Classic

Quando paramucho mi amore de felice carathon
Mundo paparazzi mi amore cicce verdi parasol
Questo abrigado tantamucho que canite carousel

Juxtaposition

Honey is sweeter than Blood.
Down the drain. Up the chain.
Everything is a comparison.

Reflection

A reflection of Matter.

I like this photo because it is a reflection of all that is Matter and all that Matters, confined by the boundaries of time and space. The light through the window at the end suggests some form of an "outside", as does my view in. Light through the window should be indicative of day time; Time is present through Light. But now, one can never be completely sure that the streaming light through the window is not artificial, perhaps an overzealous street lamp? Nothing is truly as confined as it appears to be and everything remains a possibility.

I realised that its been a while since I posted another one of my kitschy Reflection posts. But then again, its been a while since I last reflected on anything worthwhile and so the blog is an accurate reflection of my mental state. Two posts ago, I was slightly intrigued by the notion of Traditions and why it matters so much. And we cannot deny that tradition of any form is a way of human life, from Family Tradition, Legal Tradition to Religious Tradition. Aquinas reasoned that people are helped by religious tradition in a way appropriate to their manner of knowing since human beings achieve knowledge of spiritual and intelligible things through the experience of physical and sensible realities. Therefore, it is appropriate that in passing on certain ideas, we should make use of certain physical and sensible signs loosely termed as Tradition. Aquinas also thinks that people are captivated by physical objects and processess and need to be helped by means of them. Aquninas thinks that our preoccupation with material things is a root cause of sin and he regards it as appropriate that we should be cured of sin through material things. And so, the Material Matters.

Untitled

(Perfect Lovers)

"Two identical, adjacent, battery-operated clocks initially set to the same time, but with time, they will inevitably fall out of sync..." Less always says more. A homage to Felix Gonzalez Torres, in awe of his ability to transform simple cheap items into accurate emotive reflections of humanity. We are all in time. For me, heaven is a bright light, pure and white. All we need to do is cross the edge to get there. Reality is as clear as black and white because Dreams are naturally, Light Blue.

Tradition

Stacked, by the weight of tradition

During mass last Sunday, the priest commented on the importance of Church tradition. He mentioned that many of us church goers now forget to genuflect before entering the pews. I must admit that it is easy to forget tradition in the modern churches. The grand monolithic churches of old would never let you forget tradition, with their imposing statues and flying buttresses, reminding you that you are mere mortal and would barely last a century whilst they silently weather a millennium. But what is this tradition that we hold so dear and that other are so willing to discard? I just found out that some Christian churches do not celebrate the breaking of the bread. Is it practices, dogmas, solas, encyclicals, summas or old architecture? Tradition must evolve but along what lines? A modernist approach? Perhaps what it needs its not so much of an evolution but an adaptation. To maintain some form of currency. But again, it brings one back to the starting point, where do we draw the line. While we are figuring that out, let us in the meantime ponder Sola fide sufficit?

Time

Youth walking by; in Technicolour.

An old man gazes out, across the street; Watching.
Youth walks by, colourful, laughter; Chatting.
"No use in sitting there thinking about what you did."
Sometimes, its just better to go with the flow.
The sun is always shinning; Life is only but a show.
Strip off the colours and one thing remains.
I look, and I find, no change.
What a shame. 

Backside

In side Out.

I always like anonymous photos, they have a certain universality about it. I also like how in this photo no faces are visible but only backsides are shown; the backside of the people in the streets, the backside of the books and the backside of the the display window. There is nothing really unusual or unique about this photo and yet to me it has a certain je ne sais quoi. The window frame serves to contextualize but also dislocates. This coupled with the fact that the street scene is not native to me and the contrast of the scale of the books to the scale of the buildings further emphasises the disjointed feeling. Or maybe its simply because I am so used to being on the other side of the glass, looking in instead of gazing out. Whatever the case, I've always been curious to see how things appear to be from the other side; if only I could always have it both sides now.

Floor

How does one capture the scent of a flower?
How can one feel homesick at home?

Today's papers ran an interesting segment on Singaporeans coming home. I know I've been citing Saturday ST articles of late. I wonder if its because the quality of the articles on Saturday have improved or because I only have time to read the papers on Saturday. The segment talked about dislocation and feeling a sense of not belonging after coming back. It is comforting to know that you are not the only who feels dislocated and bears an overwhelming sense of restlessness. They always say that Home is where the heart is. But what if the heart likes to roam? What is it about my country of birth that makes me yearn for the countries that I grew up in? I know that quite a few of you did a stint abroad too, care to share your views?

Carousel

Wide-eyed-Wonderer

I saw an old man stand in front of a carousel. His hair was salt and pepper grey. He stood there, alone, starring in awe and wonderment. I hope I will still be as curious when I'm that old; that I will still be able to stop, look and wonder.

Breakthrough

Minuscule Moment

Minute man,
dwarfed by the grand scheme of things;
who builds skyscrapers to pierce the sky,
and strives to span the waters.
But is swept away by the waves;
and continues living under the clouds.
Hubris.

Abulafia

What's in a name? That which we call a rose...

In today's Straits Times Review section, there was an article titled "For the love of God, stop grandstanding". The article discussed a recent effort in Malaysia to ban non-Muslims from using "Allah" as a synonym for "God" on the grounds that it could "confuse" the country's Muslim majority. The author states that this is another blow dealt to the country's reputation for pluralism. The author's contention is that "Allah" is simply the Arabic word for God and that it was used even before Arabic-speaking Muslims existed. The rise of Wahhabism since the 1970s and the trend of increased inter-religious tension were also discussed in brief.

Although the article was filed under the category of Politics and Religion, it could also quite easily fall under the heading of Language and Semantics. Those who ply words as their trade would understand the pitfalls of loose connotations and phrases. And even those who don't are subject to the consequences of slippery language, just read any credit card Terms and Conditions!

I think this article touches on the age-old question of whether the word "God" is what we call a proper name. The problem from a theological viewpoint (theology as a study of God) of such use is that bearers of proper names are always individuals with identities pre-existing their being named. To say that "God" is the name of the person who is the Creator, is to confine "God" to being a creator. A theological understanding of the word "God" is that it is not a proper name but the name of a nature, as a symbolism of something divine; to the extent that you would say all dogs are canine and in the sense that canine is not a proper name. Theology takes the view that "God" signifies whatever it takes to be divine; it signifies a nature. Dogs exemplify caninity by being individual dogs, for they are all canines. But there is no such thing as caninity, considered as something existing apart from the individual canine things we call dogs. Dogs are not caninity. But God is divinity itself (theologically speaking).
Nevertheless, theology is not an exact science and I wouldn't dare say that theology is the only way to dictate the use of words. But what approach are we going to take? Should we adopt Abulafia's Kabbalistic Theory of Language instead? Maybe we should all just cast aside theories and any X-logy or X-sophy and let common sense decide.

Cogitate

Looking out, Looking back.

The subject of this blog post would have sufficiently justified a break from my self imposed moratorium on posting photos of Denmark. But as is evident, the moratorium was not lifted for no particular reason other than the fact that it just did not feel right yet. Perhaps the basis of this reason is not so far off from the reasoning behind imposing such a moratorium to begin with.

The Economist carried an article last week on the issue of Islamic Head-Scarves in Denmark. The Danish People's Party (DPP) is lobbying for a new law to ban the wearing of all religious symbols by judges - from Christian crosses to Jewish Skullcaps and even Sikh turbans. And because the Danish government relies on the DPP's support to stay in power, it looks like the DPP will be getting its way. Apart from this, the article also reported that many Danes share the DPP's sentiments. A poll conducted showed 48% in favour of a ban of public employees wearing "religious garb" and only 38% against. Such a report is disappointing but comes as no surprise. Often, I forget that the Danes are a homogeneous people, whereas I come from a multicultural society of immigrants. I've always been of the view that of all the civil liberties present in a democratic free society, religion is perhaps one of the most explosive and yet important because it encompasses the basic liberties of speech, expression, association and belief. I detest the use of the word religion in any political context, including a political model such as democracy but it is impossible in this day to escape from such a conjuncture. In my opinion, there is a fear of religious expression because its allegiances are transnational or even metaphysical. Whilst politics seeks to confine and define, religion thrives on the infinite. What a conundrum.

Windmill

At the rainbow's end, back where we began.

"What does the fish remind you of?"
"Other fish"
"And what do other fish remind you of?"
"Other fish"
~Joseph Heller, Catch 22.

Cinquecento

I want one!

I always think that Italian Cars look better in Red but I will take this lovely Fiat 500 any day! And with oil price at just over $135 a barrel, it looks like I can only afford a car of this size. I wonder if this is the tipping point? French Fishermen blockading ports, British truckers parading coffins through London and Malaysian petrol regulations seem to suggest so. If it is, then where do we go from here? Tar sands produce more carbon dioxide, Electricity requires oil/coal fired stations, Hydrogen requires more energy to extract than it produces, etc. The absence of a clear alternative means that any attempt to break transportation's century long oil dependency will not happen anytime soon. If only they made the Fiat 500s in RHD.