Passion vs Practical

i think if we have a chance to interview a few world class concert musicians who are pianist, violinist, or any instrument player, i just wonder what are their true feelings? i suppose too much of something even if it's your passion, you want to do other thing too.
Hey, i have been investing in SGX for 23 years, i know what it's like sometime. Without a some passion still with me, i think i can't go on. i practically monitor SGX, NEWS, etc... everyday. That's why when i say it has become my lifetime hobby, some people will misunderstand or misinterpret. Anyway i always remember the world progresses because we had someone who said the world is round and everyone at that time must be thinking he was mad. i mean from time to time, the World needs some one to go "mad" about something, before we have some new thing(innovation or discovery).
i really believe this is a "MAD , MAD, WORLD" we live in.
Ha! Ha!

World class musicians.

1. They must start very young when their fingers are still nimble. Think 5-6 is a good age.
2. Then they practice, practice and practice some more till they are good.
3. When they turn pro, they have to practice even more, a good number would be at least 5-6 hours daily.

Most of us are not mad enough to be world class. A lot of us are too comfortable in our own little world to do anything drastic.

Agreed with you. However, we have to look at our education system and environment.
If you have children studying, look at what they teach and the heaps of school work that they piled. How to be a specialist ?

I do not think we are too comfortable, I think we are under a controlled environment,
cannot really think.

(14-12-2011, 10:16 AM)ken Wrote: I do not think we are too comfortable, I think we are under a controlled environment,
cannot really think.

Clap, clap, clap...well said brother.

When it comes to the Arts, the problem locally is that the market is too small. Many of our gifted musicians have to relocate to bigger markets for eg. Pianists & Violinists to UK (Europe market) or US, Chinese Songs Singers to Taiwan, etc.

For Pianists / Violinists, I doubt you'll see any (or many) coming from less well off family background. It's not exactly cheap to learn and many potentially gifted kids don't even get the chance to even try.

For singers, at least you can continue to practise in the bathroom (good vocal effects) and perhaps even post some recordings in YouTube and maybe get talent spotted if you get plenty of hits. As for song writers, nowadays, a PC/NB with the necessary software (can reproduce the effects of all the musical instruments) would suffice for a start.

IMO, if you are a parent, and you strongly believe in developing your child so that they get a chance to realise their passions (esp. for the Arts), you'll need to be actively involved. There're many obstacles to clear and fixed mindset to change. It'd be a miracle if your child can do this by themselves! Altho' in recent times, we have SOTA and NAFA (more affordable compared to sending them overseas), you'll still have to get involved in nuturing their artistic talents at a young age till they get admitted at the Secondary level. If you are richer, then of course you can hire private coaches and plan their admission into better overseas schools.

The same problem is happening in Sports ie local market is too small. On top of that, they have to compete with the FTs (hey! same as Electronics Engineers).

(14-12-2011, 01:46 PM)koh_52 Wrote:

(14-12-2011, 10:16 AM)ken Wrote: I do not think we are too comfortable, I think we are under a controlled environment,
cannot really think.

Clap, clap, clap...well said brother.

There must be a reason why the Taiwanese and PRC people labelled Sporeans , including our so-called top elites 無知 .

Maybe a bit OT, but since we are on the topic of Singing, I was recently doing a search for Choirs in Singapore as my kid claims to have this passion (plus got a bit of talent). I found this interesting report which helped me better understand the local scene,

http://www.ifcm.net/public/doc/592.pdf

Refer to Appendix II (page 20/53) for the Singapore report. It's dated 2009 but should still be relevant for those in a similar situation as me.

For those who are older, sorry, continue to practise in your bathroom. Perhaps, you'll get lucky if you do a recording (no, not w/o your clothes in the bathroom but perhaps in a more professional setup) and upload to YouTube!

For those who enjoys some of these Arts stuff (Music, Choir,..), a more affordable place to go is SOTA (usually $10+/ticket) vs Esplanade vs YouTube (free but don't have the same effects). The ticketing agent is GateCrash, details,

http://www.gatecrash.com.sg/

OK, my getai venuture dreams crashed and burned before even started...

Now I understand why my mainland chinese supplier meant when he said he love to work with Singaporeans! Singaporeans very "straight".

He mentioned that when working with Taiwanese and Hong Kongners, he has to be extra careful since they can be very "creative". Imagine the kettle calling the pot black!?

I did not take it as a compliment to Singaporeans

But I realise why when I see Singaporeans waiting at traffic lights crossing with no cars around. Well, let's say we are very "disciplined"...

I think I have to be careful coming home. After Athens and Shanghai, I now treat traffic lights as "recommendation" subconsciously - LOL!

For those who are not born into more well-to-do family, the hard and sad reality of life is to focus on practical 1st, rather than passion. Some may even be hit earlier than others and have to help out in the house while both parents work long hours just to meet basic needs. The moment they are old enough, they have to help pay family expenses through part time or even full time (ie quit school) jobs.

Singapore, after all, is one of the most expensive cities in the world. Neither do we have the choice to move to a cheaper countryside area like bigger developed countries.

So, if you are fortunate enough not to worry about your living expenses, by all means, go for your passions. The ideal is of course to marry both passions and practical but how many of us out there really have the luxury of such a choice?

In my case, I belonged to the not-so-fortunate class. I had to work to earn my own tuition fees 1st before I could even enrol for tertiary education. Subsequently, I worked, save and invest hard so that I can now have a lot of choices to indulge in whatever I fancies.

If you belong to the luckier class, I guess it can be hard to believe or even understand what the less fortunate had to go through. It may even seem funny to some that others don't even have a choice in the earlier part of their lives....

(14-12-2011, 06:46 PM)KopiKat Wrote: For those who are not born into more well-to-do family, the hard and sad reality of life is to focus on practical 1st, rather than passion. Some may even be hit earlier than others and have to help out in the house while both parents work long hours just to meet basic needs. The moment they are old enough, they have to help pay family expenses through part time or even full time (ie quit school) jobs.

Singapore, after all, is one of the most expensive cities in the world. Neither do we have the choice to move to a cheaper countryside area like bigger developed countries.

So, if you are fortunate enough not to worry about your living expenses, by all means, go for your passions. The ideal is of course to marry both passions and practical but how many of us out there really have the luxury of such a choice?

In my case, I belonged to the not-so-fortunate class. I had to work to earn my own tuition fees 1st before I could even enrol for tertiary education. Subsequently, I worked, save and invest hard so that I can now have a lot of choices to indulge in whatever I fancies.

If you belong to the luckier class, I guess it can be hard to believe or even understand what the less fortunate had to go through. It may even seem funny to some that others don't even have a choice in the earlier part of their lives....

Agree, some don't even have the luxury to think of passion.