Reported by:
Khoo Xin Yi Jr3Z(6)
On the 27th of December, a talk on the Connection Between Music-Study-Life was held during the Kuen Cheng Online Art Festival. The talk was arranged by the Kuen Cheng Philharmonic Orchestra (KCPO) with their coach as the guest speaker.
Guest Speaker: Mr. Chan Ling Chee
Said coach, Mr. Chan Ling Chee, is a cellist, pianist, conductor, and educator with more than 25 years of experience in his field. Also conducting the Monash Chamber Orchestra (MCO) and the Kuen Cheng Philharmonic Orchestra (KCPO), Mr. Chan is known as the founder of the Selangor Philharmonic Orchestra (SPO) and Chan Academy.
The talk started at 1:30 p.m. with a brief welcoming message from the Vice President of KCPO, Aries Chen. Mr. Chan then started his talk on the connection between music, studies, and life. Mr. Chan spoke on how our problems in life are reflected in the music we play. For example, he brought up an ex-student of his who seemed to have some emotion missing in his music playing. Later on, Mr. Chan’s student confessed that he had a fight with his brother that put him on edge, affecting his music playing and thus showing that our thoughts and feelings adapt into the music we play.
Music is versatile, but it isn’t the only key leading to many doors. Mr. Chan played a video of a Navy SEAL member talking about how the hope we have may give us just enough of a motive to push forward. After the video, Mr. Chan explained that music is much like making your bed in the morning, it gives us a small boost of energy and hope to get through the day, developing a good habit in our lives too. Such habits seem trivial but knowing that we have done something productive early in the morning every day gives us a push to do more.
Navy SEAL Speech by Admiral William H. McRaven Video
“Everything comes up with the spark of an idea.” When we think of an idea, we start to act on it, and that’s why Mr. Chan stressed how important consistency is to us. An idea won’t change anything if we don’t act on it consistently. He warned us to never make excuses such as not having enough time for something. An example Mr. Chan brought up was how we have to be consistent when trying to slim down. It takes a lot of patience to keep up a healthy lifestyle, and the same applies in music where we must practice daily to improve our skills. Thus, by honing our consistency in music, we also improve ourselves in various aspects of life too.
Mr. Chan also enlightened the participants on how music is a great platform for people to develop their personalities and attributes, especially self-discipline. He showed a scene from the Karate Kid movie where the main character is taught that Kung Fu lives in everything we do. Like Kung Fu, music lives in everything we do as well. The attributes we attain while practicing music can be brought into our daily lives.
Mr. Chan then answered some questions from the audience, one of them being about how much courage we would need in order to start a career in music and how we can obtain such courage. Mr. Chan responded by advising us to just start trying because consistency and practice is the key to success, courage comes with it.
To sum it up, music can mould a person’s mindset and prepare them for their future. Mr. Chan ended the talk by saying that we have to connect the dots ourselves since everyone is different in their own way. However, he reminded us that the soft skills and attributes that we earn from learning music are the most important benefits we may acquire.
Group Photo