Tim: Black, White and 9

Initial Impressions of Kusama I found a poster like this, first on the airport, then on a train station: My initial impressions of Ms Kusama: Her wild hair seems even wilder than wild youths, her mushroom hair is stylish, and her expression is serious yet calm. Her art style alone is whimsical and vibrant. She brings out 'life' that is je ne sais pas sort of manner. The bright and warm colours, the dots that are repeated over and over, her bright shiny features, they just bring an abundance of joy and excitement. Her work is deceptively simple - looks plain, but deep within, it seems like a rich tapestry of a long and exciting journey the artist went through. A dot looks like an atom. When we wake up, sometimes when we open our eyes, we see many small dots. The dots spread in the vast world and it fills our world. I immediately made a connection with the dots. What a lovely and colourful lady! She looks like the perfect grandmother I wished I had: very foc...

I aspire to speak up and advocates for people of disabilities, various disabilities. To achieve our goal, we have members representing the sensory, physical and developmental disability communities. For most disability groups, I know I am able to have a term to describe the disability. I met members who describe themselves as 'blind', 'deaf','autistic', 'physically disabled' and so on. In most cases, I am able to ask what is the disability that they identify with. Dots of Pumpkins Then there is one situation, where no matter what is the name I call, it just does not seem right. It sounds somewhat inappropriate. It is the group with, the lack of a more appropriate term I can think of right now, should I say, 'intellectual disability?' From an oft-quoted part from the Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet, 'a rose by any other name will smell as sweet'. Surely the intellectual disabled community is a beautiful and capable one. They ...

Life has its peaks and valleys. However, I am not sure when I will even see the upside in life. I have lost my confidence to even do anything substantial in life. I do not even know what satisfies me. A few calm moments in life had given me grief and sorrows. I am not sure what do I see in my window. Do I see much annoyance and grief, or am I seeing many faces marching towards stupidity, suffering and sorrows? I could drown myself in these big falls I am really annoyed by the observation that I do not see alternatives to what I see out there. I thought I really worked hard in my life to try to be the change I want to see. Then I realise the more things change, the more they don't. And I am always bearing the brunt of things - or so I thought. As a highly sensitive individual I have to make do with feeling too many intense moments in life. I worry for my country, Singapore. I am deeply concerned Singapore is not in a favourable geopolitical situation in our world. Sin...

We often unknowingly do not make the most out of our communication facilities. When I hear something discomforting, I will internalise my feelings and thoughts within myself. I find it overwhelming to express my full emotional experience at one juncture. It is indeed difficult to juggle with the emotions of being appreciated and acknowledged, yet looked down upon, inconsiderate, manipulative, stupidity, all with domineering behaviour and also positive intentions that are not fully reflected. It also reflects my sensitivity to different emotions and ideas. I am thankful that I have a few moments of reflection and thought right now. I feel with a pause in my life, I can better take stock of what goes on inside me, while I carefully and thoughtfully suss out my feelings carefully as what I would like it.