POEM:
UNDER THE COVERS, by Yong Shu Hoong

According to the pastor,
Christmas wrappings
are trappings that prevent us
from peering beyond the facade.

but such a beautiful facade;
the festive glitter on Orchard Road
fake snow piled luscious upon storefronts
an endless chorus of cash registers

plastic cards zapping through the slots
so fast you can imagine fireworks.

so the burdens of the world
are reduced to the weight of parcels
drawing lines of strain
across your palms

is it time yet to swap niceties,
get ready to pull the wrapping paper apart?

instead, let the singer on the CD
we play just once a year
finish singing about that one more drifter
in the snow

before we proceed to examine
with wonderment
the contents of our gifts.

-

ARTICLE:

http://www.fareast.com.sg/global/index.aspx?page=the-prime-orchard-road-district

PHOTOGRAPH:
http://sparklette.net/archives/862/ion-orchard.jpg

WORDLE:

-          Why did you pair this poem with this photo/art work and the article? What do the three have in common?

I think the poem's basically about the extent to which materialism has become a norm in Singaporean society- to the extent that it has cheapened the spirit of Christmas, a season known for its spirit of giving and sharing, and turned it into simply another occasion, another excuse for retail.
the photograph depicts Orchard Ion (another mall)'s nighttime glitz- I chose this because it's one of the most recent and iconic additions to the Orchard belt, and also because I think the architecture, while possibly intended to be futuristic and glossy, ended up making the building look incredibly cheap from the outside. This cheapness mirrors the shallow nature of materialism and Singaporeans' constant pursuit for material gain.
The article is extolling the virtues of Singapore's Orchard belt- the most 'iconic in Asia', and described to be the pulsing heart of Singapore, the place all the action's happening. This is of course a very common viewpoint in Singapore- undoubtedly Orchard is a location extremely alive. on the other hand it completely glosses over the fact that the shopping belt is expanding beyond control and that Singapore's focus on development in the form of retail is promoting materialism to astounding extents.
All three share the concept of retail- the first two show up its shallow, hollow nature while the third extols its virtues.

-          Examine the two Wordles. What important words, if any, do the poem and article have in common? Does the word cloud make you see the themes, ideas or subjects of each more clearly? How?

I actually combined the two into one wordle- the most important words that came out were Orchard, and Road, and shopping, and slightly smaller but still significant were the concepts of discovery, freshness, excitement, etc. I don't think it really helped me to see the subject matter more clearly but it is kinda cool~

 

 

-          Which do you like best: the Poem, the Image or the Article? Why?

I like the poem best- it summarizes what I want to say. the image and the article are somewhat related but dont completely embody the opinion that the poem is able to bring across by setting the message in the context of a very meaningful season.

-          What does this pairing say about life today? Do you think someone looking at it 25 years from now would “get” the same meaning? What about 100 years from now?

I think this problem of materialism is only going to continue to grow as technological progress improves the quality of our lives and in turn making us more reliant on our gadgets, our physical things. as artificial creation becomes easier and easier we're certainly going to get more and more caught up in it, and to the unenlightened it'll be harder and harder to break away. already these trends can be seen in the media- emphasis is being placed on appearance.

-          What other works of Literature, Film, or Fine Art can you think of that also echo, expand or even challenge the words and ideas of this poem?

literature: essentially most chick lit- or science fiction, if you think about it.

film: devil wears prada! was really all about the fashion industry and how hard it is to survive in a place built upon the vacant ideals of material and clothes and clothes and clothes
fine art: sorry cant think of anything at present

 

RALIT (do all of the above and the following as well)

-          Write an original poem that complements the poem, article and visual.

orchard road: a holding area for waves of human traffic diving in, out, in, out, in, out, in, out.
the shutters open, the day begins. customers wander in carefully, purposefully.
changing room curtains seize from side to side.

do you have stock, size seven and half ? we dont have half sizes. okay, then seven?
(the frazzled storeroom rampage.) here, size seven. ....I think i'll walk around and come back soon.
sure thing. thank you ma'am. we only have that in black. its out of stock, would you like to place an order?
would you like to buy two, you get a ten percen- all right. forty nine ninety five. thank you,
do you have an OCBC credit card? no. paying by nets? here you go, please sign here. thank you, come again.
is this to be giftwrapped? that will be twenty five. i'll check if we have stock, please hold on.

at the close of the day the salesgirl lifts
the abandoned hangers from the floor. they clack against each other, clack clack
clack, an hollow sort of cheerful. she tallies the sales and straightens the displays, and
she stands very still in the beaming light, in the empty, gleaming store
and looks at herself in the mirror, and touches her hair a little self-consciously, and
for the first time in twelve hours, smoothes the smile from her face.

I will admit it here, foreign interfaces scare me. I only got an LJ for the sake of accessing private journals - my heart really belongs with Wordpress.

(sorry)

anyway, if you stumbled your way here, I don't intend this to be my main blog, though the theme's very pretty (: