The haze may be affecting many aspects of our lives right now, and we've been advised by the government to stay indoors and breathe in more glorious, air-conditioned air.
But for those itching to be out and about, or those not so lucky to have an air-conditioner in your apartment, may I suggest you spend an hour and a half of your time to explore the play from The Finger Player's, titled "The Book of Living and Dying". Kinda like how those in Riau, Malaysia and us are feeling right now--living and dying--but I digress.
First, the details. The play is scheduled to run from July 4 to July 7 at the Esplanade's Theatre Studio venue, and costs S$25 for a free seating ticket although relevant concessions are available. For more details, you can check out Sistic's booking portal.
Now, with that out of the way, let me introduce to you The Finger Players. I first heard of them when the puppetry troupe put up the performance "Furthest North, Deepest South", which was an adaptation of Gavin Menzies' book "1421: The Year China Discovered The World". Intelligently melding puppet-playing with a strong storyline, it helped liven up the retelling of history and made it more accessible to a wider range of audience demographic.
With this latest play, The Book of Living and Dying, which was first performed during last year's Singapore Arts Festival, puppetry is once again used to augment an otherwise complex and difficult subjects: living, dying and reincarnation.
Before I go on, let me admit that I've not watched this play when it was first put up. It so happens that I received the EDM of the play during the week, and it piqued my interest enough to do some basic research on it.
In a nutshell, the play revolves around a transvestite father in New York and his estranged adopted daughter. As the latter clears out her dad's personal belongings, she comes to realize that the father-daughter relationship wasn't always the way it was in previous incarnations and the revelation threatens to unravel the existing dynamic even as the father suffers from terminal cancer.
I don't expect it to be easy viewing for those interested to check the play out. I am, however, confident enough to say that your knowledge of how a tiny performing space is used to represent time, space and continents simply with lighting, chalk drawings and puppetry will be enhanced.
안녕히세요 여러분 (ahn-yeong-ha-se-yo yeo-ro-bun)! Which basically means hello everyone! It is time, for your monthly dose of Korean goodness!
We are all well aware of the latest Korean or Hallyu wave that has hit Singapore like a tsunami and can rattle of the names of bands like Super Junior, Girls Generation and even sing along to their songs without even knowing what they mean. BUT! For this instalment, I'm going to take everyone back to waaaay back to when the Hallyu wave FIRST STARTED and the band which got me started down this one way road of no return hahaha. Yes, a lot of people have no idea that this Hallyu wave is not a recent thing. It was started back in 1996 - yup, you read it right - 1996, 17 years ago.
The first band ever, that started this whole k-pop idolism thing, is none other than H.O.T, which stands for High-five of Teenagers (yes, the name makes no sense). But because they were formed mainly to target the teenagers... so... Lee Soo Man, brainchild of now THE biggest entertainment company in Seoul, SM Entertainment specially coined the band name for them. Ahn Chil Hyun (a.k.a Kangta), Moon Heejun, Tony Ahn, Jang Woohyuk and Lee Jaewon - 5 boys with varying talents shot into superstardom overnight, and it was the birth of k-pop idolism.
A far cry from the pretty boys in tailored suits we see these days isn't it? H.O.T had reign of the kpop charts from 1996, until they disbanded in 2001. During those 5 glorious years, they had a plethora of number 1 hits, with their biggest hit being 'Candy'.
So now you wonder, it's been 12 years - where are they now?
Lead vocalist Kangta stayed on with SM and has since released a few solo albums - I personally liked his Pinetree album the best. He completed his military service earlier this year and stepped back into the game with "Breaka Shaka", his breakout single for the Chinese market. He also re-signed with SM, extending his contract with them for another 10 years and was in Singapore for the SM Town concert last year. The direction for his Korean albums and Chinese albums are worlds apart, and personally, I prefer the Korean one.
Pine Tree - Kangta
Breaka Shaka - Kangta
Leader Moon Hee Jun initially stayed on with SM, and attempted to get rid of his pop idol image and released a rock album. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out like what he hoped despite a few album releases. I do have the albums, and I don't listen to them at all. I just bought them because I love H.O.T. In 2005, Heejun left SM Entertainment and created his own entertainment agency, PS Entertainment. Don't really know what happened to that company as he is currently signed with Sidus HQ that is also the management company of Jay Park. These days, Heejun has put on some weight and has been doing a lot of hosting for variety shows. He also had a comeback stage in January with his new song I'm Not Ok.
I'm Not OK - Moon Hee Jun
The remaining three members Tony, Jaewon and Woohyuk formed their own trio band JTL and only released one CD. My favourite song from their album My Lecon (yeah, the English does not make any sense, just ignore it lol).
행복했던기억들은 (Memories) - JTL
After the disappearance of JTL, Tony became quite the entrepreneur, opening up TN Entertainment(a music company), Skoolooks (a school uniform company), and Shinenihs (an undergarment company).
Jaewon decided to go solo but his career barely even started before he was accused of a rape charge which made everything completely just spiral downwards into a dark abyss. Better luck next time, with him being discharged from mandatory Korean national service in 2011.
Jang Woohyuk, known for his lean mean dancing skills even back in the day. He started a dance company called Newest Entertainment and has also contracts to perform in the Chinese market. He also had a comeback into the entertainment scene in 2011, with the track Time is [L]over. He definitely still hasn't lost his amazing ability to dance!
Time is [L]over - Jang Woo Hyuk
Rumours have been going around for a while now that members are planning to come together and perform on the stage together again for fans to bring back good memories. I certainly am hoping for that day to happen!
So this is the Kimchi Fairy signing off, but not before leaving you some of #1 hits of H.O.T! Enjoy!
Happiness
아이야 (ah-ee-ya) meaning Child
P.S.: There is a meaningful message behind this song, go look it up on google if you're interested!
so we bid another month farewell. the month that went by was definitely less busy (and i am using this term VERY loosely) for us compared to april but nonetheless, it was an interesting month. a part of the month was spent planning for the year ahead, from june 2013 to may 2014 but most of it was having meeting after meeting. for one of the weeks, i had about eight cacc-related meetings. it was either having internal discussions, meeting fellow cacc chairpersons or working out potential partnerships. hence i am glad i survived.
look out for our bottled water!
some of those plans, i can share with you via this platform (maybe not this post but future updates). the others will be a surprise! yes, there is a BIG project that i am personally handling that even the staff assisting me has no idea what i am doing (sorry, nicole! it's a secret...)
anyway, here is a pictorial update of the things that we presented you with for the month of may!
1) launch of KBdARTS
in case you are wondering why they are called darts, part of it is due to the swiftness of movement and the precision that we hope to nurture in our little ones who go through this programme. the main reason is because KBdARTS stands for kaki bukit dance arts. yes, we are still trying to hunt down the person who served up the cheese platter!
2) flower power (hARTbeat @kaki bukit - may)
we brought back one of the favourite workshops from the arts village. boy, were we surprised by the warm reception of the residents! even before we completed the setup of the event, we had a huge group of residents gathering to learn from the instructors. well, we will not let the cat out of the bag BUT the pandan rosette workshop will make another return to kaki bukit.
3) singing kakis' night (bloom rc)
this is fast becoming one of my favourite community outreach programmes. other than the obvious engagement of residents, i think the song and music brings a nice musical touch to the neighbourhood. this is what a community is all about. there will always be room for big fanciful events but nothing says family like gathering a group of like-minded people coming together to participate in one of their favourite activity: karaoke.
for the month of june, we will still have our signature singing kakis' night and hotspot programme. if you want details, do follow our facebook page closely! beyond that, since it's the schools holidays, we are doing a little extra. we are going to bid farewell to a familiar sight that has been around for the last three months.
change is coming... snap your pics SOON!
in addition, there is also a cartooning workshop that you can be participate as a family. details are on our facebook page or the main kaki bukit facebook page. as i speak, vacancies are filling up fast so do sign up early.
finally, if you have any comments about kaki bukit cac or would like to get involved in what we are doing, do drop me a note at kakibukitcac@gmail.com. more hands make light work!
