Innocent Heart

Few more shots of “Spore”

Black (and white) Singapore

 

There are several reasons to go to Singapore. The main one?
Business!

The second? If you ask Singaporeans they will probably answer “Business…as always”
Others will say because of gambling and amazing selection of food.
However I believe this city is worth visiting because it is a very unique living experiment.

When I arrived from Chennai, India, immediately I felt  I was like an elephant in a crystal shop.
Singapore is definitely the city of the one thousands Taboos, contradictions and extreme materialism.
One of my favorite travel writers, Tiziano Terzani, lived in Singapore many years of his life before and after the dictatorship of Lee Kuan Yen that morphed the personality of this city/country/island forever.
Coming back to Singapore Terzani writes: “…air conditioning seems to be the only air that Singapore could breath…” (…sorry for my poor translation but I did not find his book in any of the few bookstores in the city).

Officially Singapore is a democracy…however still today prohibitions, obligations and many absurd rules are imposed to citizens and tourists.
Few examples:

– As it is considered pornographic, you cannot walk around your home nude (unless you close all your windows I guess).
– The sale of gums is prohibited (well… I’m not a fan of chewing gums).
– It is illegal hugging in public without permission, they can give you a fine for this.
– If you’re agnostic or atheist you cannot state any adverse comments at religion because in Singapore you can be cited for sedition.
– It is considered an offense to enter the country with cigarettes, they are in fact highly taxed like alcohol.
– Homosexuals are not allowed to live in the country.
– Death penalty for drug offence (and police can even force both residents and not residents to submit to random drug tests).
– It is illegal to sleep in public places.
– Pornography is illegal.
– If you are founded littering three times you will have to clean the streets on Sundays with a sign on saying, “I am a litterer” (I actually agree with this one).
– There is a mandatory caning policy for vandalism offenses, especially graffiti. This applies to writing on public property as well as hanging banners, flags, pamphlets etc..
– You will be fined if you drink (even water) or eat food in Metro or other public transportation means.
– You can also be punished for spitting,  jaywalking and fined if you forget to flush the toilet!
…and the most important:
– Singapore does not allow any demonstrations or protests even if peaceful…for that you need a special permit that it is hard to get.

Now I’m not sure if all those rules are enforced like it was in the past (they had and may still have a secret police) but the result of this is that Singapore seems to be one of the places in the world where brainwashing is really effective.
It looks like Singaporeans will do anything that is demanded by their rulers in a robot fashion.

However some human beings are still around, mostly segregated far from downtown.

P.S: Prostitution in Singapore is legal, but various prostitution-related activities are not. This includes public solicitation.
I met a group of young guys from Sri Lanka while I was taking some photos of people sleeping (one of my favorite targets) on a bridge in Gaylang road, the red light district of Singapore. They were there to meet some friends of them coming from the same village in Sri Lanka and working in “Spore” as prostitutes.
Good night.

 

Theyyam: the colors of God

Few weeks ago in a village nearby Kannur, Kerala.

from wikipedia:

Theyyam (Teyyam, Theyyattam or Thira) is a popular ritual form of worship of North of Kerala,  India…

…The dance or invocation is generally performed in front of the village shrine. It is also performed in the houses as ancestor-worship with elaborate rites and rituals.

There is no stage or curtain or other such arrangements for the performance. The devotees would be standing or some of them would be sitting on a sacred tree in front of the shrine…

…A performance of a particular deity according to its significance and hierarchy in the shrine continues for 12 to 24 hours with intervals. The chief dancer who propitiates the central deity of the shrine has to reside in the rituals. This may be due to the influence of Jainism and Buddhism. Further, after the sun sets, this particular dancer would not eat anything for the remainder of that day …

His make-up is done by specialists and other dancers…

…The dancer along with the drummers recites the particular ritual song, which describes the myths and legends, of the deity of the shrine or the folk deity to be propitiated…

…the dancer comes in front of the shrine and gradually “metamorphoses” into the particular deity of the shrine. He, after observation of certain rituals places the head-dress on his head and starts dancing. In the background, folk musical instruments like chenda, tuti, kuzhal and veekni are played in a certain rhythm…

…A performance is a combination of playing of musical instruments, vocal recitations, dance, and peculiar makeup (usually predominantly orange) and costumes.

when in paradise…

the bRAT