10 Notable Articles about Lee Kuan Yew and Singapore

It's been a week since Singapore learned that its founding father had passed away at the age of 91. This was my first experience with loss.

And while there were tears, outpouring of love and respect, and back-to-back documentaries of the man who built this nation, there were also many eloquent articles that surfaced all over the Web as Singaporeans begin to emerge from their shell of apathy to reexamine what it means to be Singaporean and reassess their view of their first Prime Minister.

Here are 10 notable articles that struck a chord with me:

1. Calvin Cheng's defence of the Singaporean model of governance

2. Bertha Henson's candid account of her encounters with Mr Lee

3. Lili Tan's pensive musing on death and how it unites the living

4. Deborah Tan's heartfelt letter to Mr Lee that made me cry

5. Steph Leong's well-researched article on Mr Lee and his policies

6. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's interview with Today newspaper, in which he shared insights on the man we all thought we knew

7. Jaime Ee's reflections on the surge of patriotic fervour that has arisen these past few days in the wake of Mr Lee's passing

8. A taxi driver's informal tribute to Mr Lee, as recounted by Tiffany Joyce Lim

9. Sahana Singh's comparison of the Western ideal of personal freedom versus the Asian notion of community before self, and argues how much better off we are for sacrificing some personal freedom for the greater good.

10. A reflection on the past week of mourning that perfectly encapsulates all the reasons for our profound sorrow at Mr Lee's passing.


And here were some of the ways we immortalised him,

At the Istana:

On the way to pay our last respects to him:

photo by Chen Zhirong

At community centres all over the country:

At the National Library:

And the ways the outside world honoured him,

In Time magazine:

In the words of foreign dignitaries,

And their physical presence:

Former U.S. president Bill Clinton

The Bhutan king

Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

Sultan of Brunei

And finally, this video that shows just how larger than life, yet human, Mr Lee Kuan Yew was (please get your tissues ready):

Yesterday, we sent Mr Lee off on his final journey. 

Throngs of people gathered around the Parliament House and lined the funeral procession route to send Mr Lee off. Even the clouds hung low that day, and the downpour marked the climactic end to a great legacy. People wept for him, as did the skies.

I will never forget the day I waved my flag in the pouring rain and caught my first and only glimpse of Mr Lee, the day I broke down in public with my fellow Singaporeans as I whispered a word of thanks that I hoped he could hear.

At 4:35PM, we bowed our heads for a minute of silence, saying our final goodbye to the man who changed all our lives for the better.

Words can't express how much gratitude, respect, and love I have for this man who was iron-willed enough to do what needed to be done to bring a tumultuous fledgling nation to its current state; who was never complacent and always sought ways to improve; who took no bullshit from detractors and opponents, but was always kind and protective of us, the citizens; who was so devoted to his country so much he made it his lifelong project and saw it through till his final days.

So we've lost him at last. Indomitable as he seemed, he was, after all, human, and no man - no matter how noble or gifted - can live forever. But perhaps we should also be thankful for the fact that we had lived in a time when a great, fearless leader by the name of Lee Kuan Yew was around to pave the way for us to venture another step forward.

Rest now, Mr Lee. We will continue writing the Singapore story for you. You will live forever in the hearts of your people, and be dearly missed.

Post-CNY Book Updates and Writing Links

Happy Lunar New Year! 

It's been a whole week (and more) of preparations (who knew one good meal with your family involved so much effort?) and spring cleaning and general merry-making that involves too much grilled honeyed meat jerkies (physically impossible to resist), pineapple tarts, cashew nut cookies, sashimi salads (I know I'm not doing the food much justice with these descriptions, but just know that they are basically the reason why the clean eating programme is going out the window this festive period), and mandarin oranges. Many, many mandarin oranges.

But it's Monday again, so here's an update on No Room in Neverland, and some great links to share:

1. Sophie Kinsella's advice for writing a book:

Everybody, no matter who they are gets to the middle of a book and thinks crikey, I've had enough of this. You get bored with your story and your characters, you hate them all, you can't think why you started this wretched story in the first place.

The truth is, every book is hard to write, everybody reaches a wall, whether it is a plot hole or a scene that you can't get past. So you've just got to get to the end. Even if it's not the greatest draft, if it needs rewriting fine, at least you have a book to rewrite.

Truth.

So this is me trying to put one word after another towards the end. I'm at page 220 now, which may not seem like much, but between Lunar New Year and spring-cleaning and hosting a party and trying to prolong reading Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta and watching this Korean drama called Pinocchio so they won't end so soon (which, of course, requires Herculean effort, because that book oh god that book and that drama oh god that drama I need to rave about them soon!), I think any progress is good progress.

At least what I've written so far for Neverland doesn't make me want to barf, which is more than I can say for the first draft.


2. How wild is it that Harper Lee is writing another novel, "a sequel of sorts" to her breakout To Kill a Mockingbird half a century after it was published? It's called Go Set a Watchman, and she wrote it in the 50s before setting it aside. Just goes to show that it is never too late to pick up that figurative pen and revisit a novel that didn't quite work out.

3. As you know, I've been caught up in this fantastic fantasy trilogy lately. The Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo is set in ancient Russia, and the plot and characters and writing just gets better and better with each installment. I'm on the final book, Ruin and Rising, now and am trying as hard as I can to read as slowly as humanly possible.

Here's an interview she did with The Midnight Garden, a book review blog that features a gorgeous whimsical layout and thoughtful reviews on young adult books. In the interview, Leigh reveals her upcoming book, Six of Crows, which she describes as an "Oceans 11, Inglourious Basterds, ragtag band of misfits, impossible heist story" that stars a supporting character from the Grisha trilogy. Big yay for more stories in the Grishaverse!


4. Another old post from ex-literary agent Nathan Bransford, where he offers some advice for young writers:

Don't judge your writing success by whether you're able to find publication immediately. Instead, write to get better, write for catharsis and practice and fun. Your future self will be thankful for the time well spent.

I'll admit, it's easy to get caught up in the whole publishing game (not sure if game is the right word here, but let's go with it for now). It's easier to fire out query letters to literary agents than writing that book, but it just distracts from the whole point of writing a book in the first place. You end up worrying too much about whether the book will be worth the time and effort, and worrying about whether people will like it, and forget to enjoy the process of writing it, and forget to write the story that you will like.

quote by Timothy Zahn

5. And more great advice from the inimitable Laini Taylor:

Daydreaming, however awesome it is, is passive. It happens in your head. Learning to make dreams real is another matter, and I think it should be the work of your life.

Enough said, really.


Okay, back to working on Neverland now! For the first time since I started writing it in November/December 2013, I'm actually properly psyched about it. Because I see the end in sight and I'm making my way there, one word at a time.


Hope the year of the goat is kinder to you than the horse one! :0)

yes to no-angst Mondays!

Funny how jaded you get the more the year wears on. It's May now and you realise you haven't really done anything to take you a step closer to your goals. All you've got for your efforts is:

A) a pile of rejection letters (even worse, agents who don't reply) for a story you miss writing and wish for people to read (the ache is real, people!),

B) no novel actually completed (I'm looking - glaring - at you, Neverland!),

C) a bunch of short stories you don't know what to do with to get started on your Shiny New Novel, which you haven't even started plotting

D) a completed novel you're unravelling (i.e. rewriting). Hopefully, you'll make it better. Hopefully, it'll be good enough for the literary agent who requested for a revise-and-resubmit. Hopefully, this will be the one that will get you published again.

But that's a big hope you're holding out on. And you don't know if all this time and effort you're putting into this is going to be worth anything at all eventually, or you're just wasting your time and you're actually not good enough to get published and you probably never will and sob sob self-pity I'm a loser I should just quit.

That was the reason for last Monday's post on writing quotes.

...

Okay, pity party over. Time for some happy!

I'm sorry, but once you get started on Harry Potter memes, there is no end to it.

Speaking of Harry Potter (no, I will never stop talking about it or loving it, so get with the programme or drop out), here's a compilation of all the times Harry was the Queen of Sass.






One thing led to another (damn you, Buzzfeed!), and I came across this one on Supernatural (otherwise known as The Show That Broke My Heart), as told by someone who's never watched it:





Castiel is the only badass who gets away with calling someone an assbutt while holding a Molotov cocktail ... okay, not quite.

Another Supernatural post caught my eye:





Don't you just love it when good-looking people behave like dorks?


Okay okay, I'm done. Back to writing!

Have a lovely week, everyone! :0)

Monday link salad

A post full of random stuff today:

Funny fashion memes. Anna Wintour meets Mean Girls, anyone? Also:

*

Strange things people found in walls. Money and shoes, I get (sort of), but fingernail clippings and hair?

*

This old post from ex literary agent (now author), Nathan Bransford that offers a really useful tip for figuring out your novel: creating one-sentence, one-paragraph, and two-paragraph pitches.

A query is basically a two paragraph pitch with some query-related detail. But sometimes you'll want to use a one sentence pitch (for a bio, if you're into that whole brevity thing), or a one paragraph pitch (for briefly describing in real life conversation when you don't want someone's eyes to glaze over). 

My feeling: get it all out of the way at once. Save yourself the headache and come up with a one sentence, one paragraph, and two paragraph pitch before you even start to query. Then: practice and memorize your pitches. You never know when you're going to need them.

Speaking from experience, it really does help to have a pitch ready even before you plunge into the novel. You get a clearer sense of where your story is going, what the conflict is, and what the stakes are. You also get to pare down your character to his/her most basic trait, the one that defines her and her actions, and the one that you as a writer set out to change by the end of the story.

I should have done that for Neverland. (Actually, I should have done that for all my novels.) Maybe then I wouldn't have gotten stuck.

*

Also, I've started blogging for work.



One of the plus points of working for an online fashion retailer is that I get to fangirl over fashion trends and celebrity styles unabashedly in the name of work and write about them. Is this the marrying of two loves?

I've written quite a number of these articles so far, but the team is selective about what goes on the blog, and when. Here is one article I wrote about "must-have tops". 

Of course, they're not really must-haves -- people just write that to get you to read the article ;0)

*

Blood Promise, otherwise known as The Manuscript That Will Not Yield, is in the midst of some radical changes right now. I intend to rip out the awful saggy middle and whip it into something that will put Victoria's Secret models to shame ... 

Okay, that's quite a mean feat. I mean, it'll be really hard to top this:

Favourite VS angel ever, Doutzen Kroes.

But it's okay. Because I HAVE A PLAN NOW. So let's do this.

In the meantime, I will heed this advice.

And this: 

And keep happy with these:

from allthingsshabbyandbeautiful.tumblr.com

Peter Pan quote

Oh, stop. What are you trying to do to me?!

by Gelrev Ongbico

The view from the pier yesterday

Also, I'm really loving D&E's new album. Aside from When You Cry, which I shared in an earlier post, this song, Teenage Queen, is another favourite. So catchy and upbeat!

And on that note, have a great week, everyone! :0)

k-dramas: the winning formula (plus, Monday mood-lifters!)

Despite my efforts to focus on writing Neverland, I finally decided to watch You Who Came from the Stars last week.

(Not that I'm validating my drama obsession, but I've found the more material I expose myself to - be it books or TV shows or music - the easier it is to coax the plot bunnies out, and the easier the words flow when I work on my stories. So I shall stick to this line of reasoning whenever I feel guilty about watching dramas when I could be writing. At least I'm not obsessively watching all the episodes in a day! Right? I totally pace myself - one episode a day - if only to make the show last longer.)

So it's no secret that ever since Secret Garden,

I've been properly sold over by Korean dramas. I don't watch a lot of them, though, just those that come highly recommended - and even then I don't always follow through *cough* 49 Days *cough cough* Lie To Me.

But Secret Garden was INCREDIBLE. Thanks, Felicia, for recommending it! I am forever grateful.

It had a great story line: an arrogant CEO who, due to an fateful misunderstanding - falls in love with a poor stunt-woman?

Toss in a narcissistic washed-out pop star:

A body switch (a plot device done to death, but so funny in the hands of scriptwriter Kim Eun Sook):

A traumatic repressed memory that links the two leads together dramatically and you get a recipe for an undeniably entertaining series.

Plus, it's got one of the most beautiful soundtracks I've ever heard for a k-drama - perhaps even THE most beautiful:

And a very watchable cast ... by which I mean:

Hyun Bin! ❤

And, okay, her too:

Ha Ji Won

And the dialogue is simply hysterical:

It was all SO ENTIRELY PERFECT that I wrote a script for EN3271 Advanced Playwriting influenced by the mood of Secret Garden, and a novel, Until Morning, that was - I hope! - as funny and bittersweet and dramatic and whimsical as the drama.

Don't you just love stories that inspire you to write your own stories?

Anyway, after Secret Garden and Heirs, I hadn't really found another drama that I HAD to follow, mostly because I'm picky when it comes to dramas (and wouldn't you be, if you were going to spend hours watching an entire series?): is the cast watchable, are the characters layered, is the story cliched, is the dialogue snappy or funny or insightful? I've tried watching a few since Heirs, including Bel Ami, starring Jang Geun Suk, but got bored after two episodes.

You Who Came From the Stars, though, is funnier and more gripping than I'd expected. I thought it was completely ridiculous at first. A 400-year-old alien (yes, really - think Clark Kent instead of E.T.) who is stuck on Earth and is finally about to go back to his own planet, but then he falls for this narcissistic actress who reminds him of his first love and things get complicated?

But with a murder subplot to keep things moving and raise the stakes, I haven't been able to extricate myself from the drama since episode 2!

Actual dialogue from the drama! The female character is a bit on the psychotic side.

I'm on episode 13 now, so no spoilers if you've watched the latest episodes already! I'll have to start looking for the next drama to get sucked into, though.

Find another, that's what!

Any other recommendations?

While we're on the topic of the success formula of k-dramas, here's another cogent breakdown.

*

Also, I started reading Fathomless, by Jackson Pearce over the weekend.

And can I just say, I am SO in love with this book! I read her earlier novels, Sisters Red (Red Riding Hood retelling):

And Sweetly (Hansel and Gretel retelling):

They were enjoyable enough, but didn't really wow me in terms of plot or prose. Maybe because I have an obsession with mermaids - along with Peter Pan and the Little Prince and winged beasties - but Fathomless TOTALLY does it for me.

Plus, the prose is so much prettier this time, the setting painted more vividly. Jackson Pearce's niche is fairytale retellings, and even though Fathomless is a retelling of The Little Mermaid, it has a very original plot without veering too much from the original story.

Jackson Pearce, nailed it



So I raced down to the library yesterday and borrowed Cold Spell (The Snow Queen retelling) too:

Can't wait to delve into this too! Big yay for folks who write good books!

*

A little random, but lately, there's this song that keeps buzzing in my head:

Gulliver, by Super Junior

I found this song COMPLETELY IRRITATING at first. But after hearing Donghae's rapping bit at 1:15, I can't get it out of my head. Dayyyum, that voice! (He's the one on the left with the pretty face and nice guns, in case you're wondering.)

Okay, okay. I'm done fangirling.

*

I'm still not done reading Laini's old blog - there are just too many things to learn from her, too much to enjoy!

For today, this:

Laini on keeping the love for your story alive: 

... be willing to change anything and everything about the idea you thought you had. Nothing is set in stone. There's a natural impulse to grip onto whatever your initial idea for the story was, but don't. It may be that the reason you're stuck is that there wasn't enough there to begin with, or that it wasn't quite right. If it was, you wouldn't be stuck, right? 

You have be rigorous. You don't sit around waiting for the perfect idea to land on you like a butterfly. You go after it with a net. You climb out to the end of slender tree branches reaching for it.  

Basically: think think think. Think in writing. Think far past anything you've come up with so far. Be willing to discard any of your fixed "sacred" ideas. Be willing even to tear down the very foundation of your story and replace it with something new, if that's what you have to do. 

I don't know if she'll ever see this, but THANK YOU, Laini, for sharing all your writing wisdom with us, and all your encouragements. I ❤ you big time.

*

And now for some pretty:

Tsaritsyno Park in Moscow, Russia

Umbrella lights!

And some happy:

Owl cookies!

And some funnies:

Miss The O.C.!

Have a great week, everyone! :0)