20 posts tagged “art”

As I promised, more snapshots of what I've been doing lately. The extent of my boredom knows no boundaries. My right index actually hurts a little from the constant snipping to the pages and pages of Financial Times and Newsweek and TIME, but I hope it's worth it. And anyway, I'm so parsimonious, I ought to put in some effort in prepping presents for people I owe some to.

I know I've been watching too much television - hey, the prez debate was funny - and playing too much Scramble and also chatting too much on MSN. A good lot it's done for me, getting over the horrific mistakes that were the promos. In between all that not-so-junk junk, I've been doing up some things for the people I owe some.

More to come, to be revealed in due course. A great use of time.

Today on a whim, I set off on 190 and walked around Chinatown. On the bus, I was debating whether I should get off at Peninsula Plaza (to look for cameras and Roxy) or One Central or at the interchange (to eat Yong Tau Hu). I decided to get off one stop before interchange - first sign of craziness, since this wasn't even in my top three options - and walk to the temporary hawker centre opposite the National Dental Centre.

After a less-than-satisfactory chicken rice lunch at a corner stall, I went to sniff around the CD stall. To my surprise, I saw Beth Orton. I bet Gramophone doesn't even have Beth Orton!! Besides that most of the stuff there are staples.

I got a watermelon-carrot juice and set off for Emerald Hill. I kind of got distracted, but I'll save that part for later. Walked along Kreta Ayer Road, which brought back quite a few memories of childhood Sundays whiled away eating ham jing peng at the now-closed stall on the 2nd floor of the hawker centre. Then there was Ming Fa Fishball Noodles (still exists, thankfully), the splendid mi jiang kueh that I first fell in love with with its crispy edges, zhu cao hidden behind Ming Fa and the free tissue boxes, and so much more. Oh, and CK Departmental Store - where I got my first coin collection book. Mmm. Such fond recollections...

This place caught my eye. You can't see what's inside, and I didn't really intend to press my camera to the glass door or something. I'll explore inside another time, maybe. [Note to self: Saturday by appointment only.]

Here's a Chinese medicine hall with free consultation. Funny enough, the clinic next door had 5 people, but there was no one to be seen here. And I thought Singaporeans were cheapskate... Guess there are exceptions, then. Or perhaps the notion of TCM is unattractive? This is Chinatown, still.

Left: Red moped seeks respite from the sun.

Turned right after Kreta Ayer and the first thing that caught my eye was this passageway.

Doesn't it remind you of some European alley? With all its white walls and overhanging clumps of green.

Vox is being uncooperative, I'll update tonight.

20h01:
I walked down Neil Road, risking my life as I dodged cars walking the fine (yellow) lines, only because they had conveniently installed their green dustbins on the pavement fit for a single file of people. I crossed before the eBay building into Craig Road. Unintentionally following a man munching on his ma la gao I spotted a ZoCard stand and immediately set upon it. And I think I was lucky, because when I turned around, right in front of me was a beautiful building.

This is the kind of place I would spend an entire day in. But obviously I didn't have that kind of time to spare, as I'd promised myself that I'd be at Tanjong Pagar MRT by 1pm. I indulged for a short while anyway. I was blown away - the shop had old angel statues, camera obscuras, and even an old ship compass ($8500 if you're interested)! There's a second floor, too! I can't wait to go back. :D It's Thong Mern Seng Antiques shop. I'll add the details from the namecard soon.

Grudgingly I left. I can't remember what happened next, really, only that I ended up at Tanjong Pagar hawker centre near ClimbAd and while balancing on the kerb (for lack of pavement) a butterfly suddenly fluttered at my feet and settled on a leaf.

我覺得很驚喜昨天哈利●偉利安（Ｈａｒｒｙ－Ｖｉｌｌｉａｎ）老師竟沒有責駡我，況且沒有問我爲什麽星期一沒有出席。不知是她沒有注意到還是她不管還是什麽，但我很開心她並沒有追問。昨天我也發覺到我已失去我的法文能力因爲我一直結結巴巴地説話，連講簡單的句子都說不出口，真丟臉！儅老師突然叫我回答問題時，我呆若木鷄，呆了好久好久才開口，但答案根本不對，我也從老師的聲音聽到她對我的失望。咳，我必須振作起來，以免臨時抱佛腳。　　　　　　

業華，倘若你看到這個信息的話，請你告訴我你是否頂我校合唱團表演的票了沒有。呵呵，我改變主意了。我聽説她們無法達到目標，我想支持陵愛朋友。別殺了我！

Decidedly I will give HP a miss. I e-mailed Mr McConnell and he explained that my combination doesn't qualify for the programme. I really don't want to give up French nor Art, so I guess I can keep the last slot (Math for contrasting) free for something else. I feel sad to bypass the opportunity but not only do I have to take up an almost-completely-new -to-me subject, I have to sacrifice either French or Art. Ah well, Middle East Programme provided a glimmer of hope.

The launch was disappointing. Weiling and I arrived early and slowly made our way to the PAC by way of playing follow-the-placards. It was utterly confusing, after we spotted the first outside the lift, pointing towards the right. We had no idea if it meant we were to take the lift, because nowhere on the directory did it it list PAC. So we kept at it till by some stroke of genius I suddenly recalled where the PAC was. While we were about to cut across the canteen instead of walking by the side - Weiling said, "LOOK, IT'S GARETH CHAN." - a jubilant Jane jumped onto Weiling and they erupted into a conversation by themselves. I observed the number of comics stacked at the Chuang Yi Comics booth.

When we finally made our way to the PAC - while saying 'hello's to Renu and a very shocked Seet Teng - we realised, much to our calm horror (if you get what I mean), that we were the earliest. To summarise, we were bored for the large part of the event. Mr Kausikan was entertaining at times but Weiling and I felt cheated 'cause we'd imagined that the talk would be on the programme itself. We were stabbing imaginary daggers when we realised that outside the canteen there was a notice board which listed the details of the programme. That is, those we were here for.

I'm interested, definitely. The very fact that I'll get to learn yet another language is in itself very attractive. I'm obsessed with languages, with the notable exception of Chinese. No, I take that back. 我喜欢繁體字。雖然我的語文程度不高，可是我對華語的學習認真，只是我不喜歡班上的學習方式。我好想好想去台灣遊玩。That said, the RMEP also offers students the opp to not only host Middle Eastern students but also to travel overseas for an immersion programme in possibly Dubai. That would be such brilliance. :D

Drawing of the day:

I realise a lot of my posts - and paragrahps - start with "I'".

I am pleased with myself, because within the span of two days, I have completed the 48 glass magnets Michy gave me. Plus, the magnets are adorable. I've got one with Pink on it saying "I ain't dead", there's Stephen Chow in Kungfu Hustle, two American flags, countless miscellaneous animals and one monster, Bush (no, he's not a monster), and Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez. Such is my brilliance.

I will ask her for more.

Letter I got through ArtsCommunity. Food for thought.

First, I would like to congratulate all those involved in this year's Singapore Festival of Arts for a very successful season.

Today's Straits Times Life! (Thursday 28 June 2007) says that "the quality of local productions did not match up to the foreign ones." This is a perennial complaint, and must be taken seriously.

To rectify this problem, Alvin Tan, an experienced theatre practitioner with The Necessary Stage gave some valuable advice. He suggested "commissioning the works earlier and even having platforms to develop works-in-progress, to improve the quality of commissions." He added that "the festival could also work with incubatory programmes offered by arts groups here, so that works can be played to small audiences before heading for the big time in the Arts Festival.

However in rebuttal, Ms Goh Ching Lee, the Festival director, said "the festival budget, at $6 to $7 million a year, does not permit such (incubation) schemes. And she adds that "Giving a longer lead time does not solve the problem (of improving the quality of works)."

I do not think she should dismiss so summarily the recommendations made by Alvin Tan. They are sensible, and are not necessarily expensive to implement. I believe they will help raise the standard of local productions.

To underline my support for Alvin Tan, this is what I think:

1. INCUBATION PROGRAMS
Set up a separate incubation fund, if this is not already available. TheatreWorks already has a fund from Singapore Press Holdings for their Writers Lab incubation program, The Necessary Stage has playwriting workshops, and The Musical Theatre Ltd has received some funds from Creative Community Singapore for incubating new musicals.
Moreover, there is no reason why the Ministry of Information Communication and the Arts and the National Arts Council cannot source for additional funding for incubating new works. It is absolutely vital for the future of Singapore art that greater impetus is applied to generate more original works.

2. LONGER TIME
Give a longer lead time for developing new works. Different playwrights and different creative teams need different amounts of time for developing new works. It is manifestly untrue that "giving a longer lead time does not solve the problem." We at the Musical Theatre Ltd have noted that those musicals that seem to take only a few short months to complete, have actually been in the creative team's backburner for several years. There is no absolute figure as
to how long a piece of art needs to take. I believe that the current lead time is too short, resulting in works that do not achieve their optimal quality.

3. DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOP PRODUCTIONS
We at Musical Theatre Ltd have found that producing no-frills Development Workshop Productions to a panel of invited guests is a very important part of the creative process. This year, we showcased five new musicals to a panel of experienced musical theatre practitioners that included Dick Lee, Ivan Heng, KK Seet, Tan Kheng Hua, Gaurav Kripalani, Beatrice Chia, Ferlina Khong and Jobina Tan. They selected Ng Yi-Sheng's musical, Georgette. They also made valuable suggestions as to how to improve the musical. Georgette was performed at this year's Singapore Festival of the Arts Esplanade program (a "fringe" event) to critical acclaim. By showcasing these works to a panel of judges, and to the NAC, there can be greater quality control.

4. VARIETY
There is considerable heterogeneity in the audiences attracted to the Singapore Festival of Arts. I think that rather than limiting the types or genres of art, the Festival should attempt to give a balanced diet. I subscribe to the philosophy that variety is the spice of art. For more conservative audiences, there can be the more traditional or classical performances. For the more adventurous, the Festival can include more experimental cutting edge performances. The last thing that should happen is to restrict the program to, say, purely avant garde shows, or to non-commercial shows. Such restrictions are counter-creative.

5. MUSICAL THEATRE
There have been no musical theatre productions in the main program of the Singapore Festival of Arts for the past 11 years. This is scandalous. Musical theatre is a legitimate art form and can be as cutting edge and experimental as any other forms of theatre. There is a fear that musical theatre productions are prohibitively expensive. This is patently untrue, and we have demonstrated that musical theatre productions need not be exorbitant. But it seems incredible
That an entire major genre can be omitted from the Singapore Arts Festival for over a decade. After such a long drought, surely it is high time that a musical theatre should be brought back into the main program of this Festival.

Finally, I suggest that there should be greater openness and more dialogue with all the theatre groups in fashioning the local component of future Festivals.

Congratulations once again to the organizers of this year's Festival of Arts!

Thank you,

Kenneth Lyen
Musical Theatre Ltd
27 June 2007