Interested in leading your own art walkabout in Singapore’s hippest neighbourhood?

Then look no further – volunteer to help out with the OH! Open House 2012 walkabouts next year!

What you’ll be doing:

• Bringing people into six real-life homes that’ve been transformed into art spaces and acting as their guide.

What you’ll receive:

• FREE opportunities to meet new and interesting people,
• A FREE special edition OH! 2012 t-shirt,
• FREE training on how to talk about art, among other FREEbies I haven’t mentioned.

Commitment intensity:

1. One training session at Evil Empire on either Sun, 15 Jan 2012 (2pm)  or Mon, 16 Jan 2012 (8pm),
2. One walk-through in said hippest neighbourhood on Sun, 12 Feb 2012 (2pm) or Mon, 13 Feb 2012 (8pm), and
3. One or more volunteer sessions on:
• Sat, 18 Feb 2012 from 4 – 8.30pm,
• Sun, 19 Feb 2012 from 4 – 8.30pm,
• Sat, 25 Feb 2012 from 4 – 8.30pm, and/or
• Sun, 26 Feb 2012 from 4 – 8.30pm.

It’s quite intense, but it’s over a relatively short period of time, so do spare the time to go if you can.

I would do this, but unfortunately, I have a National Service call-up over that period, which means I’m gonna need the weekends to catch up with work (yes, that’s the price of being male in Singapore).

In any case, more info/sign-ups at the OH! Open House 2012 website.

P.S. If you’re a student, you should totally volunteer – besides the learning opportunities, you’ll get CIP hours too!

Five people took part in it. Wow – overwhelmed at the overwhelming support. Haha!

Anyway, the answer to the question I asked:

Hill Street, just outside the Central Fire Station.

Where is this place I speak of?

I’ve included a helpful Google Map for your reference (click on this link if you can’t see the embedded image):

View Larger Map

Why did I hold the contest?

I thought it’d be fun to be random, as well as to force all you hamsters to be a bit more aware of Singapore and its landscape.

I also recently visited the Civil Defence Heritage Gallery for a Learning Journey.

One of the things I learnt from the Journey was that Singapore fire-fighters have a unique way of sliding down their firefighter-poles (there is no way of writing this without it sounding like innuendo).

Check it out in this YouTube video (click on this link if you can’t see the embedded video):

Anyway, back to the contest. The winners are: Dexter Lee and Lucas Ho!

As I mentioned, I’d choose the winners arbitrarily, so this time round, I decided to choose the winners based on who responded and who came to visit me while I was recuperating at home.

Their prizes: they each get a copy of Ceriph Issue #3!

I also mentioned I’d give an arbitrarily chosen prize. This time, I thought I’d give them each a copy of the latest issue of Ceriph cos one of my poems has been published in this issue, heh heh.

If you’re free tomorrow (Sat, 18 Jun 2011) and you’re in the Orchard area, do pop by Kinokuniya around 4pm cos Ceriph Issue #3 will be launched then.

There’ll be readings and stuff; I’ll be there but I won’t be reading because I’m still quite unintelligible at times.

Nevertheless, do say hi if you’re there.

In any case, keep your eye out for the next contest – we’ll be guessing my new weight after being on a liquid diet for the last fortnight.

Just kidding (about the contest, not the diet or the weight loss).

Just in case you missed The Power of Notions/Notions of Power, Opening Address is now available to everyone as:

• A free downloadable PDF file, and
• A free YouTube video.

Both are free, in case I forgot to mention their price.

Just in case you have the inclination to mix him up with Brendon Fernandez.

Rodney will be performing Opening Address at this weekend’s show.

I hope you’ve got a place to watch it; otherwise, keep your fingers crossed for a restaging.

If you believe in regulation - not censorship – of the arts in Singapore, pen your name down in support of this change.

Be sure to read the position paper or download it so that you are aware of all the issues involved in this process.

(via)

THE National Arts Council (NAC) has cut the annual grant given to local theatre company Wild Rice. It will get $170,000 this year, down from $190,000 the year before.

It is the lowest annual grant that the company has received from the council. Artistic director Ivan Heng says the council told him funding was cut because its productions promoted alternative lifestyles, were critical of government policies and satirised political leaders.

– Adeline Chia, NAC cuts W!ld Rice funds

Food for thought, given the current context at work.

1. How is it like working with each other?
   Great! Jon and I have learnt a lot from each other over this production and the last. I’m glad to have had the opportunity to work with him, as he’s very committed to the craft and is always working to get the best out of the text: whether it is in terms of using the best line to convey a certain meaning, or in terms of putting the actors through their paces in order for them to convey the best emotion.
2. What changes were implemented from the previous run of OTOT in 2008?
   The main consideration has always been giving the customers what they want, so we’ve listened to audience feedback when revising the plays. We wanted to make the play a better experience for audience in terms of entertainment and artistic value, so I’ve made changes to the action and the dialogue. For example, there were some concerns that last year’s version of Full Tank! was draggy and heavy-handed; I’ve gone through the script again to cut out repetitive lines and reduce clumsy expressions.
   
   At the same time, I actually experimented with a few different scenarios, character motivations, etc. while making revisions to the script that was used during the OCBC Singapore Theatre Festival 2008. However, I’ve returned to the original plot that made Full Tank! a success, because I realised the stories that were told were what endeared the play to the audience. All that was needed was a bit of tweaking to the mechanics of the plot and it’d be good to go.
3. Did you join any Arts clubs/Theatre societies when you were an undergraduate?
   I was a hostelite through and through so I participated mainly in activities within Kent Ridge Hall. I co-wrote and edited two Hall Productions and contributed three short plays for an Inter-Hall Drama Fest in 2008 (one of which – The Last Political Animal – was censored by the Media Development Authority).
   
   However, I think it wouldn’t be wrong to say that participating in activities outside of clubs and societies might have had a greater part to play in helping me hone my writing abilities. I read two modules taught by Huzir Sulaiman – EN2271: Introduction to Playwriting and EN3271: Advanced Playwriting. It was during that period that an early draft of Radio Silence, an absurd play about National Service, was read by Ivan Heng. This resulted in Ivan nominating me to participate in World Interplay 2007, an international playwriting festival held in Australia. My participation in this festival was co-funded by grants from the University Scholars Programme.
4. What led to your decision to pursue a career in the Arts?
   Unlike the others, I’m not working in the Arts full-time. I’m actually teaching the General Paper at Saint Andrew’s Junior College, but I still enjoy writing as a means through which I can take part in the Singaporean conversation about things that aren’t always very easy to talk about in the mainstream.

If you’re a photographer and are interested in collaborating with me (I have no equipment and/or training but am usually chockful of  ideas and have a keen eye for what makes a good shot), please:

• peruse the guidelines for the exhibition, and
• drop me a comment/message and I’ll tell you more about what I wanna do. The theme of the photo(s)  I wanna take has to do with surveillance and censorship in urban Singapore.

It may not reach fruition i.e. you may not be keen or the project may not pan out, but it doesn’t matter – what’s important is that we try.

Let’s go.