attended the wake of mr yeo puay hian, ex-conductor of rico.
when i received the sms on wed, i couldn't believe my eyes. news of prostate cancer only broke out months ago and he was gone so quickly. the papers said he was actually on his way to recovery last month and had intended to go back to sco nxt mth, but a sudden recurrence of the cancer struck him and he couldnt recover. it's a shame really - only lived 53 yrs and now he's gone.
i left rico in sept 2005 for table tennis, and who knew that would be the last time i saw him personally. yang lao shi was a great conductor and musician, and i always admire his dedication he had for the orchestra. but more importantly, he never lost his temper. he had such a loving and cheerful personality, it is hard to remember any time when he brought a black face to practice. even when he was unwell, he would still come to conduct us with a hoarse voice. he would always come on time, and while we would sometimes be late for practice, he never scolded us. it was always ms lim who raised her voice, but yang lao shi only reminded us politely to be punctual for future practices. sometimes i feel bad for the occasional misconduct of the orchestra because yang lao shi was always so patient with us.
i hated going for practice, but combined practice somehow was a pleasant experience because everytime u looked up from ur score or instrument to look at the conductor, u would see that benevolent smile on yang lao shi's face. when ur on stage facing a packed concert hall and the lights shining into your face, it is yang lao shi's smile which maintains ur composure.
even though i had graduated from rico prematurely, i will never forget mr yeo, and i thank him for all that he had done for the orchestra.
cherry garcia..
12:38 AM
