IRreality

where we used to fly kites

invisible cities: series 1

Do buildings exist if no one can remember that they were once there? Will we be left with only the landmarks pointing to the official progress of history when buildings and spaces deemed insignificant but bearing collective memory are demolished? Perhaps someone (perhaps I) should start recording lesser known buildings- buildings that may be banal functionally but bears qualities worthy of remembering, immediately as we encounter them, for they may not be there when we want to see them again.

As a start, I'm going to try a little game. Anyone who names all 4 buildings above gets a prize.


And go watch invisible city.

(x-post from Kit's Crit)

majulah singapura

one of the most soulful and personal renditions of Majulah Singapura, hauntingly beautiful without the melody and in the full silent awe of the away ground stadium.

sung by this 21yo singaporean gal who went to japan to pursue her singing career. this is dedicated to those pple for a personal contemplation of nation on this day.

happy 188th bday

the town of singapore, on the islands of the same name, stands on a point of land near the western part of a bay, and is easily distinguished by there being just behind it, a pleasant looking hill, that is partly cleared of trees. between the point on which the town is situated, and the western one of the bay, there is a creek, in which the native vessels anchor close to the town, and it may be found useful to european vessels of easy draught to repair in. on the eastern side of the bay, opposite to the tower, there is a deep inlet lined by mangroves, which would also be a good anchorage for native boats; and about north from the low sandy point of the bay, there is a village inhabited by fishermen, a short way to the eastward of which, is a passage through the mangroves, leading to a fresh water river...

The coast to the eastward of the town, is one continued sandy beach; and half a mile to the eastern point of the bay, or two miles and a half from the town, there is a point where the depth of water is six or seven fathoms, at three of four hundred yards from the shore; and at six hundred yard a small bank with about three fathoms at low water; the point offers a favorable position for batteries to defend ships that may in time of war anchor near to it.

fresh water is to be had at several places in the vicinity of the town, and there are some small rivers along the coast to the eastward, where the water appears red.

....7 February 1819

Review of Invisible City

The glut of en bloc sales and their accompanying gluttony of riches, the impending demolition of the National Stadium and some time ago, the 'rational' removal of the central National Library are probably fresh in most people's mind.

Tan Pin Pin seeks to probe and stick something in Singaporeans' notoriously stulified minds. Not unexpected from a director who brought us Luvre Me Now (a 3 min short video on Barbie, and was banned in Singapore)

Dreadfully slow in certain parts of this 60-min documentary but always poignantly so. It might seem at first as being reactionary with questions on the 'official' histories, collective erasure of memories and nearly every interviewees' desire for immortality. However, if you watch carefully, at certain points in the show, one wonders about the legitimacy of terms such as collective even.

What struck me most was this Englishwoman who said that Singapore is not a good place to grow old in. A frail body and gradually fading recollections is definitely not helped with the complete loss of external artifices of memories.

It is not a show to watch if you want a feel-good vibe after it. But it is also just about time to stop feeling sense-lessly good about nothing now.

Catch it in the Arts house for full effect. Watch it with your fellow Singaporeans (whom you do not have much hope in) in an adaptive reuse building where 'they' passed laws to ironically erase your past. I guess the static buzz of the DV and the film reel was cleverly used and very much akin to a person stringing thoughts in his/her mind.

colosseum

watching all the games in the golden age of 1994 msia cup and league on tv. addictive. i am also very fortunate to be able to watch the 2005 and 2007 asean cups. TV coverage of the stadium’s roars is muffled coz they do not have mics all over the pitch like those overseas stadiums.

there was one match, spore vs bahrain i watched with jansen. against a superior opposition who were cowed by the kallang roar into play acting and wasting time. the half filled stadium stood and swore profanities, screaming for the ref to “fuck off” (seriously, 30000 pple shouting fuck off is quite a spectacle with concert like synchronisation of hands pumping). AFC promptly fined spore for that. but nothing beats the spontaneous self righteousness of a little nation that night.

really, no matter wat pple might say, nothing beats kallang roaring out majulah spore, not even national day. throwing toilet rolls as streamers. torn newspapers as confetti. kallang wave. referee kayu. singing ole ole all the way home on mrt. cheering hardcore gangsters running in to fight overseas gangsters.

football is passion, and at the very core, the very epitome of the national spirit that pple condensed into 90 mins. and spore teams throughout the yrs live for that moment for the full house, living their lives dedicating to trying their best in spite of a seasonal bandwagon crowd.

i can only hope the crowd that pays 16 dollar a ticket are not prim and proper ah sia giahs who suddenly got a nostalgic attack and start dreaming they had once been part of history. i only hope the mild and chirpy malay aunties in their tudong who turn into fervent fans do turn out too. and teach the impressionable kids over there the real meaning behind the kallang roar.

brings a tear to my eye

win already

liddat also call conservation

en bloc u how?

if hor... remy...

some developer come and enbloc ur bras basah flat.... alot of money....

then hor some pesky akitects come petition for gazette coz ur flat got history value....

how wld u react?

pondering...

conversation of the day

zihao says
lee hsieng loong is correct when he say sporeans materialistic
jitao enbloc everything one
one day istana also enbloc

amelia says:
HAHAHA!!!

our new stadium

i like the concept

but is the design a bit too....? erm....

geesh....