Thursday, August 21, 2003

all hail the poet!

did i mention that i won some sajc singapore national day commemorative booklet poem thingamajig?

i could hardly believe my ears when my civics tutor told me the news. i mean, a foreigner winning? a bit the funny rite? hehe. the singaporeans never fail to amaze.

well, i told some of you about this and, due to popular demand, i present to you the winning poem!

a piece of my heart

the old malay kings - saw opportunity
sir stamford raffles - he saw gain
lee kuan yew - he saw potential
singaporeans see a 'fine' city

a foreigner like me - i see beauty
amidst the bustle of hurried paces
hidden paradise in a concrete jungle
of charming surprises in secret places

a nation of great diversity i see
held together by a common goal
pledging happiness for all
in the country they call home

a place of fine workers i see
where passion and responsibility are one
i hold my country dear
yet a piece of my heart is here

poet's comments:
one word - corny. on a corniness scale of 1-10, i'd say this poem is a well deserved 98. even the title is corny. "a piece of my heart"??? sounds like the title of a potential backstreet boys love song - that is if the group is not yet defunct.

and for those who know me well...yes, i did pen this in something like 20 minutes or so. my ct told us that we all have to hand in at least one piece of work, so i sat down on the day after the deadline (note the word "after") and wrote the above poem. of course, it was edited...i'm a bit pissed about that really. i'm not used to having my works edited. i'm used to editing other people's work...hehe.

well, the poem earned me a Borders (huge bookstore cum cafe in singapore) gift card worth S$30 so i can go splurge on a CD or some fascinating work of fiction, either which i will get tired of after 2 listens or one reading. heh.

i realised that i produce my best works during the most desperate of times. i wrote the crappiest (in my opinion anyway) gp essay on the functions of education at 3am the day after the deadline (again, note the word "after"), handed it up feeling totally lousy with myself and got the script back with a big 31/50 on the top of the page. to even get something above 28 is fabulous, what more a 31. and the teacher said she was proud of my essay.

wow.

i think i should start writing stuff at 3am more often, don't you think so? =P

lishun at 8:30 PM

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