In The Media

New Straits Times, Life & Times, 10 July 1996
It's plane sailing to New York
By Angeline Ong

THE first thing that came to my mind when we - members of the Operafest Children's Choir - found out that we were going to the Big Apple to perform was that it was going to be a bit dangerous...

Yeah right! Now all I can think about is SHOPPING and the LOADS and LOADS of sinful FUN all the 37 of us kids aged between eight and 18 years old are going to have together without our parents.

The excitement from that day forth was never-ending as we talked of nothing else but the trip.

We planned what we should bring, what games we could play on the plane to escape the boredom (which I doubted would happen) as well as the friendly, frantic tussle about who was going to sit where and who would be foster family partners.

Each foster family would look after two children during our stay in New York . Though no one said a word about this subject, everyone was secretly hoping that their foster family's children were of the opposite sex and of the same age.

Another thing I encountered was the apprehension of my parents although they were proud of me. They naturally felt concerned that their only daughter was travelling more than 3,000km to live with strangers who could turn out to be God-knows-what!

They also felt particularly troubled by the fact that I might be coming back with only one of the 16 travellers' cheques which they had generously supplied me (I hope my parents aren't reading this).

But you know what? My brother was also extraordinarily nice to me before I left. I wondered if it was because he wanted me to spend some of my travellers' cheques on him. All of a sudden he was dropping hints about certain Toy Story figurines...

And my friends weren't exactly discreet about what they would like either! I have never heard the word tumpang mentioned so many times in my life.

Some of them even blatantly came to me with lists of items for which I have to travel half-way across New York to obtain!

But I`m not cruel by nature, hence I have already planned to get some gifts for my favourite people.

At the airport on the day of my departure, my friends Betty, Joanna, Peter, Joanne, Jarod and Patrick and my family came to send me off. There were awkward introductions but they got along fine with my parents. Phew!

The rest of my Operafest trip members were high on adrenaline as we ran around taking pictures and wishing our parents goodbye.

"Do you think we gave you enough money?", "Don`t make eye contact with anyone in New York, ah!", "Don't try to save money, eat whenever you feel hungry, okay?" and "Don't spend too much and go overboard!" - all these and more were heard as I wriggled my way to my loving parents and friends. My mom told me to take care (for the umpteenth time) and my dad said "Come back in one piece".

We hugged and kissed and exchanged wistful glances before my friends made our way to the check-in counter. The moment all of us got through, we yelled a triumphant "Hurrah!". We were on our way!

At the waiting area after we had got our ticket passes, the bargaining began. Not for buying goods, mind you, but to exchange our seats so that we could sit next to our closest friends.

All of us were swiftly swapping seats immediately after the seat belt sign went off on the plane.

The plane food was quite good (compliments to the SIA caterers) and most of us finished everything that was served.

Some of us played cards, others spent their time reading and I was finishing SIA's supply of postcards.

The air hostesses asked us questions like "What are you all going to be doing in America?" and "Are all of you in the Olympics or something?", looking at the Operafest jackets we were wearing.

"We're going to be singing," answered one of my friends.

"Swimming? Wow!" replied one air hostess! She never really found out the truth, I think. All of us just stared in bewilderment at each other.

Another funny thing happened during transit in Holland. A new passenger on board, who turned out to be a pompous old woman with an exaggerated Texan accent, went: "Oh no! What have we got here? A schoooool excursion?"

All of us smiled politely as we muttered words from the darker side of our vocabulary under our respective breaths and continued with whatever we were doing.

To my surprise, the adrenalin rush actually receded into a trickle during our 10th hour on the plane.

The only time we ever woke up was when it was time to go to the bathroom or to eat.

My mood actually turned sour as I had an elbow intermittently shoved into my face to jolt me from dreamland.

The responsibilities of the trip loomed large before us as the novelty and the fun began to fade.

The plane food definitely did not help the situation. More and more of it remained untouched.

I did, however, observe that all of us were bonding very well. Su Ren thought she lost her camera on the plane and we helped her look for it. Even those who barely knew her were helping to look for it.

And then there were some of us who were ill, such as Aunt Swee See. Many were concerned about her condition.

We were unanimously looking forward for this flight to end and to reach New York .

When we finally arrived at JFK Airport, everyone cheered! We made it!

The Custom officers were very curious and asked us about what we were doing during our stay in New York.

When they found out, they tried to coax us to sing for them but Mrs Kam told them we were too tired (which was not far from the truth).

We cheered when we were greeted by people holding placards bearing our group name.

But you know what? All that I described above pales in comparison to the unadulterated joy of performing on stage in front of thousands of people who expect to see a good show.

How do I explain this feeling? I can't but let me try. It is like being high without drugs where a sudden gush of adrenalin strips away your consciousness but helps you do your best, your very best.

That was why I looked forward to this trip. It was paradigm shift unlike any other.

* Part Two will appear tomorrow. .