diary

sin

The best thing to do is to search for truth and happiness, and see how one can make one's life beneficial to others, without any pretense, self-righteousness, or labels.

posted by sin @ 8:27 PM 1 comments

none

I managed to lend my Emi Fujita 'Live at Esplanade, Singapore' CD to Aneesha. Hope she enjoys it.

*** ***

Why have I forgotten, that I need to 'take life easy, as the leaves grow on the trees'?

For this singular line alone, William Butler Yeats is sublime. Whoever it was that had put a tune to that poem is sublime too.

posted by sin @ 7:34 PM 0 comments

Recent happenings

1) My friend Brian Gothong Tan is having an exhibition at the Esplanade tunnel called 'The Mysterious Book of Invisible Children'...It's some sort of a more mature (though I can't say more interesting) version of 'Heavenly Cakes and Sentimental Flowers'...but it is certainly more professional...and better than the other two exhibitions at Sculpture Square. Do have a look at it if you pop by the Espalande. Just walk from Citilink to Esplanade and you'll bypass it along the way.

2) I'm eagerly awaiting the Antoni Tapies retrospection which will happen on 30th September in the Singapore Art Museum. Tapies is one of the better abstract artists, belonging to what they call the 'Transavantgarde' movement, I believe (if my failing memory is still correct)...whereby there is an emphasis on the material and form of the artwork (as opposed to 'meaning')...Anyway, I expect it to be decent if not good...and ignore terms like 'Transavantgarde' because they confuse more than they enlighten...

3) Yesterday, I went to Towers at Suntec and bought 'Hide and Seek' by Le Couple, an old CD dated back to 1994 (*gasps*) ....Tried about only four tracks...It's absolutely fantabulous. While the CD costs a staggeing $31, I guess I've already felt its worth in the first few tracks alone...well worth the money.

4) While I have bought many books (three notable ones are Dostoevsky's 'The Idiot', Virginia Woolf's 'To the Lighthouse' and Tanizaki's 'The Makioka Sisters'), I have not been able to read beyond the first twenty pages of any one, due to my busy work load. And honestly, anyone who has tried reading Woolf and Dostoevsky knows how tedious their writing styles are.

5) Continuing from point 4, thanks to two of my friends (LZ and SY) and one student, I have been very inspired to write lately, so much so that I'm neglecting my marking and lesson-planning. That is being highly undisciplined, so I promised myself today that I would finish marking and all my chores and lessons before I start writing. Anyway, writing is a convenient substitute for art because it allows room for mistakes more easily and readily. Also, it helps that I do not treat writing half as religiously as my art, so it's more fun and relaxing.

6) On life in general, I still have not moved out of the phase of feeling like Sensei in Soseki's 'Kokoro'. Nothing much to look forward to, considering that my hols will be spent attending the Police Officer Course for NPCC. If anything, my good friend SY is on a trip to Japan and let's hope she brings back Miki Imai's 'Ivory II' or 'A Night at the Chapel' to cheer me up. Even if she doesn't, she should have at least finished Ishiguro's 'An Artist of the Floating World'.

7) Being in a neighbourhood school, it is very difficult to groom what one might call the creme-de-la-creme. There are only a few students here who exhibit potential of being capable of great things (by this I mean like becoming a good writer, musician, artist etc.) Currently the most teachable one is Aneesha. I hope to groom her into a writer, though her language is not the best in the cohort, she listens, and that is most important. Students must also be good listeners in order to go far. I have a mind to make her do a few things, but the two most immediate on my mind after the exams would be to make her read the Holy Bible and watch Miyazaki's 'Whispers of the Heart'. If anything else, I believe their music teacher has been doing a good job of introducing Bach and Pachabel and the like to the students. If Sherlyn and Gloria are as teachable as Aneesha, they would be able to go far as well...but it's too early to say anything. Only time will tell.

That's all for now...going back to marking....

posted by sin @ 10:38 AM 0 comments

none

Seek a peace that endures even when you are beset by various temptations and tried by much adversity.

These days, to be able to read or write a good line is in itself a luxury. What is all this work and mad rush for? At the end of the day, what is it that i want?

... ...

I had some small success with trying to discipline 1N1 today, but of course, I shouted so loudly I was quite sure 1E4 and 1E5 could hear me.

Next year, I forsee a bleak and busy year ahead with the impossible work load from NPCC. As I type, I have countless (and I mean it as close to literal meaning as possible) assignments to mark. In fact, I suspect I have even lost or misplaced some of the back-dated assignments.

I went to 4N5 for relief today. I swear I do not want to see those people again. I can imagine 2N2 being like them in one or two years' time, if not worse.

I believe that having a NA or NT class alone next year would be sufficient to keep me extremely busy. If I have two or three such classes, I'll probably go berserk. Disciplining them is one thing; making interesting lessons to sustain their interest is another.

To top it off, I'm supposed to do wonderful CME projects with them. Honestly, I should just do my own project and submit it to my HOD instead.

posted by sin @ 9:38 PM 1 comments

a short break

Had dinner with Sze Yung, though silly me forgot to bring my writings...

Teaching is taking its toll on me. It's tough, and I guess for the first few months of full time teaching (excluding practicum), there are more failures than successes, though there are exceptions like some of my fellow colleagues.

Anyway... I want to draw!!!!!!!! I can scream till the heavens burst, but I know I won't have the luxury of time and the peace of mind to do it. I can't stand the sight of most of my drawings now...they look so dull I want to do new things!

And I have many new books which I have bought but haven't made it through the first five or ten pages. But guess i can't really complain; after all I'm *paid* to teach...but teaching is more than a job isn't it?

The greatest compliment I've had from a student is she says I'm trying to behave or act like Morrie in 'Tuesdays with Morrie', because I do try to talk to them about life every now and then. (and it just happens that the silly girl is reading 'Tuesdays with Morrie' at the moment.)

I dreamt about work the night before...this means teaching has its occupational hazards (haha)...last night I dreamt of Melvin. Guess it's because I'm going for Brian's exhibition opening tomorrow (and that is if my NPCC ends early tomorrow)...

Okay...I've got to get some work done...

posted by sin @ 9:18 PM 0 comments

Hi to Elaine

It's a shame that I have actually deleted a lot of entries on art because at some point I thought a lot of my ramblings were useless, though looking back at it now I thought they could still have been useful for someone who wants to know about art. I gave up on the tag board after a while, since it's hard to come by someone who's interested in art, so I might as well share what I have.

My art can be viewed at loksin.deviantart.com. (Not exactly up to date or comprehensive, but good enough and recent enough)

My old writings can be found at sinmin.blogspot.com.

I also write stories once a while, and there's one which I thought would really help you to get to know art really much better. You may want to go to loksin.blogspot.com, scroll ALL THE WAY DOWN, and read the last story entitled 'Holidays'. It's the culmination of my art ideas of 2002 and 2003, some of which are still relevant today.

I also have many miscellaneous writings on art on my computer which I have not posted (either that or for some reasons I have deleted the entires/blogs)...do email me at loksin@yahoo.com if you are interested.

Art is virtually my life; do feel free to get me on this subject, and thanks a million (to the power of infinity) for dropping by and the note of encouragement.

posted by sin @ 8:51 PM 1 comments

Words...

Every challenge seems harder despite accumulated experience...perhaps one's expectations of oneself also becomes higher?

I feel like I've failed in so many areas... at home, in school, in art...

The two most sublime pieces of music in the world are Bach's 'Air' and Pachabel's 'Canon'.

*** ***

I bought Tanizaki's 'Makioka Sisters'.

By the way, one of my favourite novels now is Soseki's 'Kokoro'. I'm identifying with it more and more.

posted by sin @ 8:21 PM 2 comments

The inverted rose

I had done a piece of writing and a drawing by the same title. The writing, however, is too personal to be made public...as for the drawing, it looks like a black rectangle...there's no use scanning it or putting it online; one must look at the real thing.

Some lucky (or unlucky) friends have had access to the writing.

posted by sin @ 10:15 PM 0 comments

none

Our school put up a good performance against Crescent Girls today for Speech Relay competition. Even though we lost, I'm proud of them.

Had dinner with Lip and Jace. Missed them greatly.

I'm into the idea of Romantic and Goth lately. I'm eyeing two art books which cost a total of about $128. (not a very nice idea)

Meanwhile, I shall shut up and continue to work or draw.

posted by sin @ 9:34 PM 0 comments

None

I am reading 'The Inner Life' by Thomas Kempis. It's really good. I bought Dostoevsky's 'The Idiot'. It's very tedious reading. I'm stuck at page 30+.

Brought my students to Crescent Girls' for the Arts Awareness. Watched their dance and choir performances (loved their t-shirts and jeans!). There was also a Brazilian martial arts dance, as well as a scrapbook-making talk. The last program was watching Royston Tan's short films. I missed the beginning part of one of them, but I thought his short films were pretty cool.

posted by sin @ 9:23 PM 0 comments

none

After bugging them, I got this response:

Dear Sin Min,

Due to the overwhelming response, the panel have yet to complete the list of works selected for the exhibition. However, we expect the results to be out by the end of next week. So, please do visit the NAC website for the announcement and details.

Thank you.


Regards,

-- Michelle Tan

*** *** ***

Today, we celebrated Teachers' Day in school. I love five of my girls in my form class. I call them my Charlie's Angels. Anyway, they are very sweet. They called me in the office very early in the morning and passed me a nice cookie-biscuit and two cards. On one of the cards, the five girls wrote and signed off, with a 'from the 5 CHARLE'S ANGLE'......

My colleague's first reaction was an 'Oh no...'.............my poor angels can't spell Charlie's Angels....Nevertheless, I love these sweet darlings. I hope they all pass and I'll get to teach them next year again.

*** *** ***

Art. Teaching. Am I missing something in life? I miss drawing. I wish I can draw a hundred drawings... ... maybe even a thousand. Why don't my kids get the idea? One has to do a hundred or a thousand bad drawings before arriving at one good drawing. Perhaps they are too young to accept failure at an early stage? I remembered when I was in sec 2, I painted my 'Wuthering Heights' at least ten to twelve times, or even more, before arriving at a good one. Or are they too busy?

I managed to do half a drawing, or a quarter of a drawing today, in spite of my busy schedule. If anything, I must admit I must have been a terrible teacher in many areas. 3E7 thinks I'm very slack. I've half given up on 1N1 and 2N2...My admin work and form teacher duties suck. My NPCC work is mostly undone. I haven't planned many things. But above all things, my kids must learn that I'm a true artist who follows what I teach in art lessons. And it is not just about drawing well. It is about pursuing one's passion, and other values like perseverance and diligence.

posted by sin @ 9:24 PM 0 comments