Please boycott DBS for funding anti-gay equality group!

Hey everyone,

I've found out that DBS has organised a Christmas promotion that sends money to Focus on the Family whenever people use their DBS cards. You can read more about it on this site.

The site describes FOTF as "a charity dedicated to helping children and families thrive". Well, that's not the whole story. The group, first founded by the Reverend James Dobson in the USA, has been actively involved in anti-gay initiatives since its inception. (Some source materials below.)

If you're a member of DBS and you support gay rights, I urge you to

1. Shift your account to another bank and cut up your DBS card. Since DBS has merged with POSB, POSB customers might want to do the same thing too. (If you can't afford to shift banks, at least stop using your DBS card till the end of the year, to show solidarity.)

2. Write to DBS to complain, using the following site: https://www.dbs.com/contact/cards/. For added impact, send them a snail mail. The address is:

DBS Bank
6 Shenton Way, DBS Building Tower One
Singapore 068809

You may wish to use the following template:

Dear Sir/Mdm,

I am writing to inform you that I am considering closing my DBS account. This is in protest of your bank's recent Christmas promotion, in which DBS claims it will make donations to the organisation Focus on the Family for every set of teddy bears redeemed.

You may not be aware that Focus on the Family has played an active role in suppressing gay equality, both in Singapore and abroad. As a person who believes in gay equality, with many gay and lesbian friends, I object to the bank's support of such a bigoted organisation.

In Singapore, Focus on the Family has used its "counsellors" to spread misleading information in secondary schools, using a brochure called "Straight Talk" that spreads lies and negative stereotypes about gay and lesbian people and their "lifestyle". (See http://issuu.com/lipsin/docs/straighttalk

Focus on the Family is also aligned with Choices, a group that attempts conversion of homosexuals - despite the fact that the American Psychological Association sees homosexuality as a normal condition, and sees deprogramming of gay people as more damaging than good. (See http://www.coos.org.sg/ministries/healingcounselling/index.php?sectnum=p5&coospg=choices.html)

In the United States, Focus on the Family has not only been involved in anti-gay propaganda and conversion efforts; they have also donated large sums of money against marriage rights - and the founder, James Dobson, has been accused by scientists of manipulating data to create statistics to back up his anti-gay prejudices. (See http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Scientist_blasts_Focus_on_Family_chief_1215.html)

DBS has tens of thousands of customers who are gay or who are friends and supporters of gay people. For your bank to donate to an anti-gay cause shows shocking insensitivity towards this section of your customer base. I am sure there are many other banks who would prefer our patronage.

Yours sincerely,

(Your name here).

Come see me act.

At 8pm next Friday and Saturday, 28 and 29 Nov, I'm doing a staged reading of filmmaker/Tisch Asia student Wee Li Lin's short play "The Tent".



I'll be playing a straight Eurasian schoolteacher. Patricia Toh will be playing the teacher I wanna schtup.

Come see me enter the wonderful world of pretending! It's free!

UPDATE: This version of the poster is cooler:

I has a new part-time job.

Doing oral history transcription for the National Archives of Singapore! It's boring grunt work, but it's still pretty fascinating.

(Wait, that's completely contradictory, while also being true.)

I'll also be finding out whether the results of the Singapore Literature Prize (why not just call it SLiP?) on the evening 3 December. I already have my evening dress picked out.

Seeking an Audience: A Symposium on Singapore Literature in English.

It's on this Friday at the National Library Pod. I'm gonna be doing a reading, as well as a panel discussion on Singapore Literature and Culture.

Obviously, I should've told everyone in time so you guys could register. But I was lazy. Sorry guys. Details from here.

UPDATE: Anyone can go, with no registration required, for the events from 5:30pm onwards. I'm doing my 15 min reading at 6:30ish.

Jointly organised by the National Library and Nanyang Technological University’s Centre for Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, this is a Symposium for all who promote and have an interest in Singapore Literature in English.

Representatives from all sectors involved in the creation, production, circulation, reading and study of Singapore literature – ranging from writers, publishers, booksellers, reviewers, academics and teachers to students – will be giving papers or engaged in discussion on various panels. The Symposium concludes with a panel of writers “Debating Singapore Literature”.

Lee Tzu Pheng and Robert Yeo will open the symposium with a dialogue about their experiences as writers, recalling the heady days of the sixties when they and the most promising poets/writers of their generation had their beginnings, and who are now established writers with substantial bodies of work. The Symposium will also feature the generation of writers who followed them. The day will end with a cocktail reception with poetry readings and a musical performance developed by Stella Kon, author of Emily of Emerald Hill.

The Symposium is being held in connection with the launch of Singapore Literature in English: an Annotated Bibliography compiled and edited by Prof. Koh Tai Ann in collaboration with the National Library.

Registration has closed on 24 October 2008 and all successful registrants have been notified. We regret that only confirmed registrants will be admitted. Thank you.

==============
Detailed Programme

8.15am
Registration
(All guests to be seated by 8.45am)

9.00am
* Welcome Speech by Dr N. Varaprasad, Chief Executive, National Library Board
* Introduction & Address by Prof Koh Tai Ann, Professorial Fellow, Division of English, School of Humanities and Social Science, Nanyang Technological University
* Launch of "Singapore Literature in English: An Annotated Bibliography"
* Reading of excerpts from short story by Ashish Kumar, Bear Fruit (Creative Writing) Programme First Prize Winner for his "The Outsider"

10.00am
Session 1: The Writers
"The Sixties: Being the Second Generation and Singapore Writers Now"
A dialogue between Lee Tzu Pheng and Robert Yeo.
Chair: Koh Tai Ann

11.00am
Singapore Writers Now
Speakers:
* Neil Murphy, "Contemporary Singapore Poetry & the Search for a Centre"
* C.J. Wee Wan-ling, "Home Alone and Homesick: Fractured National Culture in the Plays of Alfian Sa'at"
Chair: Sim Wai Chew

1.00pm
Session 2: Producing the National Canon, Nurturing the Audience
Speaker:
* Gwee Li Sui, "The Anthology and Its Audience"
Commentator: Aaron Lee
Chair: Tamara Wagner

1.45pm
Singapore Literature in the School Curriculum
Speakers:
* Angelia Poon, "Making Space for the Cosmopolitan Subject, Teaching Literature in Singapore"
* Benedict Lin, "Literature for Language, Language for Literature: Deepening the Lang-Lit Connection in the Classrooom"
*Beatrice Ng and Goh Ziyi, "Students' Responses to Singapore Literature in English in the School Curriculum"
* Seah Ee Wei and Nicolette Tan, "Singapore Literature: Where Past Meets Present"
Chair: Warren Mark Liew

3.00pm
Session 3: Singapore Literature in English and Culture
Literary Culture: Facilitators and Resources
Panelists:
* Goh Eck Kheng (Publisher)
* Cyril Wong (e-journal founder, poet/critic)
* Stephanie Yap (Reviewer, print media)
* Cheng U Wen Lena (Founder, specialist bookshop)
* Jillian Lim (Librarian)
Chair: Kenny Leck (Books Actually)

4.30pm
Panel Discussion: Debating Singapore Literature
Panelists:
* Leong Liew Geok
* Ng Yi-Sheng
* Suchen Christine Lim
* Yeow Kai Chai
Chair: Eleanor Wong

5.30pm
Cocktail Reception at The POD, Level 16, National Library Building
* A musical performance by Stella Kon
* Reading by Ng Yi-Sheng and impromptu readings by others
* Readings by Joseph Prem Anand and Fam Wee Wei, from Bear Fruit (Creative Writing) Programme

Apparently I've been shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize.

My money's on Wena Poon winning ofr "Lions in Winter", but I've only just started on her book so I can't be sure. Also, why the hell didn't Cyril Wong get nominated for "Tilting the Plates to Catch the Light"? (Did he not enter his book?)

Full list (minus Chinese) here, courtesy of Sharon Bakar:

English category :

1. Last Boy Ng Yi-Sheng
2. The Lies that Build a Marriage - Suchen Christine Lim
3. Lions in Winter: Stories - Wena Poon
4. Rainbows in Braille - Elmo Jayawardena
5. Five Right Angles - Aaron Lee Soon Yong

Malay category :
1. Bila Rama-Rama Patah Sayapnya - Mohamed Latiff Mohamed
2. Anugerah Bulan Buat Bonda - Muhammad Salihin Sulaiman
3. Langau Menyerang Masjid dan Cerita-cerita Lainnya - Suratman Markasan
4. Cetusan Kalbu Seorang Penyair Peter Augustine Goh
5. Perahu Melayu Di Lautan Khulzum Johar Buang
6. Sekeras Waja Selembut Sutera Manaf Hamzah

Tamil books :
1. Pin Seat Sankar Jayanthi
2. Aayul Thandanai J M Sali
3. Naan Kolai Seyum Penkal K Kanagalatha
4. Ouyir Ourugum Sabtham Palanisamy Subramanian

I'm going to Egypt and Israel from 17 Sep to 18 Oct.

Just for pleasure. My dad's always wanted to go since he was a kid and he watched "The Ten Commandments". He's trusting me to make all the arrangements, so I'm reading Lonely Planet cover to cover.

"If you are visiting Sodom via the southern route..."

Seriously, that's one of the lines in there. :P

"Weapon of Mass Distraction", 2008



Yup, that's me alright. The skirt is made from four pairs of torn jeans on a cloth belt.

Biennale Blog!

Unsatisfied with my umpteen other blogs, I've also volunteered (or was I volunteered? I can't quite remember) to maintain a blog for the Singapore Biennale.

http://www.singaporebiennale.org/blog/

I'm bein' plenty bitchy. Trying to make the site readable is one of the justifications. The other is that there just is so much to be dubious about, including the TVC:



Don't worry; I think the art will be pretty good. (Crosses fingers) Opening previews on 9th and 10th, open to the public from 11 September.

Reservoir Review (Today Weekend, 30 August 2008)

We rather like this review because it actually describes the problematics of the show's construction.

From Ng Yi-Sheng's Careerblog

A Shrining example

“A STRAIGHT line into the forest!” It’s a phrase actress Patricia Toh utters in amazement upon finding a pathway in the middle of Reservoir.

It’s also an apt analogy for this new multi-media production by TheatreWorks, as director Choy Ka Fai, playwright Ng Yi-Sheng and the rest of the team beat a straight path into uncharted historical territory like a band of merry explorers.

This collaborative piece is essentially a heartfelt ode to a forgotten monument in the heart of MacRitchie Reservoir. And not just any whitewashed statue or structure, but the rather controversial Syonan Jinja. The Shinto shrine was built to commemorate the first anniversary of the British surrender to the Japanese during World War II in 1943.

Reservoir has an autobiographical approach, literally: It tells the story of a group of people who go in search of a mysterious structure that’s been swallowed up by the jungle.

Like episodic chapters in a multi-media history book-cum-diary, it combines song and dance performances — from actor/singer Rizman Putra and Japanese dancer Norico Sunayama, respectively — Choy’s own video graphics, an evocative soundscape from Chong Li-Chuan, as well as documentary footage and audio interviews of people who’ve seen the shrine in its heyday.

It’s an inventive approach to telling a story; one that few people would even think of bringing up without getting their knickers in a bunch.

That’s because it’s a sticky topic to begin with. And because Reservoir does not dwell at length with the less-than-pleasant points of war and colonial occupation, it may get accused of handling a sensitive historical topic irresponsibly.

During the opening night’s post-show talk, for example, an audience member even made comparisons to the World War II Auschwitz concentration camp.

But that comment reveals, more than anything, certain prejudices towards such topics: for example, when you bring up the Japanese Occupation of World War II, every Japanese must have three eyes, two horns, a tail and feed on the blood of young babies.

But this reviewer was relieved that the young team behind Reservoir did not even attempt to tackle the topic in such a manner, because they found a way of making sense of a symbolic structure on their own terms, no matter how romanticised it may sometimes feel.

Unlike the black and white views of textbook history, Reservoir feels fresh. There’s a sense of wide-eyed innocence and an eagerness to explore and it’s worthwhile to follow the piece all the way to that proverbial clearing in the forest.

Reservoir ends Saturday (Aug 30), 3pm and 8pm, at 72-13Mohamed Sultan Road. Tickets at $28 from tworks@singnet.com.sg or call 6737 7213.

mayo@mediacorp.com.sg

Performing at Supperclub tonight.



My first time. Experimental drag + Sprachstimme, 10-10.15pm.

ROJAK 12 @ Septfest

Forgot to advertise that I'm MCing for the following event today:

Dearest friends,
Come to ROJAK 12- The Place Issue!

It's happening this Sunday, 31 August, 3pm (Yes, our first afternoon ROJAK!) We are graciously hosted by The Substation. ROJAK 12 is part of The Substation's SeptFest 08 opening weekend. Thanks to the cool folks for inviting us and facilitating everything!

Our dear ROJAKers are:
1. Mintio, Photograhy
2. Eng Yee Peng, Film
3. Lawrence Abrahamson, Art
4. Ang Song Ming, Sound
5. Perception3, Photography & Film
6. Lim Shengen, Art
7. Jacen Tan, Film
8. Randy Chan, Architecture
9. Jing Quek, Photography
10. Laura Soon, Art

We'll also be featuring fellow ROJAKer Song Ming's new music project- "Hit Me Baby One More Time" throughout the event.
This 'tissue-chop!' invite is by Perception3
Our official ROJAK photographer is Shan Chia.

Bring on your friends, and drinks and beer to share for the ROJAK dinghy.
And come dressed casually...it's afterall a Sunday afternoon.
See you there :) ROJAK is FARM's quarterly sharing session featuring 10 local artists/designers and their works & processes. It is the place to find new local works and share ideas.
Submissions for ROJAK are always open!

Visit ROJAK website for more details.

Your daily dose of WTF.




Curious? Come and see.

Article from the Associated Press

About the Singapore theatre scene in general, but it's got a quote from me. And it's been printed in IHT and

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/08/24/asia/AS-Singapore-Easing-Censorship.php

This version has a weird photo of me. Sigh. Must get haircut.

RESERVOIR: 28-30 August, 2008

Deep in the heart of MacRitchie Reservoir lie the ruins of the Syonan Jinja, a Shinto shrine built during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore. Envisioned as a spiritual centre for the future empire, today it exists only as stone relics and fragments, swallowed up by the thick tropical rainforest.

This performance, a tapestry of images, sound and movement, will be a drama of recollection, an attempt to capture the Syonan Jinja's sleeping spirit.

Date: 28-30 August 2008
Time: 8pm nightly/ 3pm matinee on 30 August
Venue: 72-13 Mohamed Sultan Rd
Tickets: $28/ S15 (Concessions for Students + NSF + Senior Citizens)
For purchases and reservation of tickets, please call
Tel: 6737 7213
E-mail: tworks@singnet.com.sg

Conceived + Directed + Multimedia by Choy Ka Fai
Written by Ng Yi-Sheng
Performed by Norico Sunayama+ Rizman Putra+ Patricia Toh
Sonic Compositions by Chong Li Chuan
Set and lighting design by Jiro Endo

Auditions for Georgette, the Musical

Georgette, The Musical, will be staged in The Philippines (Manila),
during the last week of November, 2008.

Sing Avenue Productions will be holding auditions to cast the five
main roles for the musical, on August 23 and 24 (Sat and Sun) 2pm –
6pm at Musical Theatre Limited's Playroom, 21 Cavan Road Level 2
Singapore 209852 (nearest MRT station is Lavender).

Description of the roles:
a) Georgette – the heroine, a petite but an intelligent and lively
artist portrayed in her 20s thru to her 40s
b) Eugene Chen:Georgette's first husband, a diplomat, who is
portrayed from his 40s to his 50s
c) Mr Zhang - Georgette's father, a shrewd businessman in his 60s.
d) Mrs Zhang - Georgette's stepmother, a businesswoman in her 40s. An
aristocrat in temperament
e) Narrator - A woman who plays various roles.

Actors will be required to sing, act and dance. All performers must
be available to be in the Philippines from 17 to 30 November 2008 and
also attend rehearsals in Singapore from 8th September 2008 in the
evenings and also the weekends. Performers will be paid a fee.

Please come prepared to sing two theatre musical songs, which are
contrasting in mood and tempo. Please prepare a short monologue (2
minutes, maximum) to present. You may be asked to do a short
improvisation.

For your songs, please provide your own minus-ones (in a CD) or be
prepared to sing a capella. Bring along a photograph (any photo will
do) and your bio-data/resume.

Please call to book an appointment with Amos Shao on 91454196 or
email: amosqi@yahoo.com.sg

Thank you.

Finally, it's over.

But I managed to save a souvenir from the props box.


Mini party at my place tonight. Whoop de whoo!

Less for publicity now than just for the hell of it...

Interviews with the cast of the Last Temptation of Stamford Raffles. Last performances today!

Art and Life Sessions (Free Forum)

LIFE: We The Citizens: Unsung Heroines, Unwritten Histories
ART: The Last Temptation of Stamford Raffles, I Am Queen
Date: Saturday, 16 August 2008
Time: 5.30pm – 7.00pm
Venue: Drama Centre (National Library), Level 3, Function Room 3

What is the Singapore Story and who are its leading actors? What other kinds of histories are waiting backstage for their turn? Can history be more than a monologue by the victorious and the powerful? How can we mine social memory and cultural works to create our own alternative histories?

Panelists:
Ng Yi-Sheng - Playwright, The Last Temptation of Raffles
Dr Quah Sy Ren - Playwright, I Am Queen, Deputy Head of Chinese, NTU
Dr Syed Khairuddin Aljunied - Lecturer, Department of Malay Studies, NUS and author of Rethinking Raffles: A Study of Stamford Raffles’ Discourse on Religions Amongst Malays
Tan Pin Pin - Filmmaker, Invisible City, Singapore GaGa

Opening Night for Raffles

Full-dress.


Dinner.


Christina sent us this fruit hamper, so Rehaan got to try rambutans for the first time.


Performance.


Applause.

The Last Temptation of Stamford Raffles

by W!LD RICE, as part of the OCBC Singapore Theatre Festival

13 - 17 August 2008, Drama Centre Theatre @ National Library (Level 3)
(13 - 15 August, 8pm evening shows; 16 - 17 August, 3pm matinees and 8pm evening shows)

(Buy tickets from Sistic now. You know you want to.)

1826. Sir Stamford Raffles lies on his deathbed, delirious with dreams and hallucinations, whilst his wife Sophia frantically records his biography. A giant Rafflesia blossom invades his bedroom; he meets his deceased first wife Olivia, and encounters a talking statue who bears prophecies of greatness.

As his life flashes before him, we witness his birth at sea, his early voyages, his triumphant founding of Singapore, and his eventual tragic downfall—with his children dead of tropical diseases, his research destroyed in a burning ship, and himself bankrupted and diagnosed with syphilis.

The Last Temptation of Stamford Raffles is written by multi-talented playwright and poet Ng Yi-Sheng, whose last play, 251, based on the life of Annabel Chong, played to packed houses. Directed by Christina Sergeant (Furthest North, Deepest South, The Hypochondriac), this is an unforgettable journey into the mind of a legend. Was Raffles a wily schemer or an enlightened reformer? What kind of legacy did he leave behind on an island he called the ‘child of my own’?

“251 is worth seeing not only for its success at putting Chong's dubious "achievements" in perspective as performance art, but also for pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable subject matter for a Singapore stage production.” TODAY

The Last Temptation of Stamford Raffles was a finalist at ACTION Theatre’s ‘Theatre Idols’ festival in 2007.

Written by Ng Yi-Sheng
Directed by Christina Sergeant

Cast:
Candice De Rozario
Claire Devine
Tien Devine
Rehaan Engineer
Fazli Ahmad
Ian Tan
Jo Tan
Patricia Toh

And to continue my streak of overexposure to the media...

I'm gonna be on Razor TV tomorrow at 2pm, talking about Raffles and my play.

UPDATE: Here they are, God love 'em. I stammer way too much.

Second week of the festival!

Well, the shows aren't playing yet, but I'm pleased to report that "The Last Temptation of Stamford Raffles" is coming along splendidly.






Curious? Then buy a motherfuckin' ticket, motherfucker. :)

Mediawhore re-redux

Not only was I in the papers yesterday (to publicise the Last Temptation of Stamford Raffles), as well as in the papers today (as part of Life!'s 30 Under 30 series); I'll be in the papers tomorrow for with my National Day poem.

Chrise.

IndigNation 2008: ContraDiction IV


A literary reading organised by Ng Yi-Sheng and Jasmine Seah
MDA rating: M18

ContraDiction, the oral festival of queer Singapore writing, comes back for the 4th annual season. Featuring poets Teng Qian Xi and Koh Jee Leong, blogger Adrianna Tan, playwright Jacke Chye, singer Iris Judotter and many more.

Date: Thursday, 7 August 2008
Time: 7:30 pm
Venue: 72-13 Mohamed Sultan Rd (look it up on StreetMap@Singapore if you don't know where it is)

For more events, see the IndigNation 2008 calendar. Events are on from 1 to 19 August.

KENDURI!!!

W!ld Rice has a tradition, inspired by older Asian theatre practices. Before every production (even the gargantuan ones like STF), they gather everyone in a circle and have them introduce themselves to each other, make eye contact, and then pray to whatever gods we worship for everyone's safety and success.


The event started at 6pm today. Sort of. This is the scene at 6:15 in the Drama Centre.


That's me offering Christina Sergeant dried cranberries and green raisins. On the right is the back of Lim Yu-Beng's head.


Ivan addressed us in his artistic directorly way...


...and had us circle the stall seats.

Then he had us link hands and pray. I couldn't take photos while holding Rodney Oliveiro and Janice Koh's hands. It would've been rude.


Mutual support.


And now for the FOOD. Except for the Swordfish cast and crew, who were doing a tech run.


I stayed back a little while to chatter with the playwrights. That's Ken Kwek (Apocalypse Live) and Laremy Lee (Own Time, Own Target).


Mangiare! (Kenduri, in case ya didn't know, is Malay for "feast".)


That's the tempeh+tofu dish, right next to the boiled vegetables. Further on was spicy chicken and sausage with meatballs and fried rice and and curry.

And no! Your eyes do not deceive you!


That is a chocolate fondue pot! (It went very well with the wasabi prawns.)


And that's Christina, gathering the Raffles cast up for rehearsals.

The festival opens in two days!!!! YAAAARRRGH!!!

The BJ Song
You can listen to my song "Touch the Sky", in support of the Singapore team to the Beijing Olympics, this Saturday at Ngee Ann City/Takashimaya. It's organised by Musical Theatre Limited.

Programme: August 2, SAT Ngee Ann City CivicPlaza

1. 230pm to 415pm - Official Programme in presence of Dr Vivian.
2. 4pm - MTL Singers perform Paralympics Theme Song "Best That We Can Be" with Choir from Grace Orchard School (www.go.edu.sg)
3. 430pm - MatthewQUEK MiniConcert, and DariusLIM SeraphimChoir MiniConcert
4. 7p to 9pm - MTL Songwriter Showcase.
5. 9pm - MTL Singers demo perform the song inspired by TEAM Singapore "Touch The Sky" {Lyrics NG-YiSheng, Music DesmondMOEY}

It should actually be performed several times over the evening.

Gah, I'm such a hypocrite.


I don't even have the guts to boycott profiteering off the Olympics.

RESERVOIR Blog!

...and I've also started a blog for RESERVOIR, my upcoming production with TheatreWorks.

http://reservoirproject.blogspot.com/

RESERVOIR
28-30 Aug 2008_72-13 Mohamed Sultan Road

Deep in the heart of MacRitchie Reservoir lie the ruins of the Syonan Jinja, a Shinto shrine built during the Japanese Occupation of Singapore. Envisioned first as a spiritual and recreational centre for the future empire, then built by Australian POWs and Japanese craftsmen, today it exists only as stone relics and fragments, swallowed up by the thick tropical rainforest.

As young artists, we have embarked on a journey of discovery to reclaim this forgotten monument. Its very existence is intriguing – a beautiful artefact of civilisation from an age of blood and destruction. Its architects made outlandish promises: that the site would be the greatest in the world after the Meiji Shrine, that the area might be a future host for the Olympic Games.

Perhaps most provoking is the love-hate relationship between Singapore and the shrine. Historians and tourism promoters want it preserved, even rebuilt to commemorate our national heritage. Ordinary citizens, however, have violently objected to any celebration of former Japanese rule – even as they happily consume Japanese commercial and cultural products.

Led by director Choy Ka Fai, we are an ensemble of creative people from Singapore and Japan with roots in poetry, dance, drama, architecture, sport and multimedia. We have made pilgrimages to the jungle, probed the site scientifically, studied archival documents, drawings and oral histories, and processed our own collective memories to recreate and re-imagine the shrine as a sacred site.

Our performance, a tapestry of image, sound and movement, will be a drama of recollection, an attempt to capture the Syonan Jinja's sleeping spirit.

Conceived + Directed + Multimedia by Choy Ka Fai
Written by Ng Yi Sheng
Performed by Norico Sunayama+ Rizman Putra+ Patricia Toh
Sonic Compositions by Chong Li Chuan
Set and lighting design by Jiro Endo

I'm going to be a guest blogger at the Singapore Biennale Blog soon.

And I definitely have to post this:

Bottom line: If people aren't protesting, becoming nauseated by, or threatening lawsuits against an artist's work, you can look around for me, but I'm not going to be there. Using light and shadow to mythologize the pastoral and create a setting where human beings and the natural world can coexist peacefully? Best of luck to you. If you need me, I'll be watching a heroin addict use his own HIV-positive blood to paint Hiroshima victims on the side of a school bus. You know, with all the other real art buffs.

I Don't Have Time for Noncontroversial Art Exhibits by Keith Dans, The Onion.

Spotted at GSSQ.

STFBLOG!!!

http://singaporetheatrefestival.blogspot.com/

Given that the Singapore Theatre Festival is paying its playwrights above standard industry rates (they're trying to set a trend, not make us so unaffordable that no-one else wants us), I've decided to start a special blog for 'em. And not just for my play (buy tickets!!!), either - fo' everyone's plays!

If you're involved in the Festival in any capacity and want to be a blogger, just tell me and I'll add you.

I'll be in NYC from 23 June to 5 July.

In fact, I'm in Changi Airport Terminal 3 right now.



So don't call me, can? Waste phone money. :)

Book launch for my first novel, Eating Air

How could I forget? By the way, if anyone official asks, this is a film novelisation, so I'm still eligible for all those other first-novel grants and prizes when I finally compose an independent opus.

Anyway, details:

Friday 20 June
3-5pm
THE POD, Level 16
National Library, 100 Victoria Street

Dress code: business attire. (Yeah, right.)

The books being launched are 12 Storeys by Dr Yeo Wei Wei, 4:30 by James Toh, Eating Air by myself. Hope to seeya there!

UPDATE: Here's a shot of the book itself:



And the wunnerful people behind it. From left to right, publisher Enoch Ng, writer Dr Yeo Wei Wei, and directors Kelvin Tong and Jasmine Ng (who really is much prettier when she's not being derisive). Almost in the picture is Kat, Kelvin's assistant director at Boku films.



UPDATED UPDATE: Ooh ooh ooh! Channel News Asia has an article about it!

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/355416/1/.html

small metal objects

For some reason, the copy editors at ST felt it wasn't worth mentioning that Kinda Hot was banned when it was first performed. Well, let's remind people.

(Not sure if this is my best review, though.)

>theatre
Back to Back Theatre
VivoCity Sentosa Concourse Level 3
Sunday
Ng Yi-Sheng

In the middle of VivoCity, four actors are staging a strange, compelling drama. Two men, Gary and Steve, have been contacted by a high-profile executive named Allan. They’ve agreed to sell him drugs for a big business party tonight, but Steve has experienced a breakdown and won’t move from the spot.

The plot of “small metal objects” is as simple as that, but the way Back to Back Theatre tells the story brings it to a whole new level. Hidden in the crowds, the actors are barely visible to the audience, who’re seated at a distance. They’re only audible to us because their voices are transmitted electronically to our headphones.

While stage characters usually appear larger than life, Gary, Steve and Allan look tiny to us, an oddly believable part of the human landscape that surrounds them. They’re visually obstructed by lines of tourists exiting the Sentosa train station, upstaged by mischievous children playing in the foreground. We almost believe we’re eavesdropping on a real transaction, one of the numerous everyday dramas that occur in our midst.

Productions comparable to this have been staged in the past. Spell #7, for example, created a performance tour of Little India in 2002 entitled “Kinda Hot”, though this was banned by the police due to concerns about “mingling”.

However, Back to Back Theatre has added a deeper layer to this show by recruiting intellectually disabled actors to devise and perform the two main characters. It’s never explicitly stated whether Gary and Steve have disabilities, but their hesitant, muted style of acting is disconcertingly different from what we’re used to.

Simon Laherty’s performance as Steve is particularly unsettling. Slack-jawed and wide-eyed, he stares blankly at the audience through most of the play as if idiotically terrified. But when Allan – and later, his psychologist colleague Carolyn – attempt to bribe him, first with money, then with offers of emotional and sexual favours, he resists with such insistence that he becomes our hero.

For all their money, power and intelligence, Allan and Carolyn are helpless when this man says no. Gary sticks by him, despite the knowledge that he’ll lose money for his devotion. It’s a slap in the face of the capitalist world of the mall, a reminder that some people can’t be bought.

The universe of “small metal objects” is so intimate, so embedded in the private interior worlds of other people that it makes us uncomfortable. Good theatre ought to achieve that.

I'm also a Trevvy columnist now.

Just did an article for Father's Day.

Incidentally, I'm also an outdoor improv participant.







Get in on the action at Mission: Singapore. (No, they're not a Christian recruiting centre. The leader is an 18 year-old kid in the NJC Malay Dance Troupe.)

Heard It On the Wireless

The following review was printed in today's Straits Times Life! - or at least, a version of it was.  Since I disagree with the way the editor treated it, I'm just gonna reproduce the original review here so it can be googlable.

>theatre
Heard it on the Wireless
The Kransky Sisters
Esplanade Recital Studio
Sunday
Ng Yi-Sheng

Even before the Kransky Sisters step on stage, you know they're going to be fun. A projector flashes photographs of their tours across Australia: a provincial world of dodgy rest-stops, community centre recitals and kangaroo road-kill.

Then the three sisters enter, dressed identically in black wigs, long-sleeved polka dotted blouses and low heeled shoes, each one dolled up as the very image of a stereotypical, straight-laced old maid. They bumble into position, introducing themselves with their eccentric brand of deadpan humour.

The real surprise for the audience is their music – oddly beautiful, yet completely off-kilter renditions of pop songs, played on a bizarre ensemble of electone, tuba, tambourine and carpenter's saw. (The last of these produces an eerily lovely twang when stroked with a violin bow).

You have to love the incongruity of the act: three middle-aged women performing tunefully harmonious covers of “Sweet Dreams Are Made of This”, “The Age of Aquarius” and “Highway to Hell”, all in the clipped, precise English of antique schoolteachers.

Songs are accompanied by rib-tickling banter: Mourne, the lead singer, describes their rural Queensland life with appalling anecdotes - memories of drunken fathers, hallucinogenic trips after mushroom soup, accidental burials of pet rabbits in wet concrete.

Mourne is echoed by her sister Eve, the percussionist, who barely dares to speak for herself, while Dawn – the woodwind player, born from their mother's scandalous second marriage – stays rigidly wordless throughout.

It's all terribly funny till halfway through, when the freshness of the concept starts to sag. Mind you, the Sisters never stop being amusing, and some great gags emerge involving audience participation. Still, they can't quite sustain the original energy of their comedy.

And it's at this point that the darkness of the show sinks in. These characters have led horribly oppressive lives, from the abuse suffered under their mother (who went after their ankles with a cheese-grater) to the way Mourne restrains Eve from pursuing romance. At one point, silent Dawn interrupts a song with an unending scream - plus, she's revealed to have tried to murder her sisters by marooning them in the desert.

I have to ask: is it tasteless of this show to mock spinsters, lampooning them as frigid and repressed? Or is it empowering – does it celebrate the figure of the independent, nonconformist older woman, one who can subvert pop culture as casually as she buries a dead emu?

I'm going to WordStorm!

FRIDAY 16 MAY

POETRY SLAM @ Vodka Bar
Hear featured artists Munkimuk, Ng Yi-Sheng, Cristavão Pereira, Scribe Sisters Speaking & Kelly-Lee Hickey before getting up to slam!
8:30-11pm $10/$5
Duck’s Nuts, 76 Mitchell St, Darwin


SATURDAY 17 MAY

LUNCHTIME READINGS:
OVER THERE – A TIGER CONNECTION Dorothy Porter, Yong Shu Hoong, Ng Yi-Sheng and Peter Minter all contributed to the first anthology of Singaporean and Australian poetry – Over There.
1:15-2:15pm Speaking Tree FREE

ADUH! A PEOPLE’S THEATRE
Theatre practitioners John Waromi, Mary Anne Butler, Tom E Lewis and Ng Yi-Sheng challenge ‘the fourth wall’ in community-driven performance projects that matter. Facilitator: Sandra Thibodeaux
2:30-4pm MAGNT Theatrette


SUNDAY 18 MAY

THE PRACTICE OF SUBVERSION
Subversives Charles Firth, Jennifer Mills, Gayle Kennedy and Ng Yi-Sheng recount their challenges to the status quo, the nation state and the States.
Facilitator: Mark Bowling
2:30-4pm Arafura Tent

PASSION @ ABSOLUTELY
Rendezvous with Ng Yi-Sheng, Dorothy Porter & Shellie Morris in a toast to passion and the muse. Drinks & finger food
4:30-6:30pm $10
Absolutely Books, Cullen Bay

Launch of Over There @ South Perth Poetry Park!

Basically, if you wanna come, it's on:

Thursday, 15 May

5:30pm

Neil McDougall Park, Como

Perth, WA

Australia

Oceania

The World

RSPV [sic] essential. Invitation & map attached.

Please email library@southperth.wa.gov.au or call 9474 0800.

From NAC:

A Poetry Park will be launched at the Neil McDougall Park in South Perth, Australia to celebrate the outstanding work and achievements of Western Australia’s poets. The opening also marks the launch of Over There: Poems from Singapore & Australia, an anthology of Singaporean and Australian poets, edited by Alvin Pang and John Kinsella.

The event to be held on Thursday, 15 May 2008 will be officiated by the Honourable Sheila McHale MLA, Australian Minister for Disability Services, Tourism, Culture & the Arts.

The Singapore contingent for the launch led by Lee Suan Hiang, Chief Executive Officer, National Arts Council, will comprise Meritorious Service Medal recipient, Professor Edwin Thumboo, distinguished poet and literary scholar, Professor Kirpal Singh, as well as acclaimed Singapore poets, Alvin Pang and Ng Yi-Sheng, and publisher Ethos Books for Over There, Fong Hoe Fang.

Whee! I've got recognition from NAC! (Now if they'd only start including me in their brochures of notable Singapore writers...)

And then after that, WordStorm in Darwin! Seeya there!)

My first articles on The Online Citizen!

Homophobia Part 1: the MDA Censors the Family

Homophobia Part 2: Under Attack from the Police

Although one commenter's called me a faggot (well, duh), another commenter (who didn't seem completely pro-gay rights) put up a link to a pretty interesting essay of his in which he compares gay male sex to smoking.  His conclusion is that it's harmful to health, but it should be legal, and better education should be available.  (He seems to be very distrustful of the effectiveness of condoms, though.)

What's Coming Up?

A bunch of things!

First off, I'll be doing a reading together with a bunch of Singapore and Australian poets in Perth, to launch "Over There: Poems from Singapore and Australia". I'll be going with Ethos publishers.

15 May: Launch at Poetry Park, Perth at 5pm

Then I'll be attending WordStorm, a writers' festival in Darwin.

16 May: Poetry Slam at Vodka Bar, Darwin, 8:30pm
17 May: Out There - A Tiger Connection at 1:15pm
Pride Event at Books Absolutely at 2:30pm

Then in August, I'll be organising a queer poetry reading in Singapore:

5 August: ContraDiction IV at 72-13, (part of the IndigNation Festival)

And having two plays go up:

13-17 August: The Final Temptation of Stamford Raffles by W!ld Rice, directed by Christina Sergeant, at the Drama Centre Theatre (part of the Singapore Theatre Festival)
28-30 August: Reservoir by Theatreworks, directed by Choy Ka Fai, at 72-13.

Just fyi!

The Soldier and His Virtuous Wife
The Theatre Practice
Reviewer: Kenneth Kwok
09/04/2008

The laughs are often cheap and obvious but that shamelessness is the essence of the play: Soldier is here to entertain entertain entertain and this it does with much colour and charm. The funniest moments are when this ridiculously over-the-top musical-comedy take on Chinese opera segues into Western pop cultural references and sensibilities (Bananarama, hip hop, vogueing) but really, the whole play is gag after gag. Kudos to director May Lan for her vibrant vision (and attention to detail - look out for the sight gags in the background) and the strong ensemble cast especially Darius Tan as the billionaire trying to lure the Virtuous Wife from her Soldier husband and Liu Hong and Katherine Tang as his sycophantic sidekicks. Utterly hilarious!

****

Reviewer: Ng Yi-Sheng
04/04/2008

A rollicking good show! Though derived from the tropes and traditions of Chinese opera, The Soldier and His Virtuous Wife overflows with zany contemporary physical humour and wit, stimulating viewers with a non-stop array of song, dance and acrobatics. Director May Lan, who originally staged this Taiwanese musical here in 1996 and 1998, succeeds brilliantly with a new cast of gifted singers and actors. Joanna Dong is especially charming as Meiying, the virtuous wife herself, defending the honour of her husband who's gone off to war with equal parts innocent charm and ballbreakin' girl power, though, in fact, the whole ensemble packs a punch: the goofy husband Qiuhu (Ric Liu), the charismatic villain Master Lee (Darius Tan) and the kungfu-kicking Officer (Gordon Choy), to name a few. And the polymorphic anarchy of the show is unbelievable: arias break into pop songs, tea ceremonies dissolve into the macarena, servants hurl chocolate ingots into the audience and old mother-in-laws or lechers burst out with tunes from The Phantom of the Opera or The Magic Flute or Teresa Teng's Greatest Hits. It is mad, and in the best way possible: I barely stopped laughing throughout the 105-minute performance.

****1/2

This first impressions review first appeared on The Flying Inkpot and has been archived here for posterity.

Clark in Sarajevo
LASALLE BA (Hons) Acting Programme
Reviewer: Kenneth Kwok
28/03/2008

Clark started off strongly with both the playwright Catherine Zimdahl and the director Steven Rassios showing much creativity in the way the situation in war-torn Sarajevo was being presented on a bare stage: besides the use of poetry and physical theatre, for example, most interesting was the risky choice of using humour as the play’s foundation. The second half, however, lacked the coherence of the first and disintegrated into a shaky series of vignettes that did not really build towards the impactful final scene (which saw the actors lighting a rectangle of fire around themselves along the borders of the stage). Even the surreal sight of Jesus as Wonder Woman singing 80s ballad Eternal Flame with a bevy of backing singers and dancers at one point which should have made you sit up and take notice felt a little contrived and not really well thought through. The production was meant as a showcase for LASALLE’s first cohort of BA (Hons) Acting graduates and, in that regard, however, Clark was a resounding success. Led by a charming performance by Crispian Chan as the bumbling reporter Clark Cant investigating the troubles in Sarajevo, the ensemble cast of actors impressed with their confidence, clarity and commitment to their various roles with Rayann Condy as a prostitute with a heart of gold the obvious standout (special mention also goes to the precision of Emanorwatty Saleh’s dramatic soundscape). It is a pity that only one of the cast was Singaporean as, judging by the quality of tonight’s performances, our local students are missing out on a real opportunity for quality training through LASALLE’s BA (Hons) Acting programme under Edith Podesta.

***1/2

This first impressions review first appeared on The Flying Inkpot and has been archived here for posterity.

Death and Rebirth - NUS Lit Nite

Life, love and drama serials. This reading explores how temporal most things are in our lives – and how new beginnings are just around the corner, just when we think things - as we know it – have ended.

I didn't write that blurb, so I can't apologise for it. Anyhoo, that's the theme for the next reading I'm part of: part of the NUS Arts Festival, to be held this Sunday evening.

Details are as follows:

· Date of event: Sunday, 23 March 2008
· Time of event: 6pm – 6.45pm
· Duration of event: 45 min (10 min reading)
· Venue: Theatre Foyer, University Cultural Centre, NUS

Also reading with me are David Leo and Shi Min.

QLRS reviews last boy

Finally. Thanks, Aaron Lee.

Read Heartland of Myths and Alter Egos here.

Theatre Idols – Finals
Action Theatre
Reviewer: Ng Yi-Sheng
17/3/08
Esplanade Concert Hall

What a surprise – out of nowhere, young playwrights Jacke Chye and Christine Sim have appeared wielding remarkably solid scripts at this competition for new Singapore plays. Better still, their plays are completely different creatures, and both rather good: Chye's Catching Adam Cheng is a cute, feel-good comedy about four women escaping from their old folks' home to catch an Adam Cheng concert, with well-drawn characters, strong motivations and good pacing, while Sim's Numb is a mad Sarah Kane-esque psychodrama of sex, sadism and alienation, centred around the character of a surgeon who finds she is slowly losing her sense of touch. Both writers fall into the trap of spouting platitudes, and a whole lot of deadweight's had to be shed between the first reading and this presentation. But it's clear that the theatre writing scene has two new faces to contend with. Let's hope they stick it out. (Since you're curious: Catching Adam Cheng won the audience's vote, but if you ask me, it's the more dangerous Numb that brings something fresh to the table. And it bleeds.) (Oh yes, and acting-wise Jeremy Lee got the audience award, but if you ask me it was Esther Yap whose comic and psychotic roles really carried the day. I just gotta be contrary.)


***1/2

This first impressions review first appeared on The Flying Inkpot and has been archived here for posterity.

I Has A New Book!

And it lookz lyk dis:


Itz mai commisshunned book 4 ACS (Indiependunt)! Da tytle iz "On His Wings: ...soaring twenty years on", it costs $25ive dollarz, and dere is evun a foto of me insidez! L00k!!!1!!


Plz commisshun me 4 more stuf kthxbye.

And for all you ACS boys out there, Happy Founders' Day. Oldham Dauntless Hero didn't come for nuthin', yknow.

I'm going to the Man Hong Kong Literary Festival!

My first ever writers' festival! (I was never properly invited to the Singapore one, doncha know.) Here's the events I'll be doing:

Thursday, 6 March

8:00pm | Joyce is Not Here, 38-44 Peel Street, Central | free

event code: 806H

Poetry Roundtable -- Reconnect with poetry as local and international poets read and discuss their work. Featuring Andrew Barker, Sally Dellow, Sayed Gouda, Viki Holmes, Isa Kamari, David McKirdy, Ng Yi-Sheng and Cai Tianxin. Moderated by local poet Martin Alexander.

Friday, 7 March

7:00pm | The Fringe Theatre | HK$90

event code: 807G

Rhyme Across Time -- "To have great poets there must be great audiences too." ~ Walt Whitman. Experience the poetry of Sylvia Plath, Kit Wright, Caroline Kiser, William Blake and Ted Hughes on: beginnings, home, love, spirit, and endings as read by local poets Martin Alexander, Andrew Barker, Sally Dellow, Jason Lee and Madeleine Marie Slavick. Featured poets Viki Holmes, Isa Kamari, Ng Yi-Sheng and Cai Tianxin interpret these topics in their own distinctive voices. Moderated by local poet David McKirdy.

Saturday,8 March

2:00pm | The Fringe Studio | HK$90

event code: 808H

Labels: Gay Literature -- Is there such a thing as gay literature? Can writing be a tool to come out? Does one have to be gay to write a gay novel? This session discusses gay culture and what the label implies. Nigel Collett leads a discussion with Peter Moss, Ng Yi-Sheng and Alon Hilu.

Can you believe it? People will actually pay money to see me! (Um, me and Isa Kamari/Alon Hilu, that is.)

Nanyang Literary Festival 2008 - Pandora’s Box

I'm reading at NTU's Lit Festival tomorrow!

20th February 2008, Wednesday
OFFICIAL OPENING CEREMONY
Venue: Canopy J, Canteen A
Duration: 11.30am – 4.00pm

(I've got the 11:45ish to 12:30 slot).

Front

I was on Front, our weekly embarrassingly-contrived-wannabe-hip arts TV show last night - 9:30pm, Tuesday, Arts Central. Missed it 'cos I was at a poetry slam at Velvet Underground.

The topic of the story was "Is rap the new poetry?" I'm not sure if they recorded the bit where I say what a retarded question that is.

Anyhow, it oughta be rerunning on TVMobile all of this week. Stay tuned.

BWISITOR Series 4

I'm visiting the Philippines from 24 to 30 Jan. And through some absurd turn of events, I've been invited as a speaker at the University of Manila.

A PERFORMANCE BY RUNAR MAGNUSSON – Icelandic sound artist

January 23, Wednesday

1-2.30 pm, Production Design Class

College of Mass Communications Auditorium

U.P. Diliman

+

A CONVERSATION WITH NG YI-SHENG – Singaporean writer & queer activist

January 25, Friday

1-2.30 pm, Youth Culture and Cinema Class

A-107-B, Film Institute

U.P. Diliman

THE BWISITOR SERIES FEATURES INVITED GUESTS FROM VARIOUS DISCIPLINES - ARTISTS, FILMMAKERS, PHOTOGRAPHERS, DESIGNERS, CURATORS, WRITERS - WHO WILL BE SHARING THEIR IDEAS, WORKS AND EXPERIENCES WITHIN AN INTIMATE CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT. THE SERIES IS FACILITATED BY YASON BANAL.

PAST BWISITORS INCLUDE MANUEL OCAMPO, RAYMOND LEE, RINGO BUNOAN, MAY DATUIN, NICCOLO COSME, MERVIN ESPINA, KHAVN DELACRUZ, LAV DIAZ, TEDDY CO, TAD ERMITANO, JOHNNY ALCAZAREN, STEVE TIRONA, KIKO ESCORA, EILEEN LEGASPI-RAMIREZ, ALEXIS TIOSECO, EDWARD BASSE, RAYA MARTIN, MADS ADRIAS, QUARK HENARES, RICO ILARDE , POKLONG ANADING, CONRADO VELASCO, SANDRA PALOMAR, MARIA TANIGUCHI, NONA GARCIA, MARTIN MASADAO, MARTA LOVINA, KIKO SOEDER, GEOLETTE ESGUERRA, TRINKA LAT AND CHRISTINA DY.

ADMISSION IS FREE.

The reason behind all of this oddness is that I once met Filipino artist Yason Banal at the Singapore Biennale, almost participated into a performance art event by him, and ultimately ended up interviewing him for Fridae.com.

Actually, my life is just odd. Very odd.

"Frostbite" at Short and Sweet Sydney 2008

My highly depressive 10-minute play "Frostbite" is going up at the Short and Sweet festival in Sydney. It's going on during Week 3 at the Seymour Centre. If you h-a-p-p-e-n to be in the city at that time, go see it. :)

Haven't had even a phone conversation with my director Frieda Lee (she called, but I was back late, and it's been expensive for her), but hey, it's in another country, I'm not gonna see it. Tell me how she does, won't you?

Short and Sweet Week 3
29 Jan to 2 February
Seymour Centre
Cnr City Rd & Cleveland St.

Bookings:
SEYMOUR 9351 7940
MCA TIX 1300 306 776
www.mca-tix.com

Update: Huh. Seems like I'm the only Singaporean writer on the schedule of 130 plays (although not the only Singapore-based writer, since Nick Perry has "An Illustrated Talk" at Newtown during Week 4). Considering how Frostbite is written for an American campus setting, this kinda suggests that the content of the festival's gonna be a trifle... how can I be tactful?... white.

Other Singaporeans made the shortlist of 317, but just weren't chosen by directors. Sure, it's a little dangerous for someone to stage a piece that's written for a different culture from what s/he's familiar with. But still.

Anyhow, at least two of my Interplay friends are being performed - Sime Knezevic from Brisbane and Ivor Martinic from Croatia. Prost.

Three Poets: Amirthanayagam, Nansi and Ng

I've been featured on the blog of the very cool performance poet Sharanya Manivannan. Check it out.

Run for Cover

Enoch wants to reprint my poetry collection, last boy. Enoch wants a new image for the cover.

Preferably I'd like to use an image by a Singapore artist - the last image was by Brian Gothong Tan, a reworking of this graphic:


I could use one of his works again, but it'd be cooler to find a new image... the themes of the book are youth and a multicultural/homosexual coming of age...

Any suggestions?