Without a doubt, the internet has been this generation’s world-changing technological revolution, and there are young people hitting twenty that would not have known a world without the internet. Before the internet, however, a similar technological revolution took place with the introduction of the television.

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31st December 2010. Drawn by Xin Li.
Looking back at 2008-2009.
Throughout my time in National Service, these sketchbooks had accompanied all this while be it outfield, or in parades. Today, on the last day of 2010, I hope to share some of the sketches I have done for the past 1 and half year plus.

to be continued here.

Orang Asli is a Malay term meaning ‘original people’, and is used in Malaysia to refer to the indigenous tribes or aborigines, some of whom have been inhabiting the peninsula for almost 50,000 years! Traditionally, the orang asli identified themselves as inhabitants of particular locations – and did you know that Singapore was the native grounds to one such orang asli group? Well, not exactly grounds, but water.

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Despite their distinctive uniform – a deep blue shirt and pants coupled with a bright red headdress – younger readers would probably not have seen a Samsui Woman in their lifetime. In an age where Singapore’s recent construction boom is fuelled by workers from nearby, often poorer, countries, this unique group of female labourers helped fuel the early construction boom of Singapore. When you think about it, how many women have you seen working at construction sites? These women were tough as nails!

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If you’ve moved from the house that you grew up in, you might have experienced a feeling of nostalgia every time you pass by your old house. Whether the building is still standing or not, you’d make comparisons with the surrounding landscape and try to understand what has changed – trails that you used to walk, people who were associated with street corners, stores that used to be there… It’s almost like a specific kind of nostalgia that should have its own word for it. yg experiences this kind of nostalgia when talking about his old house in Upper Dickson Road.

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You can tell a lot about a culture by the way they greet you. In the case of Chinese, the standard how-do-you-do greeting translates literally as, “Have you eaten?”. Chinatownboy reflects on how this greeting has changed in Singapore, originally from the versions in different dialects such as Hokkien and Teochew to Mandarin today, and the forgotten Chinese pioneers of an earlier age.

cc image by Jesse Moore

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We’ve talked about Kampung Buangkok previously, but I had a good reason to make a trip there.

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We walk down Strathmore Avenue to Dawson Road, then onwards to our NTUC supermarket at Dawsons Place

Dawson Road used to an area of atap houses inhabited by hundreds of Hokkien and Teochew who grew vegetables and fruit, as well as raising pigs and chickens.

Later the same area was the site of the Buller camp run by the British military.

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Christopher Lim

Christopher Lim is one of the earliest practicing industrial designer in Singapore. He started his career designing audio products at Panasonic (formerly known as Matsushita) in 1989, a time when industrial design was virtually unheard of here. Since then, Christopher has establish himself as a visionary design leader in the industry. Read the rest of this entry »

Francis Chu

Francis experience in product design span over twenty years and across Europe and Asia. His human-centered approach has led to many breakthroughs and award-winning designs. He is credited as the inventor of more then 15 international patents in a diverse field including health, lifestyle and digital media. Read the rest of this entry »