I'm presently somewhere in North Wales, a little way from a stunning view of mountains across the Irish Sea. For the past few days I've been at Ty Newyyd, which is the national writing centre of Wales, and former residence of David Lloyd George (also nearby is a bucolic river, overlooked by a very Elven … Continue reading North Wales

I never dreamed I'd live through a small scale moral panic about the territorial behaviour of otters in Singapore waters. For context, a local otter watching group has taken it upon themselves to defend a pack of otters that recently lost its alpha male (the Marina otters) against an aggressive larger pack (the Bishan otters) … Continue reading A crisis of otters

I wrote this in January 2016 for Speakeasy, a spoken-word event run by Pooja Nansi, responding to the theme of "envy". Once, over cocktails and cigarettes, it was laid down to me that a young Singaporean with means should live abroad for a spell before turning 30. I’m 29 this year. I tell myself every … Continue reading New York City Envy

This essay was first published in 2012 on POSKOD.sg A SUBSTANTIAL MAN: Fat and Gay in a Gym Bunny’s World There is, to my mind, a gay man’s debutante ball, except it’s quite DIY. Leisurely, at one’s own pace, coming out can be awkward or beautiful, ostentatious or quiet, but it’s a ritual all the same. … Continue reading A Substantial Man

Five years ago I went through a period of massive weight loss for a whole bunch of apparent reasons, the main one being heartbreak, followed, I now see, by a lack of self-knowledge. There's been a lot of talk lately about the epidemic of loneliness amongst gay men; and my own experience of it has … Continue reading Weight

This, like a few other essays that I've written over the years,was first published on Poskod.sg, We Could Have Danced All Night: Play And the Anatomy of Coming Out[1] The first time I saw strobe lights was at Play. That’s probably not true. But the first strobe lights I truly remember, green lasers that burned themselves … Continue reading We Could Have Danced All Night- Play And the Anatomy of Coming Out

I'm back from a whirling, too-short month away in cold, cold Europe! If you've missed me in any shape or form, here is a roster of events that I'm part of/conducting in the coming warm months (rain? what rain?) Friday, 10 Feb: SPEAKEASY #30: VALENTINE'S DAY EDITION Potty-mouthed poets, lovelorn loners, desultory drag queens, it's like … Continue reading Spring-Summer Collection

Here's a review of The Garden of Foolish Indulgences by Oh Yong Hwee and Koh Hong Teng that I wrote for Art Review Asia. A shortened edited version appears in the journal's Winter 2016 edition. == In Oh Yong Hwee and Koh Hong Teng’s new graphic novel, The Garden of Foolish Indulgences, the Garden in question is Singapore. More … Continue reading Review: The Garden of Foolish Indulgences

Today while thinking through some of the ideas and events in my new play Tango, a sudden recollection. It was my A levels, the General Paper exam, 2004. Teachers from other schools had come to supervise the examination. One teacher in particular, a man in his late 30s, kept stopping in front of my desk … Continue reading History is a swamp

  Time for that periodic round up of things I'm busy with in the coming months. 1. YOU ARE HERE, November 18-19 2016, Esplanade Recital Studio This show started out as a small Powerpoint confessional in the Living Room of the Arts House, commissioned by Checkpoint Theatre for their groovy What I Love About You Is Your … Continue reading Busyness