Two European films I have tangential relationships with

I've decided to do Bhutan before Nepal, and Treasures of the Thunder Dragon took me a little longer to pick up from the library. So I'll observe today with a plug for two European films.

1) The first one is Irish/British/Singaporean - Joe and Christine Lawlor's Civic Life: Tiong Bahru, documenting what's currently Singapore's hippest neighbourhood. The whole film's just been uploaded to Vimeo! (Sorry if the embed isn't working... don't know how to fix it on my display.)

TIONG BAHRU from Desperate Optimists on Vimeo.

2) The second one is My Name is Janez Janša, and it's by the three Slovenian artists who had their names legally changed to be the same as that of the right-wing Prime Minister of Slovenia. I got filmed by two of the Janezes at the last Flying Circus Project, in Cambodia. (This is why their lineup looks so multiethnic.)


My Name Is Janez Jansa (excerpt #11) from aksioma on Vimeo.

I've been informed by them that the film needs funding, because it's under attack by their government. Support it by donating money over here.

SPORE Art Salon on Tuesday!

As usual, 7:30pm to mingle; 8pm for the actual show; Blu Jaz Cafe 11 Bali Lane.

This month we're featuring the gorgeous performance poet Deborah Emmanuel, the storyteller Ansel Ashby, gay activist Roy Tan as our drawing model, and my personal friend Don Shiau in his comeback to songwriting and musical performance.

More info here!

Singapore Uncensored: A Panel on the Yale-NUS controversy

I'm speaking via Skype on this panel, specifically on the issue of gay rights in Singapore, though I should also be dropping a few lines on academic freedom. Unfortunately, it's a closed door event at Yale University, in New Haven.


Date: Thursday April 19, Luce Hall
Time: 4pm (i.e. Fri 4 am Singapore time!)
Co-sponsored by the Malaysian and Singaporean Association, and the Council on Southeast Asian Studies

Leave questions at http://tinyurl.com/yalenus.

My Sister's op ed on Yale-NUS, in Chinese!

From Lianhe Zaobao:

黄艺青：耶鲁教员会思考吗？
（2012-04-12）

黄艺青

　　《国大学生报》（Kent Ridge Common）上个月刊登了一篇好文章。作者许春晖说：“不仅是学生显示了鲁莽和以偏概全的刻板印象，就连耶鲁大学教员也是如此——这似乎违反了学术研究的严肃精神。”这让她感到很困惑。然后，她一针见血地问：“有鉴于大学一些拥有终身职位的最杰出教员所提出论点的素质”，我们是不是应该重新考虑同耶鲁的合作？

　　我相信耶鲁人有思考能力，但我可以了解为什么新加坡人可能有不同的看法。关键问题是耶鲁人和新加坡人对政治文化有基本上的不同假定。

　　美国人对一些新加坡法律很反感。新加坡人并不遵守它们——多数时候也不会面对什么后果。同性性交在新加坡是违法的，就像未满法定年龄在耶鲁喝酒一样。我的作家和行动主义分子弟弟黄毅圣并不隐瞒自己是同性恋者，尽管他有一些公开打扮成异性的哗众取宠行为，并出版了有真实名字和脸孔的“出柜”畅销书，警察却从来不找他麻烦。

　　至于审查制度，在Wired杂志被禁后，我在高中课堂上读到它把新加坡形容为“有死刑的迪斯尼乐园”。后来，我还把这课题给自己的学生当作业。在新加坡，有一些做法是肯定会给你惹上麻烦的——至少在你不受耶鲁—新加坡国大学院学术自由保护的情况下。然而，一般上，在言论和性自由课题上，白纸黑字的法律，与法律的实际执法是很不同的事。这在观念上有点复杂，但如果我们搞得清楚，你也应该能够弄得明白。

　　耶鲁大学教员星期四（4月5日）通过在新加坡提倡美国式政治自由的议决，用意是好的。但我不得不告诉你——我们的价值观同耶鲁人并不太一样。要新加坡人想象要求持有枪械的权利是很难的，因为这意味着彻夜派对狂欢后，必须担心能否安全回家。

　　新加坡人嘲笑执政党自我保护的审查制度，但当政府1991年尝试放宽电影审查时，公众的强烈反弹却迫使它收回措施。焚烧可兰经在新加坡是违法的，我们欢迎这样的做法。我们对价值观的先后排序有所不同，而不同并不表示不对。至少这是我从耶鲁的博雅教育所学到的。

　　然而，虽然在耶鲁已经9年，我真的仍然无法理解，对耶鲁—新加坡国大学院与星期四议决同时表示支持的教授，他们善意背后的逻辑。对一个新加坡人来说，议决看来等于是要求被踢出这个国家。我可以看到一些采取圆滑手腕的努力，但这在文化上是难以明白的。在建立信任的关键阶段批评伙伴的做法，是在放弃合作前最后采取的谈判策略。

　　议决也让一般新加坡人感到不满。他们本来已经觉得耶鲁得到很好的合作条件——免费校园、免费职员、可以自由地对任何课程进行教学实验，以及甚至不用把耶鲁大学的名字放在文凭上。

和耶鲁大学校长莱文（Richard Levin）教授及其他行政人员不同，我不认为耶鲁人要帮助新加坡改变是一种傲慢的行为。但考虑到政治和文化上的局限，耶鲁要促成改变的最好方法不是强调分歧，而是向新加坡人显示我们所拥有的共同点。

　　新加坡同性恋组织“Pink Dot”选择性地采用了美国的同性恋婚姻和同性恋收养儿童辩论中的一些观点。它强调家庭关系和接受差异——两者都是新加坡人身份认同的核心价值——去年的集会因此吸引了超过1万人。

　　若足够的选民要求改变，政府就会作出反应。去年的大选凸显了部长薪金是“99％”的人非常不满的课题后，政府马上修改了薪金制。美国观察家可能觉得奇怪，但尽管已经掌权超过50年，我们的执政党并没有对公众的情绪视若无睹。

　　你可以不喜欢新加坡运作的方式，我也不想轻视反对党人士，如被执政党告到破产的惹耶勒南的奋斗。但不喜欢它并不能改变我们的政治文化，要改变它，我们就得先面对现实。

　　新加坡不是个孤立或停滞不前的社会。它非常容易受到外来影响——只要它们被认为是我们自己的选择，而不是起哄者所要求的。耶鲁教员议决的目的，可以通过耶鲁在新加坡的存在来实现。不是使用说教而是示范的方式——坚定但谦逊地显示耶鲁值得自豪的地方。

　　编者按：部分耶鲁大学教员反对耶鲁—新加坡国大学院的合作计划，可是反对的理由却是基于对新加坡道听途说式的认识。新加坡籍耶鲁学生黄艺青投稿耶鲁大学生校报《耶鲁每日新闻》，从新加坡人的观点分享了对事件的看法。

英文原题：Can Yale faculty think?

原载《耶鲁每日新闻》（Yale Daily News），作者是在耶鲁研读语言学博士学位的新加坡学生。叶琦保译。

A whole bunch of news this week!

1) I've been given a shout-out in my sister Ng E-Ching's op-ed on the Yale-NUS controversy:

http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2012/apr/09/ng-show-singaporeans-some-respect/

Not sure if I agree with the spirit of everything she says, but it's quite true that most of us live with a certain cognitive dissonance for the sake of pragmatism.

2) This Saturday night my poems are featured in The Art of Rebellion, an art exhibition at a shophouse, organised by poet Amanda Lee's design house studioKALEIDO. They're haiku based on on Chinese idioms, also known as 成语 (chengyu).

Date and Time: Sat 14 Apr - Sat 22 Apr, 2-8pm, opening 7-11pm on 14 Apr
Address: Unit 11 Lorong 24A, Geylang, Singapore 398535.
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/110371715763513/?ref=ts

April in Unit 11, The Lorong 24A Shophouse Series
24 artists and 3 poets execute a contemporary exploration of Chinese culture; a play on the power of idiomatic suggestion.

The Art of Rebellion ▷ visual interpretations of idioms ▷
eeshaun / winnie goh / ben qwek / adeline tan / brick / xiaobao / antz / kittozutto / xiao yan / zxerokool / roy wang / michy witchy / messymsxi / tiffany tan / sun lee / pigologist / xinjie / leonard wee / cleo / kristal melson / XOTL / pamm hong / zhao renhui / SUSEJ

The Wanderlust of Words ▷ idiomatic haiku scrolls ▷
ng yi-sheng / amanda lee / rebecca toh

Opening night: 14/4, 7-11pm
feat. DJs
pamm hong / sarah chan / troupemaster / nat h.

Exhibition week: 15/4 - 22/4, 2-8pm

Sponsors:
42Below / The Lorong 24A Shophouse Series / Pocket Projects / Orita Sinclair

3) Of course, there's the book launch of The New village on Friday too. Seeya there!

More info here: http://theartshouse.com.sg/Programmes/EventPage.aspx?EventID=1568

"The New Village" has been published!

Aka the book of poetry about the Malayan Communist Emergency that I translated from Mandarin to English. Come on down for the launch!



Date: Friday 13 April
Time: 8-945pm
Venue: Living Room, The Arts House

I probably won't be speaking much - focus will be on the poet Wong Yoon Wah - but I should be performing some of my translated work. I'm pretty damn proud of it. :D

March texts!

*POETRY*
Agha Shahid Ali’s + “Call Me Ishmael Tonight”, ="Rooms Are Never Finished” and +“The Country Without a Post Office”
+Cyril Wong’s “Satori Blues”

*FICTION*
+Mohammed Hanif’s “A Case of Exploding Mangoes”
+Salman Rushdie’s “Shalimar the Clown”

*NON-FICTION*
+Denyse Tessensohn’s “Elvis Lived in Katong”

*FILMS*
+Luc Besson's “The Lady”
=Kongdej jaturanrasmee's “P-47”
+Jade Castro’s “Remington and the Curse of the Zombadings”
+Andrew Stanton's “John Carter”

*PERFORMANCES*
=Word Forward's "Poiesis"
Quinta Productions’ “Sonnets for an Old Century”
+Resorts World Sentosa's “Voyage de la Vie”
+W!ld Rice's “Cooling Off Day”
NUS Theatre Department's “The Velveteen Rabbit”
=Buds Theatre Company's “From Scratch”
+Spell #7's “#157”
+Checkpoint Theatre's “City Night Songs”
=NUS Arts Festival's “Face to Face”
+The Necessary Stage's “godeatgod”

*EXHIBITIONS*
=Museum Wayang (Jakarta)'s permanent collection