孤独

“思考是孤独的，
但这样的孤独却是必要的；
创作是孤独的，
但这样的孤独也是迷人的。
我们有太多无法与他人言明的幽微感受，
说不出来，
所以孤独。”

“孤独是我的，我同样无法分一些给你，
但孤独开启我创作的动力。
我用画与文字去营造打动自己的美好或悲戚，
并借以来打动你。
若是有缘，
你必也能读懂我那一刻的美好与悲戚。”

摘自《绘本创作记》 -- 阿果
（刊登于《联合早报》 文艺城。2010年9月17日，zbNOW P7)

We must heal when we can

We must heal, when we can;

comfort, when we can't --

and be wise enough to know

which would be the best course of action

in each particular case.

-- Lee Wei Ling

(from the Sunday Times, 12 Sept 2010 p31)

I am a fan of Wei Ling's column. I am always amazed how different she is from her father. In spite of herfamily background, she seems to live simply and austerely ...

Home

I've fallen in love with Joe Ng's version of HOME that is featured in the Sandcastle:
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=459012710545

Sandcastle itself is full of symbolism loaded with socio-political critique about this place I call home. And some reviews of the movie chose to add on the criticism and attack on the Singapore.

Sometimes, if you believe all the criticism you read on the web, you would think that this place is really a rotten place. And for a person not born here, why did I choose to call this place home?

The truth is, in the end, it is the emotions that binds. This is where I grow up. This is where my friends and family are. This is where my memories are. It is the bits and pieces, here and there, then and now, that forms the emotional ties that roots me here.

This is not a perfect place. I wish the 377A is not there and gay people won't be discriminated. I wish censorship can be relaxed. I wish there is more political freedom and debate. I wish the government won't be so mercenary, holding economic growth above everything else, and constantly bribing people with money and materialistic things. I wish the government won't be so harsh on criticism, and doesn't have to insist it is right all the time. I wish for more nature space and more preservation of its past.

But things are improving, even if the changes are not fast enough for some people. The silver lining in all the criticisms is that there are people who know somethings are not right. That our Home needs more than material enrichment. As long as there are people who are aware, we can be optimistic that this will become a better place. Of course, there are many people who choose to complain and do nothing. But there are people who get on their feet and do something, through civil groups, through forums and feedbacks, through art and creative works, through individual actions in daily life.

And some, choose to create a movie with a message to awaken the socio-political consciousness of the people.

I think it is significant that Sandcastle choose the song HOME to close the movie.

In the end, this is home, and after all the criticism and self-reflection, we'll get down to make this a better place, in spite of the circumstances.

Urban amnesia

On Singapore's frenetic urban renewal:

"If we are constantly rewriting our city,
we are constantly in a state of amnesia
and it will be hard to connect back
to our original feelings about the landscape of our country."

- Architect Khoo Peng Beng (quoted on The Straits Times, 7 Sept 2010 Pg A24)

If only the URA understood that.

抄袭《梦见大树》

最近，我发现有人抄袭了我写的《梦见大树》，放在他自己的部落格上。

说是抄袭，因为除了改了名字，更本是字句相同。

起初，也不知道是开心还是生气。我想，人家要抄袭，应该也是有所感动，喜欢上了这一篇，才抄到自己的部落格上。说起来，这也不是我的原创。我也是看到了一篇感动的作品，再改写出来的。所以就算了。

一般上，如果是转载他人的作品或引用典故，我都会指明出处或原作者。

《梦见大树》是改写的，所以没记下原作。但是其实与原作还是非常相似，难免会有抄袭之嫌。只是，现在已记不起来了，无法找回原作。依稀记得，好象是从一本从图书馆借来的中国微型小说集看到的。原来的作品只提到了春、夏与秋。“冬天挡风”是我加上去的。

有谁看到了原作，通知我一下。