I have received gratefully. I am a nobody in the vast complicated tundra that is the marketplace of paintings. And yet I have been blessed. Let me recount some concrete details.

Special thanks to Alyson for your warm hospitality at Cuturi Gallery.

I. 8th of November, 2019

I was at Art Porters Gallery, where a photographer-artist named Lavender Chang was giving a talk. Then, Monsieur Guillaume offered a pair of tickets, free of charge, to a music recital, named “ Voices of Bernard Sabatier”.

(Bernard Sabatier is a luthier, a maker of string instruments, such as the violin and viola. His viola is unconventionally shaped, and hence is met with resistance in music academies. However the luthier believes that his own instruments make performances easier for younger musicians.)

I accepted this splendid offer, inviting a younger friend along.

The venue for this recital was a studio in the magnificent Esplanade Theatres. If I remember correctly, one of the featured compositions was Schubert's.

II. 9th of November, 2023.

Someone from Gnani Arts Gallery sent me an email, inviting me to Affordable Art Fair, for “a private viewing of new and spectacular work curated by us for this season.”

I happily accepted the complimentary ticket. The venue was Formula One Pit Building.

I have benefitted from the labours of poets and poetesses from decades past – and centuries past – and I have no way of expressing my gratitude except to “pay it forward” (as the younger set says) – I have received freely and now I give freely.

In no particular order, I list poems that have helped me at pivotal moments in my life.

What do some people think about?

1. how am I feeling?
2. what is difficult for me right now?
3. what is going well?
4. which direction am I heading in?

*from Patrik Rolf,

I attempt a haiku as a response to each site that I have visited on this tiny island.

1. Aquarium on Sentosa Island

Flitting past humans Helmets glow and dance. No sun. Life beneath the waves

2. Mandai Zoo

Endless screams and shrieks Long arms – furry – swing past trees Orange men with tails

It might be good to go back and visit my friends – some of whom have become family – and see how they are doing.

1. Chr****** (Cathedral) is working with NICS (Network of Christian Schools) to benefit refugees, and youths in Africa.
2. T** (barista) is pulling shots at Kurasu Coffee (the Orchard outlet) and feels sad that he has no choice but to go for two more cycles of serving in the Armed Forces.

Over a time-period of approximately ten months – from 18th September 2023 A.D., to 14th July, 2024 A.D – I experienced an encounter with people from my past. I think of it as a milestone in my journey thus far.

I list those people in no particular order:

1. Crystal, Nan Hua Media And Debating (MAD) Club, 2004
2. Goh Shi Bin, Nan Hua, 2005
3. Yu Ting, NJC Harmonica Band, 2007
4. Hwee Hwee, NJC Harmonica Band, 2008
5. Tay Yi, 35SCE, 2009
6. Yong Rui Xuan, NUS SoC, 2011
7. David Bensadon, entrepreneur (in the field of domestic helpers), 2015

I made some new friends in this period too.

1. performed on a Shigeru Kawai grand piano. (Music: “Forbidden Love” by S.E.N.S., the theme music of a Japanese television drama “Nisen-nen no Koi”, or “Love 2000”). 8 December 2021, approximately. Location: No. 176, Orchard Road.
2. performed on a Bechstein grand piano, and an Bechstein upright. (Tchaikovsky's Nocturne, Op. 19, No. 4). 14 November 2023. Location: Block 3014, Bedok Industrial Park E.
3. performed inside a ballroom of a hotel,

Brick-and-mortar book-shops have been closing down, one after another.

I'm trying to contribute where I can, in as appropriate a manner as possible, with what little strength that remains in these frail arms.

I attended a screening of a documentary, at a nearby cinema.

It was about how humans manage – or fail to manage – industrial waste, and consumer waste. There were a lot of statistics in the documentary.

It ended on an carefully curated optimistic note: