Creative

Amateur work edited in Final Cut Pro/iMovie ...

Caveat:This was a short story submitted to the Temasek Hall Creative Writing Competition and which won a distinction award of SGD$500. I wrote it in 2008. (I’d like to believe that my writing has improved since then, but please forgive a 17-year-old’s penchant for using big words.) ...

A friendly gesture that’s supposed to break ice stabs me a little every single time  Two syllables that alienate shout out my difference but not celebrate.  Three seconds before the spell is cast I’d cringe and wait while you open your mouth and enunciate.  “________ _____.”  Wrapped in the familiar echo I’d return a weak smile wondering if ever this box would disappear.

reminds me of The Outsider even though I don’t really remember except for teenagers driving topless cars watching outdoor cinema.  bookstore in an outdoor shopping mall backdrop against a clean blue sky turn a page see the connections between bits of knowledge.  the barista smiles and asks me how I am depressed by the daily rain and delighted by the reality of suburbia I ordered a tall mocha.

Words, names, places blended with Oreo & shaken.  Frustration, disappointment, apprehension silence in the darkness.

My favourite bus was 36  It runs from Siglap to Plaza Sing with a superb view of Supertrees, HDBs Changi and the Singapore Story a narrative told incessantly.  5 years later I found myself on the Other side of Singapore This time from West Coast to Tuas, Lim Chu Kang and more  For in the fringes of society one sees the underclass and the underbelly faceless people toiling tirelessly ...