With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

May 07, 2011 09:40

And so Chang Tou Liang has done it again. Stirring up a hornet's nest of discussion that would otherwise not interest the general public in the slightest. Over an issue far removed from their existence, much less their conscience. Or is it the other way around?

Remember the brouhaha over Yundi's "shocking" disgrace of a performance of Tcvhaikovsky's Piano Concerto No 1 with the SSO, where the ertstwhile reviewer didn't mince his words with a no-holds-barred denunciation of the travesty and sacrilege of a fall from grace on high.

Well, now the vigilante has taken it upon himself to address the bugbear of most concert-goers, the water-cooler topic of the week being students at concerts. In his review of last weekend's concert where he sat in the company of a school excursion where the students were on less than exemplary behaviour, he threw down the gauntlet by naming and shaming.

"Spoilt Sons of Singapore". That alone was priceless and worth reading the review for. And thus, the ACS name takes a beating yet again, this time not for petty squabbles on the rugby pitch. And of course, the school was quick on the draw to respond, trying to hedge the problem and diffuse attention by hinting that another school was also present. Hmmm, do I smell another Jonal Chong and Nicole Kidman in the making?

As much as the schools want to inculcate a love of music in their students, perhaps it is time to relook their approach. Forcefeeding doesn't guarantee good results, not unless foie gras is what you're after. And even then, think of the poor geese

Concerts and movies are solitary affairs, entailing sitting in the dark for two hours, so congregation or conversation is out of the question. If the students aren't really interested, perhaps make it an opt-in rather than opt-out affair. Otherwise, allocate them seats separated from one another, not even in pairs. Why, if that worked for the Children's Choir, it should do for this.

Thank you, Dr Chang.

Posted via LjBeetle
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