A Midsummer Night's Dream

Lysander was really good. But then, maybe I'm biased since I know him. eakhekaehkea. I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Meet Derek Porter [darn it,where's the camera when you need it!]. 16, American, dancer, actor, singer. And today he was, yes, Lysander of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream in his high school play. Gosh, if ever I complained about how Malaysian schools suck, I didn't do justice. To say they "suck", is so insufficient and mild, when compared to many schools outside the Malaysian government. Remember how we had "Kelab Drama", which we never watched EVER in the year? And what about "Kelab Musik"? Anyone ever heard a note from them? And let's not even go into the halls we used to cram our icky two-layered turqoise uniformed bodies in to hear some Doraemon-lookalike supervisor yak about the fundamentals of who-knows-what and Raymond-will-you-PLEASE-sit-down-and-shut-up-right-now? Oh,the memories. Haha. But *snaps back to reality* yeah, no wonder they had to FORCE us to join the clubs and extracurricular activities. Because they SUCKED, and no one was interested, not even the nerds who joined, I'm pretty sure [Bet they joined just to please the teachers, or their parents, or just for the good grade. hyek.] Even the TEACHERS weren't all to excited about being in charge, except maybe the supervisor in the Kelab Bola Sepak [football/soccer club, to those who need translation] who had watched too much World Cup that month. Pah. If we had more resources and were given better chances and opportunities, I'm sure our schools would produce brighter and happier kids. *pauses to re-think* Well, at least to SOME degree, I think. Think about it. I personally love music, but I was rarely compelled to join any such music club in school. Why? Well, okay okay, the others in the picture looked super nerdy, but that's not the entire reason! There's never any promotion, there's never any show put up, there's just never ANYTHING! If those already IN the clubs at least PROMOTED [fliers/announcements/miniconcerts/yadadoo] what they had, surely those interested in that particular field would take notice more and be more likely to find out what was going on. But I assume the clubs never HAD anything to promote anyway. Either A. they were too small a group, B. they had a boring president, C. they didn't have money and were too stupid to think up fund raisers, D. weren't allowed by the teacher-in-charge to proceed with new ideas OR, E. All of the above. Going to that play today made me realize how much we miss out on in the public schools in Malaysia. There's so much more to learn than just sums and which-fruit-fell-on-whose-head-and-so-he-named-the-state-so. Not all of us are meant to end up as teachers or accountants or mathematicians. Wasn't that the whole purpose of extracurricular activities in the first place? So the rest of us who feel lost in class can excel elsewhere and have a chance to explore other career options/hobbies? To hone talents that are lurking around waiting for opportunities or newfound skills that need refining? Why do you think so many foreign artists are so young? Yes, of course some may be dropouts who got miraculously spotted and signed, but there are those who started in school. The ones who had teachers backing them up. Encouraging them. The ones who went to competitions and fellow schoolmates were there to support and announce their victory back in school and celebrate. The ones whose faces were out there so much more, so their skill or talent was noticed somewhere along the road and they were given bigger chances eventually. Maybe THAT's why so many "second world" countries are seemingly stuck in their own little holes - because they refuse to let the younger generation in and are so caught up with cracked highway repairs. [But that's of course another story altogether]. ANYWAY, back to Lysander, the lover boy. Yeah, the performance they put up was so impressive, I'm proud of you Derek!!! I can't imagine me memorizing all those lines so perfectly! And they were convincing, too. No silly giggle-giggle-oh-i-forgot-my-lines-giggle. They had scenes which weren't meant to raise eyebrows yet in the back of my mind I was thinking "Yeah RIGHT Malaysian teachers would let any of US do any such scene without "censoring". It's ridiculous. Can't they see that the more they restrain you from doing something, the MORE you'll wanna try it just to rebel?? It's .....wait, sorry. FOCUS. Mm. Basically, the play was excellent. I give them an A+. *clapclapclap* Their hall was a real HALL with sloping seats and a stage that WASN'T falling to pieces and a sound room behind on the upper floor.We shall not describe OUR halls in our schools. Oh oH! And Isaac, played the little Indian boy!! He's a darling. [Isaac is Derek's 9yr old brother]. Pah.My pics refuse to load! I give up. I'll try to get pics of the play from Derek soon.