Shoe Without A Foot

A lone stiletto
Not exactly old
On an electrical box top
Near an old-style coffeeshop

Was it abandoned?
A waste that can't be condoned
Did the other heel break?
Next time buy a better make!

Or was she overdressed?
Hence unduly stressed
At being brought here
By a stingy date I fear

Then flung her stiletto
At the el-cheapo
And hastily departed
Quite broken-hearted

Or accidently soaked earlier
In the recent floodwater
Caused by the heavy rain
When one foot went into a drain

Now she's only air-drying it
When I paid an untimely visit
She never thought it so often
That a poem can be written

Maybe I'm only imagining
Like someone has been saying
Perhaps she was Cinderella
Who fitted nicely in a glass slipper

So had no use for the extra shoe
As she had found her beau
They probably left in laughter
And lived happily ever after

(Related post by Rick Burnett Baker here.)

How Many Times Can You "Revisit" The Old National Library?

I received the following email and comment from a reader:

Hello Victor !

I am Soo Yong, an architecture student currently writing a dissertation on conservation psychology, questioning the relationship between memory and object in the context of Singapore. In Singapore, when physical erasure is inevitable, I am to study the negotiation, struggles and resistance of individuals against state control urban transformation. I am interested in exploring the alternatives between complete conservation and total erasure of built object. Hence, I have a question in mind that I believe you are the most apt person I can refer to.

On the case of the old national library, I am a foreigner who didn't get to see or use the building before it was demolished. The left over brick post didn't strike any strong feeling in me. I am interested in knowing what helps you in recollecting the memories of the old national library so vividly (in your post dated 30 Jan 2010). Are they tangibles elements like photographs, the standing brick post or intangibles like a smell, a sound or an action? Which are they that trigger the recollection of the long gone time in the old national library? Or they are remembered purposely from time to time so that you won't forget?

Hope that my questions won't bother you too much. Just let me know which you feel comfortable with.

Thank you very much !

Hi Soo Yong, yes I did receive your email but I am still scratching my head on how to answer you. You see, I am afraid that your question is too chim (deep) for me. I can only answer such questions as a layman, not as an expert.

I am not sure exactly how one's mind stores and retrieves its memories, whether most people's minds work similarly or even how mine works (or don't). However, I do know that for everyone, there are good memories and bad ones. Neutral experiences do not make much of an impression and are seldom stored as memories. Hence there are mostly good and bad memories.

Most people will remember good memories with little effort. As for bad memories, most people try hard to forget but fail. So more often than not, both good and bad memories stay.

Some memories are both good and bad. A good example would be a boyfriend or girlfriend who didn't end up becoming your spouse, especially if the break-up was acrimonious.

Time will usually dilute most memories. If not, an aging mind stricken with senility will certainly do the job. That is why some old people have very clear memories of the distant past whereas they cannot remember events that happened recently. I think it is true that old people like to talk about olden times. Perhaps what makes them fond of doing so is that it brings back pleasant memories of their lost youth and vitality. You must have heard an elderly person who keeps repeating his old stories to you. 

For memories that you want to keep alive, talking about it helps. Hence this blog helps to keep my nostalgic memories alive. To be able to write an interesting post about an old topic, you have to do research too, i.e. read other people's blogs and archived articles, collect old photos and maps, make site visits, etc. Doing so helps one recall forgotten details. (One example is when I found out from an old street directory that the Van Kleef Aquarium was located to the right of the National Theatre when looking from the traffic junction. I had all along thought that the aquarium was on the left.) In addition, when readers comment on the blog, they provide further information to refresh the forgotten memories.

When you have visited a place such as the old National Library hundreds of times in your youth some 30 years ago, it is easy to form an emotional attachment to the place. You will remember every nook and corner of the building. Even your experiences during that time which are unrelated to the building may come flooding back when you think about the library.

But still, there are only so many perspectives I can give. What I know and have wanted to say would have been said. After all, how many times can you "revisit" the old National Library, especially when it is no longer there? I don't want to be the elderly person who keeps repeating his old stories to you.

Related Posts:

1. Vanishing Scenes of Singapore - Part 2

2. Old National Library Revisited

3. Changing Landscape Of Singapore (3)

4. Old National Library Revisited (2)

Rainbows

My blogger friend James Seah aka Thimbuktu recently wrote about a Beautiful Rainbow in Simei. This post is inspired by him.

According to Wikipedia, a rainbow is:

"...an optical and meteorological phenomenon that causes a spectrum of light to appear in the sky when the Sun shines onto droplets of moisture in the Earth's atmosphere. They take the form of a multicoloured arc, with red on the outer part of the arch and violet on the inner section of the arch.

A rainbow spans a continuous spectrum of colours; the distinct bands are an artifact of human colour vision. The most commonly cited and remembered sequence, in English, is Newton's sevenfold red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet (popularly memorized by mnemonics like Roy G. Biv). Rainbows can be caused by other forms of water than rain, including mist, spray, and dew."

I too have seen many rainbows in my 55 years of life. Most of the rainbows which I have seen appeared in Singapore after a rain. (I did not travel overseas until I was in my twenties. In those days, photos were only in black-and-white and hence, a colourful rainbow would hardly show up on film anyway. In addition, it is only in the last decade that photo-taking became affordable enough for me to capture what some people consider as a frivolous subject, both of interest as well as photographic.)

In Nov 2007, I was travelling in a tour bus in Taiwan with my family. (I usually keep awake on the bus to watch out for any interesting sights. After all, we are supposed to be doing sightseeing, aren't we?) All of a sudden, I saw this beautiful rainbow outside the window. I whipped out my camera and captured the scene. At that precise moment, a bus, which was no less colourful than the rainbow, appeared at the end of the rainbow and this was the result:

Doesn't it look like a trolley bus of yesteryear with colourful trolley poles to match?

On 11 Jul 2010, the New Paper published an article about the Jewel of Muscat which is a ship presented by the Sultanate of Oman to Singapore. A rainbow appeared in the sky when the newspaper's photographer toured the ship:

Then as if by coincidence, Yesterday.sg published a post today titled The Making Of Tiong Bahru. In the post's YouTube video, a rainbow appeared in a shot of Serangoon Road:

(Don't ask me why. I am still wondering what the Making of Tiong Bahru has to do with Serangoon Road. Maybe we will find out when the film is completed some time in early Oct 2010?)

No doubt, the above photos are inspirational but there is one shot that got to me. I do believe, that in these difficult and mean-spirited times in which we live, there needs to be a message of hope. We can all use a single image that speaks to us of love, harmony, peace, and joy. An image that suggests the universality of us all. I have been sent that image, and I want to share it with you. All I ask is that you take a moment to reflect upon it...
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Brings tears to my eyes!