Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Omataseshimashita! I'm back with a very long post. My apologies for not posting shorter posts more regularly, but recently I've been using my sister's computer in the morning to colour my drawings, and I don't really like staring at a computer screen for longer than a few hours everyday.
Ok, I'm adopting the same format as the previous posts. First some updates and then yet another nostalgia trip.
1. I went to the annual Street Fest at Suntec City with my sis on Sunday, and although it was held for the first time in an air-conditioned space (and that meant no melting make-up), I felt it was the WORST Street Fest I've gone for. Sharing a cramped space with camera and laptop stalls, lots of random shoppers milling around with no ostensible purpose for being there, and worse of all, getting herded by security guards with loudhailers and sirens into the cramped 5m x 5m stage area like CATTLE. Excuse me Suntec City, but what is the purpose of giving the Street Fest a space in your shopping mall and then not permitting the cosplayers and participants to stand around as they please? If you're thinking of using the cosplayers to attract the crowds, then please show them and their supporters some respect.
2. My sis and I were so bored by the Street Fest we went shopping, and in the evening, we left Suntec for Clarke Quay to catch the last performance of Water Fools by French circus troupe Illotopie, which was this year's opening performance for the Singapore Arts Festival. As we were quite early, we decided to drop by Yamakawa Super in Central, and guess who we bumped into once we stepped through the entrance of the shop? Victor and QH!! It turns out that they were there to watch the performance as well, and so the four of us went down to Boat Quay together. It was very packed and we could hardly see anything going on, but it was good fun, and I'm really glad we managed to meet Victor and QH there (although I must admit they are a strange and unexpected pairing...). Chance works in mysterious ways =)
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Now on to the next installment of my reflections on the past 4 years in NUS. This time, I'm going to do something a little different - I'm going to talk about one of my three favourite places in school.
1. The 3rd level of Central Library
When I matriculated in NUS, one of the first things I did was go for one of those tours organized by the Library. However, I was pretty early on the day of the tour, and having nowhere else to go, I decided to explore the Library on my own first. I went down to the 3rd level, where the Library's collection of books for lending is stored, and the first thing that greeted my eyes were endless columns of shelves neatly packed with rows and rows of leather-bound, austere-looking books. The sight literally took my breath away. I walked through the rows of shelves slowly, picking up books at random to feel the rough leather covers and touch the yellowed pages, and I wondered to myself, "How long would it take to read every single one of these books? Would it take more than a lifetime? How many books would I be able to complete by the time I finish my undergrad studies here?" (Sad to say, I have covered barely a fraction of the books in the Library.)
And at that moment, it struck me that if I had my way, I would spend my entire lifetime sifting through this immense sea of knowledge, reading as many books as I could till I couldn't read anymore. Looking back now, I guess I sound like one of those travellers in Borges' The Library of Babel, and I guess I would have ended up like them, failing after a lifetime of questing to find any truth in the permutations of letters, commas, spaces and full stops, but I thought then and still think now that meaning-making is a noble enterprise. After four years of study here, I have not lost faith in this belief, and I want to be part of this noble enterpise, though I hardly deserve to be among the likes of great thinkers and critics who dared to put forth their original and controversial views and who have played such an important role in shaping the way we think about the world around us today.
I suppose if I were to make a calculation, I would find that I have spent at least half of the time I'm on campus in the 3rd level of the library, either finding books for my research or studying in the quiet reading area. I love sitting in my usual corner facing the windows, on my own with peace and quiet all around, retreating into a sacred inner world where I engage in silent mental dialogue with the text before me. I'm not a misanthropist, but I value personal time and space very deeply, and I've always enjoyed the solitude the library offers me. And I also love its wide selection of *free* fiction and non-fiction books and uncensored films, haha. =)
Ok, more next time on my other 2 fav places in school.
kaoru said at 5:13 AM
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