The Handbook of Everyday Secrets is about discovery through reimagining everyday life as well as the people and spaces we live with. A small group from the Bendemeer-Boon Keng community met weekly at Kallang Community Club, a neighbourhood gathering space. Our venture included inventing tasks to insert into daily life, and accumulating a list of interesting questions that can be used to get to know people, for a subset of the project called The Question Archive. Each person conducts research on a unique topic about the area –from visual comparisons of the area past and present, to secret observations of people and spaces around. Visual artist Geraldine Kang is an intimate onlooker to the sessions, documenting the project with articles that combine pensive images with introspective writing.
A book that encapsulates our research and experiences will be made and given out at Kallang CC as a collateral about reimagining everyday life in the neighbourhood through its people, spaces, encounters, history and memories. This website acts as a repository of the project, with articles and a digital archive of old books about the area.
View the online copy of the book here!
A book that encapsulates our research and experiences will be made and given out at Kallang CC as a collateral about reimagining everyday life in the neighbourhood through its people, spaces, encounters, history and memories. This website acts as a repository of the project, with articles and a digital archive of old books about the area.
View the online copy of the book here!
On Secrets
by Project Leader Ng Xi Jie
“You can find poetry in your everyday life, your memory, in what people say on the bus, in the news, or just what’s in your heart.”
-Carol Ann Duffy
These days, life is spent quickly. In the flurry of existence gridded by schedules and technology, one way to find rest is to focus on the little pockets buried between the bigger, harder things in life- the “everyday secrets” the project title refers to. These are both the important and trivial histories and memories about the people and spaces around that often pass unnoticed, forgotten or unsurprisingly, completely unknown. This endeavour is about coming together to open doors, windows and drawers to these things, and beyond that, to the self, in a multi-faceted exercise of re-imagination.
This project came together largely through Tom Bay, the Community Club Management Committee (CCMC) chairman. Tom, who grew up in the area and has been volunteering since his teens is, unanimously, the face of the neighbourhood, an energetic figure everyone looks to- yet on a quiet afternoon one might find him at work painting plastic bottles for a CC project. In 1984, he planted a jackfruit tree in the CC, under which he would, on occasion in his youthful days, pass urine late at night when no toilets were available. During one session, he told us that the area was once partly a jackfruit plantation. When tasked to come up with their own name, the group decided on Project Mang-Ka-Ka (mang-ka is teochew dialect for jackfruit). Tom aptly said, “In everyday life there’s a history.”
It is that history we have been privy to through the coming together of a diverse group of busy people who have graciously taken time for this exploration. The project consists a framework of experimentation designed to reimagine the everyday- including getting to know each other. At the start of each session, the spotlight is on someone who shares their favourite love song and the significance behind a special piece of clothing. We’ve heard the Titanic theme song and a Cantonese love ballad, seen a vintage wedding gown and a jacket that imparts confidence and thinking skills when worn to work meetings.
The everyday task component requires that someone come up with an exercise for everyone to try during the week. Each task has the potential to be whimsical, morbid, wacky- or anything anyone might invent to introduce sparks of newness into the everyday. Some participants, such as Romin and Tom, drew inspiration from their own everyday moments in creating their task, which are meditative rituals of reflection. Jason’s task (“Look at the sun rays in the morning. Don’t take them for granted.”) and Zihuan’s experience of his own task (where he listened regularly to an inspirational song during tough times) both stem from a strong notion of cherishing the everyday- potentially cliché, yet sincerely rousing.
The Question Archive is a subset of the project that explores our curiosity for people and how we get to know others. In the early sessions, we came up with questions for strangers or anyone we might know, such as “What is your idea of a dream holiday?” or “If you had all the money in the world, what would you do first?” Some were seldom-asked questions, like “Who is your best friend from childhood?” We interviewed one another and people outside the group, learning little-known facts, having conversations that may not have arose otherwise. The questions also served a practical function later for research interviews, should an arsenal be needed to inspire conversation. I particularly like Hui Ying’s Q&A with Uncle Loh, which reflects a whimsical and intriguing exchange.
In the early part of the project we explored, through conversations, the notion of everyday life. I was struck by Tom’s somewhat cosmic response to what everyday life means to him. He spoke of the quiet moments when Kallang CC closes at night- while checking the lights, he bypasses the courtyard, looks at the stars, the skies, the clouds, during which he imagines the CC in the daytime- “I feel the flow of people coming in, the noise, the sound, the vibrations”. For me, it alludes to a certain intimate solitude from the living out of our everyday moments. We also explored mapping, combining factual and personal landmarks into meaningful spatial graphics. Huda’s map of the neighbourhood indicated her everyday path to work, spots that hold meaning for her, and sounds she hears everyday. We saw that a map can be a blueprint for your view of the world.
At the start of a walkabout we took, Tom drew his own map of Boon Keng and told us his version of history- how the area used to be a rubbish dump, how 1000 lorries of burial soil from Toa Payoh brought hair and body parts under people’s feet, how his family paid twenty cents each Sunday to cross Whampoa river to visit his grandmother. Eventually, precious information and ideas gleaned from exercises like these led to research. Every participant is a unique individual of the community –from long-term grassroots volunteers to people who grew up in the area– and it is their special knowledge the project taps upon. This book contains seven unique contributions from them, roughly ordered into a little tour from past to present. Within this excursion-of-many-roads is a map of the hawker centre underscoring history and personal memories; a mini memoir of someone who started off in the now defunct CC Children’s Club (plus juicy details about Tom’s life); an encounter with an unusual character at an Upper Boon Keng Road void deck by Shawn, who often delights in passing by this uncle in his daily routine. Artist Geraldine Kang is an important part of the journey with articles ruminating on our sessions, interestingly also including images from her personal archives. In our weekly encounters, we have become a miniscule part of the history of Bendemeer-Boon Keng, Kallang CC and each other’s lives.
Tom, our unofficial steward and oldest member, was born in this kampong once called Kallang Basin. But almost no one knows that name anymore. In an interview activity where we were paired up, I asked him about death. “My last dream is to have everything perfect in Kallang CC,” he said. “But why do you love it so much?” I asked. “It’s part of everyday life to me. It’s where I find my happiness,” he laughed. The modern everyday existence may not always be happy, is in fact often full of strain, even confusion, but may the little secrets, mysteries and surprises of the things that surround us bring some respite, introspection and perhaps appreciation for the moments that carry us forward.
by Project Leader Ng Xi Jie
“You can find poetry in your everyday life, your memory, in what people say on the bus, in the news, or just what’s in your heart.”
-Carol Ann Duffy
These days, life is spent quickly. In the flurry of existence gridded by schedules and technology, one way to find rest is to focus on the little pockets buried between the bigger, harder things in life- the “everyday secrets” the project title refers to. These are both the important and trivial histories and memories about the people and spaces around that often pass unnoticed, forgotten or unsurprisingly, completely unknown. This endeavour is about coming together to open doors, windows and drawers to these things, and beyond that, to the self, in a multi-faceted exercise of re-imagination.
This project came together largely through Tom Bay, the Community Club Management Committee (CCMC) chairman. Tom, who grew up in the area and has been volunteering since his teens is, unanimously, the face of the neighbourhood, an energetic figure everyone looks to- yet on a quiet afternoon one might find him at work painting plastic bottles for a CC project. In 1984, he planted a jackfruit tree in the CC, under which he would, on occasion in his youthful days, pass urine late at night when no toilets were available. During one session, he told us that the area was once partly a jackfruit plantation. When tasked to come up with their own name, the group decided on Project Mang-Ka-Ka (mang-ka is teochew dialect for jackfruit). Tom aptly said, “In everyday life there’s a history.”
It is that history we have been privy to through the coming together of a diverse group of busy people who have graciously taken time for this exploration. The project consists a framework of experimentation designed to reimagine the everyday- including getting to know each other. At the start of each session, the spotlight is on someone who shares their favourite love song and the significance behind a special piece of clothing. We’ve heard the Titanic theme song and a Cantonese love ballad, seen a vintage wedding gown and a jacket that imparts confidence and thinking skills when worn to work meetings.
The everyday task component requires that someone come up with an exercise for everyone to try during the week. Each task has the potential to be whimsical, morbid, wacky- or anything anyone might invent to introduce sparks of newness into the everyday. Some participants, such as Romin and Tom, drew inspiration from their own everyday moments in creating their task, which are meditative rituals of reflection. Jason’s task (“Look at the sun rays in the morning. Don’t take them for granted.”) and Zihuan’s experience of his own task (where he listened regularly to an inspirational song during tough times) both stem from a strong notion of cherishing the everyday- potentially cliché, yet sincerely rousing.
The Question Archive is a subset of the project that explores our curiosity for people and how we get to know others. In the early sessions, we came up with questions for strangers or anyone we might know, such as “What is your idea of a dream holiday?” or “If you had all the money in the world, what would you do first?” Some were seldom-asked questions, like “Who is your best friend from childhood?” We interviewed one another and people outside the group, learning little-known facts, having conversations that may not have arose otherwise. The questions also served a practical function later for research interviews, should an arsenal be needed to inspire conversation. I particularly like Hui Ying’s Q&A with Uncle Loh, which reflects a whimsical and intriguing exchange.
In the early part of the project we explored, through conversations, the notion of everyday life. I was struck by Tom’s somewhat cosmic response to what everyday life means to him. He spoke of the quiet moments when Kallang CC closes at night- while checking the lights, he bypasses the courtyard, looks at the stars, the skies, the clouds, during which he imagines the CC in the daytime- “I feel the flow of people coming in, the noise, the sound, the vibrations”. For me, it alludes to a certain intimate solitude from the living out of our everyday moments. We also explored mapping, combining factual and personal landmarks into meaningful spatial graphics. Huda’s map of the neighbourhood indicated her everyday path to work, spots that hold meaning for her, and sounds she hears everyday. We saw that a map can be a blueprint for your view of the world.
At the start of a walkabout we took, Tom drew his own map of Boon Keng and told us his version of history- how the area used to be a rubbish dump, how 1000 lorries of burial soil from Toa Payoh brought hair and body parts under people’s feet, how his family paid twenty cents each Sunday to cross Whampoa river to visit his grandmother. Eventually, precious information and ideas gleaned from exercises like these led to research. Every participant is a unique individual of the community –from long-term grassroots volunteers to people who grew up in the area– and it is their special knowledge the project taps upon. This book contains seven unique contributions from them, roughly ordered into a little tour from past to present. Within this excursion-of-many-roads is a map of the hawker centre underscoring history and personal memories; a mini memoir of someone who started off in the now defunct CC Children’s Club (plus juicy details about Tom’s life); an encounter with an unusual character at an Upper Boon Keng Road void deck by Shawn, who often delights in passing by this uncle in his daily routine. Artist Geraldine Kang is an important part of the journey with articles ruminating on our sessions, interestingly also including images from her personal archives. In our weekly encounters, we have become a miniscule part of the history of Bendemeer-Boon Keng, Kallang CC and each other’s lives.
Tom, our unofficial steward and oldest member, was born in this kampong once called Kallang Basin. But almost no one knows that name anymore. In an interview activity where we were paired up, I asked him about death. “My last dream is to have everything perfect in Kallang CC,” he said. “But why do you love it so much?” I asked. “It’s part of everyday life to me. It’s where I find my happiness,” he laughed. The modern everyday existence may not always be happy, is in fact often full of strain, even confusion, but may the little secrets, mysteries and surprises of the things that surround us bring some respite, introspection and perhaps appreciation for the moments that carry us forward.
Copyright 2015 Ng Xi Jie, Geraldine Kang