tales and legends of the boh chup nation

2010-08-12T05:13:00.001-07:00

Ever since I had to move out of my childhood home because some big corporation bought the land, I keep wondering what is home. With this project, I am trying to examine what makes Singapore so unique. Sometimes I feel like a voyeur peering into this unique country, other times I feel part of this whole craziness. From being in the United States for a year, I realised that a lot of Singaporeans lack the courage to question and think critically. Since young, most of us are being molded to conform to society, to not question authority. We were also taught that too much freedom brings chaos, like workers on strike, protests. However, in most Western countries, we are being seen as a restrictive, totalitarian country. Somehow, the citizens here are happy with status quo and not affected by how things are being run. What make us unique? Is it the Confucius Ideas we were brought up with?

In the coming fall, I am interested to find out what makes Singapore my home, besides that my friends and family are here. What are the unique and distinct qualities that cannot be found anywhere else. Despite being here for the past 21 years, ever since my house was demolished, I am still searching for a home.

2010-08-12T05:08:00.000-07:00

These are just screen shots, so dont mind the cursor. The actual thing is saved as a .psd and will be printed.

2010-08-11T00:42:00.000-07:00

This is a sketch for what I plan to do this coming fall. I want to make ceramic houses and form them into an installation. The ceramic houses will be done with red clay and glazed. The black rectangles will be digital frames that contain photos and images.

This project will be a continuation of what I am doing now, combined with other projects I've been working on for the past two year; which is the idea of home.

2010-08-10T22:16:00.000-07:00

In Chinese superstition, red threads bind people together.

2010-08-03T08:08:00.000-07:00

'Once a Jolly Hangman' is about the death penalty in Singapore. What the book aims to do is to provide a factual account on the people who got hanged, and those who unjustly escaped the noose.. But seriously, which system is always fair? Every system somehow or another has it flaws.

What I am really interested about is why is it banned? The government probably does not want outsiders to know the dirty secrets it is hiding. But seriously, the book was out in shops for months before it was being pulled out. Besides, I think the act of banning it combined with suing the author made it even more sensational to the public. Few people actually bothered to buy the book when it first came out, now its highly sought after. Most average Singaporeans read about the statistics provided and feel angry for a while, but after they resume their daily lives as though nothing happened.

2010-07-29T07:52:00.000-07:00

tomorrow I will be attending the court session for Alan Shadrake, the author of "Once a Jolly Hangman." His book is on the death penalty in Singapore, making some people feel uncomfortable as dirty laundry is being aired. Hence, he was charged for defamation and contempt of court. Tomorrow's session will be interesting as I will get to see how stating facts in a book can get one charged, will it be a fair trial?

2010-07-23T02:02:00.000-07:00

I am intending to make some sort of a guide book. It will be about the different places and the things Singaporeans are preoccupied with. I took Jackie's suggestion of reading some travel guides about Singapore, and found it very interesting. After reading up, it seems that most Singaporeans are apathetic about politics, not only because they are preoccupied with other matters, but also due to the fact that since elementary school we are conditioned to accommodate, agree and accept whatever that is shown to us. Our educational system domesticates rather than liberates. Still most Singaporeans would rather not rock the boat as we are a small nation. We cannot afford defiance, rebellion and constant questioning of government policies, in order to survive in this tough world. Even if we are taught to think and question typically, most of them are not willing to sacrifice their personal interest for the good of the nation.

Singapore before 1950

Singapore Now

Singapore in the Future

2010-07-23T00:26:00.000-07:00

2010-07-22T21:24:00.000-07:00

Rice Bowl by Suchen Christine Lim is a novel about the complexity of living in Singapore during the 1970s. Though the book is a fictional account of the protagonists' lives, I find many relations to the 1987's Operation Spectrum.

Operation Spectrum was launched on May 21, 1987 by Singapore's Internal Security Department (ISD) using its Internal Security Act (ISA). A second wave of arrests took place on Jun 20 in the same year. The security operation saw 22 young Catholics, social activists and professionals detained, without trial, under the internal security law, and accused of being members of a dangerous Marxist conspiracy bent on subverting the PAP-ruled government by force, and replacing it with a Marxist state.

This novel traces the events from the view of a Catholic nun, a priest, students and professors from the university. How their innocent involvement with helping the migrant workers landed them in politics.

2010-07-22T21:17:00.001-07:00

This work is done by local artist Chun Kai Qun. Although it is very much related to my previous project, I thought that it is interesting to do a short write up.

Kai Qun is very much interested with the anxieties and desires of individuals living in a contemporary society. In his work, he often brings into play the art of miniature making, diorama making, creating cataclysmic explosions, reminiscent of sensationalistic blockbuster action flicks and video games.

He created an installation made up of highways and roads, suggesting that journey and search itself is where the utopian ideal is.

2010-07-22T20:54:00.000-07:00

Remember in a few post ago I talked about how luck is very important? Under these umbrellas are people who help you decipher your fortune which you draw from the temple.

This deals with luck again. One must rub Buddha's belly in order to get good luck.

This man is reading people's fortune through their handwriting.

There is almost no beggars in Singapore, however, there are many old or handicap people selling tissue packets in order to earn a living.

2010-07-09T10:37:00.000-07:00

2010-07-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

Two posters I am trying out.. I intend to do 30 of this in A4 size.

2010-07-09T06:11:00.001-07:00

Uniquely Singapore, everything relates to luck and striking the lottery.

2010-07-09T01:32:00.001-07:00

2010-07-09T00:57:00.000-07:00

i decided to do a series of photos/ posters using the Singapore Tourism Board's slogan of Uniquely Singapore.

here are the first two that I have done. This is just a try out. I kind of like the handwritten font, but will try printing them out next week.

2010-07-08T01:37:00.000-07:00

so national day is coming soon, which means there will be a huge parade and everyone goes rah rah rah.

but what is the parade really? is it a time to show off the number of soldiers we have? or is it really nation bonding?

it might be a monumental event but i think that it can be simplified into a receipt and that sums up the whole event.

i have fabricated a receipt in which i will print on thermal paper so that it will look like an actual thing.

pay and pay ptd ltd

1 parliament place # 01-99

Singapore 049213

tel: 62858516

GSt no: 99-21112005-k

102 HArry

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Chk 9931 18 July’ 10 15:25 Gst 0

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

2ooo national Service $1000000

men @ $5/hr

1000 choir singers $1000000

@ $5/Hr

Cash $2500000

7% GST $140000

Subtotal $2140000

Paid $2140000

Change Due $360000

* * * Thank You * * *

* * * Please come Again * * *

Amount payable is inclusive of

7% Gst

2010-07-07T08:32:00.000-07:00

This is what Singaporeans do best at: Shopping, getting freebies and eating.

Food is very important to Singaporeans.. more than politics.

2010-07-05T02:56:00.000-07:00

I intend to make many of these and hang them from the ceiling. This will be an installation.

I chose to use this container as this is what we are familiar with when we were young. As for the house, i am not sure if i want a house like this or high rise flats.

2010-07-01T08:35:00.000-07:00

Maybe this is why Singapore has few homeless.

I took this photo at the underpass.

2010-06-30T00:05:00.000-07:00

too bad i am going to have to miss this.

i really want to see what another local artist can come up with for the singapore river. Ever since cheo chai hiang's Singapore River, which was a conceptual idea for a work of the river when his contemporaries were doing watercolour paintings of the river.

The Singapore River as a Pychogeographical Faultline

2010-06-29T23:18:00.000-07:00

an interesting website with videos of artists who still use a sketchbook to draw.

Little Scraps of Paper

2010-06-28T08:37:00.000-07:00

This is a Sarong Kebaya. It is normally worn by the Peranakans (Straits born Chinese). Originally, the Peranakan were mixed-race descendents, part Chinese, part Malay/Indonesian. Straits-Chinese were defined as those born or living in the Straits Settlements: a British colonial construct of Penang, Malacca and Singapore constituted in 1826.

I think that it is important to distinguish us as Straits-Chinese as although we are Chinese by ethnicity, we do not follow traditional Chinese cultures like they do in Mainland China. A problem which rises from this is that we now have a culture that is a melting pot of different races, hence, we do not really belong to anything. As a result, this is perhaps one of the reason why few people feel that they belong to this country.

2010-06-28T01:14:00.000-07:00

cool street art.< click to watch video.

2010-06-25T07:18:00.000-07:00

I decided to do an animation with the lyrics. I'm still in the process of making the frames.

200 frames to edit, a gazillion more to make.

why white houses? its the men in white (PAP).

next week i am going to make houses using lottery ticket.

everyone wants to strike lottery, especially the one during chinese new year.

but on a normal day, the lines are still fairly long, something i did not see in america.

2010-06-24T22:27:00.001-07:00

ok, this is the last paragraph of the song.

my friends are trying to convince me to record it, but I am not to sure about that.

When there are troubles to go through,
We know that we can buy toto.
There is comfort in the knowledge,
That we might win big money.
So we'll dream of the 5Cs,
Just like we always do.
Just like free cash before election,
There'll always be Singapore.

2010-06-24T21:32:00.000-07:00

I remembered a national day song called 'Home',

it made me really think of what is home.

I changed the lyrics and is in the process of making an animation out of it.

I will post the original lyrics when I find it.

Whenever I am feeling low,

I have 75 malls to go.

There's always a sale in the city,

wherever I may choose to go.

A place where good food is plenty,

where foodies are hardcore.

Spoilt with 24 hour kopitiams,

This is truely Singapore.

This is home truely, where I know I must be

Where shopping malls are plenty,

where my walllet becomes empty.

This is home surely, where casinos wait for me>

where they keep on taking our money,

till we don't even have a penny.

2010-06-23T06:30:00.000-07:00

Part of the pledge sewn on with red thread, symbolising binding it together. I intend to do many of these and have them in ziplock bags.

This is something i am trying out. I was thinking of Singapore as a country that is very beautiful on the outside, but empty inside.

2010-06-15T09:38:00.000-07:00

“Singapore remains the textbook example of a politically repressive state,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Individuals who want to criticize or challenge the ruling party’s hold on power can expect to face a life of harassment, lawsuits, and even prison.”

When you have 75 shopping malls, 2 casinos, and an amusement theme park in 274.2 square miles, few are interested in politics. besides, its worse now with the world cup in action.

2010-06-13T08:05:00.001-07:00

have a plan for a new installation!

gonna search for materials tomorrow!!

2010-06-11T21:43:00.000-07:00

there are almost no homeless people in Singapore, as the government made it illegal to sleep on the streets.
apparently this is to give Singapore a good image.
it seems that image is very important to the government.
for example, the marina bay sands casino, it was not ready for the opening, however they went ahead with it and whatever will go wrong, went wrong.
the same with universal studios in sentosa, it was not ready. yet, it was opened and accidents happened.
rushing 2 years job into 1 year, just so that they can start making money.
is compromising of the safety of everyone worth it?

2010-06-09T21:33:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been thinking of the idea of Singapore as home.

Perhaps not feeling any strong attachment of home is one of the reasons why most people here are apathetic towards politics.

What makes a home?

Is it the hdb(housing developement board) flats?

or maybe the smell of durians?

how does one make a country one's home?

what needs to happen or what is needed to make it home?

maybe if people start to think of Singapore of a home, and be proud of her, they would start to be more involved with her well being.

2010-06-07T08:09:00.000-07:00

What is our identity as a Singaporean?

In a country that is less than 5o years old, with a history that barely fills up a book, one often question on identity.

Its more than being of a certain 'race'. What makes me a Singaporean?

I am often asked if I am from China as I am Chinese. "But you are Chinese and you speak mandarin. Are you sure you are not from China?"

Yes, I am very sure.

I like to think of myself as rojak (indian mixed salad), a mix of chinese, malay, indian culture, with western and maybe japanese influences.

However, I still do not know what makes me a Singaporean.

And I am sure many are still searching for this identity.

Will people start to care more if they identify themselves as a Singaporean?

How can we do this with our barely there history ( and the possibility that it might have been faked.)?

2010-06-04T07:51:00.000-07:00

After coming back, I realise that this whole country is full of campaigns.

Seriously, does the government need to force us to be courteous and kind? Do we really need a campaign for that?

Do we really need to be reminded to tap our bus cards, wash our hands, and even how to pee properly?

Apparently we do.

2010-05-04T18:46:00.000-07:00

boh chup means don't care in hokkien.

in this boh chup nation, the people only care about taking photos of other fellow citizens disobeying the law and posting them on stomp.sg.

why are they so boh chup?

maybe its because we grew up hearing people telling us 'chiak pah ani eng, boh tai ji chueh tai ji', which literally means when you ate alot and are full, and have nothing better to do, when you have no trouble, you look for trouble.