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S’pore Writers Fest 2015: Looking for the dreamers in this Island Of Dreams

SINGAPORE — It seemed fitting that one of the final highlight events of a Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) carrying the theme Island Of Dreams was a lecture where one of the implied questions was: Where are the dreamers?

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SINGAPORE — It seemed fitting that one of the final highlight events of a Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) carrying the theme Island Of Dreams was a lecture where one of the implied questions was: Where are the dreamers?

Before the two-week fest wrapped up yesterday, Saturday’s lecture titled Imagine Singapore... at Suntec Convention Centre saw the unlikely trio of prominent businessman Ho Kwon Ping, journalist Bertha Henson and poet-musician Pooja Nansi attempting to imagine what Singapore would be like in 2050.

And like what happened during the previous week’s symposium on Singapore literature — where the question of getting the younger generation interested in local lit came up — the youth were brought up again, this time tied to the issue of creativity.

The national debate about the role and presence of literature in the educational system is an ongoing one and Nansi, who is also an educator and currently an NTU-NAC Writer In Residence, continued the discussion.

Where are the dreamers? If you’re looking towards the younger generation, it would seem they’re busy desperately trying to succeed and chase the 5Cs.

Describing her students as nice but hesitant in speaking out and “petrified of making a mistake”, Nansi said she worried about a society that is “uncomfortable with ambivalence” and has no room for unconventionality.

The world of art, including literature, can broaden minds. But she warned that the seemingly utilitarian view of it in Singapore will have repercussions in the future if not rectified. “Writers should be seen as not just useful but vital (to a society),” she said.

An earlier remark by Nansi about how “creativity takes courage” also resonated with Henson’s own thoughts about how courage and knowledge are the two ingredients needed to achieve the future Singapore, which in her mind is “a place with wise and civilised people”. The catch? “I don’t see people seeking knowledge anymore. And we can’t have a contest of ideas if we don’t have knowledge or wisdom.”

Finally, for Ho, a society’s ability to imagine plays a huge part in its development. “If you can’t imagine the world you want to be in, no amount of economic growth can get you there,” he said.

The Banyan Tree Holdings head honcho has been quite visible lately because of his new book comprising his lectures for the Institute of Policy Studies, also repeated one of his common themes: That of the country’s diversity (including foreigners) as a source of strength to forge a new social paradigm. Singapore, he thinks, can be a shining example of what people can be when they come together.

ALL NIGHT LONG

In hindsight, many of the points brought up in Imagine Singapore… were, in a sense, already on display or addressed the night before. Unconventionality, a contest of ideas and the possibilities available when people come together (including the younger generation) — all describe another festival highlight, the 12-hour mini-festival What I Love About You Is Your Attitude Problem.

Curated and organised by Huzir Sulaiman and his Checkpoint Theatre team, the event was as ambitious and audacious as it gets: From 7pm on Friday to 7am the following day, guests got dramatised readings, poetry and music performances, lectures, and screenings, while forming the night’s backbone was a non-stop reading of Meira Chand’s epic novel A Different Sky while artist Jimmy Ong and friends simultaneously create art.

Everywhere you went, there was something different to see. But it wasn’t just an art marathon. Eventually, you realised the extent of the event’s diversity not just in terms of genres but creators and themes. Among the performances were drag queen Becca D’Bus doing a Marina Abramovic-inspired series of 15-minute performances throughout the night; poet Cyril Wong mixing love songs from the 1980s with his homoerotic poetry while playing the piano; artist Isabelle Desjeux’s installation-video-lecture performance featuring the little-known historical figure Ali, the Malay assistant of British naturalist Alfred Wallace; and photographer Zakaria Zainal’s personal tour of his exhibition on Singapore’s overlooked Gurkhas and their families.

And there was Nansi herself, who performed twice (including one at 3am on the day of her lecture). It was a confessional piece, occasionally funny and very moving, where she talked about her recent wedding, her family’s roots, the wince-worthy cultural stereotypes she encounters a lot, and notions of belonging and identity. In those two performances, the teacher was the artist who embraces the unconventional and, perhaps, inspired a young audience member or two.

Where were the dreamers, you ask? The dreamers were up all night.

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