A Message from Ms Jen

Malcolm Gladwell, wrote a wonderfully interesting book called Outliers: The Story of Success. In it, Gladwell explores the 10,000-hour rule. The rule states, somewhat simplistically, that it takes 10,000 hours to master a significant skill, such as learning a new language, or playing the cello. Although this number is seems somewhat arbitrary, and some skills surely must take longer than others, it does affirm a universal truth: practice makes perfect. In order to perfect anything really significant, we need more than talent and opportunity. We must be prepared to practice, practice, practice!

Before coming to Jakarta, I lived in Hong Kong for five years, and I loved the food! Ken Lee is a very famous chef in Hong Kong, renowned for his noodles. Ken Lee is one of only about 10 jook-sing noodle masters left in Hong Kong. These bamboo-pole noodles are a special part of Cantonese cuisine, and are made by the master riding a long, bamboo pole that hangs off the end of a heavy wooden table. The kneading of the dough is done by the master riding the bamboo, a little like a see-saw, bouncing up and down as the bamboo kneads the dough.

The bamboo-beating, is said to give a superior “elastic band” bounce to the noodles. It can take almost two hours to make a batch of noodles into just over 100 portions. Quoted in a recent news report, Ken Lee says: “The more you practice, the more you’ll know how to make the noodle, depending on the humidity and the weather. Nobody can teach you this — you have to learn and understand this yourself. It took me about six to seven years to master the skill.“

Practise is an essential ingredient for success in any endeavour. As I watch our students practise and rehearse for our upcoming Musical, I can see their passion to make every performance better than the last. I am so proud to watch practice makes perfect in action!