NDP 2016

On most fronts, this year's edition of NDP can be considered lukewarm and uninspiring. The absence of crowd favourites like parachuting men, fireworks porn and military display had drawn the ire of the public for the past few weeks. Coupled with an expensive bill from the hosting venue, Singapore's biggest theatre event will probably go down in history as the worst follow up to the euphoric infestation that is SG50. 

However, I would like to argue that SG51 did do something right. Or rather, they did do one thing right. 

After fifty one long years, the country is finally incorporating the narrative of dis/abled people into the national discourse. There was an active inclusion of dis/abled people's stories into the entire show. The teaching of sign to the spectators, the special (and honestly the best and most meaningful) mass display segment that paid tribute to dis/abled people and their abilities, the scripting of a dis/abled child in the grandfather's overarching account of 'Badang' are just some of the evidence that there is an effort to acknowledge disabled people, that they lead respected and dignified lives. 

Ever so often, it is easy to yield their stories for the convenience and benefit of abled people. For so long, they have been portrayed as sad, unfortunate and useless. All the charity shows all those years ago seem to infiltrate an image that this is a group of people who needs pity and sympathy above everything else. Today, I feel that there is a great difference in how their stories are being told by the country. 

There seem to be sprinkling moments throughout the past two years too. The advent of The Purple Parade, the nomination of NMP Chia Yong Yong into the Parliament, and even most recently, Ms Chia's invitation to the US State Banquet for Singapore and Ho Ching's now-famous dinosaur print pouch made by local special needs designer. These are new and refreshing ways that we are looking at dis/ability. 

I believe the popular discourse needs to happen before it can trickle down into useful and careful policies. Or rather the discourse needs to happen for policies enacted to become useful and helpful. We need to keep at it, and never forget that there is a group that exist in our society. Sometimes visible, often invisible. 

And perhaps this is the start of how we can think about people who are different from us. That they deserve respect too even though they are not the same/similar. I look forward to the day when we can extend this graciousness and care to lesbian, gays, bisexual, transgender and queer people, and also all other people who are different and who live on the fringe in society. 

Only when we can renounce our hate and accept each other, can we sing, "this is home truly, where I know I must be" with all the gusto in our hearts.

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. 

钝化

六月一日的最后几分钟里，我突然想写一写关于科技的博客。“日新月异”是我经常教导学生形容“科技”的成语。的确，科技不断的展演进化，目的是为了让人类文明的生活更有效率。但是，怎么我总觉得自己似乎被科技这东西钝化、吞噬了。这到底是怎么一回事？

我本身拥有两台手机、一台平板电脑和两台手提电脑。有些科技产品显得重要非常，有的就显得奢侈无聊。赖于工作缘故，自己必须拥有多过一台手机和电脑。这几个产品似乎太多了，但是我相信我的科技产品使用率不低于任何一名同龄、同阶层的国人。我还记得在高一高二的时候，放学后就开着电脑，写着一些博文，偶尔还写写诗。随着智能手机的普遍化，这个习惯也跟着减去。过去习惯坐在电脑前，需要创作时，信手拈来。电脑毕竟方便打字，方便天马行空的文字创作。但是随着手机的智能化，我们开始忽略电脑，因为贪图方便而舍弃了电脑的广泛功能。这里暂且不论电脑时代以前的纸笔时代。写作的习惯因为智能手机的渗入而被碾碎了。幸亏，平板电脑不久后也开始流行起来，写作的习惯又慢慢回流。但是，就算平板电脑的使用瓜分了科技产品使用的时间，有些习惯的亏损是很难重新学会的。

此外，社交媒体的泛滥当然也带来了不少影响。我觉得社交媒体当然也分层次等级。如今青少年普遍使用的Snapchat其实就是最低档次的。它不鼓励用户与其他用户交流，难以取得精神思想交会的层面。Instagram和推特我觉得不相伯仲。两者都可以分享影响。两者在分享图和文方面都能够快狠准。面簿则是最高档的。我本身最喜欢的也是面簿。用户能在这个平台上分享字数较多的文章，也能在别人的文章上留言。我觉得它最能体现出“社交”媒体的精神。

写了那么多，我其实也不晓得重点是什么。练练笔吧？

THE ONE ABOUT PRIMADELI

Useful Link(s):

• Original Facebook Post: Post Link (29th April 2016)

It's important to recognise and voice out unfair treatments in Singapore. Especially if it concern matters of livelihood and employability, we need to voice it out.

As the conversations on race unfolds, I think it's good that this Primadeli controversy came to light in the mainstream. We need things like this to remind people that Singapore is not as racially harmonious as we would like it to be. And we need to do SOMETHING about it. It can be education, policies, enforcement and criminalisation, etc. As long as people are willing to participate and engage institutions in this dialogue, we would be able to keep the conversation alive and truly dream of a racially harmonious future.

We cannot airbrush this away by blindly subscribing to the rhetoric that Singapore is already a successful multi-racial country.

Taking a form class with an almost equal ratio of Chinese and Malay students, it becomes apparent to me that tensions do exist. Neither group will allow itself to be subsumed under another; there is no distinction between majority and minority. As I observe the way my students interact, I see matters of race come to light. Students start to grapple with uncomfortable stereotypes and untrue lingual labels of their own race. There was once several students in my class got offended by remarks that the Malays are indigenous people, while Chinese are immigrants who lack legality to their stay here. Quarrels happen often because of a lack of understanding towards history. We do need to ask ourselves what is the thing that is conditioning the young to devote to an unfair perception of society.

As issues of race unravel, I think there are several things that ought to be discussed in the mainstream. How are we treating the Indian community? Immigrants? Do we talk about gender inequality as passionate as we talk about racism? When would we finally be able to properly and politely allow discussions of homophobia and transphobia to enter the mainstream. This discussion will go on and on, I do hope that we would be able to come to a common understanding eventually.