Maafa II

Today's Straits Times had three stories about China - the case of young people enslaved as brickworkers in Shanxi, the problem of there not being enough rural immigrants coming to the big cities for unskilled labour, and the rising interest in African students in learning Chinese.

Which suggests the future scenario that soon low-skilled African foreign workers will be imported to China, with human rights abuses comparable to those of slaves. :(

Of course, Africa's a long long way away from China, so it mightn't be economically viable. And who knows if the Chinese economy's going to break down in a decade or so. When he heard the news, my father scoffed and said a few decades ago, everyone in Africa was trying to learn Russian.

Maybe if my copywriting picks up, I'll make enough money to go for a Swahili immersion course in Nairobi. :)

Tiruvalluvar's "The Kural"

How come love poems don't age? Why can we look at a love poem by Sappho or Solomon or Chu Shuzhen and still feel struck to the quick of the heart? Whereas Hallmark love is cliched and stupid by contrast?

I've been reading a shortened version of "The Kural" by Tiruvalluvar, the greatest of the pre-modern Tamil poets, and all his couplets on manhood and statecraft sound absurd and moralistic today. But his lovesongs:

126. Farewell, Reserve!

Love the axe breaks down the bolted door
Of bashful reserve.

That pitiless thing called Love exploits even at night
Its mother, my heart.

Fain would I hide my love, but it breaks out
Like a sneeze.

I thought I had control, but my love
Breaks all bonds.

Not for the love-sick is the dignity
That will not chase the indifferent.

How wonderful is my grief
Seeking the indifferent!

What do we know of shame when the lover
Does all we long for?

Where is that fortress of feminine reserve
That can resist a host of enticing words?

I said I would hold back, but when my heart went out
I too went with it and clasped him.

Is it possible for those to freeze
Whose heart melts at a touch?

Men In White

Just watched "Men in White"... actually missed the first coupla minutes 'cos I was trying to find a copy of the Business Times for the good review of Georgette.

Yeah, I'd read the negative reviews of the show in the press. But it's written and directed by Kelvin Tong, and I loved "Eating Air", "The Maid", "Love Story"... so I figured I had to at least see this one for research purposes. And hell, it's a cool concept (the same one I used in the play "Hungry"!) and it's a fun trailer, if you understand Mandarin.

But the show...

Well, let's start off with what it did right. A lot of the film is very very funny; the 10:05pm theatre was crowded and people were laughing their way through the first half with pretty regular consistency. Kelvin's got the goofy Jack Neo-style "boiing" brand of slapstick going on here, with rapid non-sequitur jump-cuts, even to animations and hip-hop music videos in Hokkien, Cantonese and English.

A lot of the reviewers complained about the lack of focus, about the weakness of structure. But that's only a real concern if you're trying to appraise the movie by conventional standards; if you're trying to grasp at it rather than grooving to it.

But I've gotta mention what another audience member said on the way out - "I feel like I've grown stupider watching this show".

Kelvin's definitely not stupid, but he hasn't quite shown an ability to use comedy for concrete satirical purposes - you can figure out some kind of allegory on how to live a purposeful life in the actions of the ghosts, as well as hints at the undercurrent of government surveillance that's part of the Singapore psyche. But that's not quite stuff that you appreciate subliminally, the way you do in, let's say, "12 Storeys".

And in the meantime, his comedy makes caricatures out of everyone - I really am pissed at the portrayal of the new homeowner that tries to chase the ghosts out from his apartment as a flaming fat queen, whom the contractor insults as a "chao ar kwa". Sure, you can claim that any representation of queer characters in Singapore cinema is welcome. But everyone in the audience is laughing whenever someone says "chao ar kwa". Am I supposed to enjoy that? Am I supposed to enjoy the fact that we're reinforcing the idea that saying "chao ar kwa" is okay???

On reflection, Singapore cinema has a terrible tendency to make fun of Indian Singaporeans in a similar way, portraying them as clownish buffoons - it's done in this film, as well as with a security guard in "Just Follow Law", and arguably via ethnic/gender drag in "Liang Po Po: the Movie". "Army Daze" could also be said to mock Indian culture, but it's an equal opportunity offender, and Kumar and Lathi are given solid enough roles to suggest some interiority. "Unarmed Combat" is fairly unique in the way it features a Indian character as an important role among a Chinese-speaking clique - he's sarong-wearing and comic to a certain degree, but the other characters digest the cultural difference rather than othering him - they teach him mahjong and they've learnt enough Tamil to count to three (which is more Tamil than I have).

We need more Malay and Indian film creators in Singapore, and more Chinese language film directors who're willing to create significant roles for non-Chinese characters. (Come to think of it, "The Maid" was already a step forward.)

We have lots of budding queer directors, luckily. :)

Lezpats

Just had a farewell supper at Domus Cafe with Suzanne Pemberton, an English teacher/writer friend of mine who's going to Sweden soon. She's part of a very interesting community of mostly mature, professional expat queer women - and expat here includes prodigal daughters who grew up in Singapore, vowed never to return, and then came back anyway with their girlfriends in tow. Very different from the RedQueen/PPC set, the Sayoni set and the TwoQueens set.

Have more photos, but have to be careful of outing people, probably. Also have a buncha fun fotos of opening night at Georgette on my Careerblog - click here.

Women In Art

Guess I feel a little sappy 'cos Georgette is going up. Wish the animator had included some late 20th and early 21st century artists as well, though - where are the Frida Kahlos, the Cindy Shermans and the Lisa Kusavages?

I've been having a *lot* of fun with PhotoBooth.

It has EFFECTS. Like black and white...
Coloured pencil...
Sepia...
Glow...
X-ray (wtf?)...
Thermal camera (eurrrrggghhh!!! I've got SARS!)And pop art:
There is lots more I've done; not sure whether to whip it out just yet.

Feed the body, feed the soul

My depression is laughably hormonal. I've just made cookies for the cast of "Georgette" and I'm happy again. Chocolate chip and walnut with butterscotch and raisins (actually, it tastes rather boring; not sure what went wrong).

Resolution

Before I ask someone out on a date, I will ascertain that they *know* I am asking them out on a date. Granted, this will make it far more difficult for me to actually find someone to date, but I will not find myself kicking myself for giving movie and theatre comps to people who:

1) have found a boyfriend since two weeks ago when you checked if they were single;

2) think they're way out of your league ("You asked me out? You're so brave!!!")

3) cancel three hours before we're supposed to meet up because they happen to have too much homework; and despite prompting do not reschedule.

And this is leaving out all those guys who seemed okay after a first date, but then always say they're too busy for a second.

The truth is, I really am fan-fucking-tastically lonely. There are people who're attracted to me, but I'm usually not attracted to them. And thus far I have not had one single real relationship. My only ex from three years ago declared that he had only time for an open relationship and insisted that IMing was as good as actual dating.

My friends have been giving me counselling. They say I make things more difficult for myself by being strange, but of course I shouldn't be anyone other than myself. And of course there's the big problem of my being attracted mostly to younger men.

Things reached a fever pitch during the weekend. Loneliness isn't poison; it's starvation, and during fasts you experience hallucinations. Hypodermic chocolate. Origami in the mouth. White rice quicksand. This wasn't helped by the fact that Umbu and Ligerinho had just come back to capoeira class, and no matter how chill they are, it's still very difficult to interact casually with handsome men.

As the roda played and Baiana played the pandeiro, the senses inside me flooded and became one with the ax'e. I beat the atabaque. I compraed. I aued. I gingaed. Queixada. Armada. Parafuso. Meia lua de frente. Meia lua de compaso. Negativa. Role.

It stops hurting when I fight. Esquiva. Cocorinha. Encrucihada. And I don't even fight that well.

I'm actually not as depressed as I sound right now, but I do need introductions.

Doll Face

Intensely beautiful, pseudo-deep animation. Nice.

I has a Mac!

(And it have a Photo Booth programme!)

Just bought this baby yesterday at the Computer Fair. My 3 year-old Futjitsu PC laptop wouldn't start up yesterday morning (was probably jealous since it knew I was going shopping), so this MacBook comes in the nick of time (worryingly, it refused to shut down last night because of the DVD player complaining. But it really is supremely easy to set up).

The really tricky bit, however, was payment. I couldn't shell out the entire sum 'cos my venerable clients have been dawdling in sending me my cheques. (Also I've shelled out first to go for a young playwrights' conference in Queensland, but I might get some grants to help me along with that - more info later).

First, I left a $200 deposit via NETS (no credit cards or cheques accepted), and then frantically SMSed my sister for help. (This is in the middle of an insanely crowded exhibition hall where we have to use the International Signal Alphabet to say I'm at the corner of JVC and Canon).

Then, she tried to pay the remaining $2,486 by NETS. It said she'd exceeded her withdrawal limit for the day (my sis has been stocking up on a new wardrobe for her PhD).

She tried paying $2,000 by NETS. No dice.

She ended up paying $1,500 by NETS and $700 in cash (she'd been planning to go shopping for clothes later).

Then we had to call her friend and have him pay the final $285 by NETS.

Honestly, I don't have to be this broke. I have friends in university who get corporate copywriting jobs, no problem. Am I missing some valuable connections here? (More on that later; I have a big job for the end of the year),

P.S. How am I going to pay my capoeira fees and my phone bill today? O noes!1!1!

FTW!!! May texts!!!

Yes!!! Twenty-nine adult books and eight children's books (I went to the library and read to my niece) in one month, coming to a total of 37 books in 31 days!!! A new reading record!!!

In other news, I didn't see much good theatre this month.

*POETRY*
Koh Jee Leong's "Payday Loans"
+Kate Clanchy's "Samarkand"
+Billy Collins's "The Apple that Astonished Paris"
Yeow Kai Chai's "Pretend I'm Not Here"
+Anne Carson's "If Not, Winter: Fragments from Sappho"
+"Sonnets of Michelangelo"

*FICTION*
+Aubrey Beardsley's "Under the Hill"
+Gore Vidal's "Myron
+Richard Crace's "The Devil's Larder"
+Edith Wharton's "Ethan Frome"
+Gail Carson Levine's "Ella Enchanted"

*DRAMA*
+The New York Neofuturists' "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind: Best of 2006"
+Friedrich Dürrenmatt's "The Physicists"
Caryl Churchill's "A Number"
Nilo Cruz's "Anna in the Tropics"
Kee Thuan Chye's "1984: Here and Now"
+Noel Coward's "Plays: Four", including "Blithe Spirit", "Present Laughter", "This Happy Breed", "Ways and Means", "The Astonished Heart" and "Red Peppers"
Stella Kon's "Silent Song and Other Plays", including "City of Splendour" and +"Dragon's Teeth Gate"

*NON-FICTION*
Sigmund Freud's "The Schreber Case"
+Mitch Albom's "Tuesdays with Morrie"
James Boswell's "Meeting Dr. Johnson"
+Evelyn Waugh's "The Coronation of Haile Selassie"
Al-Mas'ūdī's "From The Meadows of Gold"
+Michelle Baker and Stephen Tropiano's "Queer Facts: The Greatest Gay and Lesbian Trivia Book Ever"

*GRAPHIC NOVELS*
+Marisa Acocella Marchetto's "Cancer Vixen"
+Lat's "Town Boy"
Barnaby Legg, Jim McCarthy and Flameboy's "Death Rap: Tupac Shapur: A Life"
+Hergé's "The Seven Crystal Balls" and "The Prisoners of the Sun"

*CHILDREN'S ILLUSTRATED BOOKS*
+Sunny Warner's "The Moon Quilt"
+Tomi Ungerer's "Moon Man"
Joanna Cole and Stephanie Calmenson's "Ready, Set, Read... and Laugh!"
+Giselle Potter's "The Year I Didn't Go to School"
+Debra Frasier's "On the Day You Were Born"
Allen Say's "Allison"
Mary Virginia Fox's "Continents: South America" (Heinemann's First Library)
Charles Winter Johnson's "Internet: A Magic Mouse Guide"

*PERFORMANCES*
Singapore Repertory Theatre's "A Midsummer Night's Dream
Theatreworks's "Sandbox #1", 3rd Night, including excerpts from Leon Lim's "Shahjahanabad", Yak Aik Wee's "Happy At Eccles", Alvin Lim's "Almost Heaven" and Chew Boon Leong's "Happy Together"
"Mentah IV: Please Stand Clear of the Platform Gap", including +"Mat CD" and "Rendezvous Point"
Temasek Junior College's "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
Ray MacNiece's "An Evening of Monologues, Poems and Songs"
Musical Theatre Ltd and Word Forward's "Musical Express/Poetry Slam"

*FILMS*
+Leste Chen's "Eternal Summer"
+Gabor Csupo's "Bridge to Terabithia"
Amir Muhammad's "Village People Radio Show"
+ Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman's "Born Into Brothels"
Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean's "Mirrormask"
+Brad Anderson's "The Machinist"
Zero Chou's "Spider Lilies"
+Way too much "Iron Chef"

*EXHIBITIONS*
+Zeng Fanzhi's "Idealism"
+Voilah!'s " Engraving the World A Selection from the Chalcography Collection of the Louvre Museum"
Singapore Art Museum's "Wong Keen: A Singapore Abstract Impressionist"
Li Qingxing's "Weed Garden" at Soobin Art International
The MINT Toy Museum's Permanent Collection
The Singapore Philatelic Museum's Permanent Collection and "An Nyeong Ha Seyo Korea!"
Jessica Koh and Joanna Tan's "Travelling on Sacred Ground"
+Pablo Picasso's "Vollard Suite" at Singapore Tyler Print Institute
Bhaskar Arts Academy's Painting Gallery

Death be Not Loud

Today I participated in a panel discussion at the Creative Arts Programme Seminar at LT13: as alumni of the programme, me, Alfian, Qian Xi and Nicholas Wong (a very precocious 18 year-old Malaysian writer) read our works and jabbered a bit about the importance of speaking truth to power, etc. Nothing terribly unusual. An MOE lady hogged our slot, so we only had about 15 minutes to discuss the Role of the Writer Today.

Anyhow, I'd read my "Loud Poem", wincing at how hackneyed this old work of 1999 had become. The kids loved it as usual. and applauded during the bits where I forgot the lines. I seem to have cultivated this strange absent-minded boy-in-grown-up's body persona.

And then after the event, a girl came up to me and thrust this note into my hand. It was written on blank printing paper, labelled: "MR NG YI SHENG" on the front, and folded into eight.

"Your loud poem saved my life - recovering from one strange cancer and (thankfully wrongly) diagnosed with a debilitating sort of leukemia and scared and failing at school and tired and stupid, I saw someone looking at me with concern I did not want and took out a book (ONEwinged) and opened it at random and saw tictic tictic tictic BOOM - and it captured my small teenage mind and helped me up again.

Thank you."

[not sure if I should write down her name].

Yow. It's very, very strange to think I might have been an inspiration. I'm immensely grateful to this girl for letting me know that my writing - no matter how jaded I feel about it - can make a difference.

Georgette: the musical

Time to promote my upcoming musical, based on the life of pioneer Singapore artist Georgette Chen!

It was developed by Musical Theatre Ltd under their Five-Foot Broadway programme, scored by Clement Yang (with arrangements by Chris Nolan and Esther Yang), and is being directed by Lee Yew Moon. It was given a thumbs-up by a panel of theatre luminaries - see here.

Esplanade Recital Studio
7:30pm [corrected from 8pm!]
Sat 9 and Sun 10 June 2007
For tickets, click here.

Of course, some of my avant-garde artsy friends have chided me for elevating such a conventional oil painter adverse to innovation, reliant on personal charm and connections for her success - but I like her paintings, dammit. And I'm a sucker for a strong woman.

Go watch; it's not groundbreaking, but it's quite nice.

UPDATE: Just posted this on my personal blog - am going flyering with director Yew Moon tomorrow morning. Had to cancel the 3pm show cos not enough people were buying tickets. (Hint hint)

I 8 N Y

Not quite as colourful as the selection of what I ate in Thailand, but a colourful selection nonetheless. Had to leave out the shish kabob and the pork chop smothered in onions as that would've brought it over a square number.

Btw, if you want Wisconsin comfort cooking in Brooklyn, look no further than Schnack, a lovely little joint on 122 Union St whose proprietor Harry Hawk fed me like a king. Fish po-boys, kielbasa dogs, Jeshua's recipe wings with bitter root beer. Nom nom nom. See http://www.schnackdog.com/

The Onion speaks truth!!!!

Elie Wiesel Mortified After Rereading Night

Although it's fake news, the article very accurately describes the reactions of authors on rereading juvenilia. Cf. "Hungry". ;P

Old lovers

Sorry I haven't been posting a while. Was depressed shortly after I came back from New York.

I'm back on track now, but not only do I miss the place - I'm also acutely aware of the fact that it may be the city where I'm most likely to find romantic fulfilment. Full of beautiful, talented young men. Some of whom actually remember me as vividly as I remember them.

Okay and now they're going to kick my ass for posting their pics online. I'll forebear from describing their individual names and stories unless you ask me in person. They're all amazing in their own rights and I have very different relationships with each of them. Mum for now.

last boy @ the Singapore Book Club

I'm being presented at the Singapore Book Club soon! Kristina Tom is speaking and Robert Yeo is facilitating.

18 May 2007
7pm
Earshot Cafe @ The Arts House
1 Old Parliament Lane

Admission is free
REFRESHMENTS WILL BE PROVIDED (snarf snarf gobble)

I'll be getting some pre-event publicity on LIVE 93.8FM in an interview with deejay Mr Eugene Loh on Monday 14 May, 1:45-2pm. Tune in if you give a shit. :)

UPDATE: Eugene's event went quite well, even though the mere mention of homosexuality is taboo, just like religion and feng shui (they mentioned me as the author of "251", "last boy", "Eating Air" but conspicuously NOT "SQ21". Hmmmph.

UPUPDATE: I'm pretty pleased with the way tonight went - although the gathering was small and my reading was uneven (and interrupted!), it was comfortable and intimate and Kristina Tom is a GREAT speaker; she illuminated aspects of my poetry that I barely knew existed and even took the trouble to articulate the context in which the work appeared in the Singapore poetry scene. Hoopla.

A Visa Card advertisement which I lerrrve

The simple fact is, Takeru Kobayashi and Sonya Thomas are two of my minor idols. They transform the apparently chaotic, animal process of mass feeding into poetry, and they stay skinny doing it too.

Yes, yes, I know that it portrays a stereotyped image of Asians in America as secret kung fu warriors, and that not all convenience store cashiers are stunningly tall and handsome Latinos who understand Japanese.

Reading@Library@Esplanade

This Saturday I'll be doing a reading of poems from "last boy" as well as my slam repertoire at the Singapore Art Cafe in Library@Esplanade. Of course, copies of the book will be on sale. Hope people can drop by!

Library@Esplanade
Saturday May 5
4-5pm
FREE

Texts of April 2007

Amazingly, due to my habit of leafing through short books while on vacation (especially art books, which are mostly pictures and are thus less taxing on the brain), I've ended up breaking the 30 books in 30 days barrier - and that's even if you discount the children's books I mused on at the Strand. Sure, hardly any of these are of a significant length, but it still feels good to look back on the buffet of text and pretty pixels that has been my more-than-daily fare.

*POETRY*
Boey Kim Cheng's "After the Fire"
Bei Dao's "Unlock"
+Ciaran Carson's "The Twelfth of Never"
James Houlihan's "Thirty-one Superior Poems of Our Time"
James Thomas Stevens's "Combing the Snakes from His Hair"
+Tim Dufrisne's "Nosedive"
+Louise Glück's "Averno"

*FICTION*
+Dai Sijie's "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress"
+John Cleland's "Fanny Hill: Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure"

*DRAMA*
+Ngugi Wa'Thiongo's "The Black Hermit"
+Elangovan's "Smegma"
+Louis de Bernières's "Sunday Morning at the Centre of the World"
Jean-Baptiste Molière's "Le médecin malgré lui"

*NON-FICTION*
+Dana Lam's "Days of Being Wild"
+"FOCAS 5"
+Simon Blackburn's "Lust"

*GRAPHIC NOVELS*
Wee Tian Beng's "The Celestial Zone 14: An Onerous Battle" and "The Celestial Zone 25: The Xue Ling Union"
+Frank Miller's "300"
Lynn Johnston's "David, We're Pregnant!"
+Tim Fish's "Calvacade of Boys" and "Young Bottoms in Love"

*ART BOOKS*
+Banksy's "Wall and Piece"
David La Chapelle's "Heaven to Hell"
+"David Hilliard", photographs
Slava Mogutin's "Lost Boys"
+"Mark Morrisroe", photographs
+Christopher Makos's "Exhibitionism"
"Anna Gaskell", photographs
+Yumi Yamaguchi's "Warriors of Art: A Guide to Contemporary Japanese Artists"

*CHILDREN'S PICTURE BOOKS AND ILLUSTRATED COMEDY*
Maurice Sendak's +"Where the Wild Things Are" and "Bears"
Amos Vogel's "How Little Lori Visited Times Square"
+Kasper Hauser's "Skymaul"

*PERFORMANCES*
+Toy Factory's "251"
+The Finger Players's "0501"
W!ld Rice's "Blithe Spirit"
Terence McNally's "Deuce"
Personal Space Theatrics's "Myth America"
+The Bowery Poetry Club's "Urbana Tuesday Night Poetry Slam"
The Nuyorican Poets Café's "Slam Open"
+"Altar Boyz"
Nosedive Productions's "Suburban Peepshow"
+The New York Neo-Futurists' "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind"
+Young-Jean Lee's "Church"

*EXHIBITIONS"
Joshua Yang's "Superstring Theory"
The Museum of the American Indian's "Off the Map" and +"Indigenous Motivations"
+"Leonardo Drew" at Sikkema Jenkins & Co.
"Eva Rothschild" at 303 Gallery
+"Chen Qiulin" at Max Protetch
+Powerhouse Arena's "The Male Gaze"
The Guggenheim Museum's "The Shape of Space" and "The Hugo Boss Prize: Tacita Dean"
The Bronx Museum of the Arts's "Here and Elsewhere"
+The Brooklyn Museum's "Global Feminisms"
+Devorah Sperber's "The Eye of the Artist"
+Judy Chicago's "The Dinner Party"
+The remnants of an auction at Exit Art

*FILMS*
Elia Kazan's "East of Eden"
Shawn Levy's "Night at the Museum"
The second half of John Turteltaub's "National Treasure"
Stanley Kubrick's "Space Odyssey: 2001"
Atsushi Funahashi's "Big River"
+Several nights of "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report"