Yes, I suppose many expected this post to come up sooner or later.
Previously in my earlier post, The Tragic History of Dr. Faustus 2, I mentioned about the journey of the state level competition, and yes, by the grace of God, we won! Then led us to the nationals, the last and final stage.
From Monday till Thursday (19-22 October), the drama team of 2009 from Catholic High School set out to Kepala Batas, Seberang Prai, to participate in the national drama competition. 15 cast and crew plus 2 teachers, all excited and of course, in search and in anticipation of a victory.
Monday morning, we got ready all our props and stuff and loaded everything onto the bus. Just loading everything already made many guys sweaty and tired, it was that bad. By 8 am, we departed Catholic High School with wishes from our principal, Madam Lee. Our journey towards Penang main island straight away started with a movie marathon in the bus. Some watched, some talked, some slept, some read books. In the bus, everyone was filled with much joy and gladness as this would be the first time CHS has sent a team to nationals for a english competition. Anticipation filled the air. As we passed by somewhere in Perak, we stopped by the side of the road to fetch Rayelene after her Deepavali holidays with her family. Upon reaching Hotel Seri Malaysia, a government hotel in Kepala Batas, there were already a couple of teams registering and getting their room keys. As eyes glanced across each other's, we knew that everyone had come to achieve a goal, but the cool part was that everyone was friendly, smiles were ignited from everyone and despite "competition" it was also basically 240 teenage students getting together, slowly knowing each other without strife or rivalry. We got our rooms keys and went straight into our rooms and placed our luggage. Then we got out and went to find a restaurant to eat lunch. There Puvendran came and joined us, now, our team of 15 cast and crew are together, like pieces of puzzle being fitted together, turning to a full picture. We took the opportunity of the extra time that we had to view the hall unofficially and then went back to the hotel to rest and waited for dinner. Nothing much happen that night, likewise, movies went on, some played computer games, and the rest talked and talked.
Day 2, Tuesday. I personally was surprised as this was a drama competition, food should be a cautious thing because it could affect our voice. The cool thing is, every meal that we had, there was curry, and everyone ate it! Keropok too! and some other fried stuff also! With cold drinks! The food would also be replenished after like 30 minutes, and I was also surprised about this until someone said to me, 240 TEENAGE students, What Do You Expect? Then I realized. So that is basically about the food. Tuesday was the day that teams took turns to rehearse on the stage. My team was the last, so we had to wait until late evening for our turn. So there wasn't much going on though we had one small practice in the hall but not the stage and also watched some of the other teams rehearse and had some tea break food. Tuesday night was more of a "preparing-heart-and-mind" time, though some were still fooling around. I personally, was trying to focus on the next day, the day of competition. The people in my room was about to sleep until some crazy KL guy called and irritated us at 1 am. There was a girl talking to us and since they did that to us, we also added some of our tasty words until they got irritated and finally after nearly 30 minutes or less, the call ended.
Wednesday, the day we worked hard for. Yes, Wednesday is THE DAY. Woke up early and had breakfast, and without hesitation, we started putting on our make up. Practically the whole morning and afternoon was make up time and I really have to compliment the girls, Yee Teng, Rayelene, Re Gin, Hui Xin, Shiau Ling, for not just doing the make up but using their own make up without claim, wonderful indeed. Ray Aun, Jia Jie and I had to walk out though because Jia Jie was a vegetarian and there was no vegetarian food prepared, so we walked finding a vegetarian stall, which was surprisingly famous and known to the community nearby, which helped us A LOT. After lunch, both of my teachers came back and was just sharing how things went for the first 8 teams. Mr William mentioned some were good, so at that point in time, we were a bit worried and shaken, but still tried to stand strong. Not to long later, Madam Lee, Pn Chee and Ms Leela came from school to Seberang Prai to see our performance and to support us. We were really glad to see them and likewise for them. 4 pm came, yes, it is time to get ready to go there, and at that time, my eldest brother was also already there to watch me! So we went to the hall, checked our props to make sure everything is in tack and I went to meet my brother. Soon, it was time, but without forgetting, prayer was the essence of it all, and so like the previous times, we held hands and in one accord, I lead in the prayer and we all agreed, then we started getting into our characters. The time for our play came and then some complications happened, but we were not fazed by it, but continue to keep our stature. But I have to honestly say that my acting had a lot of mistakes, and expecting a scold from my teacher, he came and the first thing he said was, "We NAILED it!" I was like "huh? with that many mistakes, how is it possible?" he replied, "Yes, you did many mistakes in my eyes, but in the eyes of everyone, we did very well" (There were many stories from many people about our play, but its too many to tell, but one thing was, during our play, the audience was the most quiet and captivated, not to praise ourselves but to praise God for His Kindness and to describe to you what happened) Sadly, there were complaints about certain things about our play, but we still continued to pray after our turn. We went back to the hotel and got ready because the result announcement and closing ceremony was that night itself. Took bath and ate dinner, where everyone really didn't really care what we ate, because its all over. That night itself, had speeches and performances finally the announcement of results. There was also a public speaking prize giving ceremony going on, but i'll skip to the drama part. Slowly the announced the consolations prizes and was finally down to three teams, Sarawak, Sabah and us, Selangor. Yes indeed, the 3 s' (Ass-es). Sarawak got third which is just down to us and Sabah. Just like the other times, we held hands so tightly that there was no tighter way we could have held each other. All heads were tilted down just wanting to hear the word Selangor came from the MC's mouth. "Johan, untuk drama bahasa Inggeris tahun 2009, ialah dari................................. Negeri............................(about 10 seconds, which is rather long but a good amount of anticipation)................. SELANGOR" I couldn't scream, because it was just simply speechless, just speechless. We did, we won. I'll fast forward, we walked up the stage, took our prizes and took pictures and to fast forward again, Ray Aun has been announced the BEST ACTOR! Amazing, simply amazing. Congragulations came from everywhere and I have never felt this kind of joy and happiness of victory, or in other words, never had the title, Malaysia's No 1 for year 2009. Its just simply spectacular. After about an hour, we left the hall at about 11.30 pm. That night, the nearby CC and KFC, was packed to the brim, surely a splendid business. That night was a dream come true, it was a moment never to be forgotten.
Thursday, bye bye day. Throughout my time there, we all made new friends, and today we all had to say our byes and wishes of luck to everyone in their life. Exchange email address and such. But our time to leave also came and we packed our bags and headed to Penang Island to buy some biscuits for family and ate lunch there. Soon after, we left and headed straight back to school. Before we reached Selangor, we had dinner at Tanjung Malim, Perak. That night itself, was a very very sentimental night, this is the end of the journey, a 8 month journey, I felt like crying but I just would not. Neither could I sleep because I just wanted to spend my time with my friends and more or less, a small, little and new family. Upon reaching CHS, Mr William said a very moving speech. We quickly cleared everything from the bus and everyone left to their respective cars and went back home.
After 8 months, It Is Finished.
In the end, All Glory and Praise and Honour goes back to our Father in heaven. He brought us this far and it is truly by the grace of God and no one else. Mr William also spent his time, talent and money and supported in practically every area, he is indeed not just a teacher, but a great teacher.
Along the journey, there was a change in cast, so here is the new one.
Narrator - Wei Xuan
Dr Faustus- Wai leem
Mephistopheles - Ray Aun
Angel - Rayelene
Gluttony - Shiau Ling
Sloth - Puvendran
Lust - Yee Teng
Greed - Hui Xin
Envy - June
Wrath - Benjamin
Pride - Re Gin
Lucifer - Ti Lun
Drummers - Jia Jie & Zhi Wei
Technical Manager - Abhilash
I don't know what will happen next year, but my prayer is that God will continue to be there will prosper the section of CHS for the years to come.
Love,
Wai Leem
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