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.

Time to Reflect

"No difference" and "Same old thing" were the two thoughts in my head as New Year approached but because of where I was, I was thrown into it with a celebratory BANG! If you haven't seen it on my Facebook profile yet, here's the New Year fireworks in Singapore by the bay. I was surprised how well it was captured by my camera. Enjoy!


This year my resolution is do to my part to preserve our environment. I'm making a list of simple things we can do, so you'll be hearing from me soon about that. The first show I watched for the year was Cinderella, starring Lea Salonga at the Esplanade. I wrote more about this experience on my MySpace blog, as well as other bits of information that won't be included here.

It seems this year is starting out to be a slower year for me than the previous one. At the risk of sounding conceited - how does one top a year of leading roles in three major productions? How should I measure success anyway? But before I worry about that, I booked myself a two month vacation back to the US. New York & Florida for some sun and Disney fun! It's actually been a great few weeks of food, company and partying already - even before I've left. I've enjoyed steamboat, Lebanese cuisine, Shanghainese (pictured signature dish from One on the Bund), Peranakan and good old Christmas turkey.

I reactivated my World of Warcraft account and am now back to my old online gaming hours. I got my little gnome character, Mabina, a new hairstyle and colour. That's her flying on a gryphon (pictured above)! Yes, I don't have A life. I now have two! I also recently hosted Swatch's Spring Summer 2009 Collection Launch and since they are letting me choose a watch, I'm gonna do some endorsement here. I picked "Fine Steel" from the Age of Rust series. It's chic but casual at the same time and has really cool orange trimmings.