Hi everyone,

I was just thinking about the excellence that our band has achieved. Just think about it - RIMB has clinched 18 Golds in a row (including National Band Competition). That one Silver award is the only thing that separates us from a gold mine of nearly 30 consecutive Golds. Before that, we achieved amazing results in outdoor competitions, with so many "Best Drum Major Awards" that I bet the other schools were really frustrated... It's like a swimming pool of Gold, and one thing I do not want is for us to move toward the shallow end of the pool. Or even worse, get out of the pool.
The Singapore International Band Festival or Fiesta (or something like that, more commonly known as SIBF) is approaching. Mr. Oura informed us yesterday that the highest attainable award is Gold, with a 90% score. That's probably a Gold With Honours in SYF. Mr. Oura said that we are not aiming for Gold. I'm not sure whether he meant that we are going to aim higher or lower.
But I want to pose this challenge to you. There are three pairs of spectacles on your desk even as I'm writing this. The first one is called Pessimism. Put these on and you'll say, "Forget it. 90% is too high for us and we might as well give up from the start." The second one is called Realism. It thrives on the power of intelligence and probability, and so you start weighing the odds - "90% is so high! It's going to be hard to get... but well, RIMB is a great band and if we practice hard we can get there. Yay. Go Raffles. Come on, we can do it."
Finally, the last pair of spectacles. Faith. I believe in this statement - "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." This is found in the Bible in Hebrews 11:1. You might not see the Gold now, but put these spectacles on. Please. It will change your life forever.
Of course, we must be careful. Too much ambition without enough practice is like wearing spectacles that are too powerful for your eyes - trust me, it will give you a severe headache. But still, if your glasses happen to be Pessimism or Realism, please change over while you still have the time.

Thanks
Kirk