Independence Day

This stirred controversy when it was first released.

"So hard to teach my primary school pupils" one music teacher quipped in a Straits Times interview. Another person polled said something to the effect of "I'm glad the organisers finally woke up their idea." to which i concur. Previous NDP songs strove to be so inclusive in their scope that they ended up being exlusive, catering to those who'd prefer not to stir the pot. In that straightforward spoon-feeding of nationalism, only the top layer of the soup is consumed, the meat and ingredients at the bottom of the pot left untouched - nationalism stagnated at the level of the primary school pupil.

Well done Electrico!




This stands next to my all-time favourite performed by Stephanie Sun. I reckon it has something to do with it being drilled into me after countless rehearsals. It signalled we were two steps away from loading our rifles for the Feu de joie, three steps away from being able march off and move our limbs again. The 'fire of joy' held dual meaning for us.

It's interesting how the Eurasian community is represented by breakdancing line-dancers and how film directors have moved away from such in-your-face symbolism to an open-ended depiction of our skyline.

Well done film crew!

and well done Architects Team 3, the unsung heroes behind the barrage.

Step Wells

Abhaneri step-well, originally uploaded by Bouneweeger.

Given Western India's polarised weather conditions characterised by three months of monsoon rain followed by nine months of arid weather, the stepwells of India present an adaptable form of water infrastructure in their dual nature as an inhabitable well.

Dated to 600 AD, stepwells are inverted ziggurats dug into the earth in order to access underground aquifiers. A stepwell is composed of two parts – the well and the access route carved into it. The well is used to collect rainwater, either as catchment or by penetrating nearby aquifiers, whilst the access route down to the water surface serves as both circulation and collection basin.

What is intriguing about stepwells is that they served both as an infrastructure to collect water as well as a container for public space owing to their flexible capacity for spatial habitation depending on the time of year; as a mega storage tank during monsoon seasons; as a subterranean landscape during dry seasons, the base of the inverted pyramids providing respite from the hot sun on grade, giving rise to shaded community spaces amidst their architectural majesty.

However, following the onset of colonialism during the 19th century, a change in policy led to the demise of step wells which were deemed a “sanitary disaster” and were gradually replaced by modern infrastructural works. No doubt, India's historical socio-cultural tolerance of unsanitary practices which mixed bathing and drinking water, exacerbated by their co-habitation with cattle and their associated parasites, was deplored by the British.

More info at InfraNet Lab.