Singapore Writer Festival 2011

I have attended a couple of SWFs previously and I must say that this year's was relatively on a bigger scale and with a comprehensive list of programmes. Unfortunately, I was away in Hong Kong on holiday for the most part and only got to attend a few sessions on the Saturday when I was back on 29 Oct.

I attended 3 programs in total, the first being "OFF THE PAGE: First Page: Buy or Bin It" which was moderated/judged by Dr KK Seet and Fran Lebowitz. Writers will present the first page of their manuscript and audience and judges will decide if the 1st page will warrant a buy or a bin. It is kind of scary, especially when we see some established writers up there waiting to be praised or razed. In any case, it was all in good cheer eventually. In perspective, I think it is rather subjective on deciding where to buy a book or not based on it's 1st page. Honestly, it's really diffcult by just basing on that 1 page. Personally I would read the blurb and jacket for any reviews and also read the prologue or 1st chapter to decide if I liked the writing and if it entices me to read further. If I have time, I will check out online reviews too. My friend Jeremy and I were saying that this sort of thing should be done for musical scripts instead.

The next event I attended was the panel session "Why So Serious?" featuring Tom Cho, Neil Humphreys and Chuah Guat Eng, moderated by Carolyn Camoens. It was a session meant to discuss maintaining a good sense of humour in your writing with the writers sharing how they strike the right balance in their approaches towards humour. The discussion got a bit side-tracked along the way and well, maybe too much sharing of other people's work went on. On the whole, one would agree that a familiar context (to identify with the story) and timing is crucial to getting the joke and bring it out at the right time.

Lastly, there was the panel session "From Page to Screen" which I was glad I decided to stay on for. It featured Lee Shinho (writer of Korean thriller "The Chaser"), Vikas Swarup (writer of "Q&A" which was made into Slumdog Millionaire) and Prabda Yoon (writer for "Last Life in the Universe"), and with the session moderated by Tan Kheng Hua. It discussed the writers journeys from their books that became adapted for screenplay, although some have moved towards screenplay. It was an interesting session with rather different experiences from each, and the audience could gain insight into the way things worked in the film industry for each country and also how each writer worked. I actually took quite a few notes. An analogy given by Vikas (which he heard from someone else) was rather apt about responding to questions on having your book produced into a film (I may not have reproduced it here in its entirety) - allowing your novel to be made into a movie is like marrying off your daughter. You get stuck with a son-in-law. And one thing you never do is to speak ill of your son-in-law in public.

Well, looking forward to the next SWF!

Hong Kong Oct 2011 thoughts

Yes, it's the 2nd time this calendar year that I've been to Hong Kong, and as a friend pointed out, 3rd time over a period of 12-13 months.
I also don't know why I'm there so often...maybe it's nearby for a short getaway (ok, this time was a bit long, almost 1 week). My initial intention was actually to venture there alone to take in/photograph some street scenes and visit museums, maybe over a couple of days, but somehow, it ended up with being a trip with my parents. Not that I'm complaining coz my original intention kind of tapered off over the months, so the trip might not have happened if it weren't for them.

Ok, this will just be a short recap of my trip...I know I didn't write about my Korea trip, which will probably be a foregone post, so this is just in case I don't follow up with my trip updates. Haha!

Anyway, shopping-wise, I wouldn't say I achieved that much but I did unwittingly acquire 4 pairs of shoes for myself. In fact, between my parents and I, we bought a total of 7 pairs of shoes, which pretty much filled up 1 luggage bag. Did a little shopping at Uniqlo and H&M. But I wouldn't say it was super fruitful, but still ok. I had been searching for a lightweight black bag that's not too big, but not too small. Didn't exactly find one, but ended up buying this really light leather bag from a local label Giallo.

Food-wise, we didn't really achieve much and there were some hits & misses. Probably because we didn't exactly leave the hotel early (usually we go out at 9 plus) so meals weren't that many. Maybe also because I was still recovering from my long-drawn cough, hence, less enjoyable. Dimsum-wise, think Lei Garden had one of the better quality stuff. Will share more on that later when I get the chance!

Weather was relatively fine in Hong Kong, slightly cooler than Singapore, though when it's sunny, it's quite warm. Had some on-off drizzle on 2 days. However, the air's a bit polluted here, with a slight hazy tinge in the air everyday.

Actually, I stayed on Kowloon side most of the time since that's where I was staying, except for 1 day on HK Island (and another afternoon on Lamma Island). Honestly, I began to feel HK was a bit too crowded and busy for me, and the streets a bit cramp and messy. It was generally clean, but old, which made it a bit grey. Halfway through, I started to miss the orderly and 'greener' life back home. Well, call me a pampered Singapore girl. Despite the heat and stuff, I still call Singapore my home. Aren't we always more appreciative of her when we venture elsewhere?

Talking of which, a chit-chat with the cab drivers gave some astounding figures to the expenses. To get a cab license, the going rate now is like around HKD 4 mil. That's more than S$600K. And flats for the average person can be at least HKD10,000 per sq ft. That's like S$1600 or more per sq ft.
But owning a car in Singapore seem to be still a little bit more expensive than HK.

Steve Jobs (Feb 24, 1955 – Oct 5, 2011)

At 7.43am this morning, I received an SMS (via CNANewsPack) of the breaking news:

"Apple announces Steve Jobs has died."

For a moment, I pondered if this was true and it turned out to be so as the tweets and news articles rolled. It was something that we kind of expected, but when it came, it still caught me slightly off-guard. Maybe it was too soon after he stepped down in August, and just a day after the announcement of the new iPhone 4S.

It is at times like this, that one would think of how a visionary such as him had influenced our lives and lifestyle. We know it's all team work, but somehow he made things move. You could say he changed the way we lived, and also pushing other tech companies to come up with more competitive products.

In my own personal journey with Apple, I believe my first encounter was with the Macintosh. It was when my primary school first introduced computer classes and what they had was that. I was intrigued by this first all-in-one PC which was diversely different from the old black-green screens of the older generation (I had only used computers to play games then). Following that, being the young me then, always thought Apple = Macintosh. And that's how Apple got stuck in my mind, even as a childhood memory.

Fast-forwarding to more recent times (after a seemingly dull period for Apple...probably when Steve Jobs left for a while), I recall the first iMac range with its delicious look in my Uni days. Another iconic innovation where looks and compactness mattered in functionality. And during that time, the first iPod emerged too. It changed the way we would carry music. Although I believe they weren't the first to have MP3 players (Creative?), it played a major role in revolutionising the way we used them. The 'touch' would be it. No more walkmans and discmans. And the move towards iPod Touch.

Then we have the iPhone that literally changed the smartphone industry. Ya, there were smartphones and there was THE smartphone that even babies can use. I think most can do the "slide" thanks to that. All the apps and ease of use. And of course the iPad with it's amazing graphics. Not the 1st tablet, but one that made a difference. Not forgetting the MacBooks, revamped iMac too, and their powerful OS and software applications that made making music, etc. so simple.

Apple has continued to introduce innovative and cool products that made computers and affiliated gadgets become accessories, and it achieved this under the direction of Steve Jobs. So salute to the man. The memory of his legacy lives on.

Apple has pinned a notice and message in memory of him and for those who would like to share their thoughts, memories, and condolences, they can email rememberingsteve@apple.com