I had a trifling
burst of mortification and shame as seasoned criminal lawyer Subhas Anandan
spoke about vandalism in Singapore over Prime time news on channel 5.
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| Quite cute, mah! |
Sadly
Singapore, sigh.
25 year old
“Sticker Lady” (bestowed with this title for her outlandish street art pieces
that were imprinted on stickers) has been arrested for acts of vandalism and
will likely serve her worthless and pointless jail term of 3 years. Oh
netizens, I hear your online frenzy, petition and cries but I am assertive that
we can’t overrule the laws and rules here in Singapore. 7,000 petitions. I don’t
think it’ll really help much, now would it?
With the invasion
of artsy hubs, courses and schools here in Sadly Singapore (where has Uniquely
Singapore gone to? Miracle!) I am as disordered as its citizens are, zombie-plagued
with contradictory actions by other fellow Singaporeans and their laws on
vandalism, opposed to street art and graffiti. I mean, I thought Singaporeans
are purportedly always positioned as a notch smarter than the rest? You mean we
can’t even tell if the “vandalism” by Sticker Lady was deliberate, or was she
doing it to purposely vandalize our already foreigner-vandalized state?
My sympathy
goes out to the Sticker Lady who was evidently bidding to add a punch of creativity
to enliven this sorry Sadly Singapore state where everyone is a law-abiding citizen
dwelling in a fabricated concrete jungle with rules and regulations that, when
printed, would probably be collected into a thicker-than-the-bible “Singapore
Bible”.
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| Edgar Mueller 3D street art. Bet he would've been imprisoned for life in Singapore for doing this! |
It’s a paradox
in itself, firstly, proclaiming the need for creative professionals and
secondly, lobbing a creative artist into a jail cell for exemplifying her originality.
Creativity = Art = Out-of-the-damn-box. So if an artist is fined and jailed for
creatively expressing art in tasteful and imaginative ways, what about tutors,
plumbers, real estate agents, etc, who stick white pieces of scribbled
announcements with a row of “peelable” mobile numbers, on lamp posts, lift
landings, bus stop shelters and whatnots? I bet the policemen wouldn’t have issues
finding these people with their extensively publicized numbers. Then Sadly
Singapore might need to refurbish the Old Changi Hospital into Changi Prison 2
to house all these genuine miscreants and vandals.
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| I think THIS IS vandalism |
I’ve been
to Melbourne twice and I must say I greatly appreciate arts of any forms that
spot the city. Graffiti, paper cuttings, concrete floor painted murals, etc.
Art literally jumps right at you and adds a dash of happiness and euphoria to
your day subconsciously. Singaporeans, we often complain we’re stressed at work
and whatever, but when someone intends to brighten our day with a “My
Grandfather Road” or a “Press To Release” sticker insignia on a damn traffic
light post, we get frumpy, grumpy and sulky over it. “Siao gao, still want to
jail this artist!”
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| Would this wall not be a tension-relief for you Singaporeans? |
Poor ole
Sticker Lady. You know, I really like your stickers.
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| A photo shot in Melbourne: This graffiti artist sure "DIE" in Singapore! |
It’s such a
nation embarrassment and degradation for our counterparts to hear how uptight
Singaporeans are in this era! So much for attempting to morph its woodheaded
citizens into arty farty Andy Warhol, Vincent Van Gough or the likes of Alexandre
Farto. Better off just leave Sad Singaporeans to indulge in self-destruction,
self-mutilation and suicide since we’ve got no other avenues of tension relief.
“The
artist's world is limitless. It can be found anywhere, far from where he lives
or a few feet away. It is always on his doorstep” - Paul Strand. Oh really,
Singapore?
On a side note, 3 cheers for me as I'd be writing as a Resident Blogger on MFP soon! In case you're lost, stay tuned for more updates!
