EOS (End-of-Semester) Finally!

Today marks the last day of my current semester in Foundation Years, Faculty of Visual Studies. I arrived in college at 11am to get my results, and was relieved that out of my 4 modules, I got 3 As and 1 B. You might have guessed it, it was 3D which I got B, because to be honest, I'm very bad at 3D stuffs. Drawing is less of a problem for me, and the other 3 subjects happened to be drawing or drawing-related. Well I did get a B too for my printmaking, but since that subject was just one out of 3 of my studio workshops (for the other 2 workshops, photoshop and photography, I got A as well), I'm not sure if the grades for the studio workshops be averaged out or graded separately. Finally, I can enjoy my 1-month vacation, and also spend some time in my Chinese opera. Hopefully next semester, and the remaining years in college will be as smooth-going as now, but I believe things will be tougher as time goes by...

Likay Likay

I'm not so much of a fan of Likay (folk music drama from Thailand), mainly because I need to have subtitles when watching or else I won't understand a single thing. Nevertheless, I still find it somewhat interesting. Here are some MVs, probably from a drama serial on Likays, sung by Got Jakrapun (one of my favourite singers) and Tong Pukkaramai.

Old Coca Cola TVC

I was sorting out my mp3 in my laptop when I stumbled upon the song "I Like To Teach The World To Sing", and all memories suddenly surfaced. I was instantly reminded of a Coca-Cola advertisement which I had watched on TV when I was still a small child. After rummaging through Youtube, I've found 3 versions of Coca-Cola TVCs using the same song, but done in different years (supposedly 1970, 1983 and 1984). However, the version I remembered was nowhere to be found (I'm not quite sure if it was the second clip that was shown on our local TV back then). Nevertheless, I've decided to put the 3 I''ve found  up here for nostalgic purposes. Merry Christmas in advance!

Loy Krathong 2007

Today is Loy Krathong festival, and since it's a Saturday as well, the celebration for the festival is held on the same day, instead of bringing it forwards or backwards to the next available weekend.<

I have been waiting for this festival for a long time, and though I don't get to float the Krathong in Thailand again, it's at least good to be able to do it at Kallang River. Of course, the atmosphere is less strong over here, since there's so fireworks or performances held in conjunction with this festival. Hopefully I'd be able to do it in Thailand next year!

Thai ladies selling Krathongs outside Golden Mile Complex; the whole stretch of the corridor was filled with Krathong stalls!

The Krathong which I'd bought.

Floating of Krathong in Kallang River

Little India – An Indian “City” Within the Garden City

Preface: Deepavali has just passed, but, still in the spirit of celebration, I decided to post a somewhat related, an essay which I had done for my CCS (Contemporary and Contextual Studies) 2 months back. It's not an academic essay, although I tried to do something close to that direction. Happy Deepavali!

Frenzy traffic flow which seemed to be totally out of control at times, strong fragrance of jasmine flowers, intermingled with that of spices and incense sticks creeping up your nose from the alleys, loud Indian music blasting through the sound systems in audio CD shops, signage in Tamil scripts all over the area, and countless men and women yakking away in the streets in Tamil or other Indian languages. Sounds like a typical town in Tamil Nadu state of India, but it is not; this is Serangoon, also called “Little India” by the local residents and foreigners alike, well known for its very south-Indian atmosphere. This is very unusual for a country whereby the Indian ethnic group only accounts for 8.8% of the total Singapore population, according to Singapore Department of Statistics1, and that the Indian population in Singapore is relatively fragmented culturally2.

Shophouses with signage in Tamil script; Singapore is one of three countries in the world (other two being India and Sri Lanka) that has Tamil recognised as one of its official language.

The interesting fact about “Little India” is that this district was not part of the British colony’s plan to make it an Indian enclave as it is today, but was gradually formed due to various events that has taken place in the course of Singapore’s development. At around 1843, after the opening of the Serangoon River, many Indians started flocking to this area after realising that this area is an ideal place for cattle raising, coinciding with the growing importance of the cattle trade then. Also, the employment of Indians as horse trainers at the newly opened Race Course (present day Farrer Park) was also another big factor attracting the Indians to this new district. By1940s, this area became a predominantly Indian district , and has been as such ever since. Especially so after the establishment of the Mustafa Centre in 1995, Serangoon has become the iconic district of the Indian population here.

A antique and art shop which my friends and I affectionately called it “Indian Art Friend”; not just because it sells many beautiful Indian art works, it shares the same corporate colours with Artfriend.

The district of “Little India” is bounded by Bukit Timah/ Sungei Road, Serangoon Road, Jalan Besar and Lavender Street. Although the main roads of Serangoon Road and Jalan Besar are where the main concentration of activities takes place, the various small streets and alleys that connect these two roads are bustling with life too. Clive Street and Perak Road are the two less-minor roads that I like most in the whole of the “Little India” district3. Other than being able to shun away from the crowds of the main roads, the sights and smell of that area are more appealing to me. Over there, stalls selling various kinds of fruits and vegetable can be found; a spectacular visual treat of colours. Although I’m not particularly a fan of vegetable, I like the refreshing smell and these fresh vegetables and fruits. Other than these stalls, there is a number of restaurants selling delicious Indian food, adding to the aroma that is already floating in the air. My favourite Indian eatery outlet happens to be located in this area, and I used to patronise the shop on regular basis for dinner. Although I do not know much about Indian cuisine, but I can tell that the Indian food sold in this outlet taste authentic, quite unlike the typical roti prata sold at coffeeshops in other parts of Singapore which all tasted the same.

Typical fruits and vegetable stall in Little India: looks and smells nice.

“Little India” is indeed a very unique place in urbanised Singapore, as almost all other places look just like one another, without really much character. “Little India” might be a bit chaotic, especially during the peak periods of the weekends, this district is still an interesting place to visit once a while, to immense oneself into the culture of another ethnic group, to unwind and to relax.


1. http://www.singstat.gov.sg/pubn/reference/sif2007.pdf Singapore Department of Statistics (Singapore In Figures 2007), Jul 2007.
2. Lal, Brij V. The Encyclopedia of the Indian Diaspora. Singapore: Editions Didier Milliet and National University of Singapore, 2006
3. Fun on Foot: Little India, National Heritage Board, http://www.nhb.gov.sg/PE/downloads/funonfoot_littleindia_booklet.pdf

Vitas and Chinese Ballet

Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying Vitas is doing Chinese ballet or anything close. The reason for the title is that I've bought 2 DVD this afternoon, 1 Vitas concert DVD and 1 Chinese ballet DVD. Both DVDs were bought from The Commercial Press (Shangwu) at North Bridge Centre, a place I have not been to for ages as I'm getting more and more disappointed with this place as days go by. Why do I say that? For those who do not know, The Commercial Press once have the widest variety of Chinese opera VCDs a few years back. Most of the Yueju VCDs, plus those of some other exotic and less well-known genres, were purchased from there. Now, however, you're considered lucky if you can find a Chinese opera VCD/ DVD in there (Yang Lihua/ Ye Qing's Taiwanese opera are exceptional, but they can be purchased in many places nowaays anyway).

Vitas concert DVD and Chinese ballet "The Moon Reflected in Two Spring" DVD

Back to my DVDs. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw Vitas concert DVD on sale at The Commercial Press, for I thought nobody in Singapore would know of him. Being a fan of him, I decided to buy it straight away, only to find out later that the DVD a disappointment. Not that the concert was bad, but the video quality is terrible (I suspect the video footage was obtained from some unofficial sources, therefore the quality has been compromised), typical of China-produced DVDs. The only thing I like is the packaging, but not without complaints either. The boxed set looked sturdy, but removing the tray out of the box was a complete hassle as the box was wrapping the tray too tightly. I think I'd have to keep thr tray ou of the box, and now the DVD set took up two times the space of it's original size; simply waste of storage space!

The inner tray of the Vitas concert DVD; this ribbon here is to let one pull/ yank the tray out of the box, but damned the box is too small, and no way am I going to ever put the tray back into the box!

A nicely designed booklet in the DVD set. I read in the booklet that in 2000, when Vitas had his first performance in Kremlin, his powerful voice caused a crystal star decoration on the ceiling to break into pieces!

A poster of Vitas, but damned it was folded again!

The Chinese ballet show, titled "The Moon Reflected in Two Spring" (二泉映月) was a better DVD in comparison. "The Moon Reflected in Two Spring" is performed by Liaoning Ballet Troupe, and is part of China's National Project to the Distillation of the Stage Art for 2005-2006. This performance depicts the story of 2 young lovers, Quan (not that "Quan" from Hana Kimi!) and Yue'er, who faced challenges from a wealthy rookie who had been lusting over Yue'er. The couple lost the fight; Yue'er drowned herself in Er-quan Spring while Quan became blind. I feel that the choreography of the dance was very well-done. Although it's a ballet performance, there were traces of contemporary drama in it as well (this might be normal in western ballet as well, I don't know). The ballerinas not only execute ballet moves, but also inject contemporary drama moves and emotions. I think it's a bit hard to balance all these together. Like for example in the final scene where the male lead was crying in agony after losing the female lead, I find it hard to act crying, but not make a single bit of crying sound (not quite the same like acting as a mute crying silently). The dancer taking on this lead role did it successfully, anyway.

DVD casing for "The Moon Reflected in Two Spring"; less impressive, but less hassle too!

I've finished both 2 DVDs already, within a span of a few hours. It's a sad anticlimax for me as now I have got nothing new to watch. Perhaps I should go rummage through my cupboard of DVDs and VCDs to see what's worth rewatching again. Not now, of course!

Review for 2D

Today I had my review for 2D subject in school, and I got a big, big relief. For the 3 components of the review, I got 2 As and 1 A+, something which I wasn't quite prepared to get. Now don't get me mistaken that I'm trying to boast, but I was just simply overjoyed. I think my course's pretty great, for I have improved quite a lot in terms of drawing and colour rendering. Remember I once said I couldn't paint to save myself? Thank goodness I've overcame that one big obstacle, although I'm still nowhere near good. What saved me though, was that I had done quite a bit of research and self trials on various techniques and principles in my journal; those were what pulled up my grades. However, my colour pencil rendering skill is still quite bad, and I'm lucky that colour pencil rendering is not part of 2D syllabus (or maybe not yet)! Then again, this is afterall just an indicative grade and not something final. I'll still have to keep up with my work and not slack, or else who knows I might just slide off the grading scale?

Remember my "Temle Scene in Thailand" artwork? My water colour rendering technique earlier this year was very patchy and uneven

This is one of my homework done a few weeks ago with acrylic; see the big difference in the evenness of the media?

Halloween Dress-up

Today is Halloween, and believe it or not, this is the first time I dress up to the occasion. Previously I have only heard or seen in magazines of people dressing up in different characters for this festival, but as I'm not so much of a party animal, I have no reason to do so. This year, however, I decided to do it for the first time, after fellow classmates decided to dress up to school.

My makeup for today; this is actually my usual Chinese opera makeup, with the absence of red blusher for the cheeks, and the trading of red eyeshadow and lipstick with their black equivalent.

Actually my decision to dress up was rather last minute, although I had already started thinking what to wear since last week. Years back while I was in polytechnic during the National Day period, the school management encouraged us to turn up in costumes belonging to us ethnic race. Like my current classmates, my classmates then were very excited over it and started talking about it. I even specially went to buy a traditional Chinese top for that event, but it turned out that I was the only one to dress up, and hence I didn't want this ordeal to repeat again this time round. It was only yesterday when some of my classmates confirmed with me that they'd be dressing up that I finally decided to follow suit.

This style of mine, is actually modelled after a Pili Puppetery character named Su Huanzhen (素还真), but due to unavailability of a white wig, I decided to make do with my personal black wig, and changed my makeup slightly to make it resemble less of the original. If you think this costume looked familiar, it's actually what Amai wore for her Carp General in "Romance of the Dragon Princess", but the inner garment is actually my own zipped-up turtleneck top.

I guess if there's ever an OTT (over-the-top) award for Halloween Lasalle 2007, I can easily clinch it, for I believe I'm the only male in school to be completely dressed up with wig, makeup, costume and boots. Just imagine this: the moment I step into our workshop area, I immediately got the attention of almost everyone (some positive, some negative), and there're even people giving applause. Well, though I'm used to such attention (since I'm a performer), I don't know how to react to them, and just walked on as if nothing happened. Anyway, throughout the day, I've had people coming up to me to ask to take picture with me; I have never been that "popular" before!

An unknown fellow coursemate posing with me (if you're reading this, sorry; I don't know your name!). Who's that black blurry figure behind us? She's actually proud; she wanted to take a picture with me too, but not knowing who I am until I hinted her a bit in Thai!

Now I'm sitting comfortably in my room with my makeup and costume totally off. It's a relieve for me at last, but I'm suffering from a bit of headache and dryness of the lips. Actually I always feel like this after every performance, and I don't know why. Anyway, there's supposed to be a Halloween party tonight as well, but as I wasn't informed until only this afternoon. I didn't have time to prepare for it, and therefore I decided to just skip it.

My classmate Kel Win posing with my wig after I removed them. He was actually dressed up to, but without makeup that is.

Halloween 2007 has come to an end, and I'm looking forward to the one next year. I can't confirm if I'll still dress up or not, I think I'll have to come up with something new and different from this year's. Time to start planning!

PS: I love walking out of campus without my costume and makeup and wig; nobody seemed to recognise me at all!

Colour Pencil Once Again

Today I did a colour pencil drawing for my drawing homework. It took me 3 hours to complete, and yet the results are still not quite satisfactory. I just don't understand how some people can have such saturated colours with mere colour pencils (yes I'm using chromatic greys only); maybe simply because I'm not pro enough, or that the paper they used is more suited for colour pencils. But I think I'll just leave this work as it is, for I still have another piece to draw. If I were to spend more time on this piece, I don't think I can finish my other one, and certainly no time to finish up all my other homework!

Irritating Colour Pencils

I used to think that colour pencils are my best friends in drawing, for I thought I could they were easier to handle than compared to brush and ink. Well, I was wrong. Not long ago after dabbling with acrylic, I felt that my acrylic painting skills isn't that bad as I initially thought (o should I say I'd improved), but my colour pencil rendering is still as horrible; no matter how I sharpen my pencils, or how much strength I exert onto the paper, the colour just won't fill up the holes in the paper smoothly. Therefore, the colour pencil has now overtaken brush and ink as my number 1 enemy in drawing!

My acrylic rendering done a few weeks ago


My colour pencil rendering (incomplete) done on Thursday of a portion of my school campus; the sky is getting dark (around 7pm), and I can't see clearly, hence got no choice but to stop


My 3 others classmates (from far to near: Michelle, Veronica & Stefie) were still happily colouring away; perhaps they can see in the dark?


This fellow here, Glenn, can draw until the ecllipse comes and not stop!

More Thai TVCs!

Here are more TVCs from Thailand! Now don't get me wrong; I'm not ultra-positiely-biased towards anything Thai, but I just feel that Thai commercials are really nice. Some of them are very funny, while some really makes you think and ponder.

Another Interesting TVC from Bangkok

This is yet another interesting TVC from Bangkok, by Sky Exits again, the company which did the CutePress powder shown in my previous post.

Once again, one do not need to understand Thai to know what the ad is trying to say, but the portrayal of the "villain" is again too stereotypical.

CutePress Powder Commercial from Bangkok

I've found this interesting TV commercial from Bangkok for CutePress cosmetic powder. It doesn't matter if you don't understand Thai, for the visuals explains all.


Personally I felt that the ad was funny enough, but at the same time, the stereotypical portrayal of Chinese opera actors as people who wore thick horrible-looking makeup is a bit hard for me to accept.

Hari Raya Puasa Gathering

I went for a Hari Raya Puasa gathering organised by one of my Muslim classmates last Saturday. It was like more than a decade since the last time I was invited to such gatherings. I remembered when I was still a young child, I used to have a Muslim next-door neighbour, and every year for Hari Raya Puasa, they'd never fail to bring trays of festive goodies for us.



Anyway, this gathering was sort of "unusual" for our class, as about half the class turned up, a figure which is hard to achieve for some of our lessons! So we ate and watched TV for the evening, while some of us went into my classmate's room to jam on their guitars. One thing I have to say is our class has got many talented musicians! I wished I could join in, but as my genre of guitar playing (classical) don't quite fit in, so I could just stay within the room and just be a spectator!

Unintentional Blunder or Deliberate Marketing Tactic?

I was passing by Chinatown area when this advertisement caught my attention.

Being a rather visual person I am, this kind of advertisement usually won't appeal to me, especially when it's sandwiched between more aesthetically pleasing ads. However, this ad just stood out, because of the wording used: "Shou Gou Hao Huai Shou Ji" (Buying good and faulty mobile phones). I'm not too sure if the characters "Shou Ji" (mobile phone) was intentionally written wrongly into "手鸡" (hand chicken?), or was it an unintentional blunder. If it's the former, I guess the designer had succeeded in making people take notice of this otherwise plain and boring ad, but if it's the latter, I feel it's too big a blunder for a commercial advertisement! What do you think?

English Drama Adapted From Chinese Opera

I was flipping some books on stage scenery in Lasalle's library this afternoon when I came across one design for this particular English drama that was adapted from Chinese opera. I had actually read the original script when I was in Primary school, but curious at how the English adaptation would be like, I did a search on the net, and found a relevant picture, taken in around the 50s.

The title of this show is called "Lady Precious Stream". Can anyone make a guess what is the Chinese opera equivalent to this show? One clue: this show is very popular in Gezi opera, and one of the songs in the show is even like the "anthem" of the genre!

Finale for Hikmah Season 2 - Finally!

Today was the finale of Hikmah season 2, a Indonesia-produced drama serial showing on Suria channel, and I was very excited. You must be wondering how come I'm interested in a Indonesian language serial like this, especially since I don't even understand Behasa Indonesia. Actually I don't know either, but I supposed it's the complicated plot and roller-coaster-like climax that appealed to me. The only thing which I don't exactly like, though, is that it's a bit too weepy; it doesn't look very "Hikmah" without at least 1 of the characters crying in every episode!

To be honest, though I am sort of a fan of this serial, I've watched less than 10% of the total number of episodes for both season 1 and 2. When I first started watching season 1 over Suria, it was already being broadcast halfway through, and not long after, my job in my previous company (permanent afternoon-night shift) forbid me to follow up with the show. ,It was only recently that I manage to carry on with it, but by then, season 2 was almost near to its end already, and I have missed out so many episodes that I almost couldn't catch up, like how come the mother of the leading male, who used to hate her daughter-in-law like poison in season 1 suddenly treasured her like the sun of her life by season 2. Of course, I managed to catch up a bit on what I've missed from the synopsis provided by Suria's website.

Now season 2 has finally come to an end, I'm now considering whether to get the VCDs to the show. I know season 1 is already out in the market, but not too sure about season 2. Anyway, there is a season 3 to the show as well, but I hope it will not be shown so soon; at least let me catch up with the past 120 episodes first before setting my eyes on season 3 and make me all the more confused!

My Unlikely Idol: Jason Donovan

I have another idol whom I rarely (well, almost never) talked about before to anyone, and he is Aussie-singer Jason Donovan. He's a bit of an "unlikely idol" for me for two reasons: first, his relatively short-spanned pop career was between the late 80s and early 90s, a period where I wasn't at all interested in English pop music; second, by the time I really got interested in his music (mid/ late 90s), the "retro" era was way long over!

How I started to know of his existence was by chance. In the mid/ late 90s, I started to like musicals, and on one occasion, I bought a Laserdisc album which contained one track by him (you might have guessed it; it's "Any Dream Will Do" from "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat"). Well, to be honest, his singing may not be as good as the other big names in the West End scene, but I thought that song was rather nice, and that made me took notice of him anyway. Subsequently I bought some of his old albums (by then he no longer release any new albums, and his old albums were already hard to get) too.

Jason is residing in UK currently, I supposed (on a side note: I am pro-British and pro-Aussie, if you guys remember!), and t was reported that he's intending to come back as a folk rock singer. I certainly hope to hear from him again real soon, although I know very well his musical style will be very much different from what he did in the past.

A Clash of Styles!

I've finished making a poster for our opera troupe's year end performance titled "The Birthday Banquet". This is the first poster in the past few months, and I supposed I've been somehow influenced by my studies in Lasalle, as I've abandoned the "traditionalism" style I've employed previously in my poster work, and had used slightly more modern approach for the design, like the usage of pseudo-Chinese photo frames. Well, not totally very modern, for I'm not sure if the troupe or our audience will be able to take it or not. Anyway, after doing the poster, I realised something interesting: the dans are very Taiwanese in feel (using Taiwanese wigs and hair accessories), the shengs are very Yueju in style (Yueju-styled headgears and costumes), while I looked very Teochew!

My Loonie Classmates

Grrraaaaaa!! This is a photograph of my current class, well, almost all were present. What were we doing here? We were supposed to be having a IS (Integrated Studies) lesson where we were tasked to take pictures of the clothings on everyone we saw who was taking part in the same exercise as us, and then choose 20 of the lot to form a greyscale chart. Well, instead of just sticking to our task, we took a informal class photograph anyway! My classmates are a rowdy loonie bunch, and though I have a bit of an age gap with them, but I can still mingle among them as I'm equal loonie, though I may not share the same interests and hobbies with them.

This photograph was actually on our institute's learning portal for quite a while already, but I was too busy to log in to check for updates, and hence only saw it now!