Her Dance Odyssey

Last year was a monumental year for Big Bee in terms of her dance commitments. She was appointed as Ballet President for that year, and had to attend a leadership camp to groom CCA (co-curricular) leaders like her. She was chosen in an open audition to participate in the Singapore Youth Festival (SYF) national dance competition. And she was on the school performing team for her ballet CCA. Due to all these hectic commitments, unfortunately, we had to nudge her to drop her tennis CCA. There just wasn't sufficient time for her to be devoting time to all these commitments while juggling her schoolwork and other enrichment outside of school.

As Ballet President, she was tasked to be the assistant for the teachers, where she would need to broadcast important announcements to her team members. She was also required to check on the attendance of her friends in the CCA, and of course, to provide motivation and inspiration for her team members. However, in a performing arts group, competition - while present - is not as strong as that in a sports team, so she did not need to be yelling loud motivating cheers to drum up the morale of her team mates, which is not her style anyway.

She spent days and weeks with her SYF team, practising slick moves for a sanguine, upbeat jazzy dance item. I went to support her on the day of the competition, and was blown away by how grown-up and snazzy she looked in her fashionable black jumper and glittering gold beret. The parents for these girls cheered the loudest (as always), and we were elated when we learned later that they attained a Gold award for their effort.

After the exhilaration of the competition, the team had several performances - both in the public and within the school. All the performances were enjoyable to hubby and I, of course. It was truly intoxicating to see your own little baby on stage, dancing an electrifying jazz number or an elegant ballet item, looking all grown-up and out-of-this-world. There was this strange and unsettling sense of disbelief.

My favourite performance was the public show at Botanic Gardens where the group performed to hundreds of people at the Shaw Foundation Symphony Stage. Together with the beaming grandparents and our Yorkie, we spread out huge picnic mats and sprawled on the emerald lawns of the gardens to watch our girl perform.

The team's performance in Botanic Gardens

There were 3 other school performances, and for one of them, she had to dance in 2 items - a pop-jazz dance and a Swan Lake ballet item of which she was one of the lead dancers. We were kept busy last year!

When I asked her the kind of fulfillment she gets from dance, she would provide me with cheeky answers like "It helps me lose weight!". But I could really see that it helps destress her, and provides an excellent platform for expressing herself and for dispensing all those extra energies away, so that she comes away from a practice with a clearer, more focused mind.

This year, she steps out of her role as Ballet President and had gotten out of the jazz dance team, but will still be prancing around on stage as a classical ballerina :)

The Arabian Enigma

Even in urban, modern Singapore, our family seeks to find little beauties that are out of the ordinary. In this age where many Singaporeans lament about the humdrum monotony of our country and seek other countries to appease our search for the exotic, we chanced upon an alluring enclave some time back - the Arab quarters of Singapore.

Although we had visited Arab Street a few times, we never failed to be enchanted by its mysticism, its eclectic charms, its differentiation from anything typically urban Singaporean. It exists in a time and place in itself.

We wandered insouciantly through narrow, colourful alleys full of surprises like stumbling upon an entire wall of dazzling, psychedelic art never before seen around other parts of Singapore. Or ambling past a dusty hole-in-the-wall shop whose facade was filled with an amazing array of antiquated perfume bottles straight out of the middle ages!

We visited small but alluring shops filled with extraordinarily quirky items for sale. We strolled past umpteen shops with the most creative and awe-inspiring of facades. It definitely felt as if we were lost in another city in a different age.

The girls were fascinated by this little niche in Singapore that was so new and unfamiliar to them. Hubby and I hope to show them similar enclaves in Singapore - so that they understand the little beauties of the country we are living in....

Colours Of Nature: The Green Corridor

There is a vast meadow near our old house where we used to hang out over the weekends. It is a pasture where we could take long leisurely walks without seeing any cars or smelling their noxious fumes. A colossal verdure where we can observe the little things that make nature so wondrous. We were able to observe at close range the simplest beauties like an eagle soaring low over the meadow, verdant patches of lalang, and dense morning mist rising over the dewy, wet grass awakening from a night of slumber.

Recently, we went back to our little emerald playground, and we were devastated to see a proliferation of bulldozers, trucks and other horrible machines meant to annihilate the primary forest, undergrowth and the enduring greenery in that entire area. I think the government just cannot bear to see a large piece of unspoiled natural beauty gone to "waste", and prefers building sterile shopping malls and pricey condominiums instead. It is inexplicably saddening. 

We should really be teaching our children - who will be the next generation of leaders in this urban nation - the value of nature, the huge benefits of leaving forests unkempt and growing at their own pace (instead of terribly boring cultivated parks), and the power of heritage in this young children. Otherwise, there is no way for our children's children and other generations beyond to truly understand this fledgling country if everything is all about economic success and air-conditioned leisure. 

I am blessed to have parents who used to bring us to parks and beaches for picnics and outings. My brother and I grew to appreciate nature a lot - even until now. I am also very happy to have a husband who loves the heat of Singapore as much as I, who always refrain from going into boring, air-conditioned malls to spend a free afternoon. 

Some time back, my husband and brother made plans for a cycling trip along the Green Corridor. I would love to join them one day, maybe trekking behind them with the Bees. Here is a guest feature by my brother who wrote briefly about the sights and scenes from their dawn cycling adventure. I thought it was a very poignant post about grasping at the last vestiges of our memories. In the end, my hubby and brother cycled for a good 6 hours throughout the breathtaking Green Corridor! 

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The Green Corridor (The old railway track)

Text and photography by my brother

As I cycled on the old train track along Ghim Moh, I took a moment to look up at the block of flats that my eldest uncle once stayed.

Every first day of Lunar New Year, all my relatives would congregate there. I still remember vividly during my childhood days, my sister and cousins would rush to the windows and catch a glimpse of the passing train. As it whistled by in a hurry, it brought us smiles.

Today, the block of flats stood silently cordoned away from the public, awaiting its final destiny.

Further down, Tanglin Halt comes into sight. It is here that my mum spent many of her growing years in. Once again, the block of flats had met with the same fate as those in Ghim Moh - en-bloc.

Queensway is just round the corner. There are news that it is up for sale. Will the Mecca of sports shoes meet the same fate as Ghim Moh and Tanglin Halt?

Ironically, in this day and age, nothing can withstand urbanisation. A stretch of dirt path filled with rich memories - and yet, its fate is in peril.

What other sacrifices do we need to make in the relentless pursuit of economic growth in Singapore? Have we all lost our soul and innocence in the process?