi Prison there is 2 or 3 coffeeshops, we can all meet there latest by 9.10am. We can drive our cars into the prison carpark as HU2 is located right inside. Please make sure you bring your I/C. Guys, please make sure you are in long pants. Anyone needs transport, please let me know.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, take care,
May

2006-01-09T22:35:00.000+08:00

A Tale of Two Sitis and other Unrelated Stories...

The Girl with Too Much I Shadow...

Aww... Ain't that sweet?

Barely containing herself, Jenny stares longingly at the back of Aug's head...

This is what happens when we don't get dinner before the performance...
Please refrain from eating the musicians' brain next time... Good thing we had a spare we borrowed from the Gal with too much I shadow...

Hmmm... The Gal with Too Much I Shadow making fun of The Man with the Golden Tie...

Soraco-rity Sisters

The BackStage Boys...

Escapee from the Land of the Cockeyed Pirates and the Gal with Too Much I Shadow after lending Aug her brain...

We Are Going To The Prison On 5th Feb 2006

2006-01-06T14:15:00.000+08:00

I have just been told that we may have to bring forward the prison performance 1 week earlier, ie on 5 Feb Sunday. All those who have given me their particulars and think they cannot make it on that day, please let me know soonest possible. Uptodate, we are still waiting for the Authority's permission.

I understand that they will only let us know at the very last moment. So we need to be ready even before we get the approval. Sorry everyone, we will just have to keep ourselves free on 5 Feb from 2 to 4 pm. If anyone of you need to call me, buzz me.Thank you for your attention.

Oh! WELL DONE. I think we did very well last Thurs (Living in the present). Most important, we all had fun.

HAPPY NEW YEAR - May Chng

Sorraco's Voice Gets The Boost

2006-01-06T14:01:00.000+08:00

Malcolm managed to engage Wu Jiaming, a well known local chinese singer and recording artiste. Remember his Chinese rendition of "Peng Yau"?

Aside from being a record producer, he is also a vocal trainer. He is willing to organise 1 or 2 session workshop as an introduction to singing. He will teach all of us the essence and technique required of a good singer and most importantly how to practice properly so that we may continually improve over time.

Acting, singing, fun and hopefully great heights of fund raising.

Responses from the emails look hot.

Congratulations on Living In The Present Moment

2006-01-04T19:47:00.000+08:00

Hi All

Malcolm is right, we did it again! Nick and Daphne sure developed the right chemistry . . finally, and it was exuding from the stage! And, Mandy did fantastic as the horrid sister!

The next big one is the Opening The Door of Your Heart musical in May. I would probably do a few script re-writes, now with better experience.

Malcolm has suggested that we get proper singing coaching by a professional, I am all for it !! We get the Pro in but we have to put in our efforts and commitment.

Lets take a break for now and get started again on 19 Feb, after all the CNY celebrations!

With Metta
Angie

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Congratulations to all!

Soracco did it again!
Special cheers to Daphne for her debut performance. Yes a star is born indeed!

Thanks to all who have participated esp to those who weren't on stage but at the back of it!
We shall all look forward to an exciting new year of great performances and Dharma teaching.

Have a Happy year ahead!

Malcolm

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Wai Hong & rest of gang

The congratulations were there – maybe you weren’t there to hear it, that’s all. Also probably we all were out celebrating after that -- bringing in the New Year!

All those I talked to said they love the play, acting and songs. However, they did comment that the movement of props were not so professional (which they understand as we are amateurs) -- the people don’t seem to know where exactly to place the chairs of cushions properly and too much running across the stage -- and the mic and sound system not that good – sometimes not picking out the voices clearly. Of course a few commented on the half hour wait they had to go through for the VIPs to finish their dinner.

Except for those small glitches, they said they enjoyed the whole show and event very much. They said our show was just the right length and entertaining, the acting was good and the songs they could relate to. They also liked our original composition – so kudos to August and the rest who sang it. Some also mentioned they enjoyed Nick’s impromptu part about scaring the neighbours kid. And of course they enjoyed the maid’s acting as well.

SO WELL DONE EVERYBODY! KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK AND SPIRIT!

Our next project will be the prison visit and then the Vesak concert. Shall let you know when we shall have our next practice again. In the meantime, have a GOOD BREAK!

Any song suggestions are welcome!

BEST WISHES, GOOD HEALTH, HAPPINESS AND SUCCESS TO ALL FOR THE NEW YEAR!

Metta
Ai Ling

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi all,

I didn't hear as many congratulations and salutations this time around, n there dun seem to be any additions to the blog. Was it because my starhub email is disconnected or there just ain't any? If there isn't any, is it becos nobody felt anything this time around?

Anyway, as a slow response kinda thing, let me add my 2 cents cheer:
YYYYYAAAAAYYYYY!!! WE DID IT!
AGAIN!!!!
YOU GUYS ARE SO COOL! DIG THOSE DANCE STEPS! IT WAS FUN!
...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Hope that was enuf compensation...
Now the grammies...

Hey actors and actresses, you did good.
Scriptwriters, you did good.
Singers, you did good.
Producers, directors, musicians, you did good.
Audience, you did good.

Comment from Audience:
Mic is a little difficult cos didn't pick up enuf when we are singing in some of the segment. Maybe the dance one. (Emmm... Or maybe cos I skipped a few words?)

Well done, everyone!
Wai Hong

Catch Ajahn Brahm in S'pore on 29 Dec

2005-12-01T10:11:00.000+08:00

Catch Ajahn Brahm again in Singapore! If you are sometimes dragged down by the past or anxious about the future, this talk will help put you back on the right track! On 29th Dec, Tues, Ajahn Brahm will be giving a talk on "Living In The Present Moment" at the NTUC Centre as part of the Gala Dinner Program. Buddhist Fellowship's music and drama group, Soracco, will be staging a new play and songs on the same theme.

Mr Khaw Boon Wan, Minister of Health, will be gracing this special event as the Guest of Honor. The event's proceeds will go towards the Meditation Centre project in Perth.

Limited to 550 tickets only, please get your donation tickets early from the Buddhist Fellowship. Enquries, to call 6842 6422 or email bfellow@singnet.com.sg

Soracco "Live" Opening The Door Of Your Heart Concert Pictures (part 1)

2005-10-04T23:15:00.000+08:00

Hi all,

I have uploaded some pictures of the recent concert on the following link:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/index.html?id=2119667616

I will upload part 2 tomorrow. Cheers!

Wyatt

Housekeeping: spam-in-disguise comments

2005-10-04T17:15:00.000+08:00

Hi everybody,

Just a housekeeping update about our blog.

I noticed we got quite a number of comments that are actually spams advertising their own sites. I deleted those comments, and since I'm fussy like that, I also turned on the "word verification" feature, a safety guard provided by Blogger. Basically whoever want to leave a comment will be asked to verify that they are human users (spams are usually generated automatically). Details here.

This means an extra step (well, an extra field to fill in) but I hope it won't deter genuine respondents. And anyway, I'm yet to see if this is effective (in blocking the spams) or not. Your feedbacks are welcome!

vivy

You guys looked good..

2005-10-02T16:16:00.000+08:00

Hey,

Just woke up an hour ago, and still a little groggy from figuring out what went on at home the past month.

But looking at your photos and the posts you guys threw at each other, I'd like just to say you guys looked yummy good, and seemed to have great fun, had some great comaraderie going around, and did something really special!

Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations! as in Sadhu! Sadhu! Sadhu!

Hope to see the VCD soon! ;)

Wai Hong

It's a Great & Wonderful Night!!!

2005-09-30T19:09:00.000+08:00

Hi Soracco's!!! Although i joined a month later than all of u,but i could say that everyone is great & wonderful!!! It is really a wonderful & successful night!!! I would like to say Thank You to everyone!!! We Made It!!! This day & this night will alwayz be in my mind!!! Really miss those days of our rehearsal!!! Together,We Make A Great Team!!! Cheers!!!
With Metta,
Regan Sukhito

Concert Images - 24 September 2005 Saturday

2005-09-30T12:04:00.000+08:00

Click on images for better viewing
For more, visit these friends:
Stacey - http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=2120141348
Vivy - http://www.comp.nus.edu.sg/~vivy/soracco/
Contributors - Richard Ow, YiLin, Stacey, Vivy, Su-May, Xueling and friends

Just wanna share something..

2005-09-29T18:31:00.000+08:00

Treat your happiness like the most precious jewel. Don't let anyone or anything take it away.

I quoted this from ajahn brahm's mind over matter's talk. So let's all always stay happy!

To all,

Love, Jess

Resh's talk to BF youth this sunday 2/10/05

2005-09-28T23:14:00.000+08:00

Biodata:
Dr Teoh Ren Shang is currently working as a confused Army doctor (who in the Army isn't?) who attempts on occasion to have pretensions of understanding the Dhamma and that others are just dying to hear him expound it. He hopes you will all humour him by attending his talk, and be polite enough not to throw all kinds of missiles at him when it is all over

Buddhist Legends, the stuff of which myth and tales are made, legends on a cosmic scale that drive home the point that even in the seemingly unchanging cosmos, even in the seemingly unchanging face of human history, all things inevitably change, and all such conditioned states are unstable and hence unworthy of being clung to. Hence i present to you two really interesting tales:

1. Beginning and End of the World- ever wanted to know what the Buddha said about the universe, its beginning and ending? ever been questioned by non-Buddhists on whether we have our own Genesis story? ever wondered how much the Buddha's explanation fits in with modern science? then this is one talk you cannot miss......

do come if you are free!

Opening the Door of Your Heart Concert 24 Sep 2005

2005-09-28T18:06:00.000+08:00

Photo by Richard Ow, BF

You lot really make me crack up.

So Jayson . . . what were you gossiping about? The nice thing about being past 40, you tend to worry less about what is said because by 40 you have heard it all !! Ha Ha! With my colourful life and "heck care" - I am going to dance to my heart's content to "Superstition" if that is what I feel like doing - as Malcolm's twin brother said "That Auntie can really dance ya" shall be taken as a compliment although being called "Auntie" was hardly flattering.

Well, you won't have to miss getting together too long as our practices for the next event to be staged on 29 Dec will resume very very soon . . .

I have kicked off my fund raising activities . . so far someone has pledged to top up the balance of a $100K budget I am seeking to stage the Apr/May shows . . perhaps in Esplanade? You know I always have big dreams although big screen is not part of it.

Till we meet again . . missing you all.

Love
Angie :-)

---

Wow...

Never know Jess can be such a great editor... such Great thoughts she has penned and thanking everyone upside down, inside out...!!! Really!!! I'm impressed!!! Jess's "Opening the Door of Her Heart" in penning her feelings and experiences into words is Great... KudoS, Jess!!!! Angie's (The Choice) & ah-Quek (Huiling).. u know who to look for next time to help u in coming up with articles regardingthis Concert!! ='P I think the praises that all of us have received is overwhelmingly Great!!! Wooo... Shiok Right??!!!

But let's not forget that there are some real Polishing work to be done so that we can bring the Musical to Broadway (So commented by the US man), Channel 5 (quoted from the Chief Robber), Golden Village or Omnimax Theatre (So said by the movie fanatic, J.a.g.)

Here are some really Great feedbacks received (that can make us scale Greater Heights):

1. We should really consider having Big TV Screens by the 2 sides (Like those in Suntec), so that audiences can get a close up to see what the actors are doing or even when we walked down the stage or in areas where some audiences couldn;t see us due to being blocked [Suggested by the woman in my life, my MOM (Hey... I'm no mommy's boy huh...)] => I know it's limited by the logistics support we can get from the place of performance though..

2. The quality of Soracco [Think it's time to recruit more quality choir members, i admit i'm jialat (hence i better tender b4 i get the boot..., haha..), train ailing to be more inspirational in her conducting, to improve Soracco-ians movements as we sing etc...] => Heard comments that the Soracco-ians has a hard time following Angie's carefree movement that make the whole of Soracco look awful at times when we sway... Ha... As we get real quality Soracco-ians, we will also have greater pool of solo-ists like our Broadway singer, Sumay or Rock Band singer Sherman... Maybe we can try to recruit "The Three Tenors" or Josh Groban...

3. For the acting, some suggested that too much conversation for "Romance & Marriage" and ends off quite abruptly which audience did not know that the skit actually ended.. (Good point!). Others include the "Driver" skit being boring (At this pt, i must say, Renshang is a GREAT talent to exploit, I certainly couldn't have pull it off at all in the act or rap with dance steps...), too draggy for 2 bad bricks and our deva conversations with the audience... oops... Point taken!

Well, these are the few Main Points which I cam come up with at this juncture. Think if we concentrate on these few main points and improve in them, Soracco's dream of being in the "BIG SCREEN" is going come true reeeeaaal soon... We may even make Nick Shen (or Sim) out of job as MediaCorp may be replaced by DharmaCorp, SoracCorp or BFCorp... Ha... (Then of cos, we will employ him, exploit him... heh heh... but we will also give him hefty bonuses...)

That's all, FolkS!!! Cheers to all of u Great people out there!!!
(Jess, u forgot to thank all other beings that are present on that day too!!! ;'P)

J.a.g.
P.s. Are u all missing the FUN TIME we shared during the rehearsals already?! (I treasure the sneaking out and gossipying part (Oops, violated 4th Precept)...

---

Dear all,

You guys rock! Yup. wif regards to what jayson had typed. I would also like to pen down my thoughts before the memories fade away.

These past three months had indeed been very very liberating for me. All the late night rehearsals on weekdays, and weekends had made a difference to my life. being part of this project, i've got to know many wonderful people, people who can make a difference not only to me but to the world. through this play, i got even closer to the dharmma=)) the best gift of all.

we were still quite messy before the musical. but, that night, i'm sure we had successful propagate the dharmma through the musical!!

Everything i learn through the musical, will be in me for life. and all the memories, will always be kept close to my heart. wanna thank all of you for putting in soo much hardwork and effort.

People in the backstage: YOU GUYS ROCK! u helped us make it possible. And, hereby, i would like to honour you people coz you guys truly deserve it. You guys encourage us and helped us to get rid of our anxieties. NOT FORGETTING: the usherers! thank you for getting everyone seated and relax to watch our musical. thanks for taking the effort to dress so smart and have such sweet and thoughtful idea such as getting flowers. u guys deserve the credits. AND ALSO: hong yi for the lightings. hahax. thanks for creating such beautiful lightings at the right time, right place=))

Let's continue to follow the dharmma and embark our journey towards enlightenment, with the buddha in our head, the dharmma in our hearts and the sangha by our side to protect and guide us always=))

ps: sumay, let's just continue to ROCK!

love,
jess

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Hi Everyone

A BIG Thank You to ALL – musicians, singers, actors/actresses, support staff (props, backstage people, ushers & volunteers helping outside) as well as admin staff – for a job well done.

Though there were a few glitches and mistakes here & there, overall it was a GREAT performance. We’ll polish it up and be even better for our next “Opening the Door of Your Heart” public performance just before Vesak (which falls on May 12, 2006). It may be a 2-night performance over a weekend – so do keep yourselves available in early May as well as the whole Vesak weekend. We’ll confirm dates & venues later on.

Meanwhile, like Angie said, our NEXT performance is the Fund Raising Dinner for Ajahn Brahm’s Meditation Centre on Dec 29. Practices will commence from Oct 16 at our usual place and time – 1.30pm. So have a good break, rest and come back recharged!

We’ll be using the same choir costume for the Dinner, so if anyone cannot make it for Dec 29, please return the tops as we won’t be able to get them anymore.

For those who couldn’t join us last Saturday for one reason or another (Wai Hong, Coen, Pat, Judy, Lina, Shannen, May, Daphne & of course August), we’ll like to welcome all of you back for our next performance in Dec. So do join us for practices next month.

May we continue to have great times together – in practices, fellowship & performances.

Lots of Metta
Ai Ling

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yeah, it was a great show. things turned out really well, considering the night before, we were all struggling with the coordination. it's unbelievable! the performance from everyone is fabulous. i have to thank all my backstage crew who did great with only 1 partial rehearsal on friday night. without you guys and girls, i just don't think things will be that smooth.

the credit goes out to you all!

John Bhaddo Lee

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Hi All!

I'm lost for words except to say "you were awesome!"

I think we truly openned not just the doors of our hearts but the windows too! Everybody entered it on saturday night. It certainly didn't feel cramped cos there was lots and lots of room in all of our hearts! :)

Well done Soracco! You touched the heart strings of many in the audience. Two of my friends actually teared during the show! Everybody I met after had so many good things to say!

Cheers to all who have contributed, especially those behind the scenes, away from the spot lights! Without you things would have been different.

Awesome!

We shall Rock again.........sooner than you think!

Malcolm

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Dear all,

Thanks so much for the all the energy, the great times and the great music :). never felt happier
performing with all my Dharma friends. What can I say? We ROCK!!!!

Luv,
Xueling

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Hello Tracy & everyone

Since you are already missing practice, we shall resume it two weeks!!

Our next big event is the Fund Raising Dinner on 29 Dec for Ajahn Brahm's Meditation Centre project. I hope all of you are game for it. Can't tell you much yet as I am still putting on my thinking caps on.

Any way, it is good to ride on the wonderful performace we put up on Saturday. The praises and compliments have been pouring in from all directions. It has been energising and a real high to have been part of a great team at work!

THANK YOU to everyone, each one of us put in our 100% and from there, everything was just magical!!

This proves that if we put Mind over Matter, anything is possible!! JUST DO IT!

With Metta
Angie

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Dear all,

I really enjoyed our performance on Saturday. Kind of miss the practice on Sunday. (ha.. ha...) I really have great fun singing with all the music lover.

I must congratulate the actors and actresses. They have really put up a very good show. It made me tears even I have watched it many times. And my friend's kids who are 7 and 9 years old, also sobbing away while watching the 4 wives.

With Metta
Tracy Tan

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hi guys,

thanks for the performance and i am glad everything was smooth. i enjoyed myself playing with good musicians and would also like to thank the choir for bearing with the drums. good luck to u guys.

cheers!
bryan

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Hi all, i just wanna thank you all for giving me the opportunity to perform with you guys...i had fun..i'm really glad that everything went smoothly..well i guess things will turn out right if one goes with the flow..i could see that some of us were nervous before the BIG show..but when we were onstage everything just flowed well..i guess humans tend to think to too much,hence affecting the way we feel and behave..all i can say is Don't think...feel.

Cheers to all and take care

Once again i like to thank you all and ofcos my funky brother malcolm

Sherman Aw

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Dear All Soracco-ians (including crew members),

Before i go to sleep and my memories begin to fade away, i thought i would like to pen down my thoughts over these past months of being part of the Soracco family...

After many rehearsals, time, effort, sunday afternoons, late weekday nights, having bee hoon, pizzas, KFCs, & sharing laughters, grumbles, secret complaining about so-and-so (Ooorrr... it's Human nature...hahaha...), rehearsals, the ever changing actors/actresses, skits, singers, M/F/Solo/All part for singing... til tonight (24 Sept 05) after 3 1/2 hours when everything just whizz past us without realising it, in the first ever "Opening the Door of Your Heart" Concert held by BF and draws our rehearsals to a close. Guess what follows spontaneously in me? Reflections.

Reflecting on the moments we all spent together brings me so much more joy than what we have done tonight. Reflections on the sincerity & the friendship that we have foster & bring with us in tonight's performance way, way surpass the joy of what we have achieved tonight. I guess the memory of these whole series of events before, during & after the concert will always linger in me.

Thank you everyone!

Cheers!
='D J.a.g.

Soracco Debut Expressions

2005-09-28T15:37:00.000+08:00

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