Johnson's thoughts...........

Personal Money Feature - Personally Speaking

2010-07-01T03:23:00.000-07:00

Judge me, NOT! - Article by me on society's flawed judgments

2009-07-29T04:36:00.000-07:00

Blessed with yet another new guitar! ((:

2008-12-04T20:48:00.001-08:00

Hello! ((: I am very happy because I was blessed by my cousin with a brand new classical guitar that is worth more than 1000 Ringgit Malaysia! Yeap your senses did not deceive you, there are indeed three zeros and it reads one thousand Ringgit Malaysia! I was playing the guitar at my other cousin's pre-wedding gathering and he happened to see me playing it. The guitar was bought a long time ago and was meant to be a birthday present for his brother, who is also my cousin. However, being the busy businessmen they both are, his brother did not have the time to pick up the guitar and it had been catching dust ever since he first bought it - never even opened the casing once!, so now, he decided to give it to me haha ((:

According to my cousin, the guitar is 100 percent hand made, and made out of good quality wood ((: Just that I need to re-string the guitar because the strings are the original cheapo one and it had not been used in a while. I already have a classical guitar that my father bought me when I was very young, my dad bought it for only 200 Ringgit Malaysia, brand new, and it was the cheapo type haha ((: I haven't touched that in years because I wasn't passionate about learning the guitar at that time. I also have another second hand acoustic guitar which I bought for 80 sgd, thanks to Andrew Chua's kind sourcing for a good and affordable guitar ((:

So, now I have three guitars! I wonder what am I gona do with them! Haha I am probably gona give the cheapo classical guitar away to somebody who needs it ((: Those of you who are coming for the Malaysia trip can come to my house and check them out haha ((:

Here are some pictures of my three beautiful guitars ((: Enjoy! ((:

Happily sitting in my room ((:

Me and my new 1000++ ringgit guitar ((:

Happy three guitars! ((:

RM 1000++ guitar -rear view

Front view

Entire body

Cheapo classical guitar haha ((:

The three guitars again ((: Can open guitar shop liao haha ((:

My 2nd hand acoustic guitar, still my favourite ((:

I really want to thank my cousin and God for blessing me with yet another guitar. I really think the quote from the bible "give, and you shall receive more than you give" is very true and God has never failed in blessing me back with more as I give. If I had not given Kai Zong the cacat (on the verge of spoiling) blue acoustic guitar - that I was blessed from Esther, my ex cell group leader, maybe God wouldn't have blessed me back with such a nice classical guitar ((: Well, you may say that this is all just a coincidence, but I have seen enough throughout my life as a christian so far to know that there is something more to it ((: We are all just stewards of HIS wealth ((:

So I am probably gona give another guitar away, maybe the 1000++ one, then maybe god will bless me back with an even better one haha (((:

Praise the lord! ((:

Stranded at home + Cousin's Wedding

2008-12-04T20:08:00.000-08:00

Hello people! Haha I have nothing much to post really, I am stranded at home unpacking 6 years worth of stuff lol ((: Plus I am LAME now due to some injuries i suffered during one of my last gatherings in S'pore to Pulau Ubin. I had loads of fun with my friends, we cycled the whole day, visited chek jawa, bbqed, told ghost stories, emoed by the sea and played guitar and sang songs throughout the night etc ((: But while cycling, it started to rain heavily, twice! and we cycled in the rain, and I sacrificed my raincoat to protect my guitar lol ((: My guitar is more important than me lol ((: It can't get wet, I can ((:

Anyway, I rode a tandem bike with my friend because she was scared of cycling alone. But the accident was purely an accident, I couldn't have controlled it any better, being the pro biker I am haha ((: It was raining and i can't see clearly, and the front wheel got stuck in a pothole and the steering just turned 360 degress. Fortunately, I was able to break the fall and my passenger escape unscathed. But I suffered some minor wounds though haha. Here are some recent pics of my wound that I took using my phone camera.

Viewers discretion here, if you can't stand gory images, I advise you to not scroll down anymore haha ((: Enjoy! ((:

Btw today is my cousin's wedding day, she's marrying a doctor, I guess no more apples for her haha! She's my youngest cousin, but still 8 years older than me, most of my other cousins are married with children already, all my relatives are like asking me when is it my turn. Oh wells :/ I'm just 18 anyway, got loads of time to pick and choose carefully. I prefer quality to quantity anyway ((: and I don't mind my first girlfriend being my wife ((:

But anyway, it was quite a surprise though, the first thing they told me when I arrived back home is that there is a wedding dinner this friday - today. So much can happen during the time from Chinese New Year till now haha ((: Time flies ((:

Society's Flawed Judgements

2008-11-26T11:16:00.000-08:00

I feel that society's standards on judging people based on academic results are seriously flawed, especially in countries like Singapore, where students are labeled or "tagged" like - products in a factory - since young. In a way, those who fail to excel early (late bloomers) or those whose talents are difficult to be picked out by the academic system are being condemned by society to forever play second fiddle to the so called "elite" or “scholarly” class. I strongly feel that academic performance is a flawed and unfair gauge for us to judge a person - or as society so likes to put it - a person's "value" to society.

To me, at least, academic performance reflects nothing more than a person's work ethic, persistence and the ability to conform to the rigid systems set by society. Now do not be mistaken, I do acknowledge that these indeed are valuable qualities, but what I am getting at is that these qualities alone do not constitute a fair judgment of a person. What about qualities such as organizational skills, persuasive skills, honesty, loyalty, passion-driven-ness, and creativity? Furthermore, how many of you know that academic performance does not always reward work ethic and persistence and hence does not always reflect a person’s work ethic and persistence? There are some people out there who work extremely hard but still do not excel academically. On the contrary, there are also people who can achieve academic excellence without much of a sweat, and those who have talent might not necessarily have right attitudes towards life or people– as some of us can testify to that (Someone from Catholic High). Doesn’t this suggest to us that one’s academic performance can be more of a test of talent too? Following this, isn’t it unfair to those who have talents in areas other than the academics?

If we adopt the “law of comparative advantage” from economics, shouldn’t people with talents other than academic talent be allowed to specialize in their trade/talents? Doesn’t this maximize society’s overall benefit rather than having every student, even those not in possession of academic talent but with a talent in a non-academic area, conform to a rigid academic curriculum? (As in the case in USA, where students get to specialize earlier, which I admire ((: ) Of course, basic education until the stage of primary school or even ordinary levels perhaps is beneficial in a sense that it helps students make a better informed choice of where his or her talent lies and hence which subject area to specialize on. Even so, we should not judge students “value” based on these academic results as these phases of basic education is a process of discovery rather than a “sorting process”.

Besides talent, passion for learning is also a crucial, or in my opinion, the most important criteria for us to consider a person “valuable” – to the extent that it overrides talent and all other qualities. How many of you know that even if one has talent in a subject area, the lack of passion thereof, will ultimately cause the person’s demise. On the contrary, a person with an undying passion for learning in a particular area of study will ultimately be able to do wonders in that particular area of study. Hence, passion is an essential driving force in one’s pursuit of education for self-improvement. Any lack of thereof, will cause one to live an aimless life.

I also feel that by “tagging” someone from young, society will often have raised expectations of those “tagged” as the “elite” or “scholarly” group. This often exerts a pressure on them to not only meet expectations but to outperform every time and failure to do so will be viewed as a sin for them. Take me for example, I was “tagged” by society as a “scholar” or so called “elite” group since young - 12 years old ( though I never really thought of myself a “elite” in any way or “superior” as I believe that everybody has their own unique talents and strengths).

There were times in my life where I had everything or even more than I had ever wanted – excellent grades, top level in subjects, win numerous prizes, be it international or regional, hold leadership positions etc). However, I soon realized that I still felt empty as in the midst of all these “achievements”, I had nobody to share my joy with. There are always more important things in life like your loved ones and friends. I think I have grown to learn that what society perceives as success and achievements does not necessarily bring about happiness. In my opinion, the most important thing is to live a happy and contented life, free from society’s harsh and flawed judgment and most importantly be able to share your love and joy with your loved ones. ((:

Please note that I am not trying to take away any credit from education. Education is indeed crucial for us to progress as only through it can we learn more and henceforth get better at what we are passionate about. My point is that we should not associate judgment with education as education is a journey on which we improve ourselves and definitely not a tool for judgment. I would love to learn more about almost everything in the world for I have the passion to know more, just that I would like to do so on my own pace and preference and not be judged based on the speed in which I learn or the material on which I choose to learn more about. In short, I feel that a student’s pursuit of knowledge through education should be driven by passion and not by fear of society’s judgment.

To read comments on this issue and my response to all the comments made, go to my facebook profile to check out the note entitled Society's Flawed Judgments ((:

If you're logged in to facebook, the url would be as follows :

http://www.facebook.com/people/Johnson-Khoo-Chong-Sheng/585497643#/note.php?note_id=35139765764

ASIA CONFERENCE!

2008-11-26T11:02:00.000-08:00

I think I really learnt a lot during the 5 intensive days at Asia Conference! I rushed to the conference right after my last A level paper on the 19th of November - Literature paper 3. I am really glad that I was part of such a phenomenal event! I learnt loads of practical stuff such as how to set up a business an how to handle adversity etc. Besides that, I have also grown spiritually ((: I can sense a move of GOD is the conference, especially at Benny Hinn's service, where I witnessed miracles first hand ((: Furthermore, the worship and praise leaders were awesome, so were the speakers - our very own pastor Kong Hee, Dr. A.R Bernard and Pastor Phil.Pringle and his wife ((:

Each long day that starts at 7am in the morning and ends at 12 midnight was definitely worth it ((:

Well it is hard to concise all that had happened in the eventful 5 days into a single post, so I shall not blog about it. If you are interested to know what I learnt and what is so awesome about this conference, feel free to approach me personally ((:

Anyway, here are some photos that were taken during the conference ((:

I personally feel that the things he learnt at ASIA CONFERENCE are worth more than the whole damn bunch of A level subjects he learnt over 2 years put together! ((:

My life as a CHEERLEADER! :DD

2008-11-26T09:11:00.000-08:00

My first exposure to the sport of cheer leading was with the LYNX HOUSE Cheerleading team 2007! ((: It all started when some of my classmates who were running for house committee dragged me in to join the inter-house cheer leading team for Sports Day. Since I had just quit basketball at that time and was rather free as I was still deciding whether to rejoin the Symphonic Band or not, I joined the LYNX CATS CHEER TEAM! ((: So this marks the beginning of my life as a cheerleader ((:

The Lynx team trained very hard and I had a lot of fun during that time. We would stay overnight in school and train late into the night to perfect our dance routine and stunts ((: We would even climb the school gate to come back for practice on Sundays! ((:

On Sports Day itself, we secretly Ponteng-ed classes to practice at East Coast Park ((: And I would also always remember our headquaters - class t11 ((: In the end, our hard work paid off and we were the champions of the inter-house cheerleading competition 2007! ((: HURRAH! ((:

Those were the days ((: Here are some photos of the memorable moments ((:

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LYNX CHEERLEADING! - 2007 VJC Sports Day Cheerleading Champions! ((:
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Look LYNX CAT! :p

3 level tower! ((:

WO MEN HEN QIANG! WE ARE VERY STRONG! ((:

Presenting..... The Champions! ((:

My life as a "professional" cheer leader started when a group of friends who had participated in the inter-house cheer leading competition earlier in the year came together to start a new CCA in VJC - Cheerleading! As I was part of one of the inter-house cheer leading team, I was invited to join the school team. I thought the CCA was real cool, plus the idea of being part of a pioneer batch of VJC Cheerleaders highly appealed to me. Since I just had the Symphonic Band as my CCA at that time, I figured that this would be a nice 2nd CCA ((:

We finally came out with a name for our cheerleading team, and VJ KNIGHTS was borned! We trained intensively - almost everyday and faced many hardships together as a team, there were even times when some of us started to break down and give up. However, though encouraging each other, we managed to pull through and eventually emerged victorious in clinching the gold medal in our first ever competition + 2000 sgd cash prize ((:

I think I went through a lot with my cheer leading team and the moments that we had together as a team are irreplacable ((:

I am extremely proud to be part of the pioneer batch of VJ KNIGHTS! ((:

Here is a photos collage of our journey ((:

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When we first started ((:

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Our first outing - THAIPAN! ((:

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Our first performance as a team! VJC Open House 2007!
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Intensive Trainings - tiring, but worthwhile ((:
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Training ((: Big cheerleader smile! :D

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Sports Day! ((:
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Full squad! ((:

My side liberty! ((:

Arabest! ((:

Sports Day 2-2-1 with me as back tosser! ((:

My side group stunt!

My side gladiator!

The toe-touch btoss that was later improved to a backtug! ((:

Jump!

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SKM Preliminary rounds

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The cool me ((: haha :p

Group stunts

LOVE, CARE & SHARE! ((:

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Sentosa Outing with juniors - Knightlets! (((:
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Having fun in the sun! ((:

One BIG family! ((:

The Knightlets ((:

The Female Knightlets!

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Visiting Ethel ((:
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SKM FINALS!
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The men ((:

CHAMPIONS! ((:

Wenwen ((:

Yayy ((:

VJ KNIGHTS ROCKS! VJ KNIGHTS ROCKS! VJ KNIGHTS ROCKS! VJ KNIGHTS ROCKS!

Here are more links to my cheerleading videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBIAlrXBbks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ChqBaMlupE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_3gGUFajV4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74NNl2YcigE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBIAlrXBbks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvUnIWgzEmc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zW-04pTgfyQ

My Band Experience ((:

2008-11-25T15:01:00.000-08:00

I've been in a Symphonic Band since I was in primary school - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. At that time, it was compulsory for students in the best class of my primary school to join the band. Due to my size at that time - I was a tall and fat boy - I was allocated to play the Tuba. When I first joined, my primary school band was a display band, so I had to carry my tuba and march in the hot sun, which was a very special and tiring experience ((:

Soon after, there was a change in conductor and my primary school band became an indoor concert band. We participated in the IOI mall judging for concert bands ( the SYF of Malaysia) and won the silver award during our first year followed by the gold award the following year ((:

When I went to Catholic High School in Singapore, I decided to join band again. However this time, I got the chance to choose my instrument and I chose to play the euphonium because I have been borrowing my friend's (who always sits beside me because Tuba and euphonium are usually next to each other). I would really like to thank my senior Jesper for helping me improve so much in my playing and really inspired me to become a good euphonium player ((: I went through a lot in my 4 years is Catholic High School Symphonic Band (CHSSB), I had numerous opportunity for exposure and to see the band world. I went with the band to Guest perform on a moving stage in Hamamatsu, Japan, which had a follow up trip to Tokyo and Disneyland which we also visited the Yamaha factory to see how they manufacture instruments and also, got the opportunity to see the entire street filled with sakura on our last day there.

The following year, we had a trip to the Netherlands, Belgium and Paris. This was to compete in the World Music Contest (WMC), or the so called "Olympics of the Band World" that is held once every 4 years, and in which we narrowly missed the gold award by a fraction of marks. I also performed at numerous concerts at the Esplanade Concert Hall, Victoria Concert Hall and was priviliged to be part of a International Music Conference and be selected for the 30th NCO Band Camp ( Band Major Course ) ((: I am extremely proud of the Catholic High School Symphonic Band as we are a strong brotherhood! ((: ONE BAND, ONE SOUND! And our very own band cheer that will just rock your socks off! We do loud and exciting cheorographies, express our emotions when we play and we also won the GOLD WITH HONOURS award in the 2005 Singapore Youth Festival Central Judging for Bands ((:

When I went to Junior College, I initially did not want to join band again as I wanted to try out something new, I spent my first 3 months in JC training with the basketball team. However, I soon realised that though I like to play basketball, I did not really like competitive basketball due to the numerous plays/strategies that I have to remember. So, I ended up joining VJCSB just in time for SYF, this time playing the Tuba because there was a shortage of Tuba players. I am very happy and proud of VJCSB as we clinched the Gold With Honours in the Singapore Youth Festival Central Judging for Bands, SYF 2007, meaning that we are one of the top 3 JC bands in Singapore! Because of this, I also got the opportunity to perform at presentation night which was held at Singapore Conference Hall (SCH) ((:

Later in that year - 2007 - I managed to switch to the trombone section and learn a new instrument, a phenomenon that does not occur so often in a JC band for people usually are not given a chance to learn a new instrument. However, I was fortunate enough to have a kind and nice conductor, Mr.Leonard Tan ((: I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mr.Tan for your guidance, ever charming jokes that makes band rehearsals so much more fun and exciting and for allowing me to have a chance to pick up the trombone ((:

Although I was not able to spend a lot of time with my band friends due to my commitments to cheerleading, I still appreciate them a lot and I think that CHSSB people are really cool people! With the TAE club and all ((: Plus, I will definitely miss our cozy band room with the mattress area where we can pon assembly or class just to chill there ((:

Here, I think I have more or less come to an end with journey of playing in a symphonic Band with the end of JC. But who knows, I might rejoin band in University of join an external Band when I grow up, just as how the band spirit in my pulled my back into band in JC when I thought I was never going to join band again ((:

I feel that I have really learnt a lot from being in symphonic bands and my band experience had indeed played a large part in my life ((: And I endear all the memorable and pleasurable moments that I had in the various bands that I've been in (((:

So here are some photos that were taken during my band life ((: Enjoy! ((:

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VJCSB!

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VJCSB TUBA SECTION!

Urban Hike! ((:

Majestia 2007!

After SYF, GOLD WITH HONOURS! ((:

Spiderman Banders! ((:

T-bone section at Aloha Changi chalet! (:

T-bone section @ Esplanade! ((: Majestia XXIII 2008! ((:

Friends (((:

In my opinion the BEST SECTION of VJCSB! Playing Starwars! Beat that! ((:

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CHSSB

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Lourve! ((:

WMC!

Paris! ((:

Aesthetique @ VCH ((:

Our Grand Maestero in conducting - Ms.Tan Yiang Hoon! ((:

We're coming down! Surprise! ((:

CHSSB Best Cheorography! ((:

ONE BAND, ONE SOUND, ONE BROTHERHOOD! Haha ((:

Band Rocks! ((: Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! ((:

BAND CHEER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Come on everybody let's SHAKE THE FLOOR!

Let's start the beat at the count of FOUR!

1!

2!

3!

4!

(stomp and clap "we will rock you" rhythm)

We are the band cuz we got the spirit,

we got the zest,

say yeah!

YEAH!

say yeah!

YEAH!

WE! ARE! THE! BAND!

Gong Jiao!

Ooooooooooooooi!

Gong Jiao!

HAEEEMA!!! ((:

Band is life! ((: Never let the spirit of music stop in you, music is an art of expression, it is an international language ((:

My life at Victoria Hall! ((:

2008-11-25T01:10:00.000-08:00

Hello everybody! ((: I've decided to start blogging again! ((: - after I abandoned my old blog since I was in secondary 3 haha ((:

Anyway, since this is my first post on my new blog, I would like to blog about my life in Victoria Hall because many of the good and memorable times that I had for the past one year in 2008 was spent with my friends in Victoria Hall ((:

The seeds for our friendships, which has now blossomed into beautiful trees and I believe will continue to grow and bear fruits, were planted that fateful day when we had our first ever Malaysian+Hong Kong Scholars outing to Simpang Bedok! ((: It was then that all the Malaysians in VH, who were all in different isolated cliques at that time came together as a batch ((: It all started because of this random thought that came to me while I was on my way back from cell group on the mrt.

I thought to myself : I really missed the days in Dunman High Hostel where Malaysian Catholic High Scholars (The Brotherhood of Jar Jar Binks ((: ) were so strongly bonded together with frequent food outings and overnight dota-ing sessions and all ((: The sad thing is that the Malaysians in VH at that time were rather segregated and I had spent my entire J1 with my school, CCA, church and other friends. So I decided to call everyone up for an outing in an attempt to create an opportunity for everyone to get to know one another better, especially the new j1s at that time, and hopefully a new "brotherhood", or in this case "brother and sisterhood" can be formed ((: I was really surprised that such a small and random action can bring forth the growth of numerous long lasting friendships ((:

Here are some of the photos that highlighted the major events that took place over the year ((: Enjoy ((:

My 18th Birthday! ((:

All wet! ))):

Ecp outing! ((: plus ubin (((:

The khoo who act cool but turn out cute, the khoo who dunneed to act cool alr sibei cool and the Tai tai ((:

Before Amy goes back to Hong Kong - camwhoring session

Eunice my piggy mei mei's birthday ((: Heee :p

Pei yi the tree :p

Arvind's Birthday

Wuchean's gathering before flying off to Glascow

Symphony of Voices ((:

Visiting Andrew

2008 New Year! ((:

Ming Yao - my roomie's birthday! ((:

International Idol! ((:

Our very own bimbo + himbo ((:

Happy three friends ((:

The Ming Hwei classic ((:

Pzzziuuuuu! Why lu speeding? haha ((:

selling pirated cds to the policemen

The sleeping tai tai :p

Rehearsal ((:

What's Andy doing?

Directing ((:

Here, as the year 2008 comes to an end, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the following people for making my life in Victoria Hall so fun, exciting, crazy :p, and memorable ((:

1. My one and only piggy mei mei - Eunice ((:

2. My soft toy crazy, extremely pro mandarin, extremely LAME, and kind-hearted ( always lend me his notes ) roomie ((: - Lim Ming Yao ((:

3. The brotherly Chia Weei ((:

4. The musically godlike and generous Andrew Chua ((:

5. My dark brother Aravind the KUMAR! :p

6. Funshine bear peiyi who gave all the j2s a packet of oil for exams ((:

7. Amy tai tai the ever smiling hongkie + good luck head pat service provider ((:

8. Kai Zong the genius who has flash memory, excels academically but yet can still be fun to be with and brotherly ((:

9. Andy my brother in christ ((:

10. Arvind my Pro Soccer Evolution 2008 competitor! :p

11. Joseph the taxi driver and movies bank ((:

12. Tsz Kit the Kit Kat :p

13. Lin Wei my fellow Khoo! ((:

14. Wei an the comedian ((:

15. Yit "Aun-ty" :p

16. "Angela" Yek Ming Hwei!

17. The kind and generous Aunty Linda ((:

18. Louis the politician ((:

19. Thomas the HIMBO! :p

Thank you guys and all the best in life ((: Keep in touch ((: