MY LITTLE MANDARIN TIGER

This was Nunu's costume for Halloween.

Kidding! She wore this for her school's concert yesterday afternoon. I've been anxiously waiting for the day to come, because for weeks the teachers had been complaining that she didn't want to participate during practice. Only after they've done a dress rehearsal on the stage a few days before the concert did she grasp the concept of performing on stage in front of an audience.

So this was the graduating class. So 'muhibbah' kan? One by one, they came in front to give their graduation speech in English, Bahasa Malaysia and Mandarin. So cool!

And just by a glance, you can really tell which one of them is going to be very popular in Std One. Just look at the poise and posture of that little girl in the magenta dress in the middle. She was beaming!

The four year old class was impressive too. They all came in front wearing baju melayu and baju kurung singing Malay pantuns! The kid in dark blue is one of the teacher's son, he began with the salah pantun. Tersasul kot. He always acts like he's the class monitor, but her mom said he's usually the one making noise. And they boy behind him in light blue sang his pantun in PERFECT Bahasa. The audience went like, "Waaaah..."

The same group also performed a dance from the song 'Kung Fu Fighting'. A great hit with the audience. Coincidentally, I notice that the video shop nearby was showing Shalin Soccer on TV!

Another group of students, I think the five year olds, performed 'Saturday Night Fever'. Hot stuff! Thumbs up to the costume designers, although I really think it's more appropriate for the boys to wear undershirts.

The two Malay boys at the back was really grooving it!

There were other performances by the bigger kids, doing the para para sakura dance and singing Mandaring songs, not much entertainment value. We could see Nunu at the side of the stage waiting for her turn, and we couldn't keep our excitement. We waited performances after performances, and we felt restless and the excitement fizzled to know that the little ones was kept waiting for so long. I was worried that Nunu might get sleepy or hungry. We left home at 12, picked up my mom and had a quick lunch at arrived there at 2 pm sharp as instructed by the teachers. If only I knew Nunu's performance would be the last one. She could use a short nap.

That's Nunu the baby tiger with the yellow tail.I had to sneak around to take photos coz the teachers warned she might get nervous when she sees me and starts whining.

Finally Nunu's group was ushered on stage. Sure enough, they saved the best performance for last. It took the teachers a while to line them up, coz you know how kids are. Nunu came on stage and hopped her way to the back of the stage near the backdrop, but a teacher lifted her up by the armpits to get her to her spot, naturally she lifted her legs up high too before she was plonked in position, drawing laughter from the audience. I have this on video, let me see if I can put it up on youtube or something.

I think we've practiced the song to death at home, but when the song played and the other kids were doing the dance, Nunu barely moved! She had a finger in her mouth most of the time and looked either very confused or shy or sleepy, I've no idea! But it's ok, I suppose she was too young to understand. All the other kids were older than her anyway and she was like a little runt in the tiger family. The audience was quite taken with her antics.

When the dance ended, we all went to the dressing room to check on her. She wasn't even aware what was going on and was playing tag with the other little tigers. Haiyah, good enoughlah, as long as she was happy and not making a scene, like crying of leaping off the stage.

After the concert, there was a prize giving ceremony and Nunu came up the stage again to receive her trophy. I don't know what trophy it was coz it was returned back on the table before I could take a look at it, probably just a token. The teacher will pass the trophy to me tomorrow. I didn't get a chance to take a photo of her receiving her trophy but my mom did. So maybe when I get the pic, I'll post it here some other day.

Either way, I'm proud of my baby tiger! Grrrrrrowl!