Saturday 27 September 2008

Gemuk Girls by The Necessary Stage

如果你没有看过必要剧场的作品,尤其是黄金搭档 Haresh Sharma 与 Alvin Tan, 那你没有看过新加坡最好的剧场。他们请我去看 preview, 可惜刚好有公务在身,无法出席。据看过的朋友说起,都是强力推荐的呢。



The Necessary Stage celebrates the award-winning collaboration of Director Alvin Tan and Playwright Haresh Sharma with a provocative new work.

Kartini and Juliana are not your typical mother-daughter pair - one loud and overbearing, the other straitlaced and on the threshold of entering politics. Together, they are Gemuk Girls and proud of it.

One day, they receive shocking news about Kartini’s father who had been arrested and detained in the 1960s. Suddenly the floodgates of the family’s emotional past are thrown open. Can a family survive as they struggle to reconcile the past with the present? Will Kartini and Juliana continue to be Gemuk Girls?

Gemuk Girls is a bold and often darkly humorous look at family politics and the politics of the day.

Director: Alvin Tan
Playwright: Haresh Sharma
Cast: Aidi 'Alin' Mosbit, Najib Soiman, Siti Khalijah
Multimedia Designer: Loo Zihan
Set Designer: Vincent Lim
Lighting Designer: Helmi Fita


Performances
29 Oct - 1 Nov & 6 - 8 Nov, 8pm 1 - 2 Nov & 8 - 9 Nov, 3pm

Venue
The Necessary Stage Black Box

Tickets
$27 $22* * Concessions for students, senior citizens and NSF

Advisory: Mature Theme (16 years and above)

Tickets are available through the SISTIC hotline at 6348 5555, via the SISTIC website at www.sistic.com or at any SISTIC authorised agents islandwide. Information on discounts and concessions can be found on the SISTIC website.

Friday 26 September 2008

人文学院大楼

每天到华裔馆的中文系办公室,都会经过建筑工地旁。围起来部分,原本什么都看不到,偶尔听到一些机械的声响。今年三月,我到华裔馆后面的商学院大楼,从楼顶往下看,不得了,原来围墙内已经挖了大洞,正在建地下层了呢。当时,我拍了一些照片,也记录在这个部落格里

接下来,一天一天的过去,渐渐的从围墙顶缘望过去,也可以看到建筑一层一层的高起来。下面这张照片,是今年八月初拍的,下面远处是绿瓦红墙华裔馆。



最近,从南大湖那头走回中文系办公室,又从另外一个角度,看到这栋逐渐成形的建筑物。我很少从这里走过,看到的原来是很不同的景观。照片左边的是人文学院的办公楼,右边的是三座讲堂,已经都看到具体的形状了。



我从一开始就参与人文学院大楼的蓝图讨论,很能够感受到人文学科训练的老师,在投入建筑构思的过程中所显露的人文关怀。不过,这些抽象的人文性,不知道是不是会在建筑落成后,具体的展现出来。 也许,不仅是作为硬体的建筑,而是整个人文学院环境的创造和经营,更能够显示人文的精神吧。从这个角度来说,人文学院最后是不是让人感觉具有人文性,那是全体老师和同学,到时共同努力才会完成的呢。

Thursday 25 September 2008

“剧场艺术”讲座系列 ④

主讲人:许慧玲 [戏剧盒 众伙人 (NeNeMAs) 助理艺术总监]

讲座内容:论坛剧场 Forum Theatre

茶霓思剧团 http://ntuzwxdrama.blogspot.com 主办

日期:26/09/2008 (星期五)
时间:1430-1730
地点: NTU,HSS Seminar Room 9

冲绿茶



C 从香港寄来的信件中,夹着一张绿茶茶袋的包装。他写道:“what do they intend to say here? is it a slip of the mouth?” 箭头指向包装纸上的那行橙黄色的文字。这里牵涉的是 intention 和 interpretation 的问题。

“冲出香港好未来”——虽然简短的一句话,蛮好用来讲述HC101的许多概念呢。从双关、谐音,到隐喻、意识形态、身份认同,等等。嘿嘿,有谁要试一试?

把你们的分析电邮给我。这里设两个奖,一个给一年级的同学(有一些概念还没有讨论到,不过参考书里你可能已经读到了),一个给二、三、四年级的学长或学姐。下个星期一开学之前,如果有不错的分析,我就把奖发出去啦。

Wednesday 24 September 2008

召集中文剧本创作人

戏剧盒 · 白色空间之编剧系列 II

详情:为期18 个月的剧本引导创作室
报名截止日期:2008 年10月15日

什么是《白色空间-编剧系列》?

《编剧系列》是个编剧孵化室。这个企划的宗旨是为本地华语剧团培养优秀的编剧人才和新的剧本作品。

由于本地的华语戏剧圈缺乏创作新秀,戏剧盒希望这项企划能够成为这些人才入行的一个平台,同时也为本地的戏剧圈注入新生命。

戏剧盒于2007年推出了《白色空间之编剧系列》,选出了6位新剧本创作者和资深编剧们通过定期的沟通与互动,催生了新一波的原创剧本。在经过一年的孵化及引导工作后,这些华语剧场的新秀们的剧本已在2008年新加坡戏剧节中公开演读。

孵化室的运作方式

随着编剧系列 I 的剧本迈向另一个里程碑,我们也要开始为新一批的剧本展开孵化工作。

4 位经验丰富的本地编剧柯思仁、张子健、黄浩威和李世炬将担任《编剧系列》的引导者。他们会各自负责引导1至2位参与者的创作。引导者将会以交流、辅导的方式和参与者进行为期18个月的孵化过程。这期间,每位参与者也将会有至少两次的剧本演读会。

最后,戏剧盒将在参与者和引导者当中各选出2至3部剧作公开演出。

编剧系列II

有意者须以中文进行创作,而且未曾或发表不超过2部被公演的舞台剧本便可报名参加。

有意者请将以下文件连同个人资料(包括联络方式)以电邮或邮寄的方式递交至戏剧盒。

截至日期:2008年10月15日
地址:14A-C Trengganu Street, Singapore 058468
电邮: blancspace@dramabox.org

必定呈交文件包括:
1. 一篇不超过500字的剧本简介或原创故事节录。
2. 一篇个人介绍,以让引导者们能更了解申请者的背景及想创作剧本的理念。

任意呈交文件有:
3. 一篇关于您对戏剧盒的了解及印象的短文。
4. 表达希望向那位引导者受导的意愿及原因。

欲知更多详情, 请查阅: http://blancspaceplaywright.blogspot.com

关于引导者

李世炬
目前为戏剧盒艺术工作伙伴。曾经编写、执导的作品有《继续便秘》(编、导),《逃亡》(与郭庆亮联合执导)、《Hazy Love 97》、论坛剧场 《吃饱了吗?》、《在晴朗的一天出发》(2002)及《我的香蕉你分给别人吃》(1999)。他在2000年联合执导的《静静燃烧的夜》,也深受媒体的好评。

柯思仁
目前是南洋理工大学中文系副教授,教学与研究重点是现代文学,剧场与表演。编写的剧作有:《舞国女皇》(与刘晓义合著),《骨骨》,《市中隐者》,《刺客·乩童·按摩女郎》,《适度的梦》(后二者与陈英豪合著);也出版了两本剧本集。2006年新加坡艺术节的《独在家乡为异客》也改编自思仁的剧本,以及他与黄浩威合著的书信散文集《如果岛国,一个离人》。

黄浩威
目前在初级学院任教,除诗歌、散文与剧本创作外,也写社会与戏剧评论。著有书信散文集《如果岛国,一个离人》(与柯思仁合著),以及散文与社会评论集《查无此城》。浩威与Alfian Sa’at合编的多语舞台剧《逃亡》获海峡时报Life! 戏剧奖最佳剧本提名。其他剧作包括《禁事(不可考)》、《欲望岛屿》(Life! 戏剧奖最佳原创剧本提名)。《如果岛国,一个离人》也被改编成舞台剧《独在家乡为异客》,于2006年新加坡艺术节搬演。

张子健

现任十指帮总舵主,近期编导的剧包括第5届Life!戏剧奖最佳剧作 Furthest North, Deepest South 和荣获第6届Life!戏剧奖最佳导演奖的 Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea 。他在1998年创作的 Pan Island Expressway (PIE) 受到广大的注目,并让他获得新加坡剧作家奖一等奖。子健也在2006年获颁国家艺术理事会的青年艺术家奖。

Sunday 21 September 2008

草根书室

知道草根书室的存在之前,就先认识草根的老板英培安。英先生是一个小说家、诗人、剧作家、散文家、评论家,所有可以想象得到的,用来形容文人作家的分类方式,几乎都适用在他的身上。

文人开书局,具有一种内在的矛盾。开书局是一桩生意,讲求的是经营的方式和盈利的多少。在人们的想象中,文人的脾性往往和生意人的作风,再现的是两种不同的目标和诉求。不过,新马的历史和现实中,却有不少文人,抱持着某种文化事业的理想,经营各种风格的书局,形成新马的一种让人敬仰的景观。



这家草根书室,开设在小坡书城斜对面,国家图书馆正对面的一座商业大厦(North Bridge Centre)的三楼。跟目前常看到的那些超级书局,如 Page One, Kinokuniya 等等相比,店面不大,种类也不那么多元(草根大概没有烹饪方面的书吧)。不过,这些年来,却是喜爱人文书籍的读者,尤其是南大、国大、教育学院的中文系的老师和学生,喜欢光顾的地点。主要原因,可能是这里的文学、历史、思想方面的书,比较集中,也比较多偏向学术的著作。中文系的老师常去草根,想要某些书而找不到,就会请老板英先生帮忙订购,以后,这些老师们请自点名的书籍,往往就会有一两本摆在书局的架子上了。

上个星期,我到草根逛逛,主要也是看看英先生,和他聊聊天。他的精神不错,一如既往的健谈。我离开之前对他说:“让我在我的部落格里,写一写草根书室,你让我拍几张照片吧。”他笑笑,然后很大方的让我拍照。下面这张照片中的人物,就是草根的老板英培安。



除了一般文史哲的书籍相当不少之外,草根还有几个比较有特色的领域。一个是现代文学和文化理论,包括西方文论和中文的(主要是台湾)文论,翻译的文论和文学作品也不少。另外一个是海外华人研究,历史、文化、民俗等等,有不少是其他地方不容易找到的。我常需要的戏剧方面也有不少,有时候我会到草根看看,有没有这方面的新书面市。

其中一个专柜,是新马文学作品,也是我喜欢浏览的。亲爱的读者,你们可以看到,下面这张照片中,我已经帮你们标示出来,我和凯德老大的书了。呵呵。我和陈乐的新书《文学批评关键词》,草根也有。英先生说,他最近在大力帮我推销呢。



草根有许多优秀作者的好书,值得购买和阅读的。逛草根是蛮特别的经验,就好像在逛文人作家英培安的书房一样。从草根的书种,读者也可以看到英培安作为一个文人作家的爱好和性格呢。

Thursday 18 September 2008

“I am Queen” Review

By Valerie Oliveiro, August 19, 2008, in The Urbanwire

History never looked so juicy before. The untold tale of the 50’s Cabaret Queen, Betty Yong, unravels multitudes of unscrupulous men, misfortunes and her struggle to survive. Ogled at by many; she loved the attention. Yet when sincerely loved by few, can she answer a simple question “Do you love me too?”

As black and white footage crackled to life so too did the tale of Betty Yong, the Queen of Cabaret. The old film, supported by archived news reports served well in establishing the 50’s era.

Large white panels slid about the stage; revealing characters, removing props (almost magically) and changing scenes. It was behind these moving panels that actresses Koh Wan Ching, Sia Eemien and He Le Miao swapped roles. The three actresses took on the role of Betty Yong: a highly challenging task, but well executed. The swift moving panels contributed well to smoothen the segue between interchanging roles.

Visuals

Le Miao portrayed the timid and frightened young Betty who was married off to 63-year-old impotent Uncle Guang. Visuals were off the mark in this scene. Explicit, no. Racy, yes. In your face, yes. Visuals for this scene featured a wobbly 3m phallic structure that an old man (Uncle Guang, no doubt) circled. While Le Miao told of her tragic wedding night when she was groped by Uncle Guang, a large image of a hand creepily crawled down on the panel behind her.

Theme of moral decadence

Moral decadence was questioned time and time again throughout the play. Has Singapore opened its doors to moral decadence? The struggle is experienced by the few men who truly loved Betty: how can they be righteous men in society when their lover is none other than the Cabaret Queen? Angrily, Betty shouts out, “sanctimonious teacher… and myself, the epitome of sin!”

Highlights

The movement in the 50’s against decadence was reiterated with old news headlines projected on the screens and a humourous chinese opera-like play called ‘Beware the Leery Wolf‘. Accompanied by the chinese drum, gong and cymbals (click to hear what they sound like), the cast transformed into a pig-tailed young girl, two hunters and a big bad wolf. The audience burst into laughter repeatedly throughout the play. It was wordless but effective.

The most haunting scene of ‘I am Queen’ was when all three actresses took the stage as Betty Yong. A dying raped Betty lay in red lights onstage while eerily singing the popular 40’s song, ‘Wo Yao Ni De Ai’. Betty, on her first day at the brothels, appears confused. Then Betty takes the stage as the Queen of Cabaret. The revisitation of these scenes all at one go, heightened by the eeriest rendition ever heard of ‘Wo Yao Ni De Ai’ made ‘I am Queen’ end with room for discussion.

What went amiss

We wanted to delve into the character of Betty Wong, not skim through it. Speaking to the audience after the show, UrbanWire found out they felt the same way. “This story is often untold. I wanted to know what struggles she goes through and how she deals with them,” shared poly student, Benjamin Lee.

On the theme of moral decadence, Tricia Yeo, mentioned that she found herself empathising with Betty’s righteous lovers. “It was a tough for her lovers to live the life of a righteous man in society by day and by night became the lover of a cabaret queen. I would have loved to see how he wrestled with his dilemma - that would have been admiring to watch.”

Our Verdict

UrbanWire gives ‘I am Queen’ 3.5 out of 5 stars for its excellent direction that captured our attention for the whole 90 minutes. The moving panels deserve an A+ in set design for its seamless movements. The trio who played Betty Yong took their character seriously and lit the stage with their fiery focus. The mini play about the wolf within the play was a comedic, light filler to the 90 minute play. Overall, well done to writers Quah Sy Ren and Liu Xiaoyi for their cleverly written lines and Wu Xi for his superb direction!

Wednesday 17 September 2008

下学期的新课

我答应同学,下个学期会开一门新课。现在决定开的是 HC363. 主要是给大三和大四的同学。课程介绍如下:

HC363 新加坡社会与文化研究

这是一个基础课程,旨在引介现代批评理论,以进行对于新加坡社会与文化各个层面的理解与分析。课题包括新加坡的语言、宗教、民俗文化、种族社群、知识分子活动、公民组织、以及有关政治与文化认同的课题等。讨论的角度,一方面是从华人社群的为出发点,另一方面,则将置于新加坡作为多元文化与多元语言社会的语境之中。

问题来了。我下个学期的教课时数,原本已经远远超过我应该负担的分量。现在,我在考虑,要开一班还是两班。

亲爱的同学们,有谁会选修我的这门课?如果反应超热的话,我可能就要考虑开两班了。

Sunday 14 September 2008

Sex and the Invisible City

Review of I Am Queen by Ng Yi-Sheng in Flying Inkpot Theatre Review

I Am Queen sold out all its seats a day before opening night. Not a huge surprise: sex sells, and The Theatre Practice had no qualms about marketing this show as a steamy exposé of Singapore as sin city in the '50s, tracing the tale of stripper Betty Yong (fictional, but obviously based on the legendary Rose Chan) as she writhes her way through the turbulent politics of the era.

But bad news, chums: this show just wasn't sexy. The strippers never flashed any real skin - instead, they sported dowdy flesh-coloured bodysuits under their bright skimpy outfits. They didn't pole-dance, either (as the poster image tantalisingly promised) - all we got to see were cutesy cha-cha steps interspersed with novelty acts, against an overused audio backdrop of the bouncy period song "Wo Yao Ni Di Ai" ("I Want Your Love").

What went wrong? We'd expected this to be a play centered on the cabaret culture of Beauty World, Gay World, Happy World and all those other disappeared dance hall-cum-amusement parks. Given that I Am Queen utterly failed to replicate the raucous atmosphere of this setting, shouldn't it get an automatic zero on our scale?

Nope. You see, as problematic as the presentation was, this show was about far more than the lives of dancing girls. Rather, it was about women: specifically, about women who lived in an age when they had nothing to trade for their livelihoods but their bodies.

Betty Yong was really less a character than a cultural survey; this idea was emphasised through the use of an interchangeable trio of actresses to play all female roles. Over a non-linear array of scenes, we traced the cabaret star's progress from orphan to child bride to beauty pageant contestant to dancer to kept woman to lover - and it didn't matter in the least that the story diverged suddenly into tales of forced prostitutes, artists' models and rape victims. Even when characters shifted bodies mid-scene and we couldn't be sure whose story belonged to whom, this simply reinforced the idea that we were observing womanhood oppressed; unable to truly express individuality.

Because of this dramatic strategy, the cast was able to portray the world of Chinese Singapore in the '50s with both breadth and intimacy: snooty art dealers and impotent towkays rubbed shoulders with gangsters and fugitive journalists; Greedy widows morphed into student anti-vice campaigners; policemen became toyboys in sequined pants. I really dug that sense of variety - rather than celebrating a heroine on a pedestal, playwrights Quah Sy Ren and Liu Xiaoyi had decided to create a history of the common man/woman, marking the intersections between the domestic and the political - which was, in the end, what the feminist movement was always about.

Certain episodes stood out. He Le Miao's consistently outstanding performance was epitomised in a a Cantonese monologue where she described Betty's youth and early marriage, shifting characters between her adult self and her hunchbacked old foster mother. I also adored a certain scene where a woman who has been kidnapped and thrust into prostitution encounters the man she once loved. Brutally emotional yet also restrained, this scene allowed both characters unexpected moments of dignity in the midst of shame.

Winning the audience vote, however, was the play within the play, a comic retelling of the fable of the yellow wolf and the clever farm girl, performed to hilarious effect by a troupe of innocently idealistic Chinese school students. Complete with drums, cymbals and absurd wolf-costumes, this was The Theatre Practice at its classic best.

I find I'm also a fan of one of the penultimate scenes of the play, where Koh Wan Ching played Betty at a moment where she had to choose between her career and her love: a moralistic schoolteacher who adored her but detested her profession. "I am what I am," she said to him, before deciding to leave in the middle of the night.

It's the very concept of this that I love. Earlier in the play, we'd seen the clash between the cabaret world and the rigid, moral, doctrinaire Singapore that would grow in influence over the next few decades. Here, however, the relationship was played out with affection: the teacher teasingly clasping Betty's legs as he helps her hang the laundry out to dry.

It's a portrait of a generation. As much as my Chinese-educated mother scorns sex workers and go-go girls, she's still nostalgic for the glitzy fun of the old amusement parks, where such bad women bred in abundance. It's impossible to be completely immune to the romance of those bygone times - and of the strong, independent women like Rose Chan who were actually able to survive and prosper in such a culture.

Mind you, the script of this play wasn't flawless. Betty Yong's character described herself as "queen of the dance world" so many times she sounded like a broken record. A few other critics found it unnecessarily wordy, burdened by the need to explain the historical context. (Personally, I thrive on that stuff, but I can see how it could slow things down for others.)

Director/set designer Wu Xi also gets a mixed grade for his set. Mostly, it was original and versatile: white panels, sliding lengthwise across the stage, behind which actresses may change costumes or characters, or personas may shift from one actress to another. Between scenes, these panels also doubled as projection screens, with old Chinese newspaper headlines flashed across them (an especially nice touch at the end, when we read of how when the PAP gained power in 1959 they cracked down on the various cultures of vice in which these women thrived). What was problematic was the appearance of a giant hollow paper penis, which the actors really couldn't find a good use for in the play. On the multiple occasions it made an appearance, one couldn't help but be distracted by such an extraneous prop.

In the end, after all, audiences in Singapore are already familiar with the raunchy and the explicit in drama - shows like 251, Cabaret, The Magic Fundoshi and the upcoming The Vagina Monologues celebrate unfettered sexuality with a degree of publicity and exposure that rivals the '50s. Once you've used sex as bait with your advertising, it's not only important to make good on the promise of sex - it's also vital to grab the opportunity to teach audiences something they don't know already, to enlighten, to redeem.

So yes, I Am Queen deserved a better staging, where audiences might once again experience the lively rush of a local cabaret performance. But more importantly, The Theatre Practice managed to communicate something of the conflict and crisis of the times - the battle of men and women over women's bodies, played out in a city that we've forgotten about too soon.

First Impression

Quah Sy Ren and Liu Xiaoyi have put together a great script, not only telling the story of '50s cabaret dancer Betty Yong (an obvious homage to the real-life stripper Rose Chan), but also exploring the entire sphere of Chinese womanhood in that era of Singapore. The women of the play are interchangeably performed a trio of versatile actresses, metamorphosing from rape victims to child brides to beauty pageant contestants, nude photographers' models and forced prostitutes - a panoply of humanity, bartered and sold based on the only thing the world wants from them: their bodies. Notably, though, the playwrights tell their tales with tenderness and respect, giving these women a sense of dignity and pride that complicates the standard narrative of exploitation. I'm also impressed by the set, allowing actors hide and vanish behind sliding panels that double as projection screens. In fact, the only thing that seriousy peeves me is the failure of the play to generate a sense of bawdy, noisy, rambunctious bustle in its cabaret scenes - a big flaw, considering that the show begins, ends and often revisits the cabaret.

Thursday 11 September 2008

南大中文系中秋晚会

一整天出席一个学术会议,是由国大 Asia Research Institute 主办的 Chineseness Unbound. 下午是我的演讲。晚上,主办者设宴招待主讲者,不过,我没有参加。为什么?因为我要赶回南大,参加中文系一年一度的中秋节晚会。

这个活动,已经成为南大中文系的一个传统。记得第一次举办,那是在2005年,我们只有第一届的同学。虽然人数比较少,不过,那种热情和投入,是我永远记得的。接下来,每年的这个时候都举行,人数越来越多。去年的中秋晚会,我还在部落格里写了一些感想,想不到,这么快又过了一年。

今年,我们已经有了所有四个年级的同学,出席的同学也是历来最多的,每一个年级都有同学出席。当我面对坐在华裔馆门前台阶的同学,跟他们说话时,我感受到了他们对中文系的归宿感。明年,我大概不会再以现在的身份跟他们说话,不过,我还是会很高兴参加这个活动。

这是这一届中文系学会执委上任后办的第一个活动,办得很成功,同学们都辛苦了,谢谢你们。希望你们在接下来的一年,在为中文系同学办各种活动的过程中,就像你们前几年的学长和学姐一样,会得到很多充实和满足。

有一点特别的是,今年还有几位国大中文系学会的同学,也来参加南大中文系的中秋晚会呢。这可是第一次,也显示了南大和国大中文系同学之间,开始有所交流。最近,南大中文系的网站茶霓思馆,也放了国大中文系网站的链接。我跟几位同学谈话,对他们说,很高兴看到双方同学越来越多的交流。

这么巧,早上在学术会议的会场上,也看到几位国大中文系的老师。我们也谈起老师之间,应该有更多交流。其实,我们已经有好些交流在进行了,最大规模的,就是在去年底,两校的研究生共同举办了一个两天的研讨会。

这一晚,也见到好几个大四的同学。呵呵,时间过得真快,明年的这个时候,你们就要毕业了。我开始有一点舍不得的感觉了呢。后来,已经毕业的郁芬,还匆匆的下班之后赶过来。真得很高兴看到你们,希望明年的这个时候,你们会以校友的身份,回来看看老师,看看学弟学妹。

中秋节快乐。

Sunday 7 September 2008

过海关2

海关人员耐心的听完我的话,说:“机器比较慢,所以人龙比较长。”

我说:“这不是我的重点。”然后,我再重复刚刚说的那番话。

这时,另一个海关人员说:“那些给访客通关的柜台,居民也一样可以用啊。”

这些我都知道,但是在排队的那些人(包括居民和访客)不一定知道。的确,我们的机场已经有了一个相当完善的系统,有自动化的通关闸门(因此理论上来说居民可以更迅速的通关),有非常多的访客通关柜台(因此让访客有全世界最迅速的通关体验,让他们留下对新加坡的好印象),有灵活的通关方式(因此居民可以自由选择加入任何一个最短的队伍)。

可是,有了这么完善的系统,“人”就可以一动也不动,让系统和机器自动运作了吗?

眼前所见的情况是,所有访客(的确也写“All Passports”)的柜台都只有两三个人在排队,而唯一的给居民的柜台,以及两个自动通关机,都排了长龙。可是,一旁的海关人员,却都站在一旁的柜台后,冷眼旁观,毫无行动。显然的,他们相信系统已经完善,所以人就不需要任何行动了。

他们完全依赖系统,而我却对于他们作为一个“人”可以有的 initiative 有所期待。正是这种落差,使我感觉到有一点失望,也使我没有感受到作为一个回国的人所应该受到的善待。

亲爱的读者,这种情况,会不会让你们想起目前在上映的动画电影 WALL-E 中的那艘太空飞船 AXION 里的情况?我们的太空飞船上的 captain 和乘客,是不是已经被全自动的机器所操控,而丧失人的自主性?我们是不是永远也回不了地球?

虽然迪斯尼电影总是有一种无可求药的美国式的温情主义,电影中的情节,倒也往往可以让我们看作是现实的寓言呢。

Wednesday 3 September 2008

过海关1

刚刚下了飞机,来到机场的海关,看到写着 visitors 的柜台前,稀稀落落的排了好几排(大概所有的柜台都开了)。可是那个写着 welcome home 的柜台(只开了一个),以及自动化的两个检验机前,却排了相当长的人龙。

我走向一旁值勤的海关人员,说:“我从来没有在哪一个国家,看到居民通关的人龙,比访客通关的人龙还要长。”

读者们知道海关人员怎么回应吗?

下一回再告诉你们。首先,请你们告诉我,我说的这番话,你会怎么解读?