Coffee Breaks: The Patana Exchange

The British International School has been around for half a century and has grown big and tall from its humble beginnings. So, it was with trepidation and excitement that we could perform in front of a prestigious school in Thailand. All these in the name of exposure and a pact with the cluster school commitment.

We were ushered into a 'black' room; actually a well equipped sort of 'experimental theater' for this day.
The audience were waiting patiently to hear what we had to deliver.

The arrangement of the platform and seats are flexible and it was good to see how an international school; so well-facilitated functions. It put ideas into us but it is all in dollars and cents.

The choir sang, danced and moved in tandem with the tempo of the songs and caught the hearts of the audience. I believe this is also one experience for them as no Malaysian Choir seemed to have performed at this scale there.

Dr. Masahi after hearing we were performing in the school the next day, took leave and found his way there too. He did bot want to miss us. How thoughtful of him. It was a pleasure to have him around.

This Ms Rachel was the one who was in contact with our music instructor; Ms Suzanna and allowed us an audience there. She praised the choir highly and were impressed saying though the school had a choir, it did not match us ! What a compliment.

These are the three musicians who made it possible for a meaningful visit and exchange.

Perhaps the best contribution we gave was the workshop. The children were taught 'Wau Bulan' by the choir members to the delight of the teachers and principal. We believed we left a great impact here so much so that Ms Rachel even suggested a 'video' conferencing sometime in the future. This is to be considered.