A NeverEnding Story...

To experience is to know

"...actually, Singapore is not very different from the country that I come from. We had two seasons too - indoors and outdoors!" Soft laughter filled the empty room, an apt response to the artist's light jibe at the country's proximity to the Equator.
Lucho carried on, "To be honest, I am very impressed with Singaporeans. They are so well informed."
Ok, he is either kidding or being very sarcastic, Flan thought to herself. Her pen stopped in mid-air and she arched her eyebrows, waiting for the famous artist to justify his claim.
"Why, that day when I took a cab from the hotel to the city, think it was Suntec city, and there was this massive traffic jam. The driver and I were talking...you know like chatting, and he talked about the Kosovo war and the history...and I was mighty impressed. It was like whoa, Singaporeans are a really well informed bunch!"
Two things crossed Flan's mind at the same time. Flan's pretty sure she has taken enough cabs during her brief 25 year stay on this island, and there wasn't ONCE that the cab driver shared ANY sort of history to her (in English or otherwise). Secondly, she was immediately reminded of the driver who sent her to the seminar just this morning:
"Huh?! Mi Si Mer?"
"Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts...MICA. Hill Street. Clarke Quay." Twice, Flan had said it, and she had made very sure she did not sound haughty or slang it too much. It was flat, and very SINGLISH-sounding, and well-paced, no tongue-rolling, very safe.
But she figured something must be severely wrong when the driver frowned even harder and queried her location for the third time....
"...so yes! I am very excited to have the opportunity to meet the local people of Singapore..." Lucho continued enthusiastically to his audience. Flan blinked. She felt that it was only fair to warn him not to expect too much...I mean, seriously, he may not be so lucky as to meet another cab-driver like that one again. Pretty rare case, that.
"I mean, honestly, what are you guys like?!"
So desperate to get on with the actual topic of the day, Flan thought of ending his obsession there and then; she thought of shouting out "Lost!"...and "Indifferent!" But she held her tongue, as she is 99 percent sure, he would ask why, and the last thing she wants is to have everyone's attention.
Fortunately, Lucho finally decided to carry on with the serious matter of teaching everyone how to make connections between the art and the context behind the process of its making (if that could be taught in the first place).
At the end of the two hour session, Flan was pretty sure the audience felt as exhausted as the speaker himself. In fact, she could almost understand his pain and frustration - it's like teaching Modals where she had tried to explain when to use "would" and "could" and "have not" and "must" and "ought to". Yeah, she tried. So, she understands Lucho. She also understands why he ended the session with, "You know, it would be a lot easier if we actually see the works itself."

That's next week. Flan can't wait.

posted by Flaneur @ 8:17 PM