Getting Inspired

I've been feeling totally uninspired lately (& I suspect it's the lack of sleep) and it's not helping the design work I need to do.

How do you get inspired? Oh please do share...

*apologies for missing out some bits, things are getting lost in translation.

I had the most interesting experience on Sunday night.

We boarded TIBS 980 that plys from Beach Road (I have no idea where it goes before that),> Bugis > opposite Tekka Market > KK Hospital > Novena > Thomson > Ang Mo Kio.

Usually when we board the bus at the stop before Bugis Junction, the bus is sparse, dotted mostly with Singaporeans (Chinese mainly) and a few foreign workers (Bangladeshi & mainland Chinese). The locals usually enjoy being the majority.

However, Sunday night was a peculiar experience. When we boarded, we noticed something different about the mix. There was 60% mainlanders, 30% Bangladeshis (I assume they are Bangladeshis, they could be from Delhi, Bangalore, Kerala or Serangoon, I have no idea) and 10% Singaporeans. We were the minority.

Then the bus hit the Fu Lu Shou Complex bus stop and the 30% Bangladeshis ballooned to 60% and mainlanders 40% (but they sounded like 110% because they were speaking SO LOUD) and us locals became a negligible statistic. I started to grow scared.

THEN….

The bus approached the bus stop opposite Tekka Market. It was a Sunday night at 10pm. Stores were closing, workers had to return to their worksite dorms. Imagine with me.

The bus crawled in to the traffic light (with trepidation and fear I am quite sure, or perhaps it was just me) just 10m before the bus stop. We could see foreign workers (ALL Bangladeshis) causing a heavy water balloon swell at the bus stop. Some of them tried to run to the bus waiting at the traffic light to get a headstart but to no avail. They were jostling and nudging each other like at the start of a very important race.

As the lights turned green, I was quite sure this happened in slow motion. The bus approaching the stop … the workers nudging and pushing, saliva flying… arms flailing … bags wobbling … and you could see that gleam and drive in their eye … ‘I must… I willlll… get onn that … bussss!’

When the bus hit the stop and opened its doors, I swear that was a dead pause in my head and what happened after that was something I had never seen before. Everything just came rushing like a tidal wave!

I’m not sure if there were a hundred of them but I’m quite sure it was close! They pushed… not just PUSHED but PUSSSSHED their way up the bus and moved very quickly to the rear so everyone can get up (one virtue we should learn from them). Very quickly, the bus was filled and they were still pushing their way in. Like pack, pack pack! If there were handle bars on the side of the bus, I was quite sure they will happily hitch a ride on the outside.
I have seen and been on packed buses, but none as packed at this. It was a omg-what-is-going-on-help-help-help kind of packed! In the open handicap area where it usually stands about 8-10 people, now stood about 30 and the crowd was at least 4 people thick. They were back-to-back, front-to-front, back to front, side by side. Every possible inch was used. It was the kind of packed that forced you to strategize on your exit.



But a wonderful thing about having these friends on board is that because the bus is so packed, it cannot stop anymore and so it cut down our travelling time by half! Hurrah!


As we sat tightly packed like rice in the bus, taking in the fragrance of Tekka Market, we began to look around & observe and started to wonder about them. What were their lives like? What journey had they taken? Howdo they feel being so far away and fending for themselves... A lot of them looked young and I am sure they are – those that had found work must be lucky to be able to earn their keep and send money back. And maybe all that pushing and shoving was for good reason - to get back and keeping going at the mill.

Life must not be easy.

Well, the 'packedness' of the bus did not ease at our stop so we had to wiggle our way out and when we eventually fell out into the empty bus stop, we looked back and waved, quietly wishing them all the best. May their lives  prosper and continue to improve here after.

Shalom! What an experience!

Imagine this turned inside out and

you can kinda imagine what our experience was like.

What Do You Dream Of?

Have you ever thought about what your dream job will be like?


I have.

For as long as I can remember, I have been believing that dream jobs are possible. A dream job is anything that you have always dreamt of doing when you were young, or developed an interest along the way. It could be being a TV show host, teacher of autistic kids, or a dancer on a world stage, or not being in a desk bound job (I hear this very often).


I’ve had my opportunities with my dream job. I used to be in TV Production and I enjoyed it because it is not desk bound (yayhoo!), I get to meet a lot of people and visit very interesting places that I wouldn’t get a chance to on any given day (Tan Tock Seng’s grave? Entering a n abandoned house with historical value on Pulau Ubin?)


I have since given that up because life has evolved and I have moved on from my boundless energy that sprang forth from curiousity of my post teen, pre young adult years. For a good 2-3 years after I stepped away from the TV scene, I struggled with keeping on my journey of a dream job. I am stubborn so that did not help. I struggled and kept struggling. I will, I want, I must have!


My search for a dream job left my partner and I frustrated and most of the times, poor (all my dream jobs usually under underpay).

Then I had an epiphany.

A dream job doesn’t necessarily have to be a job of your dreams. It doesn’t have to be a high flying doctor, lawyer, Indian chief or whatever you dream of (clown, TV star, tai-tai, pilot, a mascot). I know there is saying that digs ‘Work in a job you like and you will never have to work a day of your life’. That is true, but let’s loosen up a bit.


A dream job doesn’t have to be a job of your dreams.

It can also be a job that HELPS fulfill your dreams. It is a job that gives you time and freedom to pursue your interest or pays you well enough to take that month long holiday that you have been dreaming of. It might even equip you with skills to do what you like and feel satisfied with life and bless you with finances to be a blessing to others. That’s the real joy of life, no?

Since the epiphany, I have set my mind and channeled my energy to doing well in my job (albeit not dream but fun and very comfortable) and using it to springboard and finance my interests. And I realize that it still works out for my good.

As they say, all things work for good.

So, what are you dreaming of today?

Have You Taken Your Walk Today?

Hello there, apologies for not updating this space recently. Just got started on a new work journey and getting settled in while having a niggle at the back of my head about how I am not doing updates here as often as I like.


My new work place involves me getting a good 15 min walk through a large and lush garden. The cool morning breeze gently sweeps as I take in a breath of fresh crisp air. As I walk further, I hear insects warming their voices as birds hurry around their morning chores.

It is hard to ignore the majesty of nature as you walk through the park that are lined with hunky giant trees with roots that awkwardly place out almost like an overgrown child with folded limbs. It is also very lovely as you notice the way trees spread their canopy to shade from the beating sun.

During the day, birds sit on the windowsill and take a breather before fluttering off to their next adventure; butterflies flirt and chase each other as the sun hangs lazily in the sky.

It is hard ignore the details of nature. When I end my day, I try to take a walk through the gardens again and it is the evening breeze that pats me on the back for a job well done. Trees with fluttering leaves do a wave as if saying good-bye and see you tomorrow! Baby plants dance in the wind and fallen leaves float away to say adieu.

Go on, take a walk and enjoy the silence and realize the world is more intricate than you think.

Enjoy!

Little Winks In The Mundane

I saw an owl fly above my head from across the street, a bird's nest perched high upon a barren tree along the PIE and the moon light brazenly streaming in through my kitchen window like it was the sun. 

The moon last night gave a sleeping construction crane a pensive silhouette and me some thoughts for the night.

What's there not to like about Singapore I wondered?

So What's Your Sign?

Some months ago (and they might've added up to become a year), Benji and I signed up for a Sign Language course with the SIngapore Association for the Deaf at Mountbatten Road.

Initially, we approached it with trepidation because we didn't know if communication was going to be difficult. But it turned out that they approached their would-be students with the same amount of caution as we did them. Learning sign language is like learning any other languages except that you have to work harder at it and be alot more expressive than usual.

Before you get signed up for any real course, you have to go through an introductory lesson. This is compulsory. It is not the acredit your aptitude for sign language but for you to understand the deaf community before you learn their language, and rightly so.

It is a common misconception that people think that the deaf are also mute. That is untrue. Their vocal chords are all working well but because they do not hear well, therefore they are unable to replicate the words through speech. It is also believed that deaf people cannot hear anything but vibrations and thumps. That is also untrue.

There are varying degress to how much the deaf can hear. At the same distance, some of our friends can hear speech at a close distance (so don't go talking bad about them), or loud music, or if their listening ability is heavily imparied, only the decibels of construction pounding. In fact, if they are not totally deaf, they would like to be referred to as hard of hearing. Because this is true. They can hear, just not as well as you and I. One of our instructors was even a contestant on Singapore Idol. How awesome is that?

As we began Beginner Course 1 (BS1), we realised that it was tougher than we imagined. Beside having to learn the signs for the alphabets, we learnt various baby words like 'I', 'you', 'we', 'them'. 

My own Sign Language textbook.

Just so you don't think I was bragging and ripped info off the web and take it as mine. 

Those were easy. The exam was easy. The teacher will sign out a phrase and we had to write it down. We passed that with flying colors. Then came Beginner Course 2.

BS2 was fun. We learnt how to sign in sentences like 'I am going to the grocer to get vegetables, salt and butter. What would you like me to get for you?". If I were to sign in Singlish, I'll ask "I'm going to buy things, what you want?"

The easy part of the lesson - the alphabets

I remember once, Benji and I wanted to practice our signing. We were at a fast food restaurant waiting for a friend. So we gave ourselves a rule. No talking until our friend came. We had to sign everything we wanted to say. So we had our food and signed for about 20mins.

During that 20mins, there was a family seated beside us that keep glancing over and kept giving us the Oh you so poor thing, cannot talk look. We knew they were looking at us so we kept signing until we saw our friend and did a very big wave & shout, "DAVID! HERE!". The look on the guy's face was priceless! It was mixed with a WTF and a WTH all together. Also then, we learnt one advantage of learning sign language, people cannot evesdrop. 

The deaf community is a very vibrant and fun community. During the course of our study, we were invited to a fund raising dinner. It was held at The Legends at Fort Canning. We were afraid to attend initially because we didn't know anyone and after all we were beginners. We can't possibly hold a conversation all night with, "So have you been to the grocer lately"?

But surprise surprise! We had so much fun! We were at a table that had a mix of students and people from the deaf community and it was really a challenge and great fun trying to get to know them, speaking their language. I grew in respect for them.

Even with their disability, they never see it as so. It is a different form of communication. They are still going out and doing their thing, living life as fulfilled as us. 

93% hor.

But Benji was top student, with 97%. 

We didn't manage to complete the Beginner Course because there wasn't enough students to make up a class, but we will be back! Plus it's always fun learning a new language and discovering a new world.

If you are interested in picking up sign language, visit www.sadeaf.org.sg and click on the Sign Language tab to find out more.

Have fun!

Hurray !

CONGRATULATIONS!

to Wild Rice and The Importance Of Being Ernest for bagging the Production Of The Year Award, Best Supporting Actor (Chua Enlai) and Best Costume Design (Frederick Lee) at the Life! Theatre Awards! 

I was glad to read that The Importance Of Being Ernest bagged so many awards solely because having caught it, I always thought it was a play very cleverly put together. Despite having been given a "16 years and above" advisory by the MDA because of it's all-male cast and therefore losing out on the Tote Board's Art Grant that subsidises 60% of student priced tickets, The Importance Of Being Ernest still ran to a sell out crowd during it's 2 week run at the Drama Centre. I love it when local plays get the support they deserve!

With live music by the T'ang Quartet and beautiful beautiful suits by Frederick Lee, the whole play was like being in a dream. Never mind Enlai playing a Gwendolyn or Ivan Heng playing Gwendolyn's mother or never mind that this all might've been a shout out to the government to repeal Section 377A, for art's sake - the play was good. 

Congratulations once again! You did well !