On Suchen Christine Lim...

During lecture this week, Suchen Christine Lim was invited to be our guest speaker/writer for the day.

Having met her before during my JC days, I didn't expect much since I thought that it will probably be about the same thing.

However, the woman writer, though petite, struck me as a very passionate woman about her work. She holds a love towards her writing and her characters, which is evident in both times that I've heard her speak. The way she read parts of her novel were energetic and full of life.

There was something she said during that lecture that really caused me to wonder. That is, when she kept urging us to read the novel to enjoy it rather than as a literary text.

This made me wonder if sometimes, we tend to over-analyse certain subjects and themes in novels, in literature itself. With the aim to write a good report, we debunk every single sentence to find something beyond what the normal reader would see. Through that process, we may actually get a deeper sense of the novel and how it relates to the world that the author sees, but does that diminish the simple enjoyment of just reading a book as it is? Is that really the author's intention?

I would always remember during a lecture in JC, when one of my classmates asked Lim why the title 'Fistful of Colours' and she replied that there wasn't any particular reason for that, it was just a nice name that her friend had suggested to her. We were all taken aback as we had spent many lessons discussing about that, trying to figure out what went through the author's mind.

But that said, there is always a little sense of accomplishment after every attempt to discover a theme and seeing the grades go up with each try. I guess it's a matter of balancing... and yes, I still love Lit.

Yeo: The Singapore Trilogy (Part 2 & 3)

Along with, Are You there Singapore?, Yeo’s One Year Back Home and Changi are known in ensemble as the Singapore Trilogy. The latter two dramas follow the same characters after their return to Singapore and deal with different themes than Are You there Singapore? Political themes are very heavy in these dramas including questioning the duty to one’s country and duty to one’s friends. Different takes on nationalism also play a major role in the plot as well as a lurking unrequited love story.

Yeo originally had problems staging One Year Back Home because of the inclusion of dialogue debating opposition platforms with those of the PAP. This led to his major run in with government censors who he felt were unqualified to make judgements on literature based solely on stiff bureaucratic standards that ignore the work’s meaning. Changi, though written later, was pretty critical of the government at the time and the Internal Security Act in particular.

But onto the themes-

Politics in Early Singapore:

Politics is so heavy in these dramas that I can imagine watching this being staged and believe that I’m at a debate. Honestly, I can not imagine a few of these scenes being captivating for an audience unless everyone is really into politics (and I mean REALLY). This part of the drama focuses around two characters who are running for the same MP seat. Chye is running as the PAP candidate and Fernandez, a minor character in the first play, now becomes a central character running as an opposition candidate. Their debate focuses on class representation and struggle, the need for an opposition in parliament, and the usefulness of symbols and values. It takes place in the context of Singapore’s chit fund scandal which teaches me some history at the same time. Singapore’s political system is very interesting to me, so it was useful to read Yeo’s take on it as he examines two different viewpoints. The opposition viewpoint is presented as one which emphasizes the need for lively debate and dissension within politics for a healthy government, and the PAP becoming deaf to the needs of smaller groups and steamrolling them in the name of culture. The PAP take is shown to argue that Singapore as a still developing country needs strong leadership instead of debate for state influenced economic growth to work. The example used is that while other Asian countries are overly cautious with letting in foreign investment and companies, the PAP has made the opposite choice rightly and has grown the economy successfully as a result.

Duties, Values, and Integrity:

While reading Changi, I couldn’t help but notice the similarity with Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. Both involve main characters who hold onto their values and integrity over their life and freedom. This play sees Fernandez in Changi prison being held as a suspected communist. This is another example of Yeo writing what he knows and mirrors the plight of his friend who suffered the same fate. Fernandez holds out against the television confession and starts a hunger strike to protest the conditions, ultimately imagining himself as a possible Nelson Mandela type. What ultimately convinces him to agree to the terms is a sense of duty to his parents and friends to not leave them to worry. Duty then becomes another theme, whether it’s to one’s family or country.

I found the characterization to be very strong with Fernandez. Underneath his political plot, there was a love subtext involving him being in love with Hua and her not returning this love. I thought that this pain added to and was an important part of his political fire and recklessness.

My Thoughts:

All in all I thought the two plays provided me with an interesting glimpse into the political and cultural landscape of 70's Singapore. It was a very turbulent decade in the world and was effectively managed and portrayed by the two plays. What was especially interesting was the criticism of imprisonments without trial and possible human rights abuses at the time.

AS: What is it about corridors anyway?

From his collection of 12 short stories titled 'Corridor', Alfian Sa'at explores a place so ingrained in our HDB flat lifestyles that we take them for granted. In the titular short story 'Corridor' - the corridor becomes a symbol of the harmony/distrust dichotomy between neighbours in HDB flats. Corridors which have been officially lauded as 'common spaces' for Singaporeans to share and connect as taught to us in our Social Studies textbooks, are painted with a tinge of cynicism in Alfian's story. In fact in the short story, the tainted reality manifests itself through a murder that takes place in the corridor. For my creative interpretation post, I have decided to look at these cherished corridors and see what is it that makes them such apt symbols of our lives in Singapore.

A typical corridor in a HDB flat. Narrow and concrete floors.

Prison corridors. Narrow and concrete floors

Whilst the comparison may be too exaggerated the similarities in the picture do not lie. Whilst HDB dwellers are in no way imprisoned, we ARE allocated our own cubes of space. Albeit, it comes with many more amenities and with the newer 'Design & Build' flats - WE MIGHT EVEN GET IT FULLY FURNISHED (!!!)... But in principle, the space we are allocated isnt that much different from prisons. HDB corridors provide a common space for residents but the reality is far from the idealistic picture potrayed by the HDB website. (see below)

Ideal neighbours in an ideal neighbourhood

 I for one, have never played with my neighbours along my corridor. In fact, the reality potrayed in Alfian's story is more familiar. "Along our corridor there was a lot of screaming" Yes, that's more like it. The proximity of our houses just meant the corridor acted like a walkway of echoes. Fights in a neighbouring household was broadcasted through the floor whether anyone liked it or not. In this respect,I do lean towards Alfian's potrayal of corridors.

However, I do appreciate when residents make their corridors look like this :- 

A very beautiful oasis - too bad it's a corridor.

These corridors just like Alfian's creative work push boundaries with what falls within the 'regulations' of  HDB with regards to corridor use. In fact, STOMP (thrashy citizen journalism) is forever rampant with pictures posted by citize-razzis (part time citizen part time paparazzi) of corridors that they feel are treated like (and I quote) 'like they own the place' In a way,branching our private spaces into corridors signify a breaking out of our 'cubes' of life. However instead of signifying a 'shared community life' it lends itself to a more cynical view of how fixed and rigid Singaporean life is.Furthermore, instead of the perfect "My neighbour and I are the bestest of friends" picture that is painted by HDB, we get these pictures instead :-

"noisy machinery too much in corridor" - stomp

"inconsiderate neighbour treat commonspace like they own it" - stomp

In my opinion, corridors are only a necessary evil. They're needed but definitely not wanted. If Singapore was gifted with more land, then I would want a fenced yard of my own. I do not want a 5m long slab or concrete that I have to share with my next door neighbours. But reality is Singapore is land scarce and the majority of us have no choice but to retreat back to our cubes and hope to be amicable enough with our neighbours so they will help us water our plants when we're away on holiday. We cant let them die now can we?