Waterloo Street is a fascinating place. It attracks me since I was a child. There are a lots of things mismatched here! There is an Hindu Temple next to a Taoist Temple. More strange is the Chinese goes to the Hindu Temple and the Indian also visit the Taoist Temple. If there is any place can really interpret what is racial harmony, I think this is the most appropriate place.
四马路，又叫瓦特魯街，是著名的观音廟所在地。我從小到大，都深深被这条街的一切事物吸引着。这里生活着各色各样的人，多姿多彩，声色擾人。第一个异样是两个不同宗教的廟宇并立。一邊是印度廟，隔鄰是观音廟。時常见到印度廟前有華人在膜拜，同時也会看到观音廟前有印度朋友在合十。如果要在本地找一个最有代表种族和諧的地标，非此莫属。

Then there are different kinds of people here. Some are pro-artist, some may not be. But their common aim is to earn a living there.
这里有不少街头卖艺者，每日在此演出。有些是班科出身，有些是自学成功的。但他们都有一个共同的目标：來这里求生活。

Of course, foreigner too, will have a place to be. Such as this special mute motorcycle world traveler. He just sit there, and exhibit his past journey records, people would donate to him too.
当然，在我们这里，百川合會，四马路也不例外，老外也能安祥地占一席之地，就像这位啞洋漢，他是一位頗有名气的电单车环游世界旅青，也乘来新加坡当兒，在此筹一些盘纏之費。

Beside, there are always the worshipers to come and visit the most famous 'Guan Yin Miao'. Throughout the year, you could see people purchasing flowers for the offerings.
来这条街的人，大半是来观音廟上香的，因此你会看到花販四處林立，買花之人不絶。

This is a place full of people, full of color and noise, most of all, full of life!
这些终日人潮来来往往，五花十色，撩人眼簾。但这里確实是充满着生活气息，看着活生生的人生缩影。

The NAFA Graduation Show (Fine Art) 2008

This is Marie's Work at the Show

Marie invited me to her Graduation Show at NAFA on 28th May 2008. As her former art teacher, I have no reason to say NO. So even on the day I had another function with SSC, I still made my way to NAFA to give her the support.

When I reached there, she met me at the entrance and brought me to her exhibition hall. The hall was full of works from the Fine Art graduates. It was a feast of colors for the eyes. Marie is the only person major in pottery. Her series of work was displayed at the centre of the exhibition area. Her work is something related to transformation, evolution and merging of life form. Raku fired, but with very unique forms and textures.

This is the first time I attending my own art student Art Show, no doubt I have more than a dozen of them graduated from NAFA and LaSalle. I am really pleased to see the fruit of Art Education provided harvested by them. As a teacher, the most rewarding moment should be at this time frame.

I hope Marie would continue to scatter the love of Art around her, especially to the younger generations. So that the beauty of Art could be flourished in this small island.

The Daily Travel Experience


After reached the age of 60, lots of my perception changed. I have given up the habit of riding on the 200cc motorcycle and travel at 100km per hour in the nights when I am moody. In fact, I already sold the bike for just $150.00. It was only 5 years old.

These days, I travel with public transports. It may be the bus, the MRT or Taxi. If I am not in a hurry, I used to take bus to the MRT station and use the train to continue my journey. I learned to take note of the timing of the bus. If I missed the designated time of that particular bus stop, I may have to wait for 10 to 20 minutes. These days, taking bus to me is an enjoyment. I take the opportunity to observe all sort of personality in the bus. Some are typical 'Kia Su' Singaporeans, once they aboard the bus, you could see their pairs of vulture eyes, searching for seats! Some are enlightened; even the bus is quite empty and have many empty seats, they choose to stand all the way to their designation. Some takes the journey for their afternoon nap or recovery time.

The services of the bus has improved a lot, comparing with the older days. But in terms of bus frequency, I think the company should further improve it.

Life is all about living

Life is really very unpredictable. Today I went to China Town to book traveling tickets; on the way walking to another building, suddenly noticed a commotion. I went to investigate, and found someone lying on the floor of the five foot way, motionless. The Ambulance medical staff was there to provide help. They were doing CPR on the poor soul. The man was in his mid thirties, slight plump. His face was greenish yellow in color then. The paramedics rushed him to the ambulance and headed straight to the nearest hospital.

Very often, we used to think we could live up to our ripe old age. But we always forgotten there is such thing called: Uncertainty. Look at the Cyclone in Myama, the Big Quake in Sichuan. People who live there, I do not believe that they had thought of those disasters will fall upon them. It did, and lots of lives were terminated in a very short moment. Therefore, to live in full with every minute of your life would be the best revenge to these types of misfortune.

By the way, there are more and more people getting cardiac arrest these days. By doing more physical exercises, such as brisk walk or jogging, taking healthy food with balance diets would cut down the possibilities of such attacks. In fact, do regulation medical check ups to understand your own health condition would be the wise way too.

四川，令人落泪的名字
谢 清诗



睡着的山
突然醒來，飞石似骤雨般扑下
屋子都摊了
轰轰然的天號
石泣鬼哭的时辰
孩子们猶握着筆听書
老师还以为是旱天雷发威
瞬间，一切都塌陷成灰
人間瞬变成煉獄
四川的名字
遂成世界各地的首条大字
高齡的爺爺
忘了年岁与劳苦
拎了一腔的爱意与关怀
澈夜飞撲灾黎
提一腔颤抖且真情的話语
含满眶难以把持的热泪：
孩子，同胞们
国家一直守护着你
你们且熬住片刻
我们燃起奥运圣火
我们绝不会放棄
生命之火

後记：从报章及电视上，看到中国总理温家宝，於四川大地震隔日，便亲臨亲臨灾区，慰间灾黎
，数度热泪盈眶。慰问语气感人肺腑，听畢令人心酸。央央大国，有此君子領袖，实在是福。反观寮国領袖，视其子民如粪土。救援物资送到他们门前，却迟迟无法送到自己的挨餓子民手上。真有天淵之别！温君一派大将之风，不管他是不是总理与否，他有得是一顆有血有肉的心。恐怕其他的領袖看了也多少要脸红！





(注：此詩己刊登在早報五月三十日，文艺版。)

The Two Worlds
两个世界
Chameleon， The creature that would change it color according to the surroundings. In the human world, don't you think there are people who behave the same as this creature?
变色龙，一种随着环境而改变体色的动物。在人类世界里，何尝不见这一类的人呢？见风转舵，東风吹来西邊摆，可大有人在！
I used to see our senior citizens walking around my block with silvery hair on their tops. These senior citizens sometime just walk around without any special objectives. May be they have lost their target in life. Look at this pelican, don't you think it also have the same problem?
常见白发蒼蒼老翁，在自己住所楼下，漫无目的的游蕩。終日无所事事，难矣哉。放眼看去，这隻塘鵝，是否类似那些蒼髮老翁？

Sometimes, at a glance, thing may not look pretty. But if you look more intensely, you would see the beauty in it. The maker of this world is very fair to everything he makes.
美不只藏在悦目的事物中，它也隱藏在一些不甚起眼的生命里。上蒼对这事可是最公平的。

The graceful appearance of this swan, makes me think of the ballet 'Swan Lake'.
看到这幅作品时，就想到芭蕾舞：天鵝湖。
This Mandarin Duck is a born beauty, just look at it color on the feathers, you could agree with me.
这隻鴛鴦，羽色斑爛，令人憐爱。

The Deep Blue Sky
尉蓝的天空

These few days, the weather was extremely hot. But if you look out of your window, you will find the sky would be extremely clear and blue. As a photographer, I sensed that the color temperature was very suitable for scenery shots. I took my camera bag and headed to city for shots.
这几天，天气特别干爽，而且酷热。但若你能看看窗外景色，你不难发现，那天空是如許的蓝！我的摄影知识告訴我，如此天气的色温，最适合拍照。於是便拎了摄影器材，往市区出发。

After the trip, I was extremely pleased with the results. I have captured the rich blue sky, and the crystal clear greeneries. I think with all the price hike, the cheapest and most rewarding entertainment now is digital photography. By looking at the photos you have captured, you could spend the whole afternoon to daydream with them!
拍摄回来后，看到成果，自己倒十分满意。我把当天尉蓝的天，碧緑的樹，都一一捕获。心愉之际，煞時想到，在这百物高漲的時節，数碼摄影可不是一种最省钱的娱乐？你大可神游于自己拍摄的影像中，一个心扩神怡的下午，就此而过。何乐而不为？

At the side of Esplanade I captured this shot. It looks like the Oasis in the desert. Who would imagine this is part of Singapore scenery?
这張有如緑洲似的影像，有谁能想像是我们这个热带国家的一个景点？

The skyline of city is really attractive from a distance. But the lamp post is an eye sore!
我们的城市风景线，從远处看去，真得是一个十分迷人的卖点。


Personally, I like this shot. Especially the dynamic composition of light and shades. This shot is really an accident catch; as I was trying to capture a trishaw operator catching his nap, I noticed the striking visual effect above me, instead of shooting the man, I took this shot. No regret!
个人十分喜欢这張像片。因为它强有力的光影構图摄人。这是一張無心之作。本想在桥下偷拍三轮车夫的午睡图，不料仰头一看，竟被这龐然景象摄去！

The Artificial WorldSometimes, I really pity the younger generations of Singaporean. Since young, they will face all sorts of artificial things. The river is man-made, the gardens are man-made, even certain sceneries also man-made. What is natural and what is artificial, sometimes, I do not think these people really know about it.

Personally, I have a joke to share. This was happened forty odd years ago. That time, Chai Chee was still a rural area. I said rural that means no electricity, no tap water and so on. One day, a group of us went there for hiking. One boy was born and stayed in the city area since young. That day, one the course of the hike, suddenly a Berkshire boar dashed out from the side of the road. The boy got scared out of his dear life. He scream and run as fast as he could. After the boar has disappeared into the village, and the boy calmed down. We asked him actually what was in his mind when he saw that creature. He told us that he thought that was a huge wild animal that could harm him. We laughed and laughed after that. As a city boy, he would not have seen a boar (A male pig) that is almost 300kg and 1.45m tall. In his mind, pig is always cute to hug and play with. That is all from the books. When we told him that was a pig, he could not believe it for awhile.

It was the same that in one of the trip travel towards Johor River mouth in a vessel, some Singaporean screamed that we had reached the open sea. The boatman laughed and said, that was only the river mouth of Johor River. How could we blame our countrymen with this type of behavior? Our Singapore River to others is only a drain!

When you have climbed the Kinabahru Mountain, you will not name Bukit Timah Hill as Hill. Right?

When a frog stand in front of a light, he would said he is almighty, as he sees his own shadow on the wall is huge. But is this the real fact?

夕阳之恋

The Tree Art

One day, as I walked along Elizabeth Walk, I saw this tree stood right in front of me, it gave me great visual shock. The formation of its branches and the color on its trunk reminded me paintings from the great artist such as Van Gogh and Piet Mondrian. But this is a real life tree, not a painting! I stood there for quite a while, just to admire its beauty. I was amazed by the twinning and curling of its branches, they were so intricate and complex. Nature really has all the beauty in it.

Could you see the similarity between the tree above and this piece of great work by Van Gogh?

What about comparing it with Piet Mondrian's works here?



Amazing right?

陋巷之春

人间有天堂
天堂在陋巷
春光无偏私
布满了温暖网
树上有小鸟
小鸟在歌唱
唱出赞美诗
赞美这春浩荡

每一回走过桥南路，这个路口时，看到陋巷之景，必会想起周漩的那首陋巷之春！只是我们这巷子，白天可五顔六色，夜里更是声色犬馬。不可和数十年前的周女相比。只是有时自已的思维若天 馬行空，时空跳跃。站在这巷口，不禁會联想到每个窗户内，各自的動人故事。
走过这日食堂前，看到其布置，恍若回到若干年前游过的大阪小街。

这幢屋子的建築格式，十分欧陆化，本地其他地方应该难以看到。

我家鄰近的奇花异物
Things around where I stay


住在德曼花園，不经不觉己有十多二十年了。常见到一些奇花异物，一时兴起，遂拧了个摄影机，猎下这些镜头，和大家分享。
I have been staying at Teban Gardens for almost twenty years. I used to see many beautiful little things happening in this neighborhood. The following photographs are the evidence that I have captured and sharing with all of you.

这隻猫，最近被阉了。整隻猫变得呆呆的。完全没有一点猫性。但他的毛色銀白，非常迷人。
This poor cat recently got castrated. It losts its characters as a cat. Daily it stones around and stare into the air to pass time! But it has beautiful silvery fur, I believed it has the bloodline from some Siamese cat.

拍下图时，确实令我有点意外，第一眼看到它时，根本認不出是那门子的路！我还以为是有人故意做假，来戲弄人。後来經主人出来印证一番，才确認它是仙人掌的果实！我告诉主人，算自己是見識淺漏，这是我生平第一次見識。
This is something new to me. It is the fruit of a kind of cactus. It is the first time I witnessed this type of plant bears fruit. I have a chat with the owner, he told me it only flower in the early morning; from 2am to 5am only.


我家附近的这种树，吾不知其多，但每当它發出嫩葉時，它的嫩叶，就像日本紅枫！特此摄下为证，
I like maple leaf. One type of trees would have it new shoots of leaf in red. It looks like the maple that I have seen in Autumn Japan! I am referring to it color only.

走过这棵矮椰時，看到阳光在黄椰上投下斑斓美景，煞是好看。就像一幅天然布置的静物畫。
The light and shades of these coconuts is a piece of Still Life by nature.

最近，常在報章上，看到多名知名人物，人说鳥話，现在出现在眼前的景像，你説像不像鳥説人話！
There are lots of people talking cock these days, I captured this shot: Don't you think this resembles 'These birds talking Human!"

看到这尊盆栽竹下的观音，一派安祥入定的样子，真羡煞人。什么米價高漲，油價騰飞，收入縮水等，一慨与我無关。可不是吗，他是不食人间烟火的呀。
Guan Yin under the Bonsai bamboos. Peaceful and calm. Who cares about the inflation, the hike of food price!

树老了，皮色斑烂。人老了呢？
When the tree turn aged, the bark turns colourful, what about ourself? A piece of rubbish?!

在組屋区，看到如许盛开的大红花，真是一种意外的收获。
Discover this Hibiscus in my neighborhood is a surprise to me too. It so big and so red!

这朵形似玟瑰的小花，就开在我日夜走过的电梯走道旁，默然自賞。
An unknown little flower blooming at the front walkway of my block.

诗一首

It is a small small world

Sometimes, if we really pay some attention to the things that surround us, we would see the hidden beauties in them. Macrophotography is one way to explore this area.

Recently, due to the heavy studying loads, I need to reduce my mental stress, I resolved to photography. I took a number of macro shots by making use of whatever available at hands. These are some of the shots that I have taken:This is a sandal wood sculpture of an Eyptian Cat. I bought it in Nepal years ago.


A macro shot of Malaysian Coin

A close-up of one part of the white fungus, which we used to make desert.

This is the Di Zhang bronze sculpture. One of my own collections.

Usually, in macro-photography, the depth of field is extremely shallow. I still need more experience to overcome this issue.

My Old Memory 我的古早记忆

When I was young, I stay at Selegie Road those three storey type of old houses. We were staying at the top floor. My mother was very strict on me and my younger brother. Both of us were not allowed to go out of the house whole day. Only when she needed to get something from the shops nearby, she would bring us along. Therefore, our past time activity was to sit near the windows and watch things past by. I spent lots of time at gazing at the scene downstairs, and notice one of the transport vehicles was with two long polling attached to the wire on top of them, and when it made a left turn into Magazine Road, the the two poles must be manual pulled away and attached to another set of wires, at the moment, sparks were jumped out when they got disconnected or connected again.
小时候住在实里基路，俗称七馬路。我们住在旧式的三层楼店屋。我们一家住在三楼。母亲那时管得我们很严。往往整天都被困在楼上。只有当她須要去附近买一些日用品时，才带我们兄弟俩同行。我们一天的活动就是对着窗口觀望。成天看着世界在自己眼前流轉。在观望的过程中，就發现这种交通工具。它有两条長長的柱子長在头上。每次从实里基路向左轉时，兩根柱子都要費人力将它拉下转道。那时就会看到电光闪出。这是我们当时惟一的視觉享受!


The following photograph I believed the photographer must have taken it at the junction of North Bridge Road and Hock Lam Street (This street already not existing). The location where Funan Centre is now. You can identify the distant light house tower at Fort Canning.
下图可能是在小坡大馬路和福南街交界处拍的.你还可以看到远处福康宁山上的灯塔.可能是现今的福南中心所在地吧.

This was the oldest bus model I could remember. It was like a bone shaker, and very smoky! Used to operate in the rural areas. By looking at this photo, it could look like Chai Chee. But I am not very sure, as I was not the one who took this photo. Anyway, most of the rural areas looked like this during my time. The coconut farms were charming.
这是我记忆中最古老的巴士.它常川行于鄉村小道.从像片的背景看耒,它好像是在漳宜菜市一带的郊区拍的.因为像片不是我拍的,所以我不能肯定.但看到巴士後面的那片椰林,就开心了.何時我们再有如此青葱且熱带的风景?

Great World, one of the famous amusement parks in our time. The other two were New World and Happy World. I still remember when mother brought us there, it must be a big deal, as we need to hire a trishaw from Selegie Road to here. I still remember once entered it main gate, on the right side, you would find Flamingo Cabaret and Sky Theatre. Walked straight on from the main gain, at the centre of the park, you will find lots of games store and small shops.
大世界,是其中一个有名的娱乐中心.其他两个是:新世界和快乐世界.对我们兄弟俩来说,每次母亲带我们去都成一件大事.因为我们得坐三轮车从七马路去.我还记得从大世界正门进入之後,往右走不久,就会看到红鶴夜总会和青天大戲院.如果不向右走,而直线前行,就会看到许多游戲小摊和一些卖百貨的店子.

Cathy Cinema, one of my favourite theatres. I used to patronize it on Saturday or Sunday morning shows. The other theatre will be Rex Theatre. That time the front stall ticket was only 50 cents. Lots of John Wayne's show were watched during that time. Gone were all these majestic theatres.
國泰戲院，我小时常去光顧的一间戲院。当我十二三岁时，我常到国泰或丽士戲院看周末的早場。那時早場的前座门票才五角钱。在那里，我看了好多铁漢莊榮的牛仔戲。


This is the nearest photo I could find from a old photography stores, it shows the palm garden of Sea View Hotel. You can imagine how beautiful it was at Katong beach.
这是我惟一从旧貨摊找到，最接近我迷恋致今的加東海滩的像片。这是旧海景酒店的園景。加東海滩的美景比它还要绮丽的多呢！呵！我那失去的海滩！

My School Days 我的学子生活

I believed my happiest days were in school. There were no much worries except for the weaker subjects. I spent most of my time in the basket ball activities. So much so, that few of us in the class formed our own basket ball team, and compete with other schools basket ball team. We name our team as 'Si Fei 四非', it was from the Chinese character 'Sin' (罪), we broke the character into two parts and gotten the name for our team. The photograph below depicts our group shot at our school basketball court with our famous PE teacher Mr. Zhiang (蒋才沅老师) at the center.




Most of the Saturday afternoon, after our lesson time, we used to stroll bedok beach. The sand is fine, and the breeze is soothing. I specially like the silhouette of the coconut trees. They were so poetic. This photo was taken at Simpan Bedok beach, where the Army Camps are now situated. We were still wearing our school uniforms, Anglican High School.

In 1964, during my secondary 4, I took the top prize in Poster Competition from Minister of Education Mr. Ong Pong Boon during the Speech Day. It was the first recognition for my painting skill in my life. From there onwards, it inspired me continue my search in creative art form for the rest of my life.

School Funfair is really fun for me, most of the classmates spent the night before the actual day in school and prepared for it. The next day everyone put in their best efforts to get the most income for the school fun raising project. The response that year was fantastic.

During my upper secondary days, these three classmates became my best friends. They are Sim Kok Kin (Second from the left), Ho Kam Chiew (Second from the right) and Yang Liang Yuen (Extreme right). Sim has the best knowledge in science and maths, he became our tutor in these two subjects. We used to stay in Sim's house during the examination periods to study. He stayed in the rural Chai Chee Village, where pig farms and vegetable farms were.

The following portrait was taken at Raffles Studio at Bras Brasah Road in 1964. I used it for my graduation magazine.