About a week before Christmas, I did an on-camera interview with the producer for
On the Red Dot, a local current affairs programme that was preparing an episode on Singapore culture and what makes one Singaporean. Because I'm a writer, we thought about doing the interview at a library or bookstore, but eventually, they decided to just shoot it in the Toa Payoh neighbourhood where I live.
All in all, the shoot took over two hours about various things Singaporean, but in the episode I appear for just a few minutes. It was broadcast this past Wednesday and Saturday nights, and you can watch it online at the
xinmsn website (I can't embed the video).
I appear from 0:57 to 3:16, talking about Singlish, and I like that they used this part:
It’s quite lyrical in the sound, it conveys a lot with very few words, it’s very economical. And it just has a really nice sort of rhythm to it. And I think among Singaporeans, it’s just sort of a sense of familiarity, almost like in every family you have your own inside jokes, and it strikes a chord …
The funny thing about watching myself in a video like this is that it suddenly struck me how much I walk and look like my family on my dad's side. No wonder a friend who met my cousin
Nardac in Paris said it was like meeting me, only the Paris version.
Labels: Singapore stories
