Look at things differently

energyWith a flick of a switch, your room is light up, your computer starts up and your fan turns on, but have you ever wondered how that happens?

Energy: Portraits of Production and Consumption in Singapore attempts to put a face to what creates something that so many of us take for granted — energy. Out of sight of most Singaporeans, the production of energy through fossil fuels, waste incinerators, natural fuel and alternative sources is documented by photojournalist, Alphonsus Chern, in his first-ever photo exhibition at the National Library. The exhibition runs till the 15 June at Level 7.

While the photo stories may seem disparate at first sight, what is noteworthy is the translation of an abstract concept like energy to images that portray its industrial glory that hopefully creates a dialogue about how this country produces energy and its heavy reliance on fossil fuels.

energy1

Pages from the book Energy: Portraits of Production and Consumption in Singapore

Alphonsus is also selling a limited first-run of his photos in a similar-titled book (above) for $50 at the exhibition itself.

A different point of view

To further challenge your perspective of things, check out Matthew Ngui: Points of View where you are stretched mentally and physically to make sense of things by looking at them from, literally, a different point of view. This exhibition, at the National Museum of Singapore, is a curated collection of art work by local artist Matthew Ngui and is on till 29 June 2008.

Both these exhibitions challenge our perspectives of things. Matthew Ngui’s works put forth the importance of limitations to creating perspective. By forcing viewers into certain point of views, one realises how what may seem senseless at one point can be understood from a different point of view. It reminded me about the importance of limitations to the generation of knowledge as highlighted by linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky who went on to say, “…if anything could be possible, nothing would be possible.”

Memory markers and objects

On what do you inscribe your memory on?

I have a friend who remembers places she has been by marking them to a song. So we would be listening to radio and she would suddenly say: “This song reminds me of a time when I was at… ”

That made me think about the objects and things around me and what triggered memories for me. I think it has got to be spaces. I associate a huge part of my memories with spaces thus I like to stick to a certain route to avoid places because of bad memories I have had. Sometimes, I do end up in the places I try to avoid and actually re-inscribe it with new memories.

Besides spaces, certain objects or colours also serve as memory markers for me. That probably explains why I am cluttered with so many things because I hang on to a lot of memories such that what my brain can no longer store I re-inscribe it to the things around me. It’s my brain’s way of data management.

I suppose the beauty of things, or what I am really amazed at, is how memories give life to dead objects. What it also means, is an object besides what it is socially defined as is also empty and its meaning is there for us to fill up with our own interpretations. So a nail clipper is what we define as it is socially but also to each and everyone of us, the nail clipper holds some other meaning too.

Ahhh… I hope you see the light.

Just for my hair to stand

For those few minutes, the air was electrified. As the crowd stood up, then down, in a wave-like fashion, nothing, not even the empty stands in between, could stop the 30, 000 strong bring live to the drab grey dame. Not once, but twice, the crowd moved in unison, each of them eagerly awaiting their turn to stand up tall, motivated by nothing more than the desire to be one with the fan next to them.

This is what they called the Kallang Wave, and it returned so spontaneously tonight, for those precious few minutes, before a nation’s hopes were dashed as quickly as it took for this rare return of the wave to make me lose myself in the electrifying atmosphere.

This was the moment one lives for and also the only reason I keep going back to watch a Singapore soccer match, to capture and savour every moment like this because it tells me this place has a heart, a soul, if only we can keep it alive for longer.

Just last week, a friend called and offered me tickets to watch Singapore play Bahrain because he could not think of any other Singapore fan than me. I thought it was such a strange remark, but the more I thought about it, I realised it was not so much the soccer that kept me going back, but really this grand idea of nationhood and how it manifested through its people. The Singapore soccer-watching crowd is strange, diverse and mostly pessimistic. There are the folks who attribute every outcome to a bookie’s decision, some dissect the players by race, others always think of what they players should have done… but come that genuine moment, whether it is watching the team take the lead or claw back a goal, every one unites and all is forgiven that very moment.

As my friend said, its these moments where “I can feel my hair stand.” And for the record, we lost 3-7 to Uzbekistan.