I watched Director Chai Yee-Wei’s latest film, Wonderland, very early on, alone in his company’s mixing studio.
By the end of the film, I sat there in the darkness, a tear in my eye, a lump in my throat, trying to process my feelings, and reflecting on my own family histories and stories.

I have to say, this is one of the best Singapore films I have watched in a while.

The performances by Mark Lee, Peter Yu and Xenia Tan were authentic and moving. The ensemble cast of neighbours were also very entertaining and real.

And Yee-Wei really captured the vibe of Singapore in the 1980s.

Go watch it. It deserves all the awards it has won so far. It deserves your time.

I was honoured to perform at Marc Nair’s farewell event, WEAVE.

Just like him to do a live show with so many moving parts, days before his departure for Canada, with his wife, Carolyn.

You can take the artist out of the country, but you can’t take the artist out of Marc.

So, together with many talented friends of his, we did our bits in song, spoken word, poetry, improv, movement, and performance art.

We hope we did him proud. We will miss the two of them as they pursue new adventures, beyond our shores.

And I hope to reunite with my longtime partner-in-crime, partner-in-music, and partner-in-comedy, when he returns.

いってらっしゃい, my old friend!

[First 10 photos by me, with my Nikon ZF and Voigtlander 50mm F1.0 Nokton aspherical Z.
Last photo of me by Daniel Tan, with his Fujifilm X-T5 and Fujinon XF 50mm F1.0 R WR.]

Signs you are not in Japan on holiday anymore but back in Singapore, post-2020/2021 edition:

1. You can use dustbins everywhere instead of your pocket.

2. You aren’t spraying disinfectant on your hands every time you enter a store or restaurant.

3. You aren’t given a “Mask Envelope” to put your mask in, when you’re dining.

4. People talking loudly on trains.

5. A public bus doesn’t come once every hour in the rural areas. Addendum: There is no such thing as a rural area in Singapore either.

6. You get up the bus from the front door where the driver is, instead of the rear door.

7. You don’t check the weather before going out anymore.

8. A bottle of Shōchū costs five to ten times more.

9. There isn’t a vending machine at every corner. 

10. The restaurant staff don’t shout their greetings and don’t shout their thanks when you go in to eat or go out after eating.