Shawn, the enthusiastic guitar player : Like master, like apprentice...Among the 8 performers, he was the latest to join the team. Dont think that he was the last, he was indeed the fastest learner, that I dubbed him, the unearthing of a special talent. Introduce to him a new song to learn and give him time, he will play the song for you, thats for sure. I makes me wonder why he didnt join earlier, because ever since he joined the guitar team, he has bring about much enthusiasm and interests in into the team. For the Performance, he did very well, considering that it was his time performing in front of a huge crowd. He can only get better with his guitar skills, and I tink he will be key to the team performing again in the near future. Congratulations, I and you have realised our dream of playing for Special Awards, next up will the combination of Guitar Ensemble and SPARKZ..

Sharman: the seasoned guitarist: He joinned the guitar team, having bags of experience to take with him before he joined us, having played guitar in his secondary school days. By far, He was the most naturally skilled player in our team, and he was given a role that was sited to him to play. He played well on stage on Saturday, but he was rather soft, I dunno whether is it the microphone soft or he was soft, but I had to focus on my playing despite not being able to hear his playing well. But still, he did well for the performance and I thank him for his guidance to the others and also his efforts...

Ting Jun, the left-sided guitarist: He has joined guitar when it started, along with me and amanda. During extra practices, he would put in alot of effort into practicing with us, and also help to guide peter during extra practice. Like many, he had the motivation to be practicing and also playing his parts well. I thought that during the performance, although his parts cannot be heard clearly, I knew that he did do well to possibly cover the counts of Peter, and I think his efforts are yet again commendable, as he did very well to help the team play the Cannon in D song...

Peter, The unmotivated yet skilful player: Though he wasnt motivated as compared to the rest of the team members during extra practices, where we had to constantly try to motivate a probable talent. I can see that he could be a good player, yet during extra practicesm he would slack and rest, while we practiced guitar. But in then end, the extra practices for me doesnt make any much difference, because he did consderably well during the actual performance itself. Despite that, there will room for improvement for him and also for the others too. I hope to see that he has learned the motivation of Guitar after gaining his first invaluable learning experience during the Special Awards. I believe that with motivation, he is certainly had the potential to go one step further to improve on his skills, and also be an invaluable asset towards Guitar Ensemble..Jiayou!!

Jonathan, the guitar 1 class: He was given the role of guitar 1 during the performance, and I didnt disappoint the team, as he showed how classy he can be, to be in the front row and playing calmly, without much fear. Though he didnt bring his guitar back home after practices due to his mobility, whenever he goes for official practices, he has always given 100% effort. He did very well during the actual performance, and I thank him for his effort, and im sure that there is room for improvements the more we play as a team...

Yuan Ping, the motivated guitar disciplinarian: She was possibly the one with the leadership, though fierce at times, can scare me away. But in the context of guitar, she was the disciplinarian with the guitar motivation to do well in Special Awards. Though at the start she required more time to get the hang of what was being taught, her determination to continue to practice despite difficulties at the start has made her a standout performer this year. Her perverservance to prove that she can play the guitar despite improvising a different style of holding the guitar, partly due to her disability, but she has yet again shown to the world that one can be a star despite disabilities, and she was testiment to that hypothesis. Throughout extra practices, she has been the one to lead out the team to continue practicing and not being tired of what the team was chasing a that time, and she was the leader during extra practice, and I kind of like the way she does the job, getting us to stay on our feet at all costs, always in the mind that we need to practice continuously to improve ourselves. That attitude of hers has really motivated me to ensure that I did a good job both on my role and also ensuring that the rest of the team is managing well. She will always be the strict one that scolds any slackers during extra practices, and I value that because I felt that this ensures that all stays focused and not to be overconfident in any way. Despite this, I felt that she was the focal point during extra practices which made it such a success and thus the time and effort we put in had indeed had paid off very well. I have to give praise to her for her good performance during the Special Awards. I think that she was among the standout performers, as she played with quality and calmness, never show her nervousness prior to the real performance. Her determination and perserverance to play well on her parts is greatly commendable, and she has set an example for the rest of the team from the front row of the performance...I think that she can improve more as we progress as a team together..Great Job Yuan Ping=))

Amanda, the inspirational guitar star: A combination of sheer determination, talent, surperb technique, absolute class and perserverance to achieve success despite her disability just makes her a outstanding guitar player. Take nothing away from her, she was possibly one of the best performers during the Special Awards 2009, alongside the rest of the team. The fact that she was playing the main melody of the Cannon in D, which I admit was the toughest part out of the 4 roles among the 8 performers, just shows the ability to prove what a special talent she is. During the Special Awards performance, she was the heartbeat of the whole team, her playing which helped the team progress with their own respective parts. She was the focal axis where our success was achieved. With pure skill and quality, the way she plays the guitar inspires people around her. Her passion for music and burning desire to succeed as much as the team, she has always given 100% whenever she comes for guitar practices. She would always provide a guiding hand towards those who were unsure about the fingerings and many around her had indeed benefited from her help, the 2 prominent ones which she has guided and had succeeded was Shawn and Yuan Ping. Credit to them to had the effort to learn from her. In addition, I have also learned alot of skills from her, most notably the use of multi-finger method in my guitar skills. I think that she had indeed guided and improved me as a player overall. I really thank her for her guidance throughout the Special Awards preparation. All I can advise her is to use her talent well, and she will go far, and I think she will be key to success for the Guitar Ensemble in the future....

All in all, as the coordinator of Guitar Ensemble, I congratulate each and every member of the team who had made the performance very successful, and may we aim for further success in the future, as we start to bond together and play as a team, the potential shown to me in Guitar Ensemble is huge, and I hope with effort, we can achieve more success again.

I have a dream, A song to sing
To help me cope with anything
If you see the wonder of a fairy tale, You can take the future even if you fail

I believe in angels,Something good in everything I see,

I believe in angels, When I know the time is right for me.

I'll cross the stream, I have a dream

I have a dream, a fantasy,

To help me through reality,

And my destination makes it worth the while
Pushing through the darknesss till another mile

I believe in angels, Something good in everything I see

I believe in angels, When I know the time is right for me I

I'll cross the stream - I have a dream

I have a dream, a song to sing

To help me cope with anything

you see the wonder,of a fairy tale

You can take the future,even if you fail

I believe in angels,Something good in everything I see

I believe in angels.When I know the time is right for me

I'll cross the stream I have a dream

I'll cross the stream I have a dream
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Special Awards is an annual event organised by AWWA to recognise the efforts and achievements of fellow clients and volunteers who volunteered their time to AWWA's cause. This year, many awards were being presented, namely the Special Effort Award, and the Perservervance Awards, the latter of which the Perserverance award I won it back in 2006 for my perververing effort to do well for my Chinese, which was voted by Mrs Loo. This year, It was different, as I got the chance to be involved in the performance for the first time. The school award and buddy awards were also presented, alongside the "Be With Me" scholarship, all awards of which was given to truly inspiring clients and buddies alike.

First of which was the "Be With me scholarships, given to clients who had shown that disabilities doesnt deter them to get what they want in life. Out of the set of award recipients, i knew 2 of them, HuiQi and Pin Xiu, though both didnt attend the awards ceremony, as they both had other commitments to attend to. Nonetheless, seeing them being recognised for their efforts had really given me the heart to be inspired by what they had achieved in their life thus far.

HuiQi is an inspiring person, in a way that I see her cope with things despite her disability. Much like me, she also suffers from Celebral Palsy but had to use crutches to walk. Nevertheless, the use of crutches for her case really doesnt deter her from getting around on her own. Her determination to walk the extra mile i think is just very inspiring for others to follow. Though she would be slow walker because of crutches, and believe me, a lot of people in AWWA will say that walking with crutches is indeed very tough, and I admit it, haing used crutches to walk in my early years. I knew how difficult it was. Despite this, I think she has proven that as long as there is a willingness to try, nothing is not achievable, and that I think is very true. Though she is a slow walker, i think that the speed doesnt matter much, is the perserverance to take that extra step forward..Her never-give-up style she has shown to be so independent, has indeed made me envy of how i got through my own period of time where i walked on crutches. She really is an inspiring person to follow as a role model example.

Pin Xiu was yet again another inspiring star which I look up to a lot. I had the opportunity to work with her during the recent June Camp commitee for the younger clients for camp with HFC, and i thought she did very well, and I really enjoyed working with her. But last year she represented Singapore in the Paralymics and brought gold medals to the success of the nation, and I think that it was sheer determination and skill on her part to succeed there. She has yet again shown to others that her disability means nothing more than a disability in name only. I had always looked up to her for inspiring in search of success in sports, hers being in swimming, while mine was a hope for success in soccer. But unlike her, I have always failed to replicate what she has achieved in sports. I think, that success in itself, is already a great achievement, and I am really inspired by her...

The Young Talent Award was also given to clients who have indeed shown outstanding talent in the area of arts and Music. In the area of Music, Boon Keng and Khristine, both of which represented SPARKZ, had the honour to win the awards this year, and thus I extend my congratulations to them, and hope that they and SPARKZ as a whole can achieve further success in the area of singing and music...

The Perserverance Awards was again given to clients who have shown outstanding determination and perserverance to achieve a certain target or goal. I think that this year it was very good for clients to be recognised for their efforts, and I congratulate this year's worthy winners of this Award...Extended congratulations to all award winners in this year's Special Awards ceremony. As the name of the ceremony suggests, all award winners are indeed special, very special...

Towards the end of the award ceremony was the presentation of tokens of appreciation of the various groups who had contributrd to the sucess of upstaging this year's grand event. Of which, Philip and Gopi represented SPARKZ, while I and Yuan Ping went up together to represent Guitar Ensemble to go up stage to collect our tokens of appreciations reprectively, along with the D'Passion Wheelchair Dance Group. It was the first time that I went up stage twice in the same event on the same day. I feel very honoured indeed to be representing Guitar Ensemble to take the group award...