Three Cheers for ACT3!!!!

With my editor's permission, I reworked an article for my kids' newspaper into a story for The Online Citizen, paying tribute to Singapore's first professional theatre group on their 25th anniversary. (Hint: it's not TheatreWorks.)

Going clockwise from the top, that's Jasmin Sumaat Simon, Ruby Lim-Yang and Rama Chandran, from their first publicity photo in 1981. (Wah lau, they're old.)

Click here.

National Columbarium of Singapore

My short story, "Nostalgia", on Five Foot Way, based on artist Michael Lee Hong Hwee's installation at the National Museum.

I'm not actually happy with the written version yet, so it's best if you listen to it in audio. It's supposed to be a little creepy. :)

(Image by Stephen Black).

@ School in Bengaluru!!!

As promised, here are photos from my workshop at Widia Poorna Pragna School:







And a few from Jnana Vijnana Vidyapeetha:










Sadly, no shots from the last school, whose name escapes me for the time being (though it was terribly posh). Camera breakdown, doncha know. The assistant teacher said she might mail me some, but don't hold your breath.

UPDATE: The last school's name was MES Kishore Kendra Public School. Wrote 'em all down in my notebook.

I'm back in Singapore! Unfortunately I can't chatter and post a lot of pics yet 'cos I have a...

DEADLINE.

Oh yeah, and merry Christmas. :)

Flying back to Singapore tonight woohoo.

I have so many books. And a weird dry cough. And a new appreciation for the culture of Southern India and its foods. And (I'm afraid) a new appreciation for the cleanliness of Singapore's streets.

Vanakkam. Photos coming.

In Bengaluru now!

Did a school workshop yesterday at a Hindu-based school, and I'll be doing another in a couple of hours. Unfortunately, the battery on my camera has gone out (think I left it on by accident) and I didn't bring my charger. What's more, neither Adeline Foo nor Felix Cheong, the other Sg , have brought cameras themselves.

What's a compulsive archivist like me gonna do? Can't use PhotoBooth for everything. Can I?

Evening event tonight at Time Out bookstore on Cunningham Road. 6:30pm - we'll be talking about sensationalism and censorship in Singapore. Adeline Foo, who's a kid's writer, will be reading excerpts of her new racy ho-mo-sexual play!

Oh, and this really deserves a post of its own - but I've finally figured out where my Singaproe Art Show short story "Nostalgia" was uploaded. Click here to download the audio story.

Photos from the Ubud Festival: a foretaste

Uploaded these before I left for India!

Haven't included the more holiday shots yet, so am not posting stuff on the blog yet. But if you'd like to browse without captions, click here and yourself out.

I'm going to India!

Should've blogged about this before. Was featured in the Straits Times yesterday, in fact.

Basically, I'll be participating in the Bengaluru Habba and the Chennai Local. Here are my dates so far:

Tuesday, 15 December:
Literary Reading (with Felix Cheong and Adeline Foo)
Time Out Reliance book store
Bengaluru
6:30-8:00 pm.

Tuesday, 22 December,
Poetry reading
Spaces,
#1 Elliots Beach Road, Besant Nagar,
Chennai
7pm

I'll be back on Xmas eve if you all want to kacau me. Don't call my handphone, can?

BADDER

... This is very odd.



Apparently it's from the Michael Jackson film "Moonwalker", i.e. it's a self-created parody by the artist himself. Which makes it less awesome and more creepy, actually.

Birthday party pix!

From last Saturday night, at my place.



I love my beautiful friends.



And I love my beautiful cake. My parents provided it - good solid stuff from Lana. We polished the whole thing off in an hour, then I baked a batch of peanut butter cookies which were gone while they were still hot.



My party actually serves two main functions:

1) It's difficult to experience birthday blues when you're worrying about what kind of potato chips and wine to serve to all your guests,

2) I have friends from several different communities (e.g. gay activism, poetry, theatre, sign language class, JC, visual arts, and one lonesome engineer who practises Wing Chun with me), and I think it's awesome when they actually meet one another.

Seriously, I counted about ten different nationalities of guests present in my house: Singaporean, Malaysian, Japanese, Mauritian, Indonesian, Belgian, Indian, American and Ghanaian. NS boys, uni kids, newlyweds, professors, expats, Young Artist Award recipients, veterans, somebodies, not yet somebodies, and don't-give-a-fucks.

Was also going to upload a shot of my severely bruised arm from Wing Chun practice, but maybe that can wait.

Texts November 2009

*POETRY*
=“Reflecting the Merlion”, ed. Yeow Kai Chai
Rosaly Puthucheary’s “Dance on his Doorstep”

*FICTION*
=Meira Chand’s “The Painted Cage”
+Isa Kamari’s “Intercession”
+Hari Kunzru’s “The Impressionist”

*DRAMA*
=Wong Phui Nam’s “Anike”
=Goh Poh Seng’s “The Elder Brother”
=S Kon, Yeo Soh Choo and Ravi Veloo’s “Trial and Other Plays”
+Harvey Fierstein’s “Torch Song Trilogy”

*NON-FICTION*
+Malcolm Gladwell’s “What the Dog Saw”
+“The Legendary Adventures of Alexander the Great”
+Ngugi wa Thiongo’’s “Something Torn and New: An African Renaissance”

*GRAPHIC TEXTS*
+Sonny Liew’s “Liquid City Vol I”
+Troy Chin’s “The Resident Tourist Vol I”
+Hergé’s “Tintin
+Luca Invernizzi Tettoni’s “Singapore”
+Garth Ennis’s “Preacher: Dixie Fried”

*PERFORMANCES*
+TheatreWorks and Musée de la Danse’s “expo zero”
+The Necessary Stage’s “Sofaman”
+LaSalle Musical Theatre’s “Siren”
Musical Theatre Ltd’s “Lost in Transit”
Zebra Crossing’s “Victor/Victoria”
+LaSalle Theatre’s “Oresteia”
W!ld Rice’s “Beauty and the Beast”

*EXHIBITIONS*
+Chang Fee Ming's "Imprinted Thoughts"
=Asian Civilisations Museum’s “Land of the Morning”
Singapore Art Museum’s +“Thrice Upon a Time” and =”El Camino a la Modernidad”

*FILMS*
=Eric Khoo’s “Mee Pok Man”
+Lynn Shelton’s “Humpday”
+Roland Emmerich’s “2012”
+Kutlug Ataman’s “Journey to the Moon”

I'm 29 today.

Yayz.

In a few hours, I'm gonna upload a pic of the only birthday present I've received so far.

UPDATE: Yeah, I'm a few days late, but here it is. It's from my ex-RJC schoolmate Lay Tong, who's now migrated to Toronto.



And what could it be?



Chocoloctables!!! And maple sugar cookies! (I ate those up before I had the presence of mind to snap photos.)

And a message (click on it to read it without ruining your eyes):



Awwwwwwwww.

Via Comixed.

I know it's dumb of me to post this stuff, but I really LOLed and I wanna share the happiness.


More here.

Li'l Cthulhu!

The Jakarta Post owes me an itsy-bisty apology...

Alerted by Gwee Li Sui's Facebook notes! The Jakarta Post covered Singapore Writers Festival in this article, which included the following paragraph:

"There were almost 70 Singaporean literary luminaries directly participating in events, including established writers like Catherine Lim (The Bondmaid, 1995), a self-described “incorrigible, unstoppable storyteller”, and de-facto poet laureate Edwin Thumboo (Ulysses by the Merlion, 1979) to emerging talents like Wena Poon, who won the Singapore Literature Prize for her debut novel Lions in Winter."

Well, as most of you know:

1. "Lions in Winter" is a collection of short stories, not a novel.

2. Wena's debut novel was actually the self-published sci-fi thriller "Biophilia".

3. She didn't win the SLP. She was shortlisted the same year that, ahem, I won. (She was my favourite to win, though.)

Wena's pretty pissed at them too. They referred to her latest book, "The Proper Care of Foxes", as a romance.

Speaking of literary gossip, there's been an intriguing spate happening between NUS English student Nicholas Liu and Gilbert Koh, a banker who also goes by the nom de blog of Mr Wang.

Basically, Nicholas did a QLRS review of Gilbert's first collection of poems, "Two Baby Hands". It's a very, very cutting review, but I have to say I agree with the points made - I've got a certain style and approach to poetry, after all.

Gilbert, however, hasn't handled the criticism well. And it's quite natural to be upset - I'm always upset when I read bad or even mediocre reviews of my theatre work. But he got really - well - snarky and ad hominemly defensive in his responses: see here, here and here.

I dormed with Gilbert at the Pulau Ubin writers' retreat, so I can say he's a pretty nice guy in person. His poetry's a hell of a lot more accessible than mine, too.

But he's gotta learn something: almost all coverage is good coverage. More people are going to check out his book because of the review, and a lot of them are going to like the book. And the controversy caused by this is making more people think about our work in new ways.

Now if only Jakarta Post would write something, good or bad, about me...

"Lessons Learned" by Matt and Kim

Love this video. And not just because there's a tall skinny young man going barebutt in it.



Of course, one side effect of Qian Xi's current feminist Facebook crusade (which has been extremely alienating in many respects), is that I keep on wondering: is the video sexist in a certain way?

There's an interview with the director and artists here.

CRABS.

I've been busy documenting the artists of the Flying Circus Project '09/'10's first installment, musée de la danse: expo zéro. But on Saturday night, I did not dine with the eminent artists.

Why?

Because my mother brought back hairy crabs from China.



Ooh, look at 'em. Nom nom nom nom.

She brought back a whole basketful, in fact:



I sat up late eating them with a nutcracker, a plate of rice and a bowl of cut avocado, capsicum and arugula, while watching TED lectures on my laptop.

Life isn't good. It's decadently, awesome.



Unless you're a hairy crab, of course. Read about FCP here.

I didn't mention, did I, that I've set up another Flying Circus Project blog?

It's on Wordpress this time. Go to http://flyingcircusproject.wordpress.com.

B).

expo zéro by Musée de la Danse

I'm serving as the official documenter for this! It's on this Saturday and Sunday, 1-6pm, at 72-13/TheatreWorks. Drop by if you can!


TheatreWorks / 72-13 presents

Flying Circus Project Platform 01: expo zéro by Musée de la Danse

The first-ever dancing museum in Singapore hosted by the Flying Circus Project, expo zéro is a unique exhibition without objects conceived by acclaimed French choreographer, Boris Charmatz and Musée de la Danse.

expo zéro is only open on two days: 7 & 8 November at 72-13 between 1pm and 6pm.

An `exhibition' project with no photographs, no sculptures, no installations, no videos. Zero things, not one stable object. But artists, and areas occupied by gestures, projects, bodies, stories, dances which everyone will choose to imagine.

In the process spirit of the Flying Circus Project (FCP) conceived by Ong Keng Sen, expo zéro is a kind of 'think tank' through analysis, description, performance, movements and ideas which each guide-artist will develop with the audience. This comes at a timely occasion as Singapore has no dancehouse (tanzhaus, dansens hus, centre chorégraphique national), a question which TheatreWorks / 72-13 is presently pondering.

expo zéro is headed by Boris Charmatz in collaboration with dancers-choreographers, François Chaignuad, Mette Ingvartsen and actor-director Yves-Noël Genod. In Singapore, it collaborates with Asian artists, architects, theorists of FCP 2010 like Padmini Chettur, Heman Chong, Torrance Goh of FARM, Donna Miranda, Joavien Ng and Ong Keng Sen.
For all bios, please go to www.theatreworks.org.sg / www.72-13.com

Visitors will experience these individuals' visions, subjective and utopian, of what a dancing museum can be.

Join us and be part of expo zéro now!

EVENT INFORMATION

Flying Circus Project Platform 01
expo zéro by Musée de la Danse

Date: 7 & 8 November 2009
Musée hours: 1pm – 6pm daily
Venue: 72-13 Mohamed Sultan Road
Admission: Free

Please call 6737-7213 or email tworks@singnet.com.sg to register your attendance.

For more information:

www.theatreworks.org.sg
www.72-13.com

A poem by Munshi Abdullah

Taken from his great memoir, the Hikayat Abdullah, and translated by AH Hill. Was thinking of using this on my library night tour; in the end I used his Raffles pantun.

Oh, and in case you don't know who the Munshi Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir is, click here. This piece describes an actual fire which destroyed his possessions in the early 1800s.

A vision of billowing flames meets my eyes,
This sudden disaster my reason defies,
The fire grips the houses in greedy embrace
And devours like the vulture the spoils of its chase.

Proud walls fall to ashes in the heat of the blaze,
Whose radiant brightness dazzles the gaze.
With the roar of the tempest the flames leap and start.
Bringing fear and dismay to my fluttering heart.

Like bundles of paper my clothing was caught,
The oranges burst like a cracker’s report,
My possessions all lost, worked they never so fast.
To grab what they might ere the fire had passed.

Like a river of flame from the crucible flowed
The dollars I saved, and poured down the road.
Who can reckon the cost of the things which they stole,
When robbers had entered and taken their toll?

The trinkets for home which I meant to take back,
The cups and the plates, had been ready to pack.
I sighed for the havoc destruction had wrought,
My heart weighed with sadness, where turn for support?

Texts October 2009

Singapore Writers Festival is OVAAAAHHH!!!! Finally can relax...

*POETRY*
Susie Puthucheary’s “Harvest of Flowers”
=Jennifer Mackenzie’s “Borobudur”
+Omar Musa’s “The Clocks”

*FICTION*
+Shamini Flint’s “Inspector Singh Investigates: A Bali Conspiracy Most Foul”
+Tom Cho’s “Look Who’s Morphing”
Meira Chand’s =“The Gossamer Fly”, +“House of the Sun” and +“Last Quadrant”
=Robert Yeo’s “The Adventures of Holden Heng”

*NON-FICTION*
+Judy Slattum’s “Balinese Masks”

*GRAPHIC TEXTS*
+Joanne Gair and Heidi Klum’s “Body Painting”
+Lat’s “Better Lat Than Never”

*PERFORMANCES*
=Play Den Productions’ “These Children Are Dead”
=The Stage Club’s “Season’s Greetings”
Excellent Pictures and Global Entertainment Network Sdn Bhd’s “Impak Maksima”
=Action Theatre’s “Shocks and Shiok!”
Luna Vidya’s “Kitchen”

*EXHIBITIONS*
=National Museum of Singapore’s “Story of the Image”
=Neka Art Museum’s permanent collection
+Antonio Blanco Renaissance Museum’s permanent collection

*FILMS*
=Robert Schwentke's "The Time Traveler's Wife"
+Glen Goei's "The Blue Mansion"

How shocking! A Royston Tan movie with no numbers in the title!

By the way, for the Exploring Singapore Literature thang this Saturday at National Library, we don't have a lot of people signed up for Breakfast Club. Seriously guys, you don't want to have Halloween breakfast with Catherine Lim???

More info here. Come at 9:30 for the chow and 10am for the panel. (The chow will still be around, don't worry.)

Still at Singapore Writers Festival...

And informing you of changes to events I'm involved in! Yes, I'm still in all the events I blogged about earlier, and right now I'm specifically working on the walking tour I'm doing for the Library's Experiencing Singapore Literature.

But the final event, the launch of the "Tumasik" anthology, has been moved up to Friday, just after the Golden Point Awards. Come for the free food, if for nothing else.

Will also be at the Creative Writing Experience, talking about my Survivor Ubin experience. More on that later. ;)

30 Oct 2009, 6:00 pm
Launch of Tumasik: Contemporary Writing from Singapore

Price: Free
Venue : Play Den

Co-published with the Iowa Writing Program, University of Iowa, the anthology Tumasik features the works of Singapore’s finest writers hailing from the four official languages of English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil. Edited by poet Alvin Pang, the anthology includes Singaporean writers such as Anuar Othman, Madeleine Lee, Quah Sy Ren, Johar Buang, Toh Hsien Min, Kirpal Singh, Verena Tay, MK Narayanan, Latha and Wong Yoon Wah.

Event end: 7.30pm

31 Oct 2009, 6:00 pm
The Creative Writing Experience

Price: Free
Venue : The Hall

Featuring: Alvin Pang, Suchen Christine Lim

This October, 15 Singaporean writers are taking part in a week-long creative writing camp on Pulau Ubin, based on the renowned Arvon retreats in the United Kingdom and organised by Catalyst Central, a not-for-profit arts initiative directed by Alvin Pang and Fong Hoe Fang. Some of the participants and tutors will share their camp experiences and discuss the value of structured writing residencies in sharpening writing skills. You can also find out about how you can participate in future creative writing residencies!

Event end: 7pm

In collaboration with British Council and Catalyst Central

I'm back on the mainland.

Fyi.

Run This Town

Yeah, I'm still at the retreat but I wanted to let you guys know I'm still missing technology (Internet use not encouraged here) by uploading one of my favourite recent videos.



Especially beloved after I've read about Jay-Z and his secret occult connections.

I'm gonna be MIA until Saturday.

I'm going for the first Arvon Writers' Retreat on Pulau Ubin from Monday 19 Oct to Saturday 24 Oct - which is, of course, the day the Singapore Writers' Festival opens its doors to the public.

Do I think it's been particularly well organised this year? No, I do not. Witnessed its wonderful ambitious themes fall apart due to lack of budget and lack of luck.

But it still is the first year I'll be a featured participant. So here's the events I'm involved in (including one I'm moderating!):

24 Oct 2009, 12:30 pm
Listen to This

Price: Free
Venue : Living Room

Featuring: Madeleine Lee, Ng Yi-Sheng, David Leo

Moderator: Eleanor Wong

Cutting beneath Singapore’s sceptic veneer, Madeleine Lee, Ng Yi-Sheng and David Leo lyrically weave the nation’s essences into poetry. These poets are politically aware, transnational and cosmopolitan, frequently presenting their intensely focused, self-questioning and highly individualised perspectives of Singaporean life, society and culture via their collections. Listen in and find out how Singapore has inspired and challenged them.

Event end: 1.30pm

30 Oct 2009, 6:00 pm (TIME AND DATE CHANGED!!!)
Launch of Tumasik: Contemporary Writing from Singapore

Price: Free
Venue : Play Den

Co-published with the Iowa Writing Program, University of Iowa, the anthology Tumasik features the works of Singapore’s finest writers hailing from the four official languages of English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil. Edited by poet Alvin Pang, the anthology includes Singaporean writers such as Anuar Othman, Madeleine Lee, Quah Sy Ren, Johar Buang, Toh Hsien Min, Kirpal Singh, Verena Tay, MK Narayanan, Latha and Wong Yoon Wah.

Event end: 7.00pm

31 Oct 2009, 5:00 pm
Award-Winning Writers from Singapore

Price: Free
Venue : Blue Room

Featuring: Ng Yi-Sheng, Chia Hwee Pheng, Yeng Pway Ngon, Mohd Latiff Bin Mohd, Latha
Moderator: Kirpal Singh

Singapore’s multi-language and multi-cultural landscape is reflected best in its varied and colourful literary scene. Join Singapore Literature Prize winners and Cultural Medallion award winners as they discuss their roles as writers, their literary adventures in the four official languages of English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil, and their hopes for literature in Singapore.

Event end: 6pm

01 Nov 2009, 3:00 pm
Evolution: The Curious Case of Books

Price: Free
Venue : Blue Room

Featuring: Thangavel Palamalai, Appala Narasiah, Meira Chand, Robert Yeo
Moderator: Ng Yi-Sheng

How do books affect or change our lives? What is this medium that moves and transforms? Does it have any place in our visually saturated and fast moving world? Join four of our top writers from India and Singapore as they share their favourite books and debate on the contemporary role of books and literature.

Event end: 4pm

01 Nov 2009, 5:00 pm
Dissecting the Merlion

Price: Free
Venue : Chamber

The Merlion is a many-splendoured thing, alternatively praised and parodied. From its birth as a uniquely Singaporean tourism symbol to its reputation for endless literary exposition since its lyrical lionisation by Edwin Thumboo, the completely made-up creature has earned much currency. How it has come to take on the baggage of a nascent nation is a compelling phenomenon. Dissecting the Merlion brings together eight writers from different backgrounds and generations for a fun, no-holds-barred debate to expound on the topic: the Merlion has been maligned.

Writers include Alfian Sa’at, Desmond Kon, Leong Liew Geok, Ng Yi-Sheng, Alvin Pang, Adrian Tan, Teng Qian Xi and Ovidia Yu. The moderator-host is Eleanor Wong. Also to be launched at the event is a poetry anthology inspired by the Merlion across the four national languages.

Event end: 7pm