Page 109 - 2023 eMag Final Draft

Written by Elysia Chong Kityee Sr2ScH
Illustration by Lee Xue Rui Sr1ScF

As a musician, I’m used to seeing thin In fact, one of my first memories is of
black lines connecting music notes on a him onstage performing a classical piece
sheet of paper to form a melody. Notes that on his beloved violin. With the spotlight

twine together and become a breathtaking directing all eyes to him and the gentle
performance. violin notes from his hands, it was quite
clear to my young brain who was meant to
But those notes connect more than a be the leading man.

song.
Sitting in the front row of that primary
You see, they come together to form school hall, I had stars in my eyes as I
so many unique relationships. watched him. To me, it was like watching

a master at work.
I’ve seen them flowing through
the earphone wire, connecting two boys I remember declaring to my parents
listening to the same song. Those notes twirl at that very moment that I would be just

around talented musicians’ performances like him.
on stage, their playful rivalry evident in
the efforts to perfect their instruments. And that was how my parents got a
You can see them physically being written second apprentice.

down as friends debate over lyrics for the
song they’re penning. My parents told me some years ago
that they had planned on letting me follow
So many different relations, all my heart. It was never their intention to

expressed through music. We don’t notice it get me into music like my brother but they
but it’s there, silently woven into countless were pleasantly surprised, excited even,
relationships between countless different when I expressed my interest.
people.

It got me thinking. Did my brother
Sometimes I look at myself and see music the same way I did? Or did he
wonder how music captures my messy see it as something more as a gilded cage
personal relations; such as my older from the way he had been born into it?

brother.
Was it why at times the sorrow and
He’s the reason I pursue music after anger in his performances felt all too real?
all.

Ultimately, these aren’t questions I
Our parents held music in high can ask him.
regard and as such, from the moment he
could reach the keys on a piano, they had As much as I see my older brother as

lovingly taught him all they knew. It isn’t an inspiration, our relationship is built on
much of a stretch to say he was born with a foundation of nothing more than blood
music flowing from his fingers. and song.
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