Obstacles Are Opportunities And A Magic Carpet Ride

What is stressing me out most now is that in every situation I automatically aim towards making the most of it by preparing for it sometimes and thinking hard through it as I react to it and make quick good choices. This only happened to me recently. I'm sure it's because of improvisational workshops with my co-actors. It has helped me to think on my feet, articulate and also receive (listen) better.

I'm the kind of guy who has MANY ideas. Before, I wasn't able to manage them. But now that I have this new ability, it's actually proving to be quite taxing on the brain. Plus I'm type A personality and also obsessive compulsive. What I need to learn now is to decide when I should switch off. I've also come up with this new philosophy which I personally believe is the key to my happiness and fulfillment - which is to turn obstacles into opportunities. And this has worked fairly well.

Take a recent event at the Esplanade Concert Hall. From attending Lea Salonga's concert in New York and missing out on a chance to live my dream and sing A Whole New World with her, I made it happen for myself when she finally came to Singapore to perform. I urge everyone to do the same. I've been interviewed by a fellow blogger and will post the link in comments when the article/interview is out.

Animation Asia Conference 2009

Thanks to an invite from my friend "Al", I was able to be at the first Animation Asia Conference ever! This precedes the Animation Festival Asia on Nov 21st and 22nd. The delegates (it was an honour to be considered one) attended a full day of speeches, presentations, panel discussions, interviews, great food and networking. It was an definite eye opener for me.

Japanese animation came up a lot because that's huge in the animation market. Some of the presentations were even in Japanese. I saw snippets of some of the series that I voiced and thought to myself, "Hey! I guess I have played a small part in the industry" - though I really do hope to play a bigger part with the animated feature I wrote. I was inspired by some of the success stories and wanted to meet some of the speakers. It was all rather intimidating for me because I'm more an actor than a businessman. But I figured it takes a certain amount of courage to be an actor right? And courage is courage, so I eventually mustered enough to collect and give out some business cards. Did I mention I went out and printed business cards for the event?

If nothing else, it was an inspiring day and I learnt a lot about consumer trends, the animation market and the business perspective on animation. Thank you "Al"!

An Online Presence

I've been behaving like it's the end of the world. That's not the same as the end of my freelancing career, is it? I mean, I'll just never have a three month break again that's all - one week if I'm lucky! And why would I want to spring-clean my room during any of these upcoming breaks? Exactly! Which leaves only now to do it. So you can imagine how much my room looks like a warzone at the moment.

Oh no! What other things should I start doing now? Convert all those VHS tapes and cassette tapes digitally? Scan all the paper I have so that I can free up more space? But wait! Would it be too late to learn something new? Brushing up on my French or learning how to paint or draw better would be cool, right? Or cook! No, no... I need to finish editing my novel 'cos I won't have the luxury to write anymore. Why don't I just try do EVERYTHING then? Hang on! I'm not going to be in different plays and musicals anymore. Will I fade into oblivion?

Okay, deep breath! Here's what I managed to achieve. I cleaned up most of my room and made some space. I scanned a good portion of paper. I watched some French movies. I didn't get to painting/drawing or digitizing music/videos. But I finished editing my novel! I'm going to pay some money to get it professionally formatted and edited, then I'll publish it! Meanwhile click here for sample chapters. I also learnt how to produce my own YouTube videos! Who says I'm fading into oblivion. It's the perfect way to express myself creatively.

Reason For Life

I had been feeling listless the past few weeks. I never understood how people got bored. "There's so much to do and no time for it!" I'd always tell them. But yet I managed to slip into boredom and I couldn't shake it off for the longest time or figure it out. I couldn't find any fault with my life. I was occupied acting in a play. I also had enough free time to do whatever I pleased, like reading or watching movies. I had many jobs offers for the following year. But somehow I wasn't motivated to do anything. I had a few suspicions on why this was so. Perhaps life wasn't challenging anymore. There was nothing left to fight for. Perhaps I felt lonely.

Then a few things happened at once that jolted me out of my jaded stupor. On the last night of my play, I saw how everyone had genuinely connected to each other and were also trying to tell me how much they had enjoyed working with me. That touched me. Their sincerity shattered the spell. Suddenly I felt strangely alive again.


I chanced upon a video on YouTube (see above) and it also allowed me to step out of my small bubble and realize a bigger picture. The video was the final piece in a jigsaw that answered how I should live a huge part of my life. Now I have a different philosophy towards how I spend, what I choose to spend on, what I really want to keep, where I put what I don't want, what organisations I will support... This has in turn made me happier living with the informed choices I can make.

I'm still not exactly sure how everything that has happened has directly caused my switch in attitude. My guess is that it has to do with seeing examples of people who are sincerely passionate about something. Now I can go back to being passionate about the things that I'm usually passionate about again.

Manhood

It has been such a self-discovery working on my current play. I enjoy working on productions like this, but they don't come often. This particular one is about Manhood. It's the latest offering from Action Theatre to be staged from Sept 9-19 this year. It examines the definitions of a man from all perspectives... well, as many as we could put into a show.

We have such a great team of people - only four actors, Lim Yu Beng, Claude Girardi, Josephine Tan and myself. Our brilliant director Samantha Scott-Blackhall has allowed for very open discussions in rehearsals and Desmond Sim, the writer, has been very generous with script changes as well.







All in all, I expect it to be a very entertaining evening for everyone. I've learnt so much about myself and my own attitudes about men. About how different and yet similar we actually are. Okay, I'm starting to get philosophical. Just come watch the show for yourself and let us provoke and entertain you with penis jokes, what we think about women, being gay in a straight world, being a father and everything else that men have trouble talking about openly.

Declutter

Whenever life slows down a little, I tell myself it's a much deserved break. But too often I'm reminded of the list of things I have to "catch up" on - reading, movies, friends, clearing emails, organising digital pics, etc. Have I ever caught up with everything? Never.

It occurred to me that I had to make some firm choices if I desired to make better use of my time and only deal with what I really wanted or needed to deal with. My life would be simpler that way.

I guess it has to do with greed. I keep everything and anything that has the slightest ounce of sentimental value or that might be of potential use. It's only natural. But I'm beginning to think that the gatekeeping can be done much earlier on. After all, how much can we take with us to our graves?

I'm not saying we should go against our human desires, throw out everything, ditch our friends and all be robots without souls, in the effort to make the most of time. I still want to enjoy the experience of learning, possessing something of value, being entertained, engaging in idle chatter - all those things. But I want to do it selectively.

Now, as I sort through videos, pictures, magazines, paper, I store the ones I want to keep digitally. I'm less keen in receiving tangible (worse still: ornamental gifts). Some day I plan to give or sell the collector items I own. One day I hope to grow the food I eat, only use the water I collect and consume the energy generated from my solar-panelled roof. This simplifying one's life philosophy also agrees with the environment. It can't be too bad a thing.

When Words Kill

In April alone this year it was reported that two youths took their own lives. Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, an 11-year-old child, hung himself. Eric Mohat, a 17-year-old, put a gun to his head. These boys are victims of bullying.

Carl and Eric were specifically teased by their peers for being gay, even though there wasn't significant proof that they were. But the point isn't whether or not they were gay. The point is that bullying should not be tolerated or neglected. And it is everyone's responsibility.

There have been other cases. Eighth grader Lawrence King was shot and killed by a fellow student. Matthew Shepard was tortured and murdered at the age of 21. They were all victims of gay-related hate crimes.

The fight for equality isn't specific to just gender or race. It's about each human being having the right to live as an equal. We all deserve that.

Here's Hilary Duff and Wanda Sykes with a message:

And the cast on HAIR on Broadway with another:

Idolatry

The stage lights dim and the curtain falls. The performer slips out of his persona and comes into contact with the real world again. I'm feeling double that effect - now that the two shows I was in have come to a close. As the routine of show schedules trickle away, I am able to look once again from outside in, at showbiz.

Yesterday, I walked past the audition for the third season of Singapore Idol. Four thousand people were in line waiting for their voices to be heard.

Many years back, I stood in that line. What is it about the stage that draws people? The fame? The attention? Like me, many others have had their turn to seduce people into voting for them. What's happened to them now? What's happened to me?

If nothing else, it was a good learning opportunity. My only

hope was for those people in line to take away as many positives from the experience as possible. Nothing else is guaranteed, not especially fame. Fame is too fleeting. It only sticks around if you feed it relentlessly. News is like pastry. It's only good for about a day.

Am I bitter? Hell no! I'm still lucky enough to be performing on stage. But I don't do it for the votes or the judges (least of all the unconstructive Singaporean ones) or to be adored. I do it to communicate - to tickle, entertain, motivate, share and discover (among other good reasons). Any recognition would be a bonus. Any of these pictures of me ring a bell? Didn't think so! ;P

Much Ado About A Book, A Fox and Nothing

You might pardon me for not blogging all this time if you hear me out. Between the last blog entry and this one, I've written/typed at least 60,000 words. Yup, I wrote a book. I haven't published it yet (or found a publisher) and I won't until I've had a trusted group of people read and edit it. I'll be sure to post updates here nonetheless.


In any case, that's on hold for now because after a three month sabbatical, I've eagerly put myself in a situation I haven't been in for a long time - being in two shows that will run concurrently. It is proving to be somewhat trying at times but I do thrive when I'm busiest. So if you can and would like to, catch The Singapore Repertory Theatre's Much Ado About Nothing by Shakespeare performed at Fort Canning Park, Singapore running from May 7th till the end of the month with a possible extension. Also check out Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr. Fox from May 18th till the end of the month, by Players Theatre.

In the meantime, stay healthy and keep a safe distance from that swine flu.

Master of None?

Some people believe humans were once apes. If that were true, then evolution began even further back from now. We've certainly come a long way. Evolving beyond just physical attributes, we built communities and developed new technology. This was simultaneous to yet another evolution - an intrinsic one. We found religion and art and discovered what they did for our souls.

Today, with the power to access knowledge via the internet, I believe there is yet another kind of evolution. We try to become our own doctors, hairdresssers, computer repairmen, plumbers, film-makers; and find more success than we have ever had before, narrowing the gap between the layman and the true professionals, who must strive to stay above it.

I'll have to admit, I want to do it all. I've tried cutting my own hair. I've stared long and hard at the tiny print on instructions manuals on how to construct your computer from scratch. I designed my own website. Through my own efforts, I edited together my showreel. I've also prescribed my own medicine.

My latest "occupation" would have to be the aspiration of becoming a novelist. I spent a little over a month creating characters and plotting their journeys with the furious fluttering of my fingers on a keyboard. Would this "novel" be deemed as true as a professional's? The truth remains to be seen, but the experience is something no one can discount.

More Than Just Recycling Paper

Even though the melting in the Arctic will soon open up faster shipping routes and newly accessible sources of energy, polar bears are losing their homes and dying, sea creatures are choking from a huge swirling plastic vortex larger than the United States of America, and the North Atlantic current which carries warmth from the Equator into northern regions may die out, dropping overall temperatures drastically on both sides. Overfishing itself is causing an imbalance in the ocean's food chain and destroying ocean floors.

Nature is biting back at us. Rising mercury levels in fish are causing health problems to those who feed off them. The rising sea level has caused overflooding and threatens to destroy more homes than it already has. These are but examples of a multitude of problems caused as a result of our exploitations and careless behaviour towards the earth.

As governments and companies shift towards a more environmental focus, consumers must follow suit. Being environmentally friendly is no longer the simple act of recycling paper. It is our duty to be aware of why we need to save the earth. Finding out and eating fish that is not in danger of overfishing is one way to start. Reduce your personal trash. Things that you never thought were recyclable like shoes, bags, used CDs... can all be recycled. Take the effort to find out where to bring them, in your community. Support products with less packaging. It may be more time consuming or more costly especially with the recession in full swing, but the combined effort will make a difference.

On a smaller scale, work with reusable rather than disposable, whether it be towels, cutlery, bags, whatever you can think of. If anything, do this for our children and our children's children. Peace!

What The Shoes Know

My camera isn't really great with close up shots but take a huge step back and SNAP! It does the job. The opening blog shots here were taken from my window seat on the airplane flying into New York. I had a good flight experience this time. Time seemed to fly by quickly. It must have helped that I left home at 4am without any sleep from an entire day of activity. I slept most of the way. But if you know you can't sleep on planes, then better not zombify yourself with a flight like this. Sleep in advance! My experience at the entry point into the US was not so great on the other hand. (Click on any experience for the experience).

What mattered was that I made it through and was soon on Broadway again - catching shows like "August: Osage County" (best acting on Broadway I've seen ever), "In the Heights" (backstage pictures for those with access to my NY 2009 Facebook album), "Shrek" (I won lottery tickets!), "Equus" (I saw Harry Potter naked!), "Dear Edwina" (my friend was in it) and "The Little Mermaid" (even though I had seen it before).

It was also nice noticing little differences in Manhattan like some improvements on the subway, more Wi-Fi zones, things like that. Following the demise of CompUSA, Circuit City is set to follow its footsteps. A couple of years back, Tower Records had been in that spot. (I dug up an old photo so you can make the comparison). I couldn't help but feel the impact of the recession around me.

I spent Chinese New Year in the Big Apple going back to one of my favourite haunts. I didn't know its name for years because I couldn't read the chinese characters on the shop's front and couldn't recommend it to friends. But I finally found it on the paper menu and took a picture. Another place I had been dying to go to was Serendipity - a dessert cafe made famous by the movie of the same. I'm pictured with three frozen hot chocolates, their signature drink! One can choose between the Original, Peanut Butter and Mint.

It was a great ten days spent in the city and I definitely explored it each day. My shoes would attest to that if they were still around. I bought them in the US, brought them home to Singapore and said goodbye to them back in America. My new shoes don't know half this story.