Over the recent weeks, I can't help
noticing the phrase "City of Possibilities" shown in the various
marketing blitz for the National Day Parade.
It made me reflect on what was
indeed possible for me since I left my home town in Malaysia to further my
studies here in the late 80's.
In fact, this is the place where the
major events in my life took place, a field on which many of my dreams were
lived. As a student at National Junior College, I flew a Cessna
with the Youth Flying Club,
clocked more hours in the air than
the amount of time I should be spending on my studies, and eventually graduated
with a private pilot's license at the age when many of friends didn't even know
how to drive. Two years later, I met the woman of my life at Raffles Hall, a
student hostel in the National University of Singapore. Six years later,
we got married, and eventually started a family as well as a few businesses
here.
Having lived here for more than a
decade now, I must admit that Singapore is indeed an extremely livable city,
compared to several other major cities around the world that I've been to.
However, one consistent comment about this beautiful city, especially from the
well-traveled individuals, is that it lacks soul. I would have
agreed with them many years ago, but my experience with Gone Fishing (the cafe)
told me otherwise.
The interactions with patrons of
Gone Fishing revealed the possibility of creating a "soulful" place simply
by providing opportunities for people to relate to one another in a casual and
authentic manner. The same soulfulness is observed readily in the
heartland, where those who commented about Singapore's lack of soulfulness
seldom see. For example, while the fishmongers at the Bukit Gombak wet
market may not be singing out loud or tossing fish in the air like those at the
world famous Pike Place Fish Market in Seattle, they exhibit no less amount of
joy and energy that show how much they take pride in their work and how much
they value me as a regular patron!
Perhaps, the idea of "soul" in this
City of Possibilities is so elusive that we don't know where to look in order to
find or experience it. As inhabitants of this little red dot, perhaps it's
up to each of us to realise the possibility of being soulful through the way we
see the people around us, the way we interact with them, and the way we touch
each other's lives.
Best fishes,
Kenny, the Fisher ~ One
Unhurried Soul
P/S:
Beyond being soulful, let me invite you to
explore a new perspective on
language and harness its power to transform some your "problems" into new
"possibilities"
at
the next session of
Tuesday with Fisher
at Gone Fishing on August 7, 8pm. Admission is FREE.
CLICK HERE
for details ...
