Our Garden City, Singapore!

Singapore may be a little red dot bereft of natural resources and significant natural landscapes, but it has achieved numerous thumbs up in her efforts to alleviate living comforts in the land scarce city state. Her laurels are many, but one that I particularly enjoy is the greenery of the island.

I did not begin to appreciate the greenery as a child, being a young ignorant being. Having grown up in tropical Singapore, I always lament when the relentless scorching sun teaming up with humidity renders us in beads of perspiration and frustration. It's only of late (thanks to my school going kids while revising their science) that I am reminded that the deliberate effort of pruning Singapore into a garden city allows better ecosystem of regulating air purity and temperature. Without these majestic trees lining up the roads, there will be no canopies to provide shelter and photosynthesis to furnish fresh oxygen...

The other obvious benefit of greenery is the beauty of trees literally. It adds very subtle charm to a city. Whether I am driving or riding on a bus, it's a pleasant sight looking out - I see greens (green color has a soothing effect?) lining the road, screening the buildings instead of pure concrete jungle as in most cities. Without trees, cities become eyesores, regardless of how magnificent or pretty the buildings are as individuals versus the entirety of the landscape. This dawned on me as I travel more around the world. To be fair, some cities are pleasing with their share of trees and flowers, but with seasons of shedding and being bare half of the year, Singapore has the advantage of being an evergreen garden city all year round.

I delight in our garden city everyday as I step outdoors, the brief glimpse of trees is enough to soothe the eyes and moods. Even  on my jogs along roadside enroute to Botanic Gardens, it's a pleasant experience whizzing past the trees that line the pavement. I'm loving my garden city more each day!

I can't help crafting a typical scene of trees lining the road for my SG50 Needle Felting Personal Challenge, it's not a real challenge in terms of skills but representative of our garden city, Singapore!

Disney Princess

Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs is a classic cartoon movie that etched deep in my memory - my generation of girls grew up with fairy tale stories and naively held dear the notion that One Day our own Prince Charming will come sweeping us off the ground and we will live Happily Ever After... But truth be told, life doesn't stay the same ever after, it's full of challenges, entailing happy rides and less happy bumps. Most of us learn the hard way as life experience throws us out of our dreamy yearnings.

I'm not alleging that Disney Princess fairy tales are lame. Many of the princesses went through hardships before attaining their 'Happily Ever After' - Snow White, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Beauty & the Beast, etc. The fallacy is the concept of 'Happily Ever After'. Nothing stays the same in reality, everything is constantly changing or evolving. Life is a haphazard collision of factors within and beyond our control. What's imperative is the attitude towards life challenges and maturing as a wiser, better learned self.

'Happily Ever After' in Disney tales feeds hopes in girls, but an over abundance of similar themes may lead to girls thinking their ultimate dream is to meet their Prince Charming and be happily in love after, only to be heartbroken when reality deals them otherwise. Dynamics in a relationship changes over time and it takes 2 persons more than just love to keep the relationship strong, enduring, healthy and happy. As to how, there are no hard and fast rules, each relationship is different with its unique trials and circumstances.

Thankfully Disney evolves with time. The recent Disney Princess themes do not revolve in a 'Happily Ever After' over a Prince Charming. There are other loves and themes in life that are accorded equal importance, if not more - love between parent and child, love between siblings, friendship love, etc. Even loving your own self! As with all things in life, everything in moderation and nothing excessive, lest it becomes narcissism or obsessive love. I applaud Frozen and Brave for its different themes, embracing sister love and courage to fight one's happiness. I particularly fancy Merida for her carefree spirit and being herself instead of crumbling to social expectations. To Merida!

Marvel Super Heroes

Looking at 2 of my creations for SG50 Needle Felting Personal Challenge gave me an idea - the Samsui woman and NSman crafted for my SG50 challenge were well received by many people for its cuteness and originality, making me prideful ;p Hence I decided to craft more 'cute little people' of diversities and claim it as my signature style! The next inspiration is none other than my childhood favourite heroine, Wonder Woman!

Wonder Woman is probably unknown to my children's generation, their superheroes were some strange forms of Mutant Ninja Turtles, cold looking Transformers and others unbeknownst to me. Fortunately these were transient heroes that do not get stuck in their psyche and they move  on with the flow of current trends. The only character that is still entertaining to them is SpongeBob SquarePants, which I have to admit I find it enjoyable due to its humour.

Thanks to my generation that grew up with classic Superheroes by Marvel, there have been productions of Marvel Superheroes in movies by these talented and creative fans in the film industry - Superman, the Incredible Hulk, Batman, Spider-Man, Captain America, Thor, Ironman and lately an amalgamation of Superheroes, The Avengers! They are big budget hi-tech fanciful movies appealing to both children and adults. Now the next generation takes an interest in Marvel comics and their Superheroes.

Back to Wonder Woman - why is there no remake of Wonder Woman in movies?! It's the heroine of most girls my generation, not Barbie Doll?!! Hmmm, could it be due to the movie industry being male dominated - they fantasised out their own male heroes versus the women's female heroes? In any case, it will not eradicate Wonder Woman in my heart ;p 

Here I present the Superheroes of my childhood - Wonder Woman, Superman and The Incredible Hulk (though Hulk was supposedly chunkier in upper body but will not fit into the signature style) :-)

Samsui Woman

The challenge to needle felt 50 iconic or representative items of Singapore had led me to a journey of discovering Singapore's heritage. As I gather information and google for pictures of some items, I realize I have very little knowledge of some of the pieces I am crafting. It piques my curiosity further and I research more. It becomes my learning adventure of knowing Singapore in depth.

One of my newly acquired knowledge was the Samsui women - they were typical of Singapore's past. Samsui women were immigrants from China's province of Guangdong (Sanshui, hence the name Samsui) in 1930s & 1940s to work in construction or industrial sites of Singapore (some others work as domestic servants for the wealthy households). These women were clothed in dark blue loose shirts and pants with an apron. What's striking about them was their headgear - crimson red flattish bandana atop their weather beaten faces. They were referred as 红头巾 in Chinese. My daughter learnt in school that the samsui women wore 红头巾 as it was eye-catching and would reduce occurrences of accidents at the work site.

I had never seen a samsui woman in my life. They would be in their 90s by now, not many alive, some had left to return to their hometown in China. I remembered a popular TV drama series of 红头巾 in the 1980s and that was my first ‘encounter’ of samsui women but didn’t leave much imprint in me. As I dug out more information about the samsui women, I feel a deep respect for them. They were a thrifty, hardworking and sacrificial lot! Their main purpose for working in Singapore was to earn money to send back to their families in China. Most of them vowed never to marry. They toiled hard in the construction sites, digging and carrying sand under tropical heat, labouring long hours. They lived in cramped quarters, ate spartanly and patched up old clothes, saving every cent they could. Some even took up hawker jobs beyond their long hours at construction sites to earn a little extra for savings. They were also known to be women of integrity and not engage in vices - opium, prostitution, etc despite their hardship.

Whenever I read about women of hardship (or children in disadvantaged circumstances) it is always heart wrenching, wish I could do more to help them... Also, these reads made me count my blessings, that I am fortunate to be born in a modern era and in Singapore!

Here's to the samsui women whom contributed to Singapore’s nation building!

SG50

2015 is Singapore's 50th birthday since independence in 1965, there will be massive celebrations to mark this special anniversary coined as SG50. Many organisations, whether private or public driven, have lined up various programs and events in the name of SG50. The Ministry of Manpower declared an additional public holiday for residents to bask in the celebration, in hope that everyone gets a chance to commemorate National Day one way or another. I am certainly thrilled ;p

In conjunction with SG50, I decided to come up with my personal SG50 needle felting challenge, meaning I will needle felt 50 items that are either iconic or representative of Singapore leading up to National Day, August 9.

It will be a challenge for 3 reasons. Firstly, compiling a list of 50 items is a task. Singapore is a very young nation, with rather weak heritage and culture teemed with non existent natural resources, it is relatively difficult to list 50 icons that uniquely identifies Singapore. I cracked my brain real hard and merely coughed up with 30 plus names. I had to broadcast an appeal for ideas from friends on my Facebook to boost my list.

Secondly, the feasibility of the ideas that poured in. The synergy of brain power yields wonderful contribution :-) However, not every suggestion is viable to be needle felted in this challenge due to intricacy of details, which ties in with the third reason - time constraint.

Essentially any idea may be needle felted so long as one has the imagination and patience. The craft of needle felting is a time consuming process, a project involving complex and intricate details will command man hours in weeks or even months. The 1st item for my SG50 challenge was The Merlion, a project I started last July, hoping to complete in time for last year's National Day. It was supposed to be a mini Merlion of height 5 inches but as I poked, it turned out bigger and bigger due to the detailing. It became tiresome and boring, I dropped it last August and only picked it up again this March to finish it off.

Thirdly, as aforementioned, time constraint. I could only needle felt during my free time, which mounts up to an average of 2-3 hours daily. It is 15 weeks to my dateline of 9 Aug, translating to an average of 3 features per week. It means I have to be selective in my choice of items, that they have to be simple and quick enough for me to complete. Thus friends, if I do not needle felt your contributed idea, it is not because I do not like the idea but due to time constraint. My apologies in advance!

Tribute to Mr Lee Kuan Yew

The passing of Mr Lee Kuan Yew has left a whirlwind of emotions in Singaporeans, as evident in the flood of tributes and comments all over Singapore and social media. Mostly were respectful manifestation of gratitude and awe in grieving, with a minute camp of 'slightly sad' whose opinion lingered a sliver of skepticism on LKY's legacy. Whatever ones' opinion, let this be a mourning week and leave the differences aside.

After 2 days of private wake at the Istana, Mr Lee Kuan Yew's body is lying in State in the Parliament House and members of public have been streaming endlessly to pay their respects. In fact, it is an incredibly long queue of 8 hours wait to enter the parliament building but it doesn't deter most people in queue, despite the hot and humid weather. Such a solidarity show of the Singaporean spirit is heartwarming. Even in the mournful state, the authorities displayed their trait of efficiency and reacted speedily to keep the Lying in State open 24 hours to the public, easing the queue time. Nonetheless, the waiting time in queue stands at 3 hours at 12 midnight... Hats off to my fellow countrymen!

As for myself, it has been a moving target from original plan of 4pm visit with family to 1am visit with hubs but alas, he has limited waking power, as I pen this, he has drifted into dreamland with no holds barred. We will play by ear over the next 3 days depending on queue situation to pay our last respects to the founding father of modern Singapore.

Singapore is where I am born and educated, where I work and raise my own family. Over the years, I feel more and more appreciative of Singapore - for its safety and security, cleanliness and greenness, efficiency and orderliness, compactness and convenience, etc etc - things that my generation has taken for granted. While there is imperfection (as with any place on earth), I have learnt to make the best out of the flaws and whine less. At the end of the day, I feel blessed to have been born and grow up in a progressive and just society, study and work in a meritocratic environment, raising my kids in a safe and  invigorating country. It seems cliché to attribute the progress of Singapore to Mr Lee Kuan Yew but had he not been the driving force, I cannot imagine how Singapore would have been carved out from 50 years back. Think what you wish, but all I want to do is give thanks to Mr Lee Kuan Yew for his vision, wisdom and energy, bringing Singapore to where it is now, including his team of cabinet groomed under his wings.

My Salute to you, Sir!

My Firstborn

My firstborn is 11 going 12! It's amazing how time flies, from a new born baby to an adorable feisty toddler, sweet pre-schooler to an artsy pre-teen. She's been my sunshine since she came into my life, despite short bursts of tyranny - 1st 5 months she simply refused to sleep through the night, demanding to be carried at differing positions to go into slumber and her 'terrible two' stage. In general, she's a sensible, sensitive and gregarious child, with an inclination and passion towards creative crafts, which takes priority over her academic studies. Unfortunately, Singapore school system is not conducive for her type of personality that tends to learn better in a creative environment, even in areas of academic studies.

My firstborn is a cheerful and charming girl. Even as a toddler, she'll be beaming smiles at people. When she was about 14 months old while in the arms of my mom who was doing her grocery shopping at a supermarket, she flashed her signature smile at a lady who was so captivated that the lady invited my mom and daughter to her home right after. My mom called me later to inform me that they were at a 'stranger's' house, to my horror! I quickly went over to fetch them and it turned out that the stranger lady was a kind lady who had a boy about the same age as my girl. Thereafter, both kids became playmates and the stranger lady has become a dear family friend, all thanks to a charming smile ;p

As my first born grows, her smiles and laughters continue to warm my heart, as well as others'. Many people commented that my girl's laughter is spontaneous and contagious and brightens up everyone's mood :-) May my girl be a joyful person always!

Tapestry

This is the first piece I am writing since onset of 2015... It's been a hectic beginning - adjusting kids back into the routine of school term, attending Meet-the-Parents sessions, social gatherings, work and family. Now I can finally sit back and pen my reflections, which may not be much, as it's a haphazard swirl of thoughts. These thoughts unravel in my mind as I needle felt or weave, which is one of the reasons why I enjoy poking. Needle felting is a slow, philosophic and silent occupation, which keeps you busy but gives you time to think of other things. It allows my mind to wander freely, pondering on life and its mysteries.

Too many incidences have transpired lately, social, societal and global, they serve as food for thought to life in general, leading to no satisfactory answer to each bit of wonder. Restlessness surfaces as the thoughts swim about, leaving me more thankful to each day, to each blessing bestowed, to each love in my life and hopefully I am able to give back all the blessings to all around me.

Maybe life is like a tapestry, with all the entanglements and weavings, everything is intertwined. There's no exact blueprint, the tapestry is weaved based on instinct and freedom of choice, and sometimes due to restraint, it's weaved in a different manner from original intent but still yields a fulfilling result. It echoes my experience with life, as well as my first tapestry weaving. I had an idea of what I want (breads), a vague design of the backdrop (baskets of breads on shelves) and my ideal (French floor tiles) and started weaving without outlining the exact count. I went along as it flowed. Not every tile is perfect but in the big scheme of the entire tapestry, it looks coherent. As I weaved on, I ran short on a color and could not replace it with the exact color and texture, I re-designed the backdrop into a store frontage instead. It turned out pretty well, a French Boulangerie :-)