Latest news with #Boey
Straits Times
06-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
Poet Boey Kim Cheng at 60: ‘You learn to love what you have lost'
Even after emigrating from Singapore in 1997, poet Boey Kim Cheng continues to write about the vexed knot of a vanishing Singapore. SINGAPORE – When it comes to chronicling urban change and memory in verse, poet Boey Kim Cheng is peerless in Singapore. Even after emigrating from Singapore in 1997, Boey – who has made a home in Berowra, New South Wales in Australia – continues to write about the vexed knot of a vanishing Singapore. He was born on June 10, 1965. His most recent collection, The Singer And Other Poems (2022), won the Kenneth Slessor Prize For Poetry at the New South Wales (NSW) Premier's Literary Awards in 2023. His books, Another Place (1992) and Clear Brightness (2012), have been texts for the GCE A-level literature syllabus. In a poem titled No More, Boey writes: 'No more / coming home as to a death sentence. / No more leaving after this leaving.' Can you share more about your childhood photo? The baby photo might have been taken in my mother's friend's house in Dakota Crescent. We moved a lot in those days, so I can't be sure. A first-year baby photograph of poet Boey Kim Cheng. PHOTO: COURTESY OF BOEY KIM CHENG What is your core memory of Singapore? There is no core memory, but a collage or montage of still or moving images. Walking through Change Alley and the Arcade, savouring the smells, sounds and sights. Sitting on the steps of Clifford Pier and watching the bumboats in the harbour. Reading on the lawn in the Botanic Gardens. Playing in the abandoned British Army barracks in Depot Road and along the railway tracks nearby. Taking the night train to Kuala Lumpur from Tanjong Pagar Station. What do you consider your biggest contribution to Singapore? I don't like to make any claims about my work. I started writing mostly to make sense of what was happening or had happened to me, and my first real poems were about my army experiences, trying to salvage something from the 2 ½ years soldiering. I think it was the first time the army found a place in Singapore poetry. There weren't that many poets starting out at that time and not much support in the form of writing grants and programmes, so it was mostly a solitary journey. But I was lucky Singaporean poet and Cultural Medallion recipient Lee Tzu Pheng was my tutor at the National University of Singapore and recommended me to Times Publishing Group. Later, I was also very fortunate that Another Place and Clear Brightness became GCE A-level texts, especially after I had emigrated to Australia. I suppose my poems mapped a vanished Singapore and a journey of self-discovery that spoke to Singapore readers. Clear Brightness by Boey Kim Cheng. PHOTO: EPIGRAM BOOKS What do you love and hate about the country? You learn to love what you have lost. The Singapore of my past and memory. The old, vanished places and whatever traces are left of them. The multicultural mix, the distinct ethnic quarters – Little India, Chinatown, Arab Street and the old buildings, the old places. In middle age, you learn to let go and not hate even things that upset you before, like the constant tear-down and rebuilding in Singapore, the frantic pace of life and change, the disappearance of old buildings and places. What is one thing you miss about the Singapore of your childhood? The open spaces, the lallang fields, the buildings and life on the Singapore River, the smell of the river and the harbour, the sense of adventure I got walking in Orchard Road when the only tall buildings in sight were Mandarin and Cockpit hotels. A photo of a young Boey Kim Cheng. PHOTO: ST FILE What is the best and worst thing about being 60? You learn to slow down, step away and look back and be grateful for the beautiful moments and even the difficult experiences that have led you to the threshold of old age. You are grateful for each good day you have. The worst thing is the deaths of parents and friends. SG60's theme is Building Our Singapore Together. What would you like the Singapore of the future to look like? I hope the country will step up its conservation efforts, and the few places that have survived demolition, redevelopment and makeover in the years since independence will be there for future generations to connect with. And what does your next era look like? Not sure. It's another journey ahead, and as with most journeys that have led me to where I am, it's better not to plan too far ahead and just take it step by step, day by day.
Business Times
10-07-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Workers should future-proof careers before crisis strikes, say WSG, SBF
[SINGAPORE] Workers should see improving their career health as a form of professional insurance, especially amid economic uncertainty and rapid change, said Workforce Singapore's (WSG) chief executive Dilys Boey. The new Career Health SG initiative, launched on Thursday (Jul 10), aims to help workers do just that. Speaking to The Business Times ahead of the launch, Boey said workers should assess their skills and close any gaps before change is forced upon them. Whether an individual is five or 10 years into their career, they should take stock of where they stand and plan ahead, so they will not have to deal with the shock when change suddenly hits. 'We always say, you can't future-proof your job. But you can future-proof your career. That's really the idea behind this movement.' Businesses are also recognising the need to maintain their employees' career health, said Mark Lee, chair of Singapore Business Federation's (SBF) Human Capital Action Committee. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 3 pm Thrive Money, career and life hacks to help young adults stay ahead of the curve. Sign Up Sign Up This is as companies face increasing volatility, from geopolitical tensions to rapid advances in automation and artificial intelligence (AI), he said in a separate interview. WSG and SBF co-organised the inaugural Career Health Summit on Thursday, where Manpower Minister Tan See Leng officially launched the Career Health SG website. The new one-stop portal offers resources for both individuals and employers, from the recently announced Career and Skills Passport to SkillsFuture-related programmes and human resource guides. These are designed to support them at each step of their career health journey, said Dr Tan. During the event, he also announced that the Ministry of Manpower and Singapore National Employers Federation will launch an Alliance for Action on Advancing Career and Employment Services. This will bring together private career and employment service providers to develop innovative solutions to help businesses access talent. It will also explore new work models; strategies to strengthen individual employability; and ways to build a robust talent pipeline to meet employers' evolving needs. Boey said the idea of career health was seeded during the Forward Singapore exercise in 2023, where Singaporeans said that they wanted more fulfilling and flexible careers that evolve with their personal and professional goals. Just like physical or financial health, career health is about regular check-ups and action, she said. WSG captures the process with the acronym ACE: Assess, Chart and Execute. Workers should assess their skills and aspirations; chart a plan to close gaps or explore opportunities; and execute that plan through training, job moves or career coaching. Companies can also apply this process in planning how to redeploy and upskill their workforce, she said. The need for this has become more urgent, as skills are becoming obsolete faster than ever, Boey added. Companies can no longer rely on multi-year training cycles, or expect new hires to show up job-ready. Instead, they should upskill existing employees who understand the business and have the right foundational attributes. This is especially as top-performing workers and those at the bottom get more attention, while the broad middle 80 per cent may get overlooked. Career health must be a shared responsibility, she stressed, with employers actively developing talent by recognising capabilities and redeploying workers into new roles. Staying agile Career health is increasingly relevant to businesses too, in today's uncertain environment, said SBF's Lee. Companies are grappling with trade volatility, rising costs and mounting technological disruption. Beyond external shocks such as US tariffs, traditional business models are being upended by advances in robotics, automation and AI, he said. But in 'every crisis, there are opportunities', said Lee, who is also the chief executive and director of Sing Lun, a family-owned business whose interests include industries, investments and real estate. It is just a matter of how fast businesses can pivot and capture them, while helping their workers, he added. SBF has a four-pronged 'Skills-empowered Action Agenda' for employers: Recruit, Reskill, Redesign and Recognise. The first pillar, Recruit, focuses on helping companies hire better, including through skills-first practices that look beyond qualifications. Reskill supports employers in training workers for future roles. Redesign encourages companies to rethink job roles in tandem with business transformation, such as introducing automation or restructuring roles to allow for more flexible arrangements. Finally, Recognise is about celebrating both employers and employees who step up to drive transformation and take charge of their career health. 'If your people are your biggest asset, how do you ensure they're ready for the future?' said Lee, noting that companies must adopt this forward‑looking mindset to remain competitive.
New Paper
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New Paper
Singapore's Daniel Boey launches first clothing brand after 35 years, inspired by his late dog
After 35 years in the industry, Singapore's Godfather of Fashion is finally launching his own fashion label. Nicknamed that by peers in the industry, Daniel Boey has, since 1990, spent his entire career producing fashion shows for other people. From international brands such as Cartier and Louis Vuitton to home-grown efforts by the Singapore Fashion Council (SFC), he has been the creative puppeteer behind the scenes. Now, for the first time, the fashion veteran - who turns 60 in December - will get to stage a show starring pieces he designed. Because what better time than SG60 to do so? Describing it as "a label that non-fashion people can relate to, but has an edge to it", Boey tells The Straits Times that the timing finally felt right in this milestone year. Furry Tales combines the three things he is most passionate about: fashion, rescue dogs and eczema, he adds with his signature wide-toothed grin. Aside from his known advocacy for pet adoption, Boey is also an advocate for eczema awareness. He authored the 2017 book Behind Every *itch Is A Back Story, a tell-all about his experiences living with eczema. The name Furry Tales is an extension of his Furry Tales By Leia anthology of children's books released in 2020, told from the point of view of his late fur kid Leia. Fashion show producer and director Daniel Boey with his dog Luna. He is wearing a T-shirt with a print of his late dog Leia, from his new clothing label Furry Tales. ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG One-half of Boey's Instagram-famous doggy duo Leia and Luna (@look_its_leia_n_luna), the 10-year-old female weimaraner died in December 2024. It was an excruciating loss for Boey, who adopted the former breeding dog in 2017 after she was rescued from a puppy mill in Pasir Ris. Launching in August at Furry Tales' pet-friendly pop-up concept store at CQ @ Clarke Quay, the label's first collection will be dedicated to Leia, he says, blinking back tears. "Without her, I don't think I would have had the courage or impetus to do this. She was such a stabilising force in my life and this crazy industry." Before, Boey had toyed with the idea of designing T-shirts to raise money for animal shelters. "I enjoy clothes, but to start a label, you need to have a certain signature, and a message and reason. After Leia passed, everything just fell into place. "I wanted to start a label where I could collaborate with artists I'm inspired by, to turn their artworks into fashion; and also use my voice to advocate for adoption, rescues and responsible dog ownership," he adds. Furry Tales showcased at Fashion For All in June. PHOTO: GODERIC TIA Priced below $200, the 38-piece collection spans T-shirts, hoodies, scarves and tote bags. Boey will set aside a portion of profits to donate to local animal shelters including Voices For Animals, which rescued Leia. He has already teased Furry Tales in two runway shows he produced in the past two weeks: Pasar Pink in end-May and Fashion For All on June 6. At Pasar Pink, he sent 19 rescue dogs - including his six-year-old female miniature bull terrier Luna - down the catwalk alongside models and non-models wearing his pieces. Even though his brand is not just for animal lovers, each piece was inspired by and named after a rescue dog. For instance, the Obi-Wan Draped Hoodie ($169) is named after SFC chief executive Zhang Ting-Ting's rescue golden retriever. Furry Tales' Leopold Link Tee, modelled alongside rescue weimaraner Xena. PHOTO: RUI LIANG Boey adapted the cover artworks done by Singaporean artist SKL0 for his anthology books, We Adopted! (2019) and We Adopted! Too (2023), and turned them into a signature print within dog silhouettes for the T-shirts. There are "Daniel Boey" touches too. The Leopold Link Tee ($109) comes with links the wearer can style by hanging chains, ribbons, pearls and other accessories, while the Uno Oversized Tee ($99) features exaggerated shoulder pads. Addressing sensitive-skin types, the clothes are fully cotton, cotton jersey or cotton satin to allow the skin to breathe. Even the bags, such as the Luna Scarf Tote ($149) and Leia Weekender ($159 to $189), are made of cotton canvas or cotton and denim. Furry Tales' Luna Scarf Tote. PHOTO: RUI LIANG He hopes to use his label and fashion shows to set a good example for responsible dog ownership, ensuring only safe leashes and harnesses were used at Pasar Pink. He has already received interest from pet-focused advocacy groups and multi-label stores to work together. Furry Tales' IYKYK Schedule B Tee and Lulu Pocket Square. PHOTO: RUI LIANG "I figured if fashion is what I'm known for, then maybe I can use it as a platform to draw awareness to rescues, and maybe eczema as well," he says. "It's taken me 35 years to start a brand; this is the beginning of the journey. The key to being successful is to be adaptable. "I thought 50 was the turning point. But no, 60 is." Outside looking in Though Boey had been courted with offers to start his own label, he never had the impetus to design and fancied himself "a better stylist and curator". Besides, many of these offers came from "business people", including friends, who did not understand the stakes. "I told them, if you want an industry that will allow you to make a quick buck, fashion is not it," says the fashion director, who has been staging Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts fashion shows since the 1990s. His own rise in the scene was unprecedented. As a geography and literature major from NUS, he was considered an outsider in the world of fashion. But that did not keep him from nudging his foot in the door. Daniel Boey and his rescue dog Luna modelling his label Furry Tales in a fashion show at Pasar Pink in end-May. PHOTO: SUNDAY SOCIAL MARKET He recalls how, as a junior college student in the 1980s, he would loiter outside Hemispheres - a now-defunct boutique at Delfi Orchard celebrating young local designers, founded by Singaporean singer-musician-designer Dick Lee - too intimidated to enter and join the "in" crowd hanging out inside. He did this every day until, eventually, a kind salesperson invited him in. Boey was later introduced to home-grown entertainment veteran Najip Ali, a prolific show producer and fashion personality, who became his first mentor and encouraged him to make fashion his career. Strength in numbers It is partly why Boey is so passionate about inclusivity and taking young creatives under his wing. Passing it on, the bachelor, who regularly mentors several young designers, will launch a collective of up-and-coming Singaporean designers in tandem with Furry Tales. Called dBX, it is meant to provide community and mentorship for designers, and is loosely inspired by Hemispheres. Tapping strength in numbers, the collective label would reduce pressure on the designers to put out large collections multiple times a year. Launching in tandem with Furry Tales is dBX, a collective of young designers started by Daniel Boey. PHOTO: BRANDON TAN The starting slate of five are those who were "business-ready": Joanna Lim (M0NSTER By MIRL), Esther Choy (ESH By Esther), Vouss Yang (Ther Yang), Joanne Quak (Jojo Quo) and Griffith Lim (Voiddeck). They will retail with Furry Tales at the CQ pop-up store and online. Helming it is Boey as curator. He has set key performance indicators for the quintet, including a set number of collections a year. They had to present to him business plans to prove they are in this for the long haul. The collective is also an evolution of The Front Row, the virtual-turned-phygital fashion festival Boey pioneered in 2020, in the thick of the Covid-19 pandemic. "The Front Row was relevant only during Covid-19. What was next? I thought, let's be relevant today," he says, adding that he has learnt just as much from the young designers about the digitalisation of fashion. Furry Tales in a fashion show at Fashion For All in June. PHOTO: GODERIC TIA Womenswear designer Choy was eager to work with Boey, owing to his "deep understanding and vast knowledge of the fashion industry in Singapore". "Sometimes, you have to know where we have been to know where we are supposed to be headed," says the 32-year-old, who has been working on her label since 2016. "As a young designer, one of the bigger challenges is the opportunity to be 'seen'. Visibility is very important in an industry like ours. Being part of this collective would enable people to take note of designers who are ready and hungry. Moreover, doing it as a team would make the journey seem less lonely, as we are all striving towards the same goals."
RTHK
21-05-2025
- RTHK
CityU hopes to get rid of gates next year
CityU hopes to get rid of gates next year CityU president Freddy Boey says they want to welcome guests from all over the world, but plans are needed to protect the interests of the university and the public. Photo: RTHK City University said on Wednesday that it will seek to remove its gates by the beginning of next year. Currently, students and staff of the university are required to tap their cards at all gateways to enter, while members of the public are required to register their visit three working days in advance. The university's president, Freddy Boey, said they want to welcome guests from all over the world, but plans are needed to protect the interests of the university and the public. "Of course we welcome people to come and look at the campus and get inspired. If young people can come in and be inspired, I'll be very happy," he said. "But at the same time, we need for the campus to have some reasonable safety. For example, people wandering into laboratories that may contain dangerous chemicals, expensive equipment, and so on," he added. Boey said the university will take small steps at a time and start by moving the gates further back so more areas can be opened to the public. The university head said for example, the turnstiles have been moved to accommodate a newly renovated tunnel, which connects the campus and Festival Walk. CityU said the 50-metre tunnel, filled with LED screens, will showcase elements of Sham Shui Po district where the university is located, and become a new tourist hotspot so visitors can take pictures and learn about the area.
RTHK
21-05-2025
- RTHK
CityU hopes to get rid of gates next year
CityU hopes to get rid of gates next year CityU president Freddy Boey says they want to welcome guests from all over the world, but plans are needed to protect the interests of the university and the public. Photo: RTHK City University said on Wednesday that it will seek to remove its gates by the beginning of next year. Currently, students and staff of the university are required to tap their cards at all gateways to enter, while members of the public are required to register their visit three working days in advance. The university's president, Freddy Boey, said they want to welcome guests from all over the world, but plans are needed to protect the interests of the university and the public. "Of course we welcome people to come and look at the campus and get inspired. If young people can come in and be inspired, I'll be very happy," he said. "But at the same time, we need for the campus to have some reasonable safety. For example, people wandering into laboratories that may contain dangerous chemicals, expensive equipment, and so on," he added. Boey said the university will take small steps at a time and start by moving the gates further back so more areas can be opened to the public. The university head said for example, the turnstiles have been moved to accommodate a newly renovated tunnel, which connects the campus and Festival Walk. CityU said the 50-metre tunnel, filled with LED screens, will showcase elements of Sham Shui Po district where the university is located, and become a new tourist hotspot so visitors can take pictures and learn about the area.
