Dreaming Singapore

Long day today. Went to Queenstown for a conference on Malay-Muslim families, then back home, before going to catch a movie with Oats.

Singapore Dreaming was very touching, down to earth and sincere. I've seen 15, 12 Stories, Lie with Me, and a little bit of Jack Neo's stuff, and these movies often felt like stylised representations of Singapore life. Singapore Dreaming felt like little nuggets and reflections of Singapore life, and the characters felt like real people that you might see on the street or in your block. You really felt for the characters as you saw the things they inadvertently said or did that hurt another person in the family. Literally, death by a thousand paper cuts. The scripting had little moments of truth that were all the more powerful because they were so well delivered by a talented cast. Every line felt natural, even when characters were code-switching or moving between languages. I really felt for the family, and i must confess that i did tear up a little at the end. I guess the film-makers achieved what they set out to do :)

Had a good chat with Oats (at McCafe! hee hee). It was nice to spend a Saturday afternoon

Bought SQ21 on my way to Siglap. I just find it so awesome that the GLBT community in Singapore came together to publish a book, where everyday Singaporeans could just come out and tell their stories about being a gay, lesbian, transexual or bi. It is a powerful statement of courage and bravery, and it really helps to break the public stereotype of homosexuals as meth-addicted sex maniacs which has been fostered by the tabloids in Singapore. I really appreciate that one mother was willing to be featured as a mother of 2 gay children.

I also bought another book on leadership at Borders. While i used to be a little cynical of self-development books, i find that reading such books provides me with a way to reflect on and learn from my personal and work experiences. In reacting to the concepts and ideas in the books, I deepen my own learning from work. For instance, when i was reading the Fifth Discipline, a lot of the ideas and concepts resonated with some of my experiences, and made me think harder about whati had done well and could do better as a manager. Although i had done a workshop about Learning Organisations when i first started work, my learning was much richer now because i had 4 years of work experience to draw on, with 2 in a general management position with more responsibility and autonomy.

Ended the day with dinner at Le Viet (my fav Vietnamese restaurant) and cheesecake at the Cheesecake cafe, which had a very nice vibe to it.

All in all, a nice and relaxing Saturday. In fact, it's my first weekend with no homework at all (even though i still had work in the morning).

Ajantis is dreaming...