Black Lives Matter, All Lives Matter, and Pride

There are right now two camps in my life. 

One camp likes to ask (me) why I (or we) haven't made a statement of solidarity with Black Lives Matter. The other camp likes to ask (me) why I (or we) haven't as yet made a statement about All Lives Matter, or Pride Month. 

These are camps who don't take a response of silence very well. 

Even though some of know well that silence can (and does) speak more than a thousand words. 

They demand answers. 

They demand responses. 

They demand that you tell them exactly where it is you stand, and why it is that you stand what you stand (as if we owe them an explanation for the choices we make).

And then, despite their claims of being non-judging and loving all and accepting and so on, your friendship now sits on the fence if you should provide an answer different from theirs, or worse still,  provide a response that appeals not to their sensitive ears. 

It feels like that there must (and has to be) a standard textbook answer because, why, everyone is saying it! 

But I'm not here to give you the answer you like to hear. 

Because, first of all, my response is not driven for the purpose of public relations. (If it were, the paragraph would have to be crafted carefully to reflect our mission and heritage and values and which embraces diversity as per our customers new and old- and we would have to communicate that carefully across all available media platforms at carefully calibrated timings)

And next, my response is as candid as it can be- and you'd only see the meaning of it if you understood how tight the integration of my personal and professional standings are. 

So, to both camps who have been asking why in the high heavens I've not said anything about Racism or Pride, here's my answer: 

1. I'm working. 

2. I don't say anything not because I don't have anything to say, but because I don't have to say it. 

Now, before you turn beet red and tsk tsk away at my statement of nonchalance, let me tell you why. 

But before that, you must know that I've been in the media & entertainment industry for more than a decade. You must also know that this is an industry that consumes you and your entire life. Yes, seriously, the M&E industry- doesn't matter which medium you're skilled in- takes up your entire life. It is not a hobby that you can take up and put down. It is not a study that you can start midway then quit and want to be an industry peer. No, you're in this line for the long run. None of us are joking when we tell you that this industry takes up every single minute of your life, and you get very little (if none) break for it.

So when I say that I've been in here for more than a decade, it means that I've been here for a very long time, it means that I'm believing in what it is that we're doing, what it is that our beliefs and mission is (there are more than one, shall we say), and what it is that we're bringing to the market.  

You must also know that I've been working with, and working in, a singular company all these years. (What it means is that I didn't bother jumping ship lar, okay)

Now, this is a company that has- for the longest time- close to thirteen years at least- had locations in five different territories other than home ground. 

1. Thailand

2. India

3. China

4. Africa

5. Israel

For those who have been wondering why it is that I've not mentioned anything about Pride or All Lives Matter or Black Lives Matter, do you see what I mean when I say that a) I'm working, and b) I don't have to say it. 

Because, dahhhlings, we're LIVING it. 

We're LIVING it 24/7. 

At any one point in time we have to work with either one or more of these five territories, we have to communicate with them, we have to work through the pipeline with them, we have to interact with them, and we have to respect each other according to the respect a person deserves, and of course, the hierarchy. (There are some people in the hierarchy that you just do *not* argue with)

Tell me, how is it possible for me (or us) to be racist towards, say, the Indians, when, there are offices in Chennai and Mumbai and everyone is very different from each other? How is it possible for me (or us) to treat the Africans with disdain when they in Uganda have expanded into the nations covering Somalia, Algeria and Congo? You want me to talk about the blacks in US? Why not I talk about the blacks in Congo or Somalia or Uganda? If Black Lives Matter in the US, they matter everywhere. Whether or not we (have) worked, you can expect that you have to work with them anytime, and unless you want to lose your job, no in frigging way can you survive in this company with a racist attitude. 

So, do Black Lives Matter? 

What do you think? 

And now that we've gotten this out of the way, let's talk about Pride. 

The fifth country on the list is the Israel. In case you didn't know, the State of Israel has TWO Pride parades. There's Tel Aviv Pride, and there's Jerusalem Pride. A good number of our artists, CG Generalists, Technical Heads plus our a number of app development teams are from Israel. If I (or we) were to blather on about their lifestyle or sexuality and so on, we might as well quit the fifth territory and stick to four or none.

So, you see, it matters not to me (or any of us) whether or not they are LGBTQ, whether they are married, have partners, are known in public, etc etc. It does not matter one bit to the hiring team. 

Do we make it known? Do we declare it? 

As far as I know, we don't explicitly say it, because we don't have to. Our hiring processes have none of the (odd) questions in the list, and as far as I know, no one in the hiring interview is interested whether you have a same-sex partner or a few partners or etc etc. 

We're hired on fact-based ground, our pay grade is dependable on our skills and projects, career progress and all is based on the projects we are assigned to, our KPIs (does the movie get done?) what hierarchy you are in the project, and with the requisites of Corporate thrown in between. 

In short, the crews' sexuality or choice of partner or lifestyle is irrelevant. Unless you're an abuser or a pedophile that is living a life that hurts another by deliberation, then that I'm pretty clear is a no. 

We don't have time. 

No one has time.  

If you need the talent, if the talent can come onboard, and if everything else is good, settled. Queer? Transgender? Does it matter? Should it matter? How in the world does a person's choice of partner or a person's sexuality affect the way they work? Sure, we can go on and on about the many reasons why it should be important, or not important, but we arent' here to cast judgment on anyone. 

We have a project with a million and one things to do. 

So, do I (still) have to say where I stand with Pride and all? 

You don't survive in this industry for fourteen years being racist, being a bigot, being judgmental and tsk tsking at anyone whom you consider as not part of your world. No less in this company where I'm thankfully (still!) in.

It boils down to a question of what you believe the fruits of the industry can do and how far it can go. If you believe in the influence that an entertainment franchise has, whilst not giving a s*** about your skin color or your lifestyle or your choice of partner (because talent is important and we have no time), then you will know what you accept, and what you don't.

If we're living it 24/7, and if it is exemplary in our processes, in our board and our shareholders and investors and to our audiences and working partners, then, pray tell, what would making a PR statement be for? (Then again, it's my perspective, if overnight they decide to pressurize the PR team for a couple of paragraphs, well then, who knows?)

Is this then- the camps may ask- a personal opinion or a professional one? Do I really, really, really have a stand? Which side am I on? Which side do I want to support?

Look, this industry consumes nearly all your waking moments (sometimes your diet too). If you cannot integrate both personal and professional opinions together and come to peace with yourself on the balance, you won't last long in this line. If I didn't value my personal friends (from other races) in this multi-racial, multi-cultural dot of an island, if I didn't treasure the friendships that I have, how would I have survived this long in a company that requires me to work with so many other (races) at anytime? 

I trust I'll still be hanging around for a while. :)

After all, I just know what it is that I was called for- what I was not- and since I know the price of disobedience and mistrust in the Omni, I'll stick to what I was called- and stay there.

Easter! Easter! Easter!

Special occasions in our household tend to be characterized by a particular dish. Whether it be birthdays, Christmas, Lunar New Year or Easter, there's one dish that will surely, inevitably, most certainly, be on the table. 

It is a dish friendly on the wallet, easy to prepare, versatile with the dips and one that everyone in The Family loves. 

Okay, maybe me most of all, but, never mind. 

After all, no one's complained about having steamed siew mais at birthdays and Lunar New Year, much less at Christmas and Easter. 

The warmth that this simple, heartwarming dish brings is representative of family ties, family togetherness, and just being there for each other (in one way or another).

It is a dish that we have all come to expect at special family meals. One Parent heads down to the supermarket and comes back with whichever brand they have decided for the occasion. The Other preps the rice cooker and rummages out the special dish that has been carefully measured to be large enough for x number of siew mais. I do the washing up. 

This Easter we decided that we'd combine two of my all-time favorites into the dish and steam it up in the rice cooker. So one half of the dish had siew mais. The other half had cuttlefish balls. Along with all the balls we tossed in cherry tomatoes (for the juice and the color) plus one random scrap of lettuce that somehow wouldn't fit into the bowl of soup. 

It made for a very pretty picture. 

And I received special instructions to please take picture of the brand also together with the dish of siew mais because #supportlocal and in case next time we forget what we got the last time and end up buying a different brand. (Yes, The Parents are particular like that)

So lunch this Easter saw quite a spread on the dining table. We had hard boiled eggs, steamed eggs, siew mais, cuttlefish balls, soup with lots and lots of lettuce, chili brinjal, braised potatoes, fish cake (by the request of One Parent), century eggs (by the request of the Other Parent), a bowl of specially prepared har mee and chocolate eggs from Cadbury for dessert. 

As much as a spiritual occasion it is, what  it also meant to us all was the fact that the celebration resounded deeply with each of us, that we knew what the celebration was about, and we were equally thankful in our own ways.

I'm happy. 

I'm thankful. 

I'm blessed. 

Le Shrimp Ramen @ T3

A friend introduced me to this shrimp noodle place at the Basement of Changi Airport's Terminal 3. 

It was my first visit there. 

As it turns out, it would also be my last time. 

The outlet is closed now. 

Not just temporary- as many other F&B business are during this season of lockdown- but permanently. They've given up this space at the basement completely. 

Good thing it is, then, that there are other outlets all around the island- there's one in Paragon- and when the time comes I'll head there for a bowl of their shrimp noodles again. 

I don't know if I'll take the regular bowl, the large bowl, or the superior one though. Depends on the appetite for the day, I suppose, but whether I be hungry or not, the superior bowl makes for a very good choice. 

Especially if you're someone (like me) who fancies having the best of both worlds. 

In each bowl there are two (or is it three) freshly prepared tiger prawns of gigantic size, there are solid-sized boiled dumplings with smaller prawns and vegetables wrapped snugly inside, and a portion of ramen so huge that any diner who came with a strong craving for ramen would be satisfied. 

The broth, of course, is wonderful, very different from the local version of "hei mee" prawn noodles that we are used to. Bright orange, almost vermilion in color, and thick in texture, all it took for me to change my perspective of it as (just another) glorified prawn mee was a single spoonful. 

Yes, it was prawn. 

Pure prawn. 

Very umami, very rich, very much the taste you'd get if you sucked at the prawn heads, very much filling you with impressions of the seas.

Mother's Day 2020

There were no cakes to be had for the Mother's Day celebration I did with The Parent at home this year. 

Where on previous years I had the freedom of choice between Bengawan Solo, Four Leaves, BreadTalk, Polar, Chateraise and Cedele, this year- no thanks to the rules of the Circuit Breaker at that time- there were none of the cakes to be had. Starbucks had none. Coffee Bean had none. I even went to Jacks Place. There were no cakes too. 

I searched all the retail I could think of, I tell you, but there were none to be found. Not even the mom and pop bakery shops commonly found in the residential neighborhoods.  One shop told me they were only allowed to sell whatever remained in their cake chiller. The other told me that they'd stopped baking cakes and would I like to purchase a cake-bread (a sort of huge loaf generously slathered in rich chocolate and decorated) instead?

There was one place, and one place alone that did offer cakes. 

Paris Baguette. 

And they had cakes for sale because they made those cakes on site in the store. 

So I went. 

But (because) they'd limited the offerings of their cakes to (only) certain stores- l didn't know- the outlet I went to had run out of them by the time I got there.

So I got the next best thing. 

Macarons. 

Pretty, delicate, little macarons in flavors of chocolate, strawberry and vanilla individually wrapped and placed in a neat little box. 

I added a bright pink heart-shaped sticker. 

And on Mother's Day after dinner we had them, along with a slice of vanilla pound cake (bought from the supermarket) and mugs of our favorite coffee. 

the New Blogger 29 May 2020

The blog articles of April and May 2020 shall be said to be the most colorful of all articles in the six-year (it's been six years?!) history of shileejwel.blogspot.com. 

I didn't plan for it to be so. 

It just happened. 

One day I had a wee bit of problem trying to upload photos from the computer for a brand new post, the next there was a message saying that the blogger platform would be migrating from the current Legacy layout to a brand new one. 

In essence the message said, "New layout, new features, new this, new that, better for mobile, don't worry you're not losing your content (ahem MySpace), come click this button to try it and if you don't like it, don't worry, you can still switch back to the (old) layout. Some of you will see this new layout as your default starting end this month, but hey, don't get stunned, no worries, you can still switch back, it's fine. Take your time. But, umm, your blog will automatically be on this new layout by the end of July. No, you don't have a choice. We'll take your feedback- kindly leave us so- we love to engage- but yeah, you don't have a choice. You gotta move."

And so with it making no difference between now or July, welcome to the first article that's being banged out on the new layout, which, coincidentally (or not) works best on Chrome. 

So far, so good. 

Nothing's changed. 

My articles are all there. 

My pictures are all there. 

No issue with writing new articles, deleting drafts, adding new pictures to articles, or adjusting old articles whatsoever. Why, there's even a function for me to format the line spacing now.

Cool.

Just one thing: The font color of my articles used to be brown. They have been brown for six years. Five hundred over articles in the entire blog- all in brown. But in this new layout there is no more brown. There's purple, there's blue, there's green, there's red, there's orange and there's black. 

Just no brown.

And so because the OCD in me suddenly surfaced, I decided I was going to make my articles for April and May consistent with (this) first article that I'd decided would be written in green, so off I went to adjust the font color of all the articles in April and May. 

Let's just say it didn't turn out the way I expected it to. 

I don't know why.

Either I'd changed them too quickly and so didn't capture the new choice of color, or there was a glitch, or whatever, but it worked- just partial- and so, now I'm left with a good number of articles looking like a mixed palette of green decorated with random clumps of brown. 

The Tanah Merah Blues

This little island of ours may be just four degrees above the equatorial line, but as any local will tell you, it isn't every day that we have clear blue skies and clear blue seas like the Fiji and the Maldives.

And so when we do happen to be near the sea on a day when the skies and seas are blue, we take a picture.

Not just one or two.

But quite a few- and from as many angles as possible.

Some of us are happy with our gear of a phone. Some of us decide to be that little bit extra and end up using both a camera and a phone.

Whichever it is we decide to do, it is the memory of the moment that we wish to preserve.

And re-look at it again, we do.

You may find these pictures familiar.

That's because I wrote a piece about them not too long ago, but whilst those pictures were taken with my phone, these come from the camera that I'd brought out with me the day I saw these beautiful blue skies outside my window and on impulse decided to go for a quick bicycle ride.

And even though it may have been a few weeks now since these pictures were taken, the memory of that very instance when Daffy broke through the section of forested trees to the pathway that runs alongside the canal still sticks with me.
 
I won't so easily forget that sense of awe that filled me the moment I looked beyond the line of trees to the scene that you see in the first picture. Neither will I forget the sense of peace that this very scene brought me.
 
Having had a bit of ill-positive feelings associated with the Tanah Merah Besar area some time ago, it struck me that this very moment was one of restoration, of healing, of new beginnings, and that, even though I couldn't even remember when it was the last time I came here, she was waiting- with her serene, quiet, peaceful smile.

No more disquiet.

No more chaos.

Just a temporary goodbye to the landmarks of the city and a short venture into the untouched landscape of old countryside.

to Changi Airport

Either late March or early April it was when we decided we'd do a little detour from where we were and make our way to Changi Airport.

 

For the fun of it, and for the fact that I was a little curious as to how the situation there was.

 

By that time the business travellers were gone, the tourists were gone, and even the transit passengers were no longer coming in. All- if not most- of who the airport now catered for were the returning citizens and the permanent residents.

 

I knew it would be a quiet Changi Airport.

 

I wanted to know just how quiet it was.

 

So we hopped on the bus which took us somewhere around the central area of Tampines before going onto the expressway.

 

I don't know the exact route the bus took, but it made a turn and I suddenly found myself on the section of road that ran alongside the runways of Terminal 1 (or 2) and I knew I was nearing the airport.

 

The skies above me were clear. There were no sights of aircraft taking off or landing. There was no distinct thrumming of an aircraft engine. And parked neatly on the runways were rows of Scoot planes, their bright yellow tails shining in the glare of an early afternoon sun.

 

It was a pensive sight that hinted of a faint melancholy.

 

But it wasn't a depressive one.

 

For the planes were still there.

 

And waiting they were.

 

Sure, sleeping, right now they seemed to be, but awake one day they would- for the passengers that, four hour check in or not, would climb aboard them again.