Recollecting nostalgic moments from the past at Night Festival 2012

(Note: This blog is one of my entries to the Heritage 2012 Blog Competition. 
Recollect, reflect and reconnect with heritage, start blogging and stand to win attractive prizes. Entries must be submitted online before 11.59 p.m. on 1 Oct 2012.)

 Passion and energy would aptly describe the Night Festival 2012 that had just passed. I was mesmerized by the variety of interesting programmes that the festival had offered that I attended all the four nights. My experience of it was a mix of interesting visual experiences and nostalgic moments.

The light installation Mimoid II by Stephane Beve, Milosh Luczynski and Philippe Rizzotti on the building facade of the Singapore Art Museum combined seamlessly with the music composed by Vuk Krakovic and mixed and SFX designed by Ctrol Fre@k (Jeffrey Yue) to transform one of my favourite museums in Singapore into what seemed to me was a paradise out of this world.

As I walked past the Singapore Art Museum, I was reminded of how this very building had evolved from the former St. Joseph's Institution to an art museum. I wondered how it would have been to be a student studying in a school building that was located in the heart of the city area. Out of curiosity, I started rereading a blog titled Whispers of an otherwise silent world by an award-winning blogger, Jerome Lim. As I read his account, I painted in my mind the images of school children making their way to their schools. I imagined book shops with thriving business because in those days, the students will find their way to the book shops after their school hours. If I were a student studying in St. Joseph's Institution more than three decades ago, I would have looked forward to going to school every single day since there were so many beautiful buildings in the area.

It was rather interesting to realize how attending the Night Festival could have led me to reflect on a moment in past that I had never experienced personally. Somehow, I felt connected to an unknown moment in history.

Night Festival 2012. Singapore Art Museum.

The Armenian Street was one location that has led me to recollect moments from my past. One of the highlights of the Night Festival 2012 was the spectacular aerial performance named La Argentina - Fuerzabruta presented by Ozono Producciones (Argentina). The entire Armenian Street was filled with excitement. I attempted to capture the visually spectacular aerial performance from a distance and was grateful that the lenses from my simple point-and-shoot camera had captured a glimpse of the magical moments of the athletic dancer travelling in the air.

The excited crowd at Armenian Street.

Along the stretch of Armenian Street sits the former MPH Building. Originally known as the Methodist Publishing House when it was built in 1908, the building was later renamed the Malaya Publishing House. Today, this building is now known as the Vanguard Building. While making time to catch a glimpse of the performances named Night Painting | Cast in Light by Li Cassidy-Peet and Terry Wee, I fondly recall a time in the past when I would visit the former MPH Building to browse the books, buy interesting gifts and sniff the wonderful aroma of coffee and waffles.

To add to my quest for the nostalgia, I found two food stalls during the Night Festival that reminded me of the food that my parents had treated me to when I was a young child. Food has the power to trigger memories indeed!

The Putu Piring stall along the alley between the Substation and Peranakan Museum reminded me vaguely of a time in my childhood when I savoured Putu Piring during visits to night bazaars, otherwise known as pasar malam by the locals. Interestingly, I learnt from Singapore Infopedia that Putu Piring has the same ingredients as Putu Mayam, one of which is steamed ground rice flour. The joy of eating Putu Piring comes when the gula Melaka (palm sugar) in the centre of this rice cake snack oozes out at the first bite. The experience was heavenly as the gula Melaka melts in the mouth together with the bite of the Putu Piring.

Kurnia Putu Piring stall.

Putu Piring.

The Putu Mayam stall along Stamford Green reminded me of a time in my childhood when I was occassionally treated to this interesting snack that was made from steamed rice flour that had been pressed into noodle forms and served with granted coconut and sugar. I was not too keen with the vermicelli-like rice noodles. It was the grated coconut and the sugar that had interest me when I was a child. When I was a child, the Putu Mayam that I had was served flat like pancakes. It therefore intrigued me when I saw that the Putu Mayam that I had ordered at the Night Festival was served like a roll of spring roll.

Stamford Green and the traditional food stalls.

Putu Mayam.

Putu Mayam.

Overall, the fifth installment of the Night Festival has not only delighted me with the many spectacular light installations and exciting performances, it has in its humble way touched me with a mood for nostalgia. As I reflect on my memories from the past and recollect moments in history that I had not personally experienced, I felt a little more rooted to Singapore, a place I call my hometown.

Past Forward: Revealing to me the fascinating parts of Singapore

(Note: This blog is one of my entries to the Heritage 2012 Blog Competition. 
Recollect, reflect and reconnect with heritage, start blogging and stand to win attractive prizes. Entries must be submitted online before 11.59 p.m. on 1 Oct 2012.)

 With the intention of supporting some of my favourite heritage bloggers, I attended the event titled Past Forward: A Heritage Blogging and Social Media Workshop on 14 July 2012. The event was held at the Arts House.

I felt that it was inviting to walk into the Neo-Palladian building of the Arts House. This building is probably the oldest government building in Singapore. When the building was completed in 1827, it was used as a courthouse. I learnt that this very building had previously also as a government storehouse and as the office of the Department of Social Welfare. From 1965 to 1999, it was home to the Parliament of Singapore. I thought it was rather apt for a heritage-related event like Past Forward: A Heritage Blogging and Social Media Workshop to be held in a building with a fairly rich history.

I had to climb several flights of stairs to reach the viewing gallery of the Art House's Chamber. I got myself a pretty good seat which allowed me a good view of the forum panel discussion on the art of blogging or writing online about Singapore heritage.

Past Forward. The panel discussion.

Tea break was a lovely time to catch up with friends and to get acquainted with new friends. During the tea break, I had the pleasure to learn about the Princess Elizabeth Estate, which was off Hillview Avenue. I felt excited to learn new things about my country and snippets of its past.

After the tea break, I had the challenging task of deciding which workshop to attend. Although I wished I could attend all the four workshops by all the eight speakers, I eventually had to make my choices. I attended the workshops titled Not Just Nostalgia: Music of the 1960s by Andy Lim and Georgiana Glass, and Balik Kampung: Blogging about Your Neighbourhood by Victor Yue and Kwek Li Yong.

A snapshot of one of the workshops.

During the workshop titled Not Just Nostalgia: Music of the 1960s, I learnt more about the local music scene of the 1960s. It was quite an eye-opener for myself to realize how vibrant the local music scene had been in the 1960s. One of the speakers, Andy Lim (http://singapore60smusic.blogspot.sg), shared with us on his personal experiences making music in the 1960s. Another speaker, Georgiana Glass (http://singapore60smusic.blogspot.sg) spoke about how she has developed a love for music of the 1960s and more. On a few occasions, I could not help but notice the upholstery used on the furniture at the former Parliamentary Chamber. I felt as if I was transported back to a moment in the past because of the physical space that I was in.

The next workshop, Balik Kampung: Blogging about Your Neighbourhood, that I had attended fascinated me with interesting stories about Queenstown and Chinatown. I was moved to learn about the efforts made by Kwek Li Yong and his friends to preserve and educate residents on the culture, heritage and tradition of the Queenstown community through the blog, My Queenstown. Victor Yue's sharing about his experiences growing up and living in Chinatown was interesting too. He has made time to share his observations of life in Singapore Chinatown through bullockcartwater.

I felt grateful that a friend gave up her place to one of the special neighbourhood tours. This gave me the opportunity to participate in the special neighbourhood tour of Chinatown led by heritage blogger, Victor Yue.

Musicians performing Nanyin music at  Siong Leng Musical Association.

Our tour of Chinatown brought us to Siong Leng Musical Association which was located in an inconspicuous part of Chinatown at Bukit Pasoh. The participants of the tour were treated to a performance of Nanyin music, a form of music whose history can be traced back to ancient China. I felt as if I was re-experiencing a living heritage when I heard the meditative music performed by the musicians from Siong Leng Musical Association. A very kind gentleman, Chan, shared with us the interesting history of the Siong Leng Musical Association as well as the development of Nanyin music in Singapore.

Inspired by the history of Siong Leng Musical Association, I decided that I shall make time to attend one of the performances at Thian Hock Keng Temple by Siong Leng Musical Association during one of the celebrations of the birthday of the Goddess of Mercy. Eventually, I did so on 6 Aug 2012. Nan-yin music has a meditative and elegant quality.

6 Aug 2012: Performance by Siong Leng Musical Association.
This was to celebrate the birthday of the Goddess of Mercy.
Location: Opposite Thian Hock Keng Temple.

The next part of the tour unexpectedly led us to a keramat that was in Chinatown area at Duxton Plain Park. I sensed it was a holy place even though any unobservant person would have missed it. This keramat was said to be the shrine of Sharifah Rogayah (the grand-daughter of Habib Noh) but it seemed that this piece of information has yet been verified.

A keramat at Duxton Plain Park, Singapore.

The tour ended near at Keong Saik Road. I was attracted to the interesting architectural styles of many of the buildings along Keong Saik Road and the nearby Neil Road.

Neil Road

I was simply expecting an ordinary social media workshop where I could get more ideas about how to blog about heritage-related topics, my neighbourhood and culture. However, it turned out that Past Forward: A Heritage Blogging and Social Media Workshop has unexpectedly revealed to me some of the less well-known yet fascinating parts of Singapore. I have learnt more about the Princess Elizabeth Estate off Hillview Avenue, the local music scene of the 1960s, Queenstown, Nanyin music in Singapore, a keramat in Chinatown area and more!

Each day living in Singapore can be fascinating as we rediscover how the past has in some ways influence our present and future.