give us this day our daily rant

Well, yeah, i figured that there was just too much luuurve and goodwill going on here, so, to restore the cosmic balance between yin and yang, and to preserve the requisite level of bitchiness that will maintain the readership figures on this blog, may i present to you.... a rant.

This one was inspired by Ong Keng Sen's foot-in-the-mouth comments in Life! a couple of days back on what he perceives as being the sad state of the arts here in Singapore. Needless to say, this has sparked off a heated debate among arts practitioners and administrators here, most of whom have quickly pointed out that there is, in fact, more of an arts scene here than Ong seems to know about. Now, given that Ong has apparently been away from Singapore for the last few years, one wonders at his audacity in whining about something that he's done little to contribute to for some time.

But what i want to bitch about is not Ong Keng Sen per se. No, this rant is dedicated to the many Singaporeans (well, i assume they are legion, though i'd be very happy to be proven wrong) who somehow continue to see Singaporean art as a poor second-cousin to anything foreign, no, pardon me, i mean, anything Western. Case in point: a conversation with a very close friend several years back, in which i was raving enthusiastically about Eric Khoo's Twelve Storeys. And what angered me (yes, angered, in the way i feel anger - a momentary rush of blinding blood that for just a few seconds makes me feel almost as if i'm blacking out) was the way she dismissed the movie from the outset, not even considering that it might possibly, just possibly, be good. Just a few days ago i felt a strange sensation of deja vu, when another good friend reacted in almost the same way when i asked if she'd like to see Eric Khoo's new movie, Be With Me. "It's Singaporean...." - as if 'Singaporean' instantly brands something as being lesser. No matter that Be With Me has done so well on the international stage that it was selected as the opening night film at the Cannes Film Festival's Directors' Fortnight.

How will the arts scene in Singapore, or indeed, anything in Singapore, ever develop and grow, if even the most intelligent of our citizens continue to automatically relegate anything 'Singaporean' to the charity bins of history? Bad enough when such an attitude comes from the ordinary man in the street - worse when it comes from the more-intelligent-than-most man in the street, and unforgiveable when it comes from a member of the artistic community. Now, mind you, i am not advocating any form of nationalistic affirmative action. That way madness lies. i am all for honest criticism, and in fact, it is my firm belief that we need a sizable community of critics who can help to build active critical dialogue among artists, and between artists and the wider society. But i do take offence (and i use that word very deliberately) at people who impose their prejudice, ignorance and apathy on those who are working to make a difference. By all means, rant, rail, flail at substandard work. But only when you have some basis for judgement. Only when you have seen it, read it, heard it, experienced it for yourself. To do any less is an insult to all involved, not least of all to your own intelligence.
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