One last time: Ng Eng Teng's studio at 106 Joo Chiat Place

106 Joo Chiat Place
This photo was taken in late Aug 2012.

Studio 106 (Open House)
29 Nov 2012 (Thu)
2 p.m. - 8 p.m.
106 Joo Chiat Place
(Nearest MRT station: Eunos)
(Bus service 33 will get you to Joo Chiat Place)


The studio of the late Ng Eng Teng, Cultural Medallion winner and the artist who is often known as the grandfather of Singapore sculpture, will be opened to members of the public on 29 Nov 2012 (Thu), from 2 p.m. - 8 p.m. This studio which located at 106 Joo Chiat Place was significant because this was where the late Ng Eng Teng had worked in and where he had created many of his sculptures.

The notice. Taken in Aug 2012.

Soon, Studio 106 shall live forever in our memories. This kampong looking house, I later learnt, is architecturally known as a rumah panggung. The house is elevated on stilts.

When I had walked past 106 Joo Chiat Place in Aug 2012, I saw a sign that read "Proposed Erection of two units of three-storey semi-detached dwelling houses each with an an attic on .... at 106 Joo Chiat Place, Singapore 427833". Shocked I was, it hit upon me that soon this home and workplace of the late Ng Eng Teng will be gone.

This stretch of road that is named Joo Chiat Place.

When I saw the sign at 106 Joo Chiat Place in Aug 2012, I was wondering to myself if I would ever have the opportunity to catch a glimpse of Studio 106 before it is gone for good.

Thanks to one of my good friends who knew that Ng Eng Teng is one of the local sculptors whose works I have an interest in, I recently learnt that Sunday Times had a report on 25 Nov 2012 on Studio 106. Through my friend, I learnt that the house at 106 Joo Chiat Place where the late Ng Eng Teng had worked in will be open for one last time to members of the public on 29 Nov 2012, from 2 p.m. - 8 p.m.

A glimpse of 106 Joo Chiat Place, in year 2008.

I wonder how it would be like to visit 106 Joo Chiat Place on 29 Nov 2012. Gone will be my vague memories of chancing upon a few of Ng Eng Teng's sculptures when I had walked past Joo Chiat Place in the year 2008. Maybe a visit to 106 Joo Chiat Place will mean less to me than to the many people who have at some point in their lives visited 106 Joo Chiat Place to work alongside with or to learn from the late Ng Eng Teng?

Taken in 2008. A glimpse of 106 Joo Chiat Place.

Taken in 2008. A glimpse of 106 Joo Chiat Place.

Anyway, I learnt from secondary sources regarding the article from Sunday Times dated 25 Nov 2012 that wood from the dismantled house of Studio 106 will be salvaged by representatives of the community art project, Awaken the Dragon, to use it to rouse one of the last two surviving dragon kilns in Jalan Bahar next year. Heart-wrenching it may sound to have Studio 106 dismantled, it seems like everything that makes up this house will have to go. Change is inevitable. May the memories be preserved nevertheless.

Studio 106, in year 2008.

If this interest you, may you find the opportunity to visit 106 Joo Chiat Place soon before it is physically gone. In the meantime, I am thankful for this very place that had allowed the late Ng Eng Teng to create many of his enduring sculptures and works.

***
Related posts on Ng Eng Teng:
prep-room | 106 Joo Chiat Place by NUS Museum
Along Joo Chiat Place
Some noteworthy exhibits from the Sculpturing Life exhibition
Remembering Ng Eng Teng
Wealth and Contentment just outside the University Cultural Centre
NUS Museum: The works of Ng Eng Teng
NUS Museum
Multimedia: My Brother, Our Houses by The Straits Times: Through the Lens.

Participating in Awaken The Dragon Project

Dragon kiln in Singapore. Taken in Nov 2012.

Thanks to Facebook, I was somehow notified by my friends about this project called "Awaken the Dragon". Awaken the Dragon is "a community art project surrounding the last two remaining Dragon Kilns in Singapore".

Wait a moment. Were you surprised to know that there are dragon kilns in Singapore? What is a dragon kiln?

These questions were addressed when I decided to make my way to a relatively unfamiliar part of Singapore recently to take part in one of the Dragon workshops. I found my way to Focus Ceramics, near Jalan Bahar, along Lorong Tawas. As I was not familiar with the locality, I decided it would be a good idea to hire a taxi from the nearest MRT station, i.e. Boon Lay MRT station.

The workshop where the dragon kiln was located. Who will know its future?

Before the workshop, I found myself greeted with the privilege of witnessing a firing taking place at the dragon kiln at 97L Lorong Tawas. Although it was not my first time witnessing a firing taking place at a dragon kiln, I was still nevertheless intrigued by the process. I have no idea how the dragon kiln was conceived and built, yet I thought to myself, it must have been quite an awesome technology.

A glimpse of the dragon kiln has made my visit to Lorong Tawas worthwhile.

Soon, I met up with the wonderful facilitator of the workshop and the other keen participants. Just before the workshop, we were given a tour of the workshop and have had a glimpse of the dragon kiln. This was possible because the workshop was held at Lorong Tawas where the dragon kiln is located. I felt grateful for the opportunity to see the dragon kiln once again. The vicinity has changed dramatically since my previous visit to Lorong Tawas slightly more than a year ago! The nearby forested jungle was being cleared to build an eco-garden.

Changes to the landscape of Lorong Tawas.
Forested jungle was being cleared to build an eco-garden.

At the workshop, we were given an introduction about the history of Singapore's Dragon Kilns and ceramics. I learnt that the pieces of wood used in the wood-firing at the dragon kiln here were carbon-neutral. These pieces of wood were collected from furniture-making workshops.

After the enlightening introduction, each of us participants were given clay to sculpt a piece of work. Our facilitator shared with us some simple tips on how to sculpt the clay. Each of our work will subsequently be fired in the Dragon Kiln during the three-day festival in Jan 2013. After which, I heard that the our works will be featured in the Awaken the Dragon exhibition at various venues in Singapore. The workshop was about no more than two hours in duration. The fee was reasonable at $15 per participant.

The work by the facilitator. I think there's something Zen about it.

My humble work made from clay.

It was therapeutic to work on the clay and attempt to sculpt it. The beauty of clay is that if I do not like what I had created, I could simply destroy it and create another work. At the end of the workshop, I felt I had given myself some time to exercise my creativity. This somehow gave me a sense of accomplishment.

The work by one of my friends.

Whether it is for the novelty of making a piece of art out of clay, to learn more about the dragon kilns in Singapore or to simply give some time to exercise your creativity, you may find it meaningful to learn more about the Awaken the Dragon project here: http://awakenthedragonkiln.wordpress.com/about/

Do check out its Facebook page too for more updates: https://www.facebook.com/Awakenthedragonkiln

Works by one of the participants.

In the meantime, I look forward to the Awaken the Dragon festival that will take place from 14 Jan to 21 Jan 2013.

***
Details of the workshops are available here: http://awakenthedragonkiln.wordpress.com/workshops

***
Other related articles that you may be interested in:

Dragons in Singapore by Lim Chey Cheng
The last dragons of Jurong by Jerome Lim
Into the belly of the Dragon by Jerome Lim
Jalan Bahar Dragon Kiln by Remember Singapore
A visit to the Thow Kwang Dragon Kiln Firing event 2011
A Visit To The Firing Thow Kwang Dragon Kiln by Victor Koo
Dragon Kiln & Pottery Jungle by Joanne
NLS Resource Guides - Chinese kilns
Demise of a Dragon Kiln by Juliana P Lim

Yet another Changi Museum War Trail: End of Empire

Kranji Memorials. Designed by Colin St. Clair Oakes.

This year happens to be the 70th anniversary of the fall of Singapore. I was so enticed with the idea of commemorating this special anniversary that I went for a tour by The Original Singapore Walks on 12 Sep 2012. My visit turned out to fall on the 67th anniversary of the Japanese surrender ceremony that was held at the Municipal Building of Singapore (now known as the City Hall).

Read more about my visit here please:
Yet another Changi Museum War Trail: End of Empire

Raffles' Letters: Intrigues behind the Founding of Singapore. So intriguing that I would make more visits.

Thanks to the generous invitation of the National Library Board, I had the privilege to be present for the launch of the exhibition, Raffles' Letters: Intrigues behind the Founding of Singapore, on 28 Aug 2012. The Guest-of-Honour for the launch was Dr Yaacob Ibrahim.

I delightedly recall being first acquainted with Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles when I was a Primary School student. I read about him in the Social Studies textbook! He is the founder of modern Singapore, I recall. I was so excited with the Social Studies textbook that before the new academic year had started, I had read the textbook practically from cover to cover.

Speech by Dr John Bastin.

The launch
At the launch, I had the pleasure to listen to Dr John Bastin sharing his insights on the exhibition and the letters that Sir Stamford Raffles had written. Dr John Bastin is the leading scholar on Raffles and his circle. He is the author of the book, The Founding of Singapore 1819. He is also the author of a number of books on the history of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

The exhibition
When the exhibition was officially launched, I was impressed by the scale of the exhibition. Raffles' Letter: Intrigues behind the Founding of Singapore features 86 artefacts, including valuable maps and books from the early 19th century. This exhibition tells me way more about Raffles and the intrigues behind the founding of Singapore than all the things that I have learnt about Raffles through my history lessons up to Lower Secondary School level!

Letters penned by Sir Stamford Raffles
Twenty letters penned by Sir Stamford Raffles were displayed in public for the first time. These letters provide a glimpse of what went on in Raffles' mind when he sought to secure a port settlement for the British East India Company in the East.

I could not quite decipher the hand-writings on many of the letters that were displayed at the exhibition. Thankfully, the exhibition team has painstakingly deciphered the letters and has made the contents of the letters available in printed text. I have learnt that it helps to visit this exhibition several times to read the numerous letters that were on display. Even if visitors do not have the time to read all the letters, it is nevertheless intriguing to feel the aura of the letters that were personally penned by Raffles.

The Bute Map: The earliest landward map of Singapore
One of the exhibits that every visitors ought to see is the replica of the 1820 map of the Singapore which is on loan from the Bute Collection at Mount Stuart in Scotland. This map is believed to be the earliest landward map of Singapore town. In this map, one could see the exact location of the residence of the then local chief, Temenggong Abdul Rahman. In addition, I learnt about the location of the "Ancient Lines of Singapore" through looking at the map. Interestingly, this map also shows the location of the Singapore Stone that once stood at the mouth of the Singapore River on a place that was known as "Rocky Point". The Singapore Stone was demolished in 1843 to widen the mouth of the river.

There were many more interesting exhibits at the exhibition. It was clear that I would have to schedule to make a few more visits to this exhibition by 28 Feb 2012 so as to spend sufficient time to look at the numerous exhibits.

Interactive sections
There is an interactive section in the exhibition spaces that could allow visitors to learn more about Raffles, his letters and the founding of Singapore through interactive multimedia.

On the same level, near where the lockers are located, visitors can also have fun learning about Singapore through a few of the selected maps of Singapore. The technology of Kinetic was employed to create this interactive activity.

The teasers
For visitors who have limited time to browse this exhibition, it can be helpful to start by browsing the exhibition panels that have been put up on the ground level of the National Library Building. I have found these to be wonderful teasers to Raffles' Letters: Intrigues behind the Founding of Singapore.

Due to copyrights, photography is not allowed at this exhibition.

Nevertheless, this exhibition is likely to fascinate anyone who is interested in the history behind the founding of Singapore. Anyone who would like to learn more about Singapore's history beyond what the history textbooks could discuss will also find this exhibition to be interesting. Please make your way to the National Library soon!

***
In conjunction with this exhibition, curator's tours by Dr Kevin Tan and Lim Chen Sian will be organised on the following dates:
1 Sep 2012, 13 Oct 2012, 17 Nov 2012, and 27 Jan 2013. From 2 - 4 p.m. at Level 10, National Library Gallery.

Please register at http://golibrary.nlb.gov.sg/programme/Heritage.aspx

***
Also read:
Letters from Raffles by Huang Lijie, ST Classifieds.
See historic letters by Raffles at the library by Michael Allen, Asia One.
Raffles' Letters Exhibition: Intrigues behind the founding of Singapore by Yahoo! photo.

***
Raffles' Letters:
Intrigues behind the Founding of Singapore.
29 Aug 2012 - 28 Feb 2013.
10 a.m. - 9 p.m.
National Library Gallery, Level 10.
National Library Building.
100 Victoria Street, Singapore 188064.
Free Admission.

Official website: http://raffles.nl.sg
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SirStamfordRaffles