farewell, Bukit Merah Public Library

today marks the final day of operations at the Bukit Merah Public Library. I have many happy memories of using this library – from reading storybooks on the weekends when I was a kid, to grading work there as a working adult, and more recently, bringing my niece and nephew there to borrow books before letting them play at the playground next to the library.

I approve of NLB’s strategy to situate the libraries where there will be greater footfall, but last week, as the day of closure loomed close, I couldn’t help but weep for the memories past. I paid a few farewell visits to soak in the place and say goodbye.

here’s the children’s section that allowed me to be that auntie associated with books and reading

and look how the niece has grown! I no longer have to read to her; she looks for me when she needs help with a word or two.

the adult section is upstairs. see the fantastic Singapore Collection in the corner – these shelves were indispensable when I prepared GP lessons based on Singapore.

on one of the visits, a familiar logo caught the nephew’s eye and he snatched it up excitedly.

the fictional aisles that gave me tomes of agatha christie and elif safak.

and the mandarin section that usually sank into the blind spot

I am also deeply indebted to the travel section where I did much of my travel research before free-falling into a new country.

and lastly, the loan counter, which has seen many many iterations. frequently, I would hurry through this section because sambal would be waiting for me in the carpark outside, and then he would frown at all the books I’m laden under, and shake his head because it’s obvious I wouldn’t be able to read all that within 3 weeks.

thank you for the services and memories you provided, dear bukit merah library. I didn’t think I would be this attached to you, but I guess it is a case of 日久情深. I will miss having you around, and miss exploring your depths full of mystery and adventure and profound sadness.

farewell.

What the living do during the Hungry Ghost Festival

I’m guessing some foreign readers had their interest piqued by my mention of the Seventh Month in the previous post – quite a number of clicks for the wikipedia link!

You may be interested to see how it is celebrated then. (I’ll admit, I don’t know much – a lot of it are just practices I observe year after year without understanding the symbolism behind.)

There’s usually entertainment put up for the visiting souls – the traditional one being Teochew street opera on make-shift stages.

When there are seats laid out, the first row would be left empty for the ‘good brothers’. In this case, no seats were laid out, but there were decorated joss candles (sustenance for the spirits) and offerings being burnt.

There would be a big (again, make-shift) altar for deity worship –

The gods depicted on the banner are FuLuShou – Prosperity, Status and Longevity. This particular ceremony was organised by the Redhill Market association. The evening would begin with prayer and invocation of the spirits for their blessing and continued support, thereafter the hawkers gather for dinner and a very noisy auction of auspicious objects.

Those objects would have been blessed earlier at the altar and include things like deity statuettes made of gold and pots of blessed rice that you can choose to display or cook. The proceeds from the auction will go toward funding entertainment like the street opera and getai (lit. song stage) for next year’s seventh month.

While the living enjoy their food, nobody forgets about the invisible guests. Dinner is set aside for them too –

Note the joss sticks sticking out of the rice bowls. This is why we Chinese, no matter what religion we may subscribe to, think it rude (some say inauspicious) to stick chopsticks into rice bowls. It is customary to lay them flat on the rim of the bowl.

Hope you enjoyed this slice of old Singapore, with rituals that have since died out in China under communist rule.

WEP Challenge: Spectacular Settings

Here’s the first part of the challenge for Spectacular Settings

1. Firstly share a paragraph from a novel, or an extract from a poem, or a photograph that stopped your heart with a spectacular setting etc.
2. Describe how your chosen ‘setting’ spoke to you. Why did you like it?

(A still frame from a video clip) Welcome to My Home, Singapore

I was on a study abroad programme to the UK when this National Day Parade was aired. I streamed it live over in London so that I could watch it “with” my family, 8 hours apart, and my breath was literally taken away at the skyline of Singapore. Being in London at the time, I revelled daily in the history and architectural marvels of England, always feeling regretful that Singapore had chosen to rid ourselves of many a heritage marker in order to build the modern city. At that moment, though, the glitz and glamour of our Central Business District (CBD) stopped my heart. The irony of me learning in the land of our (ex-)colonisers was not lost on me – sometimes, decades on, we have yet to lose the flawed perspective that the colonial masters are better, even though we have since proven ourselves to be as capable (or more). This video remains one of my top choices whenever foreign friends ask me for a quick introduction to this mysterious land called Singapore (which is NOT in China, by the way. We are a tiny but proud independent nation.) and it usually takes their breath away too.

* * * * *

Part 2 of the challenge
Then you have the option to:
a) write your own ‘setting’ piece in any genre, or share a ‘setting’ from your WIP, or…
b) write your own poem which highlights ‘setting’, or
c) share a photograph that blows you away every time you look at it and tell us why.
d) share an artwork that shows a ‘setting’ you love and tell us why you love it.
e) write a small playscript which highlights ‘setting’.

This is a supremely incomplete piece for options a&e (hurhurhur) – I was gunning for travel writing, but I also imagined it as a conversation between two people, and thus it became a dialogue-heavy play. Have mercy, and here goes –

For two.
A bare stage, with a backdrop of a forest.
A road-end, during a jog.

Dan: Where to, next?
En: Follow the pony tracks!
Dan: But that goes…into a forest. We are going to a forest?
En: Yes!
Dan: Oh. I didn’t expect that. I thought you said a cemetery.
En: It is the cemetery. Straight ahead, I think.
Dan: I was kinda expecting tombstones, not the woods.
En: This was before they realised that land is scarce in Singapore.
Dan: By the way, Google Maps says we are standing in a random grey patch. Big random grey patch. You’re the boss now.
En: Uh, I’ve only been here twice. I followed wherever the experienced guide went. Hehe.
Dan: Now you tell me! You bring me to a cemetery during the seventh month and you don’t even know the place well!
En: Heehee.
Dan: Wahlau seventh month leh. Other times I don’t care, but this month the spirits are up and about…
En: Don’t worry, just be friendly! After all, these are our forefathers. They won’t harm us. Hehe.
Dan: Oh please, take a look at yourself. They will probably think you are incompetent and destroying their hard work.
En: Ah. Good point. It’s ok. Just don’t step on any incense or food offerings and don’t step on the graves themselves and it should be alright.

* * * * *

Some background information:
I used some Singlish vocabulary and grammar structure in this for authenticity.
The seventh month refers to theHungry Ghost Festival, where the realm between the spirit world and ours is open, and the deceased are believed to visit the living. We are in the eleventh day of the seventh month as I write. Thanks for reading!

Word Count: 669 words
MPA: Minor Points Acceptable

Our National Pledge

Last week, in light of National Day, I used the national pledge that we in schools recite every morning as lesson material. (authentic learning!)

“We, the citizens of Singapore,
pledge ourselves as one united people, regardless of race, language or religion, to build a democratic society based on justice and equality, so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation.”

Find out more about the history of the pledge here.

Little strips in our national colours of red and white were used (mini craft therapy for myself amidst the marking). Each student would receive a random phrase from the pledge and have 4 minutes to free-write.

It made way for some interesting discussion, as I’d hoped.
The student given “to build a democratic society” echoed Churchill’s doubts about a democratic system – that it is ideal to give the public the right to vote but the stupidity she reads on social media makes her worried about putting that power in the hands of the common man.

That prompted another student to propose that only the educated should be allowed to vote. A quick debate ensued, considering how that system will no longer be representative and will possibly make the country better in the long term, but that’s only if we get through the chaos in the short-term = no go.

The two who received “for our nation” questioned the necessity of sacrifice. One shared honestly that she is as self-entitled as the rest, and cannot see the point of having to contribute to the country. Others were sympathetic to the idea, but could see how disturbing that might be for our future.

I am quite glad that other major issues about citizenship, freedom of religion, socio-economic (in)equality, the opportunity cost of simple happiness for prosperity’s sake were briefly covered by the students’ free-write and sharing. This is a lesson I’d repeat for new students next year!

A brief reflection on the Prime Minister’s National Day Message 2015

For the 8th of August, 2015 – PM Lee shares…

“My Fellow Singaporeans

50 years ago, on this very night, Singapore was on the eve of a momentous change. The Cabinet had already signed the Separation Agreement. The Government Printers were busy printing the Separation Agreement and the Proclamation of Independence in a special Government Gazette. The Commissioner of Police and the Commander of the army units had been told by the Malaysian Government to take orders from the new government the next day. But all this happened in strict secrecy. Our forefathers went to bed oblivious of what was about to happen, still for the time being citizens of Malaysia.

Then morning came. The 9th of August 1965. Our world changed. At 10 a.m., a radio announcer read the Proclamation. Singapore had left Malaysia and would “forever be a sovereign, democratic and independent nation”. The Republic of Singapore was born.”

(Read the full transcript here.)

I found this particular portion to be the most poignant of all –
“Year after year, we have kept the promises that Mr Lee Kuan Yew made on the 9th of August 1965: that we will be “one united people, regardless of race, language or religion”; that we will always have a bright future ahead of us.”

* * * * *

The stuff that makes the news indicates a world filled with people who are not very friendly towards someone of a different race, someone who speaks a different language, and particularly someone who worships a different religion. After seeing for myself how the Christians and the Muslims are restricted from practicing their religion in China, after being a victim of racist comments and rude gestures on Australian streets – I consider myself glad to come from a society that celebrates unity despite race, language or religion, and considers it sacred enough to be enshrined in the National Pledge. I feel thankful that, as a Singaporean Chinese, I have close friends of different races and differing religions. I feel proud that I teach students of varying races, nationalities and religions, but who nevertheless live, study and play together (but with the occasional non-malicious racist joke).

Case-in-point: After the recent National Day Observance ceremony in school, my class gathered to bid farewell to another teacher of my class who is leaving for maternity leave. Someone made brownies. While serving them out, she suddenly exclaimed in mild anguish, “OMG! I am so sorry – I just realised that my brownies are not halal! Halal ingredients but not baked in a halal kitchen. I’m so sorry, can you still eat it?” The Muslim students politely declined, but they hung around to socialise anyway. I thought that was a brief and beautiful slice of inter-faith, inter-racial interaction in Singapore.

Of course, there is still an embarrassing amount of ignorance about other cultures and each racial harmony day brings much cultural (mis)appropriation. People still commit faux pas in these matters, but we are not in conflict, and I think we are continuing to learn with each day, with each year.

Happy 50th, Singapore. I am so proud to call you my country.

The Black Knights celebrate SG50!

I’ve always been a fan of the Black Knights, Singapore’s very own aerial display team. Became even more of an avid follower after realising an acquaintance flies for them! Check out the awesome livery for this jubilee year
(most photographs in this post taken from news sources) –

So beautiful and patriotic! They performed today and people turned up to watch despite being drenched in a torrential rain –

(my dad took this. omg omg omg fangirling because they look startlingly close!)

Here’s what’s planned for this weekend leading up to the grand Jubilee –

And here’s the super exciting special formation that I’ve watched over several rehearsals –

20 planes in salute to this young 50 year old nation! My breath is taken away whenever I watch it. So proud of the Black Knights!!!

Much Beloved Singapore Buildings and Monuments

I visited one man’s passion project for Singapore today and was enthralled by it. Teo Yu Siang, a designer and an accountant, decided that he didn’t like the self-congratulatory tone of many a government-initiated SG50 project, and decided to create his own birthday card(s) to Singapore.

Here are my personal, sentimental favourites from his website, Building Singapore.

You may want to check out my post on Bukit Brown.

I spent a lovely holiday interning as a docent at the Old Supreme Court before it was shut for renovations. It is now the National Gallery – many local works of art have been transferred here from the collection of the Singapore Art Museum. I loved exploring the Old Supreme Court with my colleagues then – we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves during breaks, and we explored various nooks and crannies, including the dome! The National Gallery opens this year on 24th November and I am looking forward to seeing both the art and the conserved building.

Well, the Esplanade. I guess I chose this for sentimental reasons – the greatest love of my life my ex and I took a walk along the Esplanade waterfront on our first date together. Yes, a complete cliche, and now a bittersweet memory.

But enough of me, now. Do head over to see all the buildings that Teo Yu Siang has painstakingly drawn! The drawings are also available for sale as postcards – this sounds like an interesting gift!

SG50 Celebrations at Promontory@Marina Bay

Mummy, Daddy and myself headed downtown to watch the fireworks for the national day rehearsal.

The city was awash in Red and White for the occasion. Check out the Sands –

There were people giving out badge pins –

Quite lovely, huh?
‘Majulah Singapura’ is Malay for ‘Onward Singapore!’

Hello, August and SG50!

I still have some stuff to post about my trip to Xinjiang but hey, it’s August, and I’m going to take a break from posting about China and spend the month celebrating SG50!
(photographs in this post do not belong to me.)

Singapore in a nutshell for non-Singaporean readers:

Singapore is an independent country and NOT part of China (sorry not sorry, had to get that FAQ out of the way).

We are an island city-state located in Southeast Asia, between Malaysia and Thailand to the north and Indonesia in the south.

We once were a British colony (thus the prevalent use of English) but we earned our independence from them in 1963. Thereafter, we merged with Malaya to form modern Malaysia, and there belonged a mere two years until we got kicked out in 1965.

This year, on 9th August 2015, we will celebrate 50 years of independence.

There is much worth celebrating (see the Singapore skyline above), and much more to work on, so hang around for more!

The Blue Moon

As seen on a late night at work.