Kallang. Racing lights outside as the train cuts through space and time like an arrow through water. The man boards and finds a single seat. On the bar, leans a flirtatious, clearly committed couple. She’s dressed comfortably, only he has eyes for her. On the window, another less advanced couple, her lips still red for […]
Read more "Along the Green Line"But the conductor doesn’t make a sound. He depends, for his power, on his ability to make other people powerful. And that changed everything for me. It was totally life-changing. People in my orchestra said, “Ben, what happened?” That’s what happened. I realized my job was to awaken possibility in other people. And of course, […]
Read more "The Conductor doesn’t make a sound"Life is alway full of surprises and demolished expectations. That quick moment of touch on his forearm. Skin on skin. A friendly gesture, a dry hand shake. It lingers. **** He had given up dating that month, it wasn’t much of a sacrifice or as dramatic as it sounds. He still hooked up with two […]
Read more "Musings of S"
I don’t remember what they called him at the SPCA. I only gave him the name “Nacho” after a day or two. Nacho was the first dog that I called mine. I was 22 going on 23. I remember going to camp in the morning and wanting to call home to let him hear my […]
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I hiked in Horton Plains in August. At the start of the trail, rangers inspect your belongings forbidding anything plastic. In front of me were two young men, probably Taiwanese judging from their accent. You follow them, my driver repeated for the 10th time. At first his nagging was cute, but on day 4, I couldn’t take it and brushed him […]
Read more "An essay on silence from a hike in Sri Lanka"
Tan Shou Chen 