The Straits Times, 4 Dec 1912

In a case of matrimonial misfit, Ethel, a nurse, and Bryan, a surveyor, applied for and received judicial separation from the Supreme Court. She retains custody of their children, and does not after all have to contribute to their support from her salary. A theatre-goer suggests a cloakroom system similar to the theatres of note … Continue reading →

strike

They were Chinese citizens, making a living in Singapore as bus drivers. They staged a strike to protest their low wages relative to other nationalities, and poor living conditions. They were not unionised. The incident was referred to in the media variously as “industrial action”, “refusal to go to work”, “protest” etc. etc. since strikes … Continue reading →

unfinished

if this landscape were a woman if the woman were in my father’s house if i were my father if my son could one day read this if i had a son if reading could save us if safety were all that matters if what matters is what one fights for if those who have … Continue reading →

Dead Dolphin

A dolphin captured from the wild for Resorts World Sentosa’s new “Marine Life Park” has died en route to Singapore. Two dolphins bound for the Park died in Oct 2010 from infection in a holding tank. The Park opens today. Continue reading →

it is time

to take yourself to task to check that the clocks — now a minute ahead, now a second behind, now stopped, now dim — are in sync to ask the questions you have been waiting to ask to choose an ink to wait to move on to hesitate to storyboard Babylon to shift perspective to … Continue reading →

A better place

“What took you so long?” is the first thing Mega’s mother says to her when she arrives in the Afterlife. “Now we can play mahjong properly.” “I was busy,” Mega explains. “Stuff to do before I died.” “Nonsense. What’s there to do down there that you can’t do here? I’ll get everyone over to celebrate. … Continue reading →

Singapore

Tomorrow – a Singapore Writer’s Festival gig where we celebrate the connection between our writing and the music we listen to. Tonight – thinking about what to read tomorrow; a new poem on equivalences, in Chinese; rain; the intermittent drone of a car with the engines left running for the airconditioning.   Thoughts from my … Continue reading →