Sunday, February 17, 2008

"possibicity" and obscenity

I was reading an article about Venice when I thought of this whole Uniquely Singapore campaign and I felt a keen sense of loss for what might have been. Inexplicable, really, since nothing was actually lost.

Anyway some facts about Venice. Apparently the once-bustling European commercial hub has a population of less than 50,000 these days. Most of the people you see there are tourists. Described as a "city destroyed by its own beauty", Venice today is little more than a museum city, a place where citizens are viewed as actors and their hometown a theme park; they exist mainly for other people's amusement. That's probably a compliment if you're Disneyland but if you're Venice, it's not good.

At this point, I ought to work up some poetic sadness for Venice, but all I could think about are my friend's words: "'Venice looks good on postcards, but in reality it's nothing great and... my god, the canals stink!"

I suppose I could take solace in that Singapore is nothing like Venice. As a matter of fact, we are poised for great things (if you're the cynical sort, at least that's what the government is saying). This drive to be something sparkly, a magnet for talent in this backwater region (so Malaysia sent some guy to space, big deal, it doesn't change a thing about this region), is supposed to bring us to the next level of city-building. If Singapore is one of the playable cities in Sid Meier's "Civilization" or "Sim City", I would say this is the beginning of a Golden Age and our cultural borders are about to expand.

Well, in a computer game, that's how it's supposed to be. But life is not a computer game. Of course, there are times I'm honestly struck by the similarities, but I like to think of life as something more transcendent and sublime. Not so perfectly logical and readily mastered - where's the fun otherwise?

Singapore is truly a work of mechanical genius. If Venice is "destroyed by its own beauty", then Singapore is destroyed by the lack of it. There is nothing in particular that brings to mind the intense pleasure or deep satisfaction that true beauty inspires.

Perhaps it's me; I find little joy in engineered successes, however resounding it's made out to be. In a piece of machinery, I'd be quite impressed, but not in a society made up of human beings. How much spontaneity and authenticity was lost to make the success possible? We may never know.

Increasingly I find that to immerse myself in the Singapore system is to live a reduced existence. Through the years I actually needed to forget certain parts of who I am in order to function in the system. But as I grow older, I discover how precious those forgotten memories are, and now that I remember them, I cannot let them go. To hell with everything else

Friday, February 15, 2008

back

Took another sabbatical from blogging. Was suffering from the cursed writer’s block, so thought it’d be better for me to stop writing for a while instead of boring my readers with my incessant rants and raves.

The past few months went by in a blur. Work kind of took up much of my time then. I suspect it will take up much of my time in the coming months too. Think I will stop here for today. The shroud of the my writer’s block is still fogging up my mind. Hope to update soon.