moving on, i think that one of your first few lines, "That the french horn is unique." is extremely subjective. going with your line of thought, i can claim that ALL instruments are unique and thus the bassoon should have its own section, which is clearly not the case. this will have to be confirmed after i hear your reasoning later.

you also say that one of the reasons why we should not merge is because the french horns are much bigger than the euphos, and merging would be like "malaysia and singapore." from hindsight, we can tell that the merger did not end well. however, we must look at the reasons why the separation occured. it was mainly due to the racial riots and violence that they decided to separate. and now you are insinuating that if we join you all, you are going to RIOT or at least cause a disturbance due to some reason or whatever? i think that is extremely immature on your part. also, singapore was trated unfairly during the merged periods, where they had to contribute back to the central malaysian government without question. if you want to compare this situation of horns merging with euphos with small group "singapore" merging with larger group "malaysia", i don't think it is very appropriate.

you also seem to bring up the size of the section as the basis on which you should be able to, in certain terms, "be independent". however, if we look at productivity, you are a large group that has not been producing results comparable to the rest of the band's. thus, it seems that the sec 4s have decided to merge us so that we can keep an eye on you and ensure that you put your practises to good use, which from my observations, you have not. this is also evident from the many scoldings and insults from Mr. Oura, our conductor. and due to his many years of experience with music, i think that he is able to tell good music from bad ones easily, and he has identified yours as "bad".

next, i personally think that the french horns should be merged for the good of the band.

i have these reasons to list:

1. as a solo section by your self, you have not been producing results in the past few years.
   
2. i believe the sec 4s of this year have merged us so that we, namely, josiah and me, can keep an eye on you.
   
3. i believe that as an SL, i can be able to help your section, not in terms of playing literally, but as in the identification of problems that you might make, and thus pointing them out to you and helping you fix them.
4. next year, being an SYF year, it is thus of utmost importance that you/we be able to perform well next year as to keep up the prestigious traditions of the band.

from earlier discussions with you, mr. cheng xun, it seems that you seem to oppose me due to the fact that i am not a horn player, and thus you find it unfit for me to be the horn SL, as i cannot play the horn. however, i would like to point out that there are certain sections that do encompass different instruments under the same name eg. the oboe under "flutes", the bassoon under "saxes" and such. and yet, they are all under the same SL. usually, it is the senior who plays the same instrument, or some external mentor that teaches the junior how to play the instrument. this is true for the case of the oboe sec 1, and the bassoon sec 2. thus, it is natural that the horn seniors that teach the horn juniors. and if you shirk this responsibility saying that your sec 4 has denied you the permission to teach them (which i think is highly unlikely) and because of that you do not want to teach, i think this is even more evidence why you should NOT be the SL. also, if now you claim that since that i am the SL and want me to teach while you slack/whatever, the result is the same as above. i'm not saying that you have no leadership ability at all. if that was the case, why would the sec 4s give you the position of LD head? obviously they thought that you had the ability to lead a cupboard full of papers right? right.

next, you say that we are invading your "soverignity" and "dignity" or what else you have brought up. HELLO, this is not a country you are running here. it's just a group of some people playing the same instrument together. and you have said that the juniors are extremely unhappy with this, and will REFUSE to work if i am their leader. in fact, i have met up with the juniors of your section, namely the sec 1 s, and they seem to be quite ok with the fact that i'm their leader. also, this threat of not working will be met with almost universal condemnation from the rest of the band members, due to the next year being the important year for our batch and the band. so, no matter who the leader is, please note that work is something inevitable.

also, you say that since the french horn and the euphonium sound very different, play different parts and such, thus they should not be merged, and should not be practising together. if that's the case, there should be no such thing as a concert where we all get together to play, right?

you have said that the reason the sec 4s did not give you the SL position is because we would be unhappy that you had too much power. that is crap. please look at linjin, patrick, johnson, and brandon. they ALL hold double posts, and are we complaining? no. case closed.

finally, you have said that as i do not play a horn i cannot teach how to play one, and since the SYF is next year this is an issue of concern. in that case, i, unlike your earlier senior who refuses to let you teach, will graciously allow you to instruct the sec 1s/ juniors until they have reached a standard where they can play reasonably well. problem solved.

finally, you say that you are wondering how the section can improve under my leadership. well, in my opinion, being a leader does not mean you do EVERYTHING. it just means that you must be able to delegate work in a reasonable and fair manner, and also do some work of your own. thus, if i delegate you the work, and you refuse to do it, it is not my fault already. it is yours. and yet, because of this, i will be getting most of the flak from the others, including teachers and Mr. oura. the most i can do to help in the areas that i am not very capable in is to push you all in the general direction. and if you still refuse to do anything, please bear in mind the repercussions that may surface next year.

oh, and regarding the "blind chickens" comment, please, it was only used to inject some figurative language into the conversation, and also for the sake of visualisation. are you a blind, crippled chicken Mr . Chua? no? good.

to end off, the statement "this instrument is the hardest to learn, blah blah blah." is often heard emanating from the mouths of the horn players. and it is exactly because of this that you should be practising harder, not squabbling about who is the leader here. even if some one else were to get the position and you all still not work, the outcome, i assure you, will be the same.

just my two and a half cents worth.

Your current section leader,

Ernest.

ps. sorry for all the grammer mistakes. i was typing this in blogger.



OMG. that has to be like the longest thing i have ever written consecutively in one go! new record! whee. (fine that was lame.) just like lin jin. sometimes. =)

Till next post...