Renaissance ... a Revolution !!!! BOHEMIA !!!

This leads me on to the idea of a Bohemian Singapore. Not a reckless and haphazard type of Bohemian. But one that is willing to step out of the "norm" hmmm out of the Mainstream. Otherwise how will we define ourselves as Singaporean. I am not proposing a revolt or any violent revolution. But i ask for a renaissance, a new renaissance. Not one of cohesiveness but of individuality, each willing to express his art as he feels. Not to be constrained by money or circumstances but rather a people that will do art for art. For example the Village voice is an example of Art, a newspaper dedicated completely to arts. A printed paper of gigs, amateur and professional, ranging from the controversial to the orthodox. This can be done ! 

With the arts festival coming up, go to the theater go to the museums go and see and observe the art, see what is the move of art, shape it our way ! It is all about creativity, no limits, anything can be art, the more queer the better... Jackson Pollock... decided to break away from painting on a brush, rather drip paint from a stick. 

Ok fine we are "uniquely Singapore" whatever this phrase means... what is so unique about us... seriously. Think ponder please... what is so unique about Singapore. And no it is not because we are multi racial or multi culture, RUBBISH! it is as though other countries don't have other races. Oh and please don't even bother to mention Singlish, it has become so commonplace, and though it is our lingua franca it is... overhyped. So after all the stripping down, uniquely Singapore ? really ? unique ? or just so mainstream that we just become another city. 

Bohemianism is all about being inspired by the surroundings what you see what you hear all your senses, ALL of your senses and be UNAFRAID of performing your art. No permits, No limits. It is not buying a product that is bohemianism "oh i think this art will make me Bohemian" NO NO!!! i plead with you NO! it is doing art for art sake ! no matter how it is done, dance, drama, visual arts, anything anywhere, street, stage, alley. as Shakespeare put it ALL THE WORLD'S A STAGE! let Singapore be our muse and us the painters and the Bohemians that can shape this little red dot to be revolutionary, out of the norm, please even our beginnings are rather queer, so i guess it is already in our blood. so people please dont complain that the people are not ready please please it is not the people. a change only begins with like-minded people so contribute! and shape it ... otherwise other people will shape it for you. Dont loose your opportunity!!! 

Everyday is a good place to start, just let creativity start to flow, everyday, one poem, one sentence of a novel, one painting, or even spend a whole night doing a sculpture. no matter where you work or your occupation EVERYONE can be a bohemian. it is not what you wear that make you bohemian, it is the attitude of embracing new and finding your muse in everything. Not for the sake of consumerism but for the sake of Art. So i plead with you to rise and begin. Shape our arts scene and don't hold back, there is a lot of unexplored territory to cover. as Nike said... just do it !

To a rose...

All what she went through, I probably would never and cannot fathom in this 18 year old of mine. What is life, what is death, she probably had her taste of both. The sweet and the bitter, though only present in my life only for less than a year, i still remember, the very first lesson she thought us. She got us all to sit down on the floor of this "renaissance room" slightly dark and fully wood, smelt a tad bit weird, and we sat on the floor, close up to her. Yes She sitting down in the large red chair, and took out the board and wrote her name across, Rosalind Gurupatham and her Identity these are the words i remember her saying.  also her constant repetition of Lear being crystalized again and again and again probably engraved in my mind. As she sat there in the wheelchair, in LT 1 or 2 teaching us, not just lessons but seeing her life itself was a lesson, a lesson to live to my fullest, no matter what may come, to be able to stand strong on my two feet, she was probably the strongest in that wheelchair though her two feet unable to move, she managed to impact each and everyone of us, in her special way. Just seeing her around was a charm, a divine moment, every moment spent with her was probably God given, an extra breath. The way she taught us King Lear, really opened the way i saw Lear, maybe because of her handicap, perhaps it was just how she had managed to develop so many many thoughts about Lear. Living such a fruitful life, it opened her mind to so many inspiring thoughts. It was just the way that she lived everyday, everyday that we saw her, it was just beautiful to see her, this woman, though handicapped, sickly was still able to come to school and be with us, and most of all be with the teachers who had been so close to her. She had been there from the beginning and now that it has come to an end, she has gone to a better place. But she will always be, our Miss G, our teacher with such perseverance made her life, so much, just so much.    


The writing on the board 
my first memory, the picture still fresh in my mind 
but like the ripened fruit plucked 
it is sweet 
pleasant to the eater.

mirrors 
a hundred figures 
but only one, sitting there, still 
silent, her.
 
Only now a reflection, can i ever be like her 
to forget? memory etched in the crystal,foggy images. 
 
the colored life of her 
she, a sculptor, a 
post-it of the journey of life.   
strongest at her weakest
 
she has gone, a whisper, a violin playing atop a roof 
the fiddler

the rose, the christian, the teacher, the snake 
sharp yet lovely 
that rose, that flower of a life. a mystery 
but one day, one day we will meet 
again, in paradise... but always playing in our hearts
resound resound.