The Rainbow will land in the palm of your hand...

A colleague of mine at work, a phllipino, shared this album whom she proudly claim, the singer was openly lesbian. Unlike her cleanly shaven look and butch-like mannerism, her voice was a deep misrepresentation of her. I listened through her songs, and quickly fell in love with it. Her voice is sweet, crystal clear and clean. She attempted a few Eva Cassidy and Corrine May. But her voice was firm in retaining its identity and style. Instead of a harsh break on the edge of a jazz singer, she kept her integrity in a beautifully reserved and demure interpretation of the songs. It's definitely an album worth buying. I tried looking for it but it's already out of stock off a lot of places.

It's a wonder for me. A poor country which is saturated with political turmoil within and without, could have singers and artists that pursue their dreams and eventually, actually fulfilling them. How can this be? I watched a movie screening by a group of Youth Challenge volunteer group today. It was a locally funded episode of foreign filming at Cambodia. Director was Carrie Owen, producer Lionel Chok and music by the late Reuben Kee. The title of the movie is "To Speak". It's about a 12 year old village girl, Rattana, staying in a flood stricken village making a living breaking quarry rocks into smaller pieces. It's about the courage to dream amidst of all possible odds in life. No money, no food, sickness and heartaches. She was taken to start saving money with that little she and her family had, to eventually build a home for her family.

I've always heard, that all bodily ailments may come, but if the heart should feel dejected, and the spirit broken, it was the end of life. It's with this that I sometimes wonder, where ever did all these brave souls come from? Against the tides of opposition in life, they come out proud and successful. Their life story stands as a testament to many of us. How the smallest thought planted in the mind of man, can be strung to the multiple facets of inner strength and determination, coupled with opportunity and great faith.. they find the courage to hope and fulfill their dreams.


The Rainbow will land,
in the palm of your hand,
Don't ever let it go,
When the stars won't shine anymore,
I'll be there..

Aiza Seguera - "I'll Be There for You"

Semplice Simon

To Know Where I'm Coming From

it's been a year. Can you believe it? Exactly one year ago was the last post I made to this blogspot and I have been tied down with many changes and events in my life. Most recently of course would be my birthday that had just passed. Thomas gave me a book. Well, he gave me many books to be exact. I was half reading LKY's memoirs when I received a new novel by Johann S Lee. Who wouldn't know him? For one, I didn't know he came up with a new book and was pleasantly surprised to get it as a birthday gift. Remembering the magic of "Peculiar Chris", I chucked LKY under the bed and read the new book. I didn't just mean read, I read it furiously. And boy.... the magic's still there.

His writing and skill has matured. It could be felt throughout the pages as you read. The content is rich, elaborate and colorful. It's a parallel story told in tandem between what had happened in London, his return to Singapore to heal, his past relationship catching up to a new relationship he is building. There's a couple so elements involved. Comparing the life of an singaporean living overseas in London, to that of home sweet home Singapore. Free speech, gay rights and expression, singapore contemporary gay scene, love-hate struggles of a relationship and to understand eventually, where all this is heading towards. The author took careful note to write in realism, not in idealism, and by reading, we can know that his experiences may be real.

The standard JSL characters are there. The old boyfriend, the new boyfriend, the straight girl, the hunky boys, the flailing queens etc. But the magic was to put them in a plane more profound than the first book. One topic it touches on which was quite interesting, is physical and sexual infidelity versus that of emotional infidelity. It's nothing new to me but it's worth to explore the concept through his eyes. My favorite character? The cute Peter of course.. simple yet complex, innocent, bold, down to earth, charming and sexy.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, we all should read this.

Semplice Simon (Yes I'm back! Reprise)