wake me up when september ends!

sure, it's a corny and lame title for this month but you get the drift! it is finally september. come to think of it, it's almost a year since i took over the reins of the team. the journey has definitely been interesting but we are barely getting started. if i can say it myself, the programmes and activities that we have lined are will be getting bigger and better (and one in particular, scarier!)

anyway here's a glimpse of what went on in august!

showcase of KBdARTS

as part of their 'graduation' from our dance arts programme, the children showcased their talents at our kaki bukit national day celebrations. for those of you who joined us at the event, we hoped you enjoyed our item. if you missed their performance (*wags naughty finger*), the second cycle will commence this month and our KBdARTS will be performing at an even larger scale event! more details over the next couple of months...

hotspot: percussion performance

i've always enjoy partnering performing groups to bring a little razzle-dazzle to our community. hence for the month of august, we invited the students from guangyang primary school for a percussion performance. it was definitely an enjoyable morning with them bringing us an extra groove at our annual 'one community walk'. if you want to catch a glimpse of their performance, just go over to our facebook page!

mural, mural on our walls

when our original wall mural was whitewashed over, we made many students from bedok town secondary school upset. they thought that it was the end of their masterpiece but little did they know that something else was installed for them. 

well, the students did not have to wait for long before they got an opportunity to exercise their creative muscles and put up a new mural. anyway, do swing by the new mural and take a selfie! if you are on instagram, do use the hashtag #kakibukitcac or add us @kakibukitcac.

singing kakis' night

well, in august, singing kakis' night returned to green rc. beyond a night of karaoke, it was also a bbq party hence it was definitely a treat for the senses. if you ask me, we can't wait for september to end and for our next singing kakis' night! 

finally, we wish each and everyone of you has a great month ahead, till the end of the september...

catch the hARTbeat @ kaki bukit!
edwin

it's july already?!!

hey everyone,

it's the first day of a new month. it's that time when i sit down to reflect on all that went on in the month for the kaki bukit community arts and culture club. it is also a time for me to share some of the upcoming offerings.

so june has been an interesting month (other than the fact that i was away for reservist for three and a half weeks, thus taking me away from my grassroots work significantly), there was the dengue outbreak, the haze problem and of course, the hello kitty queues!

yup! i have my own full collection!

it was definitely interesting to witness the reactions of singaporeans and personally, i think it shows an evolution of our culture. while we may be 'kiasu' or 'kiasi', we have developed this ability to laugh in the face of adversity. just think of the number of jokes and jibes you heard with regards to the psi levels.  anyway, due to the haze, we had to cancel a number of our events but we are looking at how we can bring those activities back on a later date.

but what's in the past is in the past.

here are a couple of things that you are going to witness in your neighbourhood!

1) community art gallery: as you read this post (assuming that you are reading this on 1st july), panels are going up around the neighbourhood. these panels will be serving as our very own community art gallery. the first artworks that you will see are the products from our recently concluded parent-child cartooning workshop. 

primarily, we are hoping to feature as many of your works as possible hence if you have any works of art that you would not mind putting up for display. do drop me a note at kakibukitcac@gmail.com

2) singapore memory project: towards the end of july, when you swing by the community centre, you can also view a couple of panels from the singapore memory project. these are specially put together to help us remember our heritage as a nation. as part of this exhibition, we are also gathering your memories of the kaki bukit estate. with each contribution that you make to the singapore memory project, you will also receive a special gift from our friends of the singapore memory project.

3) singing kakis' night: this has become a signature of our estate and guess what? it gives me great pleasure to announce that we are going for a second cycle of singing kakis' night. having personally attended all four nights (over the last four months), it was great to see each residents' committee package their singing kakis' night differently hence don't miss out on any of them, especially when it comes to a space near you. you don't always have to sing, it would be just as fun if you join us as a member of the audience.

well, with that, i wish all of you the best of health!

catch the hARTbeat @ kaki bukit!

edwin

ready for SM action?

ready to whip into action?

i know what you are thinking and i want you to think what you are thinking (haha!) that is the perk that i get to enjoy as a writer: i get to mislead readers without getting into (too much) trouble.

anyway, back to business, i'm going to give you a little glimpse into the action at our upcoming village. this is specific to the activities on 13th april. 12th april is just a movie screening with free snacks but if you are ready for some SM action, 13th april is your day.

taken from social media marketing

by SM, i am talking about social media. yes, it's time to test how well you can 'socialise'. we have made available three platforms:

Taylor Swift: 2.5 million followers

1) instagram: there will be three instagram instant wins. to qualify, it's simple. just turn up at the arts village and snap away. after that, make sure that you add the hashtags #kakibukitcac and #artsvillage to qualify. however those are not the only hashtags you can use. if you want to use 1001 tags, you are most welcomed to do so. when the emcee announces that the instant win is on, you can pick up a prize as long as your picture has at least 50 likes. once a picture has been used, it cannot be recycled. there are no limits to the number of entries BUT you cannot redeem more than one instant win at one moment. this means that once you have claimed a prize, you will have to join the queue AGAIN to claim your subsequent prize.

Justin Timberlake on The Social Network

2) facebook: this is a common one and i like to work within expectations. all you have to do is snap more pictures then load it onto our app on facebook. get as many of your friends to 'like' it as possible. the top five pictures with the most number of votes wins. at this moment, all i can reveal is that the prizes ARE attractive.

once the app goes live, it will be made known via our own facebook page as well as the main kaki bukit fan page so do look out for it.

(update: good news! the app has gone live... here's the link. all the best!)

graphic from celeb-blogger.com

3) blogging: finally, we want to encourage you to blog about us as well. tell us about the entire experience you had at our village. the top blog post will win $50 in vouchers. 

in order to participate, simply turn up at our village on 12th or 13th april and then write a post about us by 20th april. send the link of your post to kakibukitcac@gmail.com, message us on facebook with the link OR tweet the link to us by using #kakibukitcac. only posts which are posted by the admins onto our main page will be considered for the contest.

in conclusion, there are plenty of opportunities for you to try out your social media skills whether it's instagram, facebook or blogging. best part? you get to win prizes along the way, so see you at our PAssionArts Village where we are going to eat your 'art' out!

catch the hARTbeat @ kaki bukit!

edwin

the art of writing

whether i like it or not, the arts village is going to take place in under 10 days! (*scream* *pant* *attacks of every nature*) anyway, no stone has been left unturned (except going to your house and dragging you out of bed to tell you about the event).

the photo campaign is pretty successful. not easy to gather close to 100 shots. we would have gotten more if not for the bad weather during our movie screening last sunday. anyway, here are a couple of them!

check out the full album here...

beyond the photos, there are also a couple of bloggers who have kindly featured us on their blogs as well! here they are...

wild dragon chase, kimchi fairy, anythingalsoeat!

finally, i managed to figure out the twitter widget and can't wait for everyone of you to tweet to us! just make sure that you are not tweeting from a protected account AND add the hashtag #kakibukitcac...

catch the hARTbeat @ kaki bukit!
edwin

eat your art out!

this has to be one of my worst kept secrets EVER!

since the planning of this village started in january, i have been telling everyone i met about it. not to boost of an exciting village but more to get responses and gauge if people will buy my idea of an arts village that revolves around food. i mean, how many of us actually stop to admire the 'artistry' on a bun before we gobble it down? i certainly don't. thus in crafting up this arts village, i had a few objectives in mind.

a) see art in our everyday lives... like earlier mentioned, it's not easy to come up with interesting patterns on your daily pastry or design the frosting of a cupcake. if you think it's easy, just ask my dragonboat team mates who decorate a birthday cake for me! so i really wanted everyone to stop and just see that art can be simple and approachable too!

what do you think? A* for effort!

b) merge the passions of singaporeans! we always talk about how singapore is a food paradise and indeed it is. i love how my local hawker centre is a gourmet haven! hence if you are coming by the village, before you gobble down the food, just pause and appreciate the creativity of the matter.

so that said, here are a few reasons why you should visit MY village! (welcome to my world of shameless marketing... there are a few other villages over the same weekend BUT you don't want to miss out mine!)

1) we are the ONLY food art village. see your food turn into art or art turn into food. doesn't matter which way you prefer... you get the gist of it!

2) giveaways! i am sworn to secrecy with regards to the exact timings that we are distributing freebies but we have some interesting (and useable) items to give you. however, if you prefer the traditional pens and fans, i promise to not disappoint...

3) social media... while i like to create buzz in real life, being modern and contemporary is my mantra too. thus if you think you are big, huge or gigantic on social media, do turn up at our village to take the social media challenge OR follow our facebook page closely to be in the know of the contests that we are running.

4) community giveback... one of my guiding principles in grassroots work has always been to use the platform to bring awareness to causes amongst us that sometimes go unnoticed. for my arts village, a significant part of the food featured comes from score. you can click here to find out more about the good work that they are doing.

all in all, the village is a couple of weeks away. the stress is mounting but i'm looking forward to it because it's been an exciting three months for the team behind this entire project!

in case you missed out the earlier banner!

catch the hARTbeat @ kaki bukit!

edwin

ps: while i write the post in first person, the journey to completion is a collective effort between kaki bukit cac and eunos cac. just so that i have something to write about after the event, i will name the people behind the scenes in another post.

hARTbeat @ kaki bukit

it took me a while to think about my opening words on this blog but i decided to just share a little piece of my heart with you and hopefully, you will catch the heartbeat of this brand-new initiative.

about half a year back, i was approached to spearhead a new grassroots team within the kaki bukit area.  it was the community arts & culture club. while i was excited over the cause, i was also concerned about the effectiveness of it. many times, people pursue art. you buy a ticket to a concert, a musical or the museum. when art is delivered to your doorstep, if you are not equipped with the necessary skills, you will be distanced from the piece. that was what i thought.

months later, i start corrected. art is ultimately a form of expression. beyond the expression of the artist, it is also a conversation with the audience and the environment. it is this constant dialogue that i aspire to create within the kaki bukit neighbourhood. therefore, i have made it a guiding principle in every programme and event that we will not only bring the art to you but converse with you over the artpiece. 

Wall Mural / Street Art @ Kaki Bukit Community Centre

this blog will serve as one of those platforms for conversation and i hope that you will join my team and me as we strive to share bits of our hARTbeat with you. of course, you can also hop over to our facebook page for a piece of the action. if you are an avid instagram-mer, use the hashtag #kakibukitcac and see your pictures pop up on our widget --->

catch the hARTbeat @ kaki bukit!

edwin