threads / stripes and dots

along Jalan Green in Penang

(ern stop slouching) 

we love us some patterns. there is virtually no way anyone can walk out of the house in stripes or polks and not look deathly cute/or be reminded not to take themselves too seriously. 

you can work your prints from entire apparels to appendages like brooches or ribbons. sometimes the best way to pair a patterned piece is with ANOTHER patterned piece. but if you are of the more conservative camp / wish not to look like a 8-legged washi tape crawlie spun a web on you, try out a dull colour and a stand out patterned cardigan or block colour on monochrome pattern; yin on yang/fire on ice

page turner / ministry of moral panic

Meet an over-the-hill Pop Yé-yé singer with a faulty heart, two conservative middle-aged women holding hands in the Galápagos, and the proprietor of a Laundromat with a penchant for Cantonese songs of heartbreak. Rehash national icons: the truth about racial riot fodder-girl Maria Hertogh living out her days as a chambermaid in Lake Tahoe, a mirage of the Merlion as a ladyboy working Orchard Towers, and a high-stakes fantasy starring the still-suave lead of the 1990s TV hit serial The Unbeatables.

Heartfelt and sexy, the stories of Amanda Lee Koe encompass a skewed world fraught with prestige anxiety, moral relativism, sexual frankness, and the improbable necessity of human connection. Told in strikingly original prose, these are fictions that plough, relentlessly, the possibilities of understanding Singapore and her denizens discursively, off-centre. Ministry of Moral  Panic is an extraordinary debut collection and the introduction of a revelatory new voice.

(X)

we've got this one courtesy of a friend who knows amanda lee koe herself - perks include a note with rabbit in a jester's outfit and an autograph. I've never heard of Amanda prior to Ministry of Moral Panic, so I did some googling and guess what, Amanda is kind of giant (couldn't find an exhaustive page on her achievements) in the creative writing industry. 

Published just in October 2013 and still fresh, #MoMP is an extremely colourful (and sexually raw, I must warn) anthology with references heavily dripping with very localized palattes, eclecticism and quirks - I often found myself excited because I knew where these stories took place, and what they were talking about and that made the stories come to life in a different way - "in equal parts a cashier and a love letter" it's Facebook page accurately describes. I never thought much about local literature because I once studied Daren Shiau's Heartland for my O Levels and it was too seamless and one-dimensional to say the least, I didn't feel my sensibilities being challenged. But fastforward to today post-MoMP, I think I feel a little remorseful for discrediting Shiau. I enjoyed #MoMP because it went beyond what I expected today's Singaporean literature to be, it was honest and unpretentious; though admittedly it was a little difficult for me to get past the parts with um, sex in it (where do I put my eyes what do I do with my face). 

I've heard that Alfian Sa'at gave #MoMP a bad review, and I was itching to get to it while I was about 12 pages in because you know, you kaypo and want to know if the book you're reading is cool, but I'm glad I didn't. And if you're thinking of, or if you've heard of that review, my advice is to read this book and form your own, read this book and give it its due credit; don't let someone else mar your judgement. If anything else, the cover of this book should be enough to captivate and make you want to buy it Just Because - big sucker for packaging in case you couldn't tell. 

Have fun starting this! 

Ministry of Moral Panic

by Amanda Lee Koe

Epigram Books

Available in Kinokuniya and Books Actually 

hit and mix / back to school beats

back to school beats from wafflesandwit on 8tracks Radio.

High School Lover - Cayucas / Fred Astaire - San Cisco / This Charming Man - The Smiths / Honolulu - Last Dinosaurs / Velvet Elvis - Alex Winston / Under Cover of Darkness - The Strokes / Lisztomania - Phoenix / On My Way - Passion Pit / That's What's Up - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros / Dreaming - Allo Darlin'

threads / the bowtie and pocket square

nehemiah shows us that bowties and pocket squares (or ah pek handkerchiefs - though i do hope he didn't blow his nose into this $19.90 piece) are not just for the Dress Up Sit Down dinners or socials. this is a two-ingredient way to spiffy up a stale outfit, or to add a Prep(py) In Your Step. go for it guys!

lion around the city / ern's picnic surprise

Sunday was spent at the Marina Barrage for a surprise early birthday celebration for Ern's 22nd. This picnic potluck madness was graced with the Southern Wind (not actually sure which direction it came from - it felt more like a hurricane), endless laughter, beautiful faces, amazing pasta (with chili padi - only the best) and a perfect chocolate crepe cake with daisies sitting atop it that Suhaidah's mother baked. The theme for the afternoon was Whatever Lah Just Colour Block, but as per usual, not everyone stuck with the rules, and even the usually brightly coloured Ern showed up in Syafiqah's favourite colour palette. But no matter because we had the best time, and we all agreed it was a great start to our new semester. 

If you're reading this and starting the new school year as well, we hope you have the sparkly spanking good one!

suit(case) up! / pining for penang