A Little Belated...Back Home in Singapore

Well I'm back home in Singapore! It's been almost a month since I returned to the balmy weather back home; and yes, it has been almost a month since I last blogged! It's such a cliche to say this, but time really flies.

So I thought I'd give a quick update about my life since you last heard from me. After all, I have nothing else to do while waiting for my hair to dry before I go to bed (hehe)

1. Volunteering at AWARE: You might recall that I was quite affected by the AWARE saga some time in May. I followed the controversy surrounding this local NGO while in Edinburgh through twitter, facebook and the We-are-AWARE site, to the point where it almost became an obsession. I was elated with the outcome of the leadership tussle within the organization. I did feel (as with many other Singaporeans) that the triumph of the "old guard" was quite a watershed in civil society.

Since coming back, I've signed up as a volunteer with AWARE. I've been helping out now and then with their ongoing Needs Assessment survey amongst members - many of whom have only joined in the last few months as a result of the much hyped-up controversy.

I was happy to attend the Open Space forum held the first weekend after I got back. I met really nice, articulate and smart ladies from all walks of life who discussed pertinent concerns facing Singaporean women today. I also had the opportunity to meet several 'veteran' members of AWARE, some of whom were vocal supporters in the We-are-AWARE camp during the April/May saga - it was rather strange to actually meet the people I'd been hearing so much about from all the media reports; ultimately however, I found them really pleasant and down-to-earth, especially Dana Lam, the current President of AWARE :)

Tomorrow, I'm heading out to Little India as part of a small informal tour organized by AWARE. We're hoping to gain some insight into the lives of migrant workers in Singapore. I'm also supposed to write a short article about the trip itself - really excited!


2. More about AWARE: Transcribing the EGM Part of my volunteer stint at AWARE involves transcribing the taped proceedings of the Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM), held on May 2nd. This was the pivotal meeting which saw the new exco being dealt a shattering blow of no confidence by AWARE members. I was just looking back at my previous posts which bemoaned my inability to attend the EGM in person - how uncanny that I'm now actually able to experience the meeting in all its vividness, its passion, its drama - albeit retrogressively and through film.

In any case it's been an great experience, never mind the occasional mundanity of re-listening to parts of the audio over and over again to catch an indistinct word. I've discovered so many brilliant speeches by AWARE members made during the EGM which were not captured or reported by the news. I'm hoping to complete the transcript by the end of July.


3. Interning at a TV Production Company: It was really quite a stroke of luck that I nabbed this internship. I arrived back in Singapore thinking I might possibly bum away the holidays after being rejected for an internship in Venice. However within a week of my return I suddenly got a call from a local TV company offering me a post as a research intern for the summer. Thanks to NUS Museums for forwarding my resume and contact details! This really was quite a shot out of the blue.

I'm really glad I accepted the job. I've only been working about 3 weeks thus far, but so far it's been a very good experience. I'm currently attached to a documentary project due for release on National Day 2009. The research I've been conducting has been challenging, and is pushing me a fair bit - in a good way though. There have been frustrating moments when I've encountered plenty of dead-ends. However, I find that I'm learning more each day - not just about TV production companies, but also about Singapore itself given how its a documentary about Singapore history. I find increasingly that there are many things about a seemingly familiar locality (even one I call "home" by default) which are new, novel and indeed, very fascinating.

In the past two weeks, I've been asked to do research on a now largely-forgotten sea sporting event which saw seafarers from as far as the Riau Islands and Indonesian archipelago converging in the harbour every year. I've discovered Chinese fire-walking ceremonies in Singapore, and the existence of a tiny South-western island called Pulau Sudong which was once populated by a thriving kampong village - it was completely cleared in the 1980s and is now a live-firing range. Can you believe that? And best of all, I've had the opportunity to view rare archival film footage as part of my job - it is amazing to see such images of ordinary people going about their day-to-day affairs captured in vivid colour and stored for posterity's sake. I'm really excited about this project and I can't wait to see the final product!


4. Scribbling: In between I have also been occupying myself with what I think of as short scribbling stints. I'm back as one of the senior editors for my faculty's journal, which I'm hoping will be launched in the first semester of the new school term (August). Apart from my editorial duties, I've also recently signed up as a volunteer at the NUS Museums. I'm supposed to pen reviews of their latest exhibitions for their online newsletter.

I've just viewed a great exhibit which is actually on-going at the Museum. It showcases the work of 4 students from the Architecture faculty. The exhibit explores how each student/artist has conceptualized an iconic local landmark - the Singapore river. I thought it was really good stuff. In particular, I enjoyed the installation which interpreted the river aurally, through a combination of oral clips and music. I need to sit down over the weekend and start penning this review so I can meet the deadline! Eek.

Right, hair is dry. Am off to bed because it's really late and I need to be in school early tomorrow for some faculty event. Am meeting some freshmen for a kind of Q&A session about school life! Should be exciting :) Talk to you all soon.