Supporting Local

I've been a loyal audience of Singapore theatre since my uni days. Even more so now that I am earning my own pay. Theatre, being a more expensive medium (compared to visual arts and film), warrants a stricter survey of its quality before tickets can be purchased. There are theatre practitioners and groups that I follow religiously, because I have no worry that the thirty-eight dollars that I forked out would be a waste. They deliver quality. 

This is not really a post about supporting the arts, because if I (still) have to convince you to support the arts, you are basically living in an uncreative unfabulous hole, and I don't want to be your friend (just kidding, but please if you haven't seen anything other than Hollywood explosion spectacle, what are you waiting for?). This is about supporting local arts. 

We always talk about supporting local, but do we even know what it means? Does tuning in to local tv mean one is an ardent supporter of local content? I want to make a point that when people go to theatres to ONLY watch Wicked or The Swan Lake, they are discarding the good work that goes into making Singapore theatre great. Sure, it is important to educate ourselves on artistic canons but there are so many Singaporean artists who are dedicated to their craft. Trust me, their output is definitely deserving of your cash. These people need a platform. They are committed to tell the Singapore story, your story, to document this moment of time in history, this moment that we share. 

You know the feeling that we get when we learn that some Hollywood film crew came to shoot in Singapore, that is pride for our country. Why don't we channel that pride into consuming something that is designed and created by Singapore artists, for Singaporeans. The amount of sincerity and thought that go into these works are immeasurable. They hold up a mirror to our local society, politics and psyche that no other artists from any other place in the world can reflect so accurately. 

There are so many film/theatre/visual/language/digital/dance/musical/etc artists who really need your dollars and sense to keep performing. They need that money to earn a living and they need that motivation to just keep swimming. Give them a chance and we will be pleasantly pleasantly surprised. Out of all the local works that had came out in 2016, give a serious thought about how many you've actually seen. Then really think about whether you "support local". 

Writing

Writing is a difficult process. How true is that? Certainly everyone can write, but what purpose does it serve? Is it true that a writer always needs a reader? What is the best way to write? What makes a good writer? Would a condensation of years of thoughts into one single collection of poetry be a better body of work? Compared to someone who puts out publication all the time? Can an unpublished writer be a good writer? I don't know. Writing takes practice. How much time are we given to practise each day, each week, each month, each year? Given the pace of life here, any tinge of potential would be buried. Given the saturation of our routines and schedules, how are we supposed to explore the story in us? I see lots of people writing. They might not put out the best works but they are writing. I commend them for their efforts. Some people take decades to put out one single story that can move mountains. I commend them for their efforts. What kind of writer am I. The twenties, is indeed a time for exploration. What is my genre, I wonder? I would think poets, playwrights, novelists, screenwriters, essayists are the literary equivalents of painters, sculptors, videographers, cinematographers, etc. The medium is different but they each have their niche. Some people are giants in the creation of novels, but when it comes to a drama, they fall flat. I would think poets and novelists are two ends of a spectrum. One requires the precision of a surgeon's scalpel, while the other demands the security of excessive bandage. Musings. If you've seen your story appear elsewhere, would you keep writing? Would you still venture into the materialisation of a story already told?

I am still waiting for an untold story.