Tag: Heartland

Singapore Heartland

Posted on by eddietay in About Singapore, Monochrome

Heartland is the title of a novel by Daren Shiau.

We don’t meet often, though our paths have crossed a few times at various literary readings/events.

IMG_20140818_0002 640

The novel is about the coming of age of a young man who grapples with class disparities, national service (conscription) and romance.

It is also about every Singaporean son…

IMG_20140818_0014 640

The heartland is the social-cultural space we grew up in.

For me, it’s what nostalgia is made of.

There is a shiny global Singapore (Gardens by the Bay, Marina Sands, Clarke Quay, etc.), and there’s also the heartland of Singapore we return to in the evenings.

IMG_20140818_0005 640

It’s the uncle we see every day, loitering at the void deck.

IMG_20140818_0010 640

It’s hawker food!

IMG_20140818_0006 640

It’s that uncle on a bicycle I side-stepped to avoid in the morning.

IMG_20140818_0012 640

All of that adds up to a sense of community…

And both national and personal growth is a kind of departure, a severing of ties from the past…

IMG_20140818_0021 640

We’ll never return to the seesaw of our childhoods again.

IMG_20140818_0022 640

Things are too new to be comfortable.

IMG_20140818_0018 640

All that unearthing and shifting of foundations…

IMG_20140818_0037 640

There’s always work in progress.

IMG_20140818_0027 640

Hence all we can do is learn to look back and find a glimmer of our home again in our imagination…

For collectors: open-edition prints are available at my Saatchi Art page.

Thanks for reading!

 

 

Searching for Singapore II

Posted on by eddietay in About Singapore, Colour

I usually have 2 cameras with me during a photo-walk.

The previous post was with my stealthy Olympus XA2 loaded with Ilford XP2 400 film, while this is a Summicron 50mm Type II Rigid on a Leica M6 loaded with Kodak Portra 400.

I sometimes go all Daido Moriyama with my Olympus XA2 (or I try, at least), while with the Leica, I get that understated Martin Parr social commentary look (or I try, at least).

IMG_20140217_0006 dpp 640

So that’s the flat visible from Bras Basah Complex, my favourite haunt since when I was a teenager as it’s the place to go to for secondhand books.

I took an Irish colleague there once and he said quite accurately that he could see that Bras Basah Complex was a formative part of my education.

IMG_20140217_0029 dpp 640

Good old civil defence!

IMG_20140217_0036 dpp 640

Singapore, along with its many historical landmarks, are works under construction.

IMG_20140217_0023 dpp 640

That’s just outside the Arts House. I supposed you could call this commissioned graffiti.

“If You Dream Too Long” calls to mind If We Dream Too Long, the title of a novel by the late Goh Poh Seng. I met him once at a literary festival.

The author of yet another great Singaporean novel, Heartland,  Daren Shiau, once told he admires the writings of Goh a lot. Heartland is many ways a response to If We Dream Too Long. Read these two books if you want to know Singapore.

Yes, yes, that’s my inner Singaporean literature nerd emerging.

IMG_20140217_0004 dpp 640

That’s outside Ngee Ann City, a very appropriately named shopping complex because it’s so gigantic.

Yes, the humongous bookstore Kinokuniya Books is in there. It’s a place I go to for inspiration.

IMG_20140217_0026 dpp 640

The stone lion outside Ngee Ann Complex, representing prosperity and all the good stuff and guarding all that conspicuous wealth inside the shopping mall.

IMG_20140217_0008 dpp 640

That’s the ice-cream uncle at Orchard Road. I’ll usually buy a durian ice-cream wrapped in bread from him. It costs all of SGD$1. Pretty amazing.

IMG_20140217_0035 dpp 640

That’s “Urban People”, the art sculpture in front of Ion Orchard, delighting tourists always.

IMG_20140217_0033 dpp 640

We’re always being framed by brand names at Orchard Road, with fashion models watching over us, reminding us of what we could be if only we’re willing to spend just a little bit more …

Thanks for reading!