Sometime back a friend of mine, Fu Kuen, called me asking me to translate a few phrases in Tamil for him. He was the curator for Singapore's installation in the Venice Biennale. In particular he wanted me to translate the phrase a Life of Imitation. He explained that Singapore's best asset could be doing things better - copying things really well. And maybe that is what we need to celebrate in our art. Not try to present something "original" but celebrate the fact that we as nation have thrived on picking ideas, buildings and concepts from other countries and implementing and operating them with the extreme Singapore efficiency. I thought that was a brilliant approach. As opposed to straining to come up with something uniquely Singaporean we instead celebrate our melting pot of borrowed cultures in a intelligent, self-mocking way.
I was really happy that his work was going to be in all four official languages including Tamil. That is what makes tiny Singapore so unique - that we have such a long history with different languages and cultures. I did a series of translations for him and it was not easy as alot of the phrases did not quite lend themselves to Tamil translations. Like "Are you happy here honey?" But I managed to get him some decent translations after consulting some Tamil experts. I also felt that like me Fu Kuan is a product of a bilingual era and a child of the 70s where we truly sit at the intersection of contemporary and tradition. So alot of what he was saying deeply resonated with me. And how we could position ourselves in the international art world.
Just this week I was delighted to see that Singapore's entry to the Venice Biennale has won a special award for Expanding Worlds. This is truly a major honor for Singapore and it is thrilling to be associated with this win in a small way.
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