A Moment in History - SYF 99'

5 years ago HCCO left her mark in history by being the first JC Chinese Orchestra to come in 3rd in SYF 1999. It was a momentous event, a turning point for HCCO. For many years HCCO was only a small society lacking in both funding and members, but after SYF 99', the rest was history...

[Our charismatic leader, Kaiyang] 

The order of appearance was determined by luck, and as luck would have it we drew the chance of going first. How different things might had been had we not gone first. We played "The Red Flag Canal" and "Flying Apsaras", and then we settled down to wait for the judges' decision.

[The power of Jianyun (left) and Kaiqi (right)] 

There were a total of 6 finalists, with awards going only to the top 3. As we nervously waited inside the packed concert hall it was decided that the bottom 3 would be announced first, the Master of Ceremonies particularly emphasising the point that they would be announced in alphabetical order rather than by order of merit. The first to be announced was TCHSCO, and a ripple of excitement buzzed amongst us; was it CHSCO or TCHSCO? The tension was palpable as suddenly our hopes for clinching a position amongst the top 3 grew brighter.

[There was a shortage of school ties, so I ended up the only guy NOT wearing a tie.] 

The next orchestra was RVHSCO and with that our Concertmaster jumped and gave a whoop of delight. We were definitely in the top 3! Grinning from ear to ear we cheered when it was announced that we were 3rd.

[Flying Apsaras: the power of 3] 

It was a night to remember, for we had worked hard in preparation for that very night. We had struggled against the lack of support, the lack of members and now we had proved ourselves against such odds.

[Jiahong, back in 1999] 

How much you have blossomed over the years, HCCO. May you continue to grow and may your spirit burn brightly like the Olympic torch, a symbol of bonding, of friendship, of team spirit.

United we stand and together we will overcome the odds.

DreamCatcher