One Picture Puzzle Piece

The boss (in Hong Kong) I have worked with all this time has decided to leave the bank and do his own thing. He will be going really soon. He has had a major impact on my professional life, and a key role in putting me where I am now. I am very grateful to him, and will miss him.

There is a farewell journal being sent around the department for us to write our goodbyes to him. Here's mine.

One picture puzzle piece
Lyin' on the sidewalk,
One picture puzzle piece
Soakin' in the rain.
It might be a button of blue
On the coat of the woman
Who lived in a shoe.
It might be a magical bean,
Or a fold in the red
Velvet robe of a queen.
It might be the one little bite
Of the apple her stepmother
Gave to Snow White.
It might be the veil of a bride
Or a bottle with some evil genie inside.
It might be a small tuft of hair
On the big bouncy belly
Of Bobo the Bear.
It might be a bit of the cloak
Of the Witch of the West
As she melted to smoke.
It might be a shadowy trace
Of a tear that runs down an angel's face.

Nothing has more possibilities
Than one old wet picture puzzle piece.

- Children's poem, "Picture Puzzle Piece", by Shel Silverstein, from "A Light in the Attic" (1981)

Thanks CS for everything, and all the best for life's possibilities.

Singapore Arts Festival, and More

It's going to be an exciting month ahead! There are simply not enough evenings to watch all the performances one desires. But here's the pick for the year.

June 5 (Tues, 8 pm, VT) Romeo & Juliet (Lithuania)

June 8 (Fri, 8 pm, ET) Sacred Monsters (France/UK)

June 16 (Sat, 8 pm, ET) Sinfonia Eroica (Belgium)

June 17 (Sun, 8 pm, ERS) The Specialists, Pluck (UK)

June 21 (Thurs, 8 pm, DCT) Dollhouse (USA)

June 22 (Fri,8 pm JH) Gypsy Haidouks Chorus (Romania)

June 23 (Sat, 8 pm ET) Beijing Ren (China)

June 28 (Fri, 8 pm VCH) Piano Festival: Lizstmania

This entry has been bookmarked to serve as a reminder for oneself of the dates, times and venues of the performances. Otherwise one might forget and miss one or more of them. Yes, I have done that before.

Preview: "Beethoven in Denver and Other Poems"

After watching The Immortal Beloved with the DVD gang, I was googling Beets generally. I was quite intrigued by this book after coming across its review this morning. It is a collection of 48 poems by contemporary U.S. writer Burton Raffel - the premise of the collection is that Beethoven rose from his grave and returned to this planet to visit modern day Denver, Colarado over a period of 150 days. The poems take the form of light-hearted, humorous conversations between the poet and the Romantic composer, and exposes the Maestro's views of modern music (including the Beatles!), city living, money, politics, chocolate, women, love and God.

Hope to find it at Kinokuniya, otherwise I shall have to Amazon it over. I wonder how the poems read. I only found one sample online:

(Poem 28:"Concert". Poet takes Beethoven to hear Jean Pierre Rampal at Denver's new performance hall. Driving home in the car, Beethoven is outraged that the program did not include any of his works:)

 His fist hit out at the padded inside of the [car] door; it
  was so loud, so vicious, so sudden
  and unexpected
  That I nearly drove us off the road.

heh. Sounds promising. In the meantime, here's one I composed just for fun:

The Maestro and I sit
On the sidewalk
of Ellington Street.
At the Bagel Cafe
Skinny latte in one hand
PDA in the other

"Too watery!" the Maestro bellowed,
"But the free Wi-Fi is good!
Why would I need to speak
Or listen to anyone
When I can send
And receive
Instant messages
Online, anytime?"

More on the Maestro, later.

Tornado in Singapore

At 3 pm today, a DG mate sent around a series of photos including this one taken from her office at Republic Plaza 15 minutes before.

It sure looked like what we thought it was. But when I emailed it to The Mythbuster, he quickly established that it was actually a waterspout. Apparently waterspouts appear from time to time in the tropics, and in fact there was one last year near Sentosa. I went to read about it in good old Wikipedia. It was pretty fascinating stuff.

So our weather is not as boring as it appears to be. I am told there was in fact a real tornado in Singapore in the 1950s. There was a hurricane some years ago, and once it rained catfish.

One funny thing that came out of it was this. I emailed the picture to my department, and my colleagues' first question (cynical lawyers we all are) was: "Are the photos doctored?" I said quickly and unthinkingly, "I don't think so, they were sent over by my church friend". And they said, "ok, then must be real".

Good to know that Christians still have quite a good reputation around here. Hoho...

Movie: Sketches of Frank Gehry

Ok, so it all begins with a sketch. And then?

Had a preview of the movie last Saturday. Heh. I know it was supposed to be screened as part of the DVD Double Bill weekend this Saturday with the gang, but I couldn't resist watching it first ( I figured I could always watch it again with the rest or just wash dishes during the re-screening lah).

What did I think of it? I am still trying to sort out my thoughts and I would like to hear what the rest think of it after they watch it this weekend. But I think I can say for myself now, that the film has made me less inclined towards the art of Frank Gehry now than I was before I watched it. Let me think through why I feel that. Now, I need to sleep. It's been a crazy week. So glad for not having to stay up with London tonight.

More, later.

Call me Knut

Baby polar bear Knut of Berlin Zoo, who captured the hearts of millions worldwide with his sad tale of rejection by his mother.

My first ever client in practice was a Norwegian gentleman by the same name. I never knew how to pronounce his first name, so was calling him "Mr Ekerbakkensen" for two years.

Consider the Lavender

"你想[薰衣草]，怎麽长起来。不劳苦，也不纺线。然而我告诉你们，就是所罗门极荣华的时候，他所穿戴的，还不如这花一朵呢" - Luke 12:27

On Sunday, when my younger brother and I took Pa and Ma out for Mother's Day at Pagi Sore in Taman Jurong (they were reluctant as always to go anywhere too far from their place), it struck me how life has changed so much just in one decade.

Ten years ago at this time, when bro and I were still in university, life was quite different then. It was not an easy time, with Pa being diagnosed with diabetes and being essentially forced into early retirement. We have never been rich, indeed, much of childhood witnessed my parents trying hard to make ends meet. We got through school with scholarships and bursaries, and with his illness ten years ago, it meant growing up even more quickly. First, giving up a place abroad to study, then working part time during university vacation while friends went on European holidays, and giving tuition in the afternoons instead of taking driving lessons. I would be dishonest if I said I didn't feel short-changed and sometimes even resentful when comparing myself to other more privileged classmates (of which there were seemed to be plenty in law school).

Well today, my family and I sit in a nice restaurant, with bro and I each having our own car parked outside, discussing Japan vacation plans for all of us. Bro has started working for a few years, and seems to be doing well in his architect firm, travelling in the region and managing projects. I have gone to and come back from Hong Kong, worked in the world's largest law firm and am now counsel in an investment bank, that unreal universe where people speak in billions.

But I look at us again, and I think - though circumstances have changed, what they used to be have also shaped us in an indelible way. Pa and Ma, of course, still have not changed their simple ways, ordering the food on the menu with usual circumspection - Ma commented that the signature Otak Fish was really too expensive at $16 - she could whip up the same dish for $5 at home (and I completely believe her, she being the smartest housewife and best cook I know). Bro is still the quiet, down-to-earth person, and the more stoic and sensible of the two of us.

And so, how has the past, as well as the changes in the present, shaped myself? Has it made me fear going back to the insecurity of the past, and will I cling on the present and what I possess? Am I able to live a simple life by the world's standards and find richness only in my relationship with God? It is possible to proclaim this too easily. Only the ongoing circumstances of life will reveal what's going on in the heart.

The only thing I would say here is that I have been made aware of, again and again, in the past 10 years, how God's hand clearly and definitely brought about all these changes, very often in incredibly miraculous ways. Each time that I had been blessed with a material thing, whether it be a job, an opportunity, or even for things as trivial as the location of the first property purchase and the model of the car, - I always felt as if God was telling me (and I am writing as a conservative, non-Pentecostal Christian here hor),

"Remember the time where you asked why you didn't have this thing or that thing? I am showing you now that it is completely within My power to give anyone anything I will. And you should see that you have never lacked anything from Me in your life, and everything that was given or not given to you, was because of a definite purpose, and My timing is always perfect."

So, the only question left I could ask must be this: " Am I then far more interested in what God is doing to my character, then to my circumstances, which He has already proven beyond doubt are completely within His power to change? Do I want more the security of the present, or the knowledge of being more like Christ?"

Please do let that same power change what is within.

(Photo: Hokkaido lavender fields, if God wills, to look forward to later this summer. Verse from the 新譯本 for mom.)

Wish You Were Back in College?

So at 7 pm, I told the external lawyer and deal team while we were on the phone that I must end the conference call now as I have to go support a school choir. One of the new bankers said, "ok, please feel free to go, your kid would be disappointed if you didn't turn up." I didn't get a chance to disabuse him of that and left for the concert hall in a hurry. har har.

It must have been years since I went to a school event, don't think I remember being surrounded by so young people for a long time! They were, as expected, raucous and loud, but their happy energism and antics helped to relieve some of the tension built up from working on the rather intense deals recently.

It was strange seeing a few familiar faces in the audience - an ex-principal here, an old teacher there. Talking to EC's colleagues also made me realize that our working worlds are quite different indeed. I found myself slightly envying the relaxed and unpretentious atmosphere all around.

It was quite an enjoyable performance, with a wide repertoire of sacred, folk and classical music being represented. Being a school choir, it was of course not as polished as professional or international acts, but I think it is really great that the students get this exposure with a public audience. I enjoyed the Javanese pieces, as well the acapella rendition of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture best.

Being surrounded by so many junior college kids brought this song from the Broadway musical Avenue Q to mind, and round and round in my head.

I wish I could go back to college.
Life was so simple back then.
What would I give to go back
and live in a dorm with a meal plan again!

I wish I could go back to college.
In college you know who you are.
You sit in the quad, and think, "Oh my God!
I am totally gonna go far!"

How do I go back to college?
I don't know who I am anymore!
.....

I wish I could go back to college!
How do I go back to college?!
I wish I had taken more pictures.

But if I were to go back to college,
Think what a loser I'd be-
I'd walk through the quad,
And think "Oh my God..."

"...These kids are so much younger than me!"

(But you know, really, I don't think I want to go back to college now, growing up had its fair share of pains, and it's quite a relief sometimes to have shaken off all that teenage insecurity and angst.)

(However, I do need to find an excuse to go to New York City again to watch the musical. hmm)

(Photo: My psychedelic sneakers, which I don't think I would have been allowed to wear in junior college)

Painting: "Wall Textures"

This is a mixed media watercolour painting by contemporary Australian artist John Lovett, whose specialty is bringing out textures in buildings. When I was in Hanoi, I kept thinking how much he would enjoy and be able to capture the interesting historical buildings landscape there.

Just bought another bunch of his DVD demonstrations online. I think I will drop an email to him to suggest the Vietnam idea. Afterall, he organizes painting tours in Australia and Europe, so why not Vietnam? It's a shorter flight from downunder, and I am sure it will be well-received by art students.

The other thing that I kept wondering about in Hanoi was why there were no watercolour works there, only lots of oils. To me, Vietnam is a genteel, subtle and ephemereal country, inextricably tied up to lakes, rivers, and the sea. I can think of no better medium than watercolurs to capture that spirit. Hopefully more watercolorists (both local and international) will start painting there.

"For me, the unpredictability and uncontrollable nature of watercolor make it the most exciting and expressive medium of all. The opportunity to meander somewhere between mastery and complete lack of control during the course of a painting make it one of the most engaging mediums." - Lovett

Art in a Chair

(a poem written after the earlier post titled Art versus Life which discussed the use of chairs in the modernist artwork of George Brecht)

To create some art everyday

One could make a daily resolution to:

Draw a one-minute sketch a day

Jazz up an old tune on the guitar

Write a poem (like now)

Or
I could sit in a chair

and do any of the following:

Eat a bowl of ramen in Tokyo

Write a Vietnam law reform report

Call mom about her back pain

Tell someone a happy story
Listen to the friend beside me

Recount a sad thing
Pray
Or, fall in love with you
In front of me

And live Life, as Art
All in a chair.

(Picture: "Chair with a History", George Brecht, Cologne, 1966)

The Art of Copying

"The Singing Butler" by Jack Vettriano, is probably the most famous and infamous modern painting we know.

Here are some rather remarkable facts about it:

(1) The original canvas painting was sold for £ 774,000(!) in 2004, even though when Vettriano first submitted it to the Royal Academy of Art in 1992, it was rejected.

(2) The Singing Butler is the most widely reproduced painting in history, beating even Van Gogh's Sunflowers, and Monet's Sunrise. Vettriano receives £ 500,000 (!!) a year in royalties from the reproductions, which can be found in prints, bags, mugs and pillowcases etc.

(3) Vettriano's works have been sold to celebrities like Jack Nicholson, composer Sir Tim Rice and film maker Coltrane. Even the Queen of England buys his stuff.

(4) Vettriano is a self-taught artist who used to work in a coal mine in Fife Scotland, and only picked up painting in his twenties when his girlfriend gave him a box of watercolours as a gift.

(5)In Oct 2005, it was 'discovered' that figures in some of Vettriano's paintings, including The Singing Butler, were based on figures from an artists' reference manual, The Illustrator's Figure Reference Manual.

Reading about Vettriano and his works always brings up many questions relating to "What is good Art?". The debate surrounding this artist still rages while he collects his millions. During my recent Vietnam trip, I was thinking a bit about that question again in a somewhat similar context. If you have visited the Old Quarters district of Hanoi City, you would have noticed many "art" shops (not the galleries) selling reproductions of local and international paintings. There is often a row of artists, each perched on a short stool in the shop, copying famous paintings in oil from little postcards or art reference books. Dali, Botero, Renoir, you name it, they copy it. Now, they are of course doing that for a living, and are not really claiming to be artists in any way. We do know however that many of the popular artists in Vietnam started out their art career this way. Some of them have done very well indeed, attracting an international clientele (including the likes of Bill Clinton) who are taken by the colourful, fusion style that now characterizes much of Vietnamese artwork. Critics of the local art however, find it overly-stylized, commercially driven and lacking in creativity. Some have even said that they are essentially copyists of the original successful Vietnamese artists like Duc and Bui .

It was quite amusing to see "The Singing Butler" being copied in the artshops in Hanoi. A copy of a copy! hahaha... Supporters of Vettriano would say, "Get a life, stop being an art snob!". They will point to the fact that Vettriano is able to arrange and compose his pictures in such a way (even though he may not have originally come up with the figurine drawings) that evokes mystery, romance and strong emotional response from his viewers - that ability justifies him to be recognized as a great artist. Detractors on the other hand would reject it as plagiarism, artistic dishonesty and call him not an artist, but a mere "colour-filler".

I know which "camp" I belong to, but I think checking one's response to a piece like "The Singing Butler" is useful to discover one's own attitude towards art - what is it that we admire and respond to, and the way we ourselves will go about creating art.

Painting: "After the Church Service"

This is a painting by one of my favourite artists, Mark Stewart. It is called "After the church service in South Carolina". I love so many things about it. The way the louvred church building wall catches the sunlight, and how the long thin shadows suggest a tall-wooded neighbourhood. It also makes you wonder about the connection between the man and the church. Did he just come out of the church service? From his dressing and appearance, he looks like he is of a different ethnicity, or even a different faith. Certainly his posture suggests that he does not have (or want to have) too much to do with the church that he is walking by.

Did I mention that I love the light in the painting? This is why watercolours are so wonderful. It creates light in a way that no other medium does.

Movie: 《颐和园》 Summer Palace

有人问导演娄烨为何强调是爱情电影但还要放入如此多政治背景，娄烨解释说：“因为1989年时，我正在大学谈恋爱，后来我也曾在柏林谈恋爱！”有媒体问他当时 是否也参加天安门事件，娄烨就表示：“我说了，我在谈恋爱！”

六四天安门事件、柏林围墙倒塌、苏联瓦解, 香港回归 - 这些发生在我们年代的事.

Pedals and Pipes

Went for Carol William's concert last weekend. It was the first time that I was hearing a dedicated pipe organ performance at the Esplanade. Enjoyed it immensely. She played a number of pieces which spanned over four centuries, including the ubiquitous Toccata & Fugue and other famous organs works by Tournemire and Kleive. Got a very nice introduction to a contemporary organ composer Karl Jenkins which I shall be watching out for. She even played Beatles' "Hey Jude" on the magnificent organ, which was a whole lot of fun for the audience.

(NB. Image posted here is one of Sven Geirs fractal artworks, a source of endless entertainment.)

Concert: "The Virtuoso Listener"

This is the title of one of Brecht's famous Event Scores for a Fluxconcert, which was all the rage in the 1960's arts movement.




















The score notation for The Virtuoso Listener Fluxconcert is: "Can listen to music at any time".

It's hilarious and almost as iconic as the famous piece by Brecht's mentor, John Cage, - 4'33, a piano sonata in which the pianist does not play a single note in the three movements.

Art versus Life

"Art is not the most precious manifestation of life. Art has not the celestial and universal value that people like to attribute to it. Life is far more interesting.: - Tristan Tzara












While visiting the Modern Art Musueum of Barcelona (MACBA) last year, we had the chance to see a rare exhibition of the works of George Brecht - a reclusive American artist from the Fluxus movement of the 1960s, who has since for the last 30 years been based in France, hardly ever publishing or exhibiting his work. He is however, still considered one of the most important artists in the contemporary world. It was a fascinating exhibition, and for me, and important milestone in learning to appreciate modern art.

One aspect of Brecht's word holds special interest for me - the idea of "participation" in art. He believes that art does not exist in isolation from life. In fact, art is nothing and meaningless, without it being evolved at the very same time as life, no matter how mundane that life was. In this he was heavily influenced by musician-composer John Cage, who of course was famous for "participatory" composition in music.

Brecht is famous for his artwork relating to chairs - a mundane, ordinary domestic object. In relation to his first "chair exhibition" in Cologne in 1966, he said: "In Rome I bought a very simple wooden chair and a very beautiful book bound in red leather. I began to note down in the book where I'd bought the chair, how much I'd paid for it and where I'd found the pen I was writing with and the kind of ink I was using and so forth. Then I exhibited the chair and the book and everyone was invited to add to the book whatever was happening while he was sitting on the chair".

And so, completely against the idea of "canonization of art", viewers of the early exhibitions of Brecht were allowed to touch and modify the exhibits. Needless to say, haha...things got stolen or damaged, and galleries stopped allowing people to participate in the art, a fact greatly bemoaned by Brecht and a possible reason why he decided to lead a reclusive life.

Part of the exhibition at MACBA that we attended included three empty chairs placed throughout the musuem. I am sure Brecht would have loved visitors to sit on them and create whatever art in doing so. Travel Buddy tried to sit on them while the musuem guards were not looking. He managed to sit on two of them, I even managed to photograph these two art events on flash memory. But the third yellow one was up in the balcony which was closed off for renovations, so there was no participation of art there.

So I have been thinking quote a lot about the idea of art and life recently again. Sometimes, I wonder if I might live with regret about not being really able to pursue the creation of art in some form. But maybe what is more important is to make sure one actually lives life.

Pouring Light on Rust

Came across this Malaysian artist - Lok Kerk Hwang - recently and am quite impressed with his works. The work is very luminous and brings interest to the very mundane and everyday objects that he paints. How mundane? He has a fantastic series of paintings called "Symphonies of Rust" - depicting metal trays, gas tins, metal hooks etc.

http://www.watercolour.net/gallery.html

Some of the scenes that he paints on Batu Pahat are especially endearing. I did have my earliest memories there, living with grandma.

The Simple Life III - Starhub Channel 69

Yes, this is the channel that I have been glued to since the advent of Cable TV to the Treehouse. Do you know what it is? At it's simplest, I am watching an hour of this every night and when I do feel inspired, this is what happens: www.fainting-goat.blogspot.com

The Simple Life Part II - In the Garden

So saith Cicero, "When a man has a library and a garden, he has everything he needs."

The Simple Life Part I - Body Parts

(Note: The images that follow may cause discomfort in some blog readers)

So, like I mentioned in the last post, I have been busy in the past few months leading The Simple Life. One good part of it is to with finally signing up for part-time art school at NAFA. It's been something I have been wanting to do since - what? - university days actually. But law school, after that pupillage, and then starting out in practice made it seem like an impossible thing to do. I could have done in Hong Kong, I guess, especially during the couple of years of the downturn, but classes were hard to find, and always conducted in Cantonese. Last year, I was happy with the Treehouse decorating project. This year, I decided to do it. We have just finished Term 1 of this year's course, and these are the things that we have been drawing:


Title: My Hand



















Title 2: My Foot



















Title: Not My Nose




















Title: Human Head, without Skin



















All of the above were done with charcoal. It's an entirely new medium for me, so I am still trying to figure it out. It's a short course, so we are moving on to watercolours this new term. Yay! Colours at last, and in my favourite medium! :)

Sundays afternoons in the studio have been very nice indeed in the Simple Life.

Top Ten Excuses For Not Updating Your Blog

So several of my friends, relatives and also an ex-boss have commented that this Blog has gone into some kind of hiatus in the last few months. I would like to submit the following 10 excuses for it:

1. An Apple DVD poisoned my Thinkpad 18 months ago. 18 months later, the Thinkpad died.
2. I did not backup my photos in my Thinkpad. How to blog without photos?
3. There were 4 IPO launches, 8 convertible bonds, 1 ADR offering and 12 block trades in the last quarter.
4. I got cable TV last December and have been glued to it since.
5. I am going to (art) school part time and there is a lot of homework.
6. There were torrential rainfalls and earthquakes.
7. It is bad luck to blog during Chinese New Year.
8. I would like to change the appearance of my Blog, but have still not learned HTML.
9. I am spending more time watering my plants
10. I am training for the Firm's Corporate Challenge 2007 (5.7 km run ...erhm).

Some of the above are of course more in the nature of excuses than others, but really the last few months have been inordinately busy months. Partly work, sure, but mostly because I have been busy living the Simple Life.

More of that later. There's a Discovery Channel program on now on hypoallergenic cats (more of that too later!).

Best Movies in the Past Year

I think I probably watched more movies in the past 15 months that I have been back than in all the 6 years in Hong Kong. Singaporeans are a movie-crazy bunch indeed. It's much less expensive to buy a movie ticket here than in Hong Kong, and there's a $1 off movie prices on weekdays.

Back from the Framers :-)

From the Land of the Rising Sun

Too many such dinners these days. Looking forward to a real sushi-yaki dinner soon...

Thanksgiving

While one looks eagerly towards that magic date when all deals must close and many-headed beasts slain, one is reminded that many parts of the world are clothed in that final burst of autumn splendour before the winds of Yuletide come. Caught a glimpse of that wonderful dress parade last month in land of the rising sun.


It's Thanksgiving today - I'm tired, but happy. When driving home just now, I thought: there is no other place I'd rather be in, no other work that I need to do, and no better friends in world than I have now. Too exhausted to write anything like I did three years ago in another place, but just a simple "Thank You, God, for You."

Stepping into the Ocean

(Written in Osaka, Japan)

A Shin-kansen stop.
Up the stairs again.
What if I stepped out
Into an ocean?

I dreamt that I knew
the language of dolphins,
that I could hear the secrets of the sea.

In the world's largest aquarium tank - a beautiful beautiful whale shark.

Giant Atlantic Crabs - or Aliens!

This penguin did not move the whole time.















Sea otter, rub rub. Kawaii!














Pocky Fish

Images to bring a smile for years to come. :-)

(Osaka Aquarium, Japan Leaf Tour Oct 2006)