{"id":5177,"date":"2012-09-26T21:44:11","date_gmt":"2012-09-26T13:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/?p=5177"},"modified":"2012-09-27T00:30:03","modified_gmt":"2012-09-26T16:30:03","slug":"old-house-at-ang-siang-hill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/2012\/old-house-at-ang-siang-hill\/","title":{"rendered":"Old House at Ang Siang Hill"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

A photo painting by Sharon Lee ( descendant of Chia Ann Siang)<\/p><\/div>\n

Old House at Ang Siang Hill <\/strong><\/p>\n

by Arthur Yap<\/strong><\/p>\n

an unusual house this is
\ndreams are here before you sleep
\ntread softly
\ninto the three-storeyed gloom
\nsit gently
\non the straits born furniture
\nimported from china
\nspeak quietly
\nto the contemporary occupants<\/p>\n

they are not afraid of you
\nwaiting for you to go
\nbefore they dislocate your intentions
\nso what if this is
\nyour grandfather’s house
\nhis ghost doesn’t live here anymore
\nyour family past is
\nsuperannuated grim
\nwhich increases with time
\notherwise nothing adds or subtract
\nthe bricks and tiles
\nuntill re-development
\nwhich will greatly change
\nthis house-that-was
\ndozens of it along the street
\nthe next and the next as well<\/p>\n

nothing much will be missed
\neyes not tradition tell you this<\/p>\n

an\u00a0 extract from Thow Xin Wei<\/strong> who writes <\/a>of the poet Arthur Yap’s work….<\/p>\n

In “old house at ann siang hill”, a similar voice seems to suggest that even tradition is expendable in the pursuit of progress:<\/em><\/p>\n

so what if this is
\nyour grandfather’s house
\nhis ghost doesn’t live here anymore
\nyour family past is
\nsuperannuated grim
\nwhich increases with time
\notherwise nothing adds or subtract
\nthe bricks and tiles
\nuntill re-development
\nwhich will greatly change
\nthis house-that-was
\ndozens of it along the street
\nthe next and the next as well<\/p>\n

nothing much will be missed
\neyes not tradition tell you this<\/p>\n

In contrast to the opening of the poem, the viewpoint has shifted to that of the civil servant, with the casual disdain for the past, the calculative dismissal, and the firm conviction that “re-development” and change will mean progress; to hold on to the past is merely nostalgic sentiment, an old fashioned belief in “ghosts” that is not congruent with the rapidly modernising social and physical landscape of Singapore.<\/em><\/p>\n

Interactions between those in authority and those subject to it also feature in Yap’s poetry. In “an afternoon nap”, an “ambitious mother… proclaiming her goodness”, punishes her son for his mediocre grades, while the “embittered boy” proclaims his “bewilderment” and berates her for her “expensive taste for education”. Both proclaim the other’s “wrongs”. It is tempting to read this poem as a metaphor for the relationship between government and citizens in Singapore, especially given the paternalistic character of a government which institutes policies regarding its citizens’ child bearing, hygiene and courtesy habits.<\/em><\/p>\n


\n<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Old House at Ang Siang Hill by Arthur Yap an unusual house this is dreams are here before you sleep tread softly into the three-storeyed gloom sit gently on the straits born furniture imported from china speak quietly to the contemporary occupants they are not afraid of you waiting for you to go before they dislocate your intentions so what if this is your grandfather’s house his ghost doesn’t live here anymore your family past is superannuated grim which increases […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":5178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[92,83],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture-society","category-featured"],"yoast_head":"\nOld House at Ang Siang Hill - Bukit Brown: A World Monuments Watch Site in 2014<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bukitbrown.com\/main\/2012\/old-house-at-ang-siang-hill\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Old House at Ang Siang Hill - 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