Tagged: Observations

Are Street Buskers Marginalized in Singapore?

Buskers are rooted while pedestrians keep moving. They are passively labelled an ‘other’, to the extent they cannot perceive possibilities beyond entertainment.

Kranji Countryside - Bollywood Veggies - Pond

Kranji Countryside: The “Rural” Face of Singapore

Three dollars and you get a seat on the hourly shuttle bus from the Kranji train station to Kranji Countryside. I chose to drop off at Bollywood Veggies, a 10-acre farm featuring huge varieties of plants. This was only matched by the handwritten signs educating visitors on the crops they...

Penang Entopia Alligator

Penang Trip: Entopia

Entopia, the real-life alternative to Zootopia. Instead of animals, the formerly-named Penang Butterfly Farm not only sets our hearts aflutter, but also makes our stomachs churn. Butterflies merely evoke an imagined utopia to lure us into the dungeon of scorpions and tarantulas! Fear not if creeps aren’t your thing. More...

Penang Hill Love

Penang Trip: Romance of Penang Hill

Air Itam, the site of magnificence perched on hills. It’s a fitting name even if “air” doesn’t mean 20% 0xygen, and is actually pronounced with two vowels: “AH-eh” (simplified IPA: [ɑ.e]). Better yet, it means ‘water’! (As for the other word, I’ve heard both “EE-tam” and “AI-tam”. I’m tending towards the...

Upside Down Museum, Penang

Penang Trip: Upside Down Museum

Museum. The word evokes shared silence, a state of appreciation in honour of rare artifacts and dim lights. I’ve thought of wearing slippers to museums, because the flapping feet movements will turn me into an object of constant scrutiny, like I am an exhibit of historical or artistic value. This time round,...

CNY River Hongbao Multi-Ethnicity

SG Streetscapes: Photographing River Hongbao

Most of my Lunar New Years had been spent among relatives, so I wanted to immerse in the public festivities for a change. Taking photos was easy in the thick of camera-equipped crowds. The main issue was, how well can I represent the cultural realities in ever-moving crowds? The field...