Sifa 2025 Week One: What audiences say
Deborah Gan, 44, teacher: 'What I really enjoyed was the collaboration between the different artists. Between the musicians of different backgrounds, there were jazz singers, classical singers and traditional folk instrumentalists, coupled with an orchestra. This performance was very special as we seldom see so many people collaborating within one performance.'
Jacqueline Sassoon, 47, translator: 'I enjoyed the different aspects of the show coming together with the intermittent smells of chicken satay and Hokkien mee wafting over from the hawker centre. It was very refreshing to watch.'
Tan Hui Xin, 22, student: 'I've watched performances before, but this is the first time I saw something as grand as this in the heartland. I would think that something like this would be in the Esplanade or a more grand venue. Seeing this performance right here, where we live, is hear tening.'
More on this Topic Dance review: Singapore Ballet's athletic Pact Of Water brings dancers close to heartland audience
Animal Farm, The Finger Players, May 16, 4pm
Chloe Lamasan, 15, student: 'The sounds caught me by surprise. They were perfect. It felt like actual animals, despite being made by the human actors.'
More on this Topic Theatre review: Astonishing puppets, flat storytelling in The Finger Players' take on Animal Farm
Told By My Mother, Victoria Theatre, May 17, 4pm
Siying Lee, 25, tourist: 'I cried a lot during the show. I didn't understand 100 per cent of it , and I also didn't do background research. But I think just being open-minded for the show allowed it to communicate with me in a really abstract way. I related to the performance. It is told from a mother's perspective about the unfairness happening, and it is really to what is happening in reality.'
Jessica Lim, 17, student: 'I really liked the intense eye contact the dancers had with one another and with the audience, and also the fact that all the sounds were made live. It felt very powerful. I will recommend this show to others, and I feel like the main point was to spread awareness about the mother looking for her missing son.'
Voon Keyang, 38, architect: 'I enjoyed the simplicity of the show, that everything is through very close relationships . It started off with silence, then suddenly, the music comes up, where that one particular performer started to tell the whole story. From there, it laid the whole pace. Although I have never been to Lebanon, I think it is very touching. I can feel the sadness and some point of relief when they dance and sing.'
Irfan Kasban, 37, performing arts professional: 'I liked how the show is economical yet very effective and impactful. It was a very simple story, yet it didn't need bells and whistles to be effective in garnering a response from me .'
More on this Topic Dance review: Ali Chahrour's Told By My Mother a compelling tale of family loss and grief
Umbilical, Sota Studio Theatre, May 17, 8pm
Phan Yi En, 15, student: 'The whole experience was very immersive because, at certain points, performers would walk into the crowd. I didn't expect that. When they came to stand at the same level as us, we were better able to judge what they were doing , and the intentions behind that.'
Francesca Lim Meng Feng, 15, student: 'The first Sifa performance I attended was Animal Farm, and this is my second. In Umbilical, the sound effects were very mesmerising as they mirrored the changes that were seen throughout the performance, and what the performers were doing onstage.'
Ryan Lee, 28, designer: 'I really liked the set design and thought it contributed greatly to the atmosphere onstage. Rizman Putra, Zul Mahmod and thesupersystem are living legends, and that's why I came to watch this performance. It was very interesting to try and unpack the piece and what was going on, and it was something deeply cynical for sure.'
More on this Topic Theatre review: Pain is what binds all species in dark, butoh-inspired Umbilical
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AsiaOne
a day ago
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2 days ago
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Straits Times
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One of his latest series, Romance On Hobby Horses, is based on repeating figures in synchronised dance movements. These more neon paintings reimagine popular images of protest and societal unrest. Can you share more about your childhood photo? This was taken in my grandparent's house, now Greenwood Avenue in Bukit Timah, where I was born. I may be about a year old. No idea who took it, though. Boo Sze Yang in 1966. PHOTO: COURTESY OF BOO SZE YANG What is your core memory of Singapore? I spent my first six years in a kampung in Bukit Timah, near Watten Estate. In 1972, when I started primary school, my family moved to a rented one-room flat on the 10th floor of a block in Toa Payoh Lorong 1. It was a bit scary to look down from that height, but every evening at around 7pm, my brother and I would stand on a stool at the kitchen window to see if our father was coming home from work. Our father worked as a welder in his uncle's factory. He drove a pickup with a uniquely designed stainless-steel roof that he installed himself, and you could spot it from a distance. I remember the long corridors on each floor, where we used to play football with our neighbours' children. On some days, you could hear the karung guni uncle shouting in Hokkien, 'Got old things to sell?', as he made his rounds collecting unwanted items. We would also wait with excitement for the Malay auntie carrying a basket of fried bananas and sweet potatoes, going floor by floor selling her treats. That was, in a way, the beginning of my experience of modern Singapore. What do you consider your biggest contribution to Singapore? It's not something I think about when I decide to do something. Like many others, I try to educate myself, stay healthy, do the right thing and live an honest life. That, to me, is how every citizen contributes to his country. When I entered art school, my intention was to study design and work in advertising to become a creative art director. But somehow, I ended up studying fine art and became an artist. Art helped me find meaning in life. Over time, I came to see art as a mirror, a way of reflecting the world we live in. Through my work, I hope to offer something honest and meaningful related to the place I call home. What do you love and hate about the country? We have one of the best healthcare systems, world-class universities, an efficient transport system, clean streets and a high level of safety. Everything is incredibly convenient. We are a small country governed like a large corporation, and if you do your part and do it well, you'll be rewarded. We're highly efficient and well organised, but that also makes life very predictable. We're known as a shopper's paradise, yet our malls often feature the same types of tenants, selling the same products. I suppose everyone wants the same things, and that desire for sameness is not just reflected in our urban landscape, but it's also a mindset. It creates comfort and familiarity, but can dull our sense of curiosity, individuality and the courage to be different. What I find lacking is space – not just physical space, but emotional and creative space. Space for people to slow down, to reflect, to express themselves freely and, most importantly, to dare to be different. What is one thing you miss about the Singapore of your childhood? Catching spiders, shooting lizards with paper bullets using a rubber band and playing football in the void decks. It was a time of imagination, risk and freedom. We had long corridors to run through and shared spaces where neighbours and children mixed freely. Today, our public housing is designed to prioritise privacy. There are no more open corridors, and the ground floors feel like a maze. In some of the older estates that still have void decks, you'll even see 'No Football' signs. That says a lot about how things have changed. What is the best and worst thing about being 60? When my wife and I got married, we decided not to have children, and now that I've reached 60, I don't regret that choice. I often tell her that the best part of not having kids, apart from the freedom, is that we never really grow old in the same way others do. We stay psychologically suspended as husband and wife, as someone's son or daughter. Without children, there's no yearly reminder of ageing through the different stages of your growing children. I have given up the choice to be a father or grandfather. One thing that constantly reminds me I'm getting older is my thinning, greying hair. SG60's theme is Building Our Singapore Together. What would you like the Singapore of the future to look like? 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