I took on this project on a whim. Shit happens when I open my big mouth. My dear friend Lucy, was having problems with her shoot. Thought I drop by spell#7 office since on a previous occasion I've told Ben I was willing to lend a hand. That's when it start to stink. One thing let to another and I got the 3 to 4am slot. It was a mistake, I had no money in my pocket nor in the bank and tons of bills to pay including those accompanied by solicitor notices. Damn it. After a few calls to borrow some equipments and help, I decided that there won't be a better time to fail. And fail I did. In her poetry tribute to her fellow poet Mayakovsky, Anna Akhmaktova wrote the following lines......................

And the hum of the rising tide of response
Was audible as you read to us.
Rain slanted its eyes wrathfully,
You quarreled violently with the city.

You quarreled violently with the city. The same could be said of Joyce's Dublin or Derek Jarman when he shot The Last of England. I can only leave it to the reader to read into the ideas behind this endeavour of trying to portray a life of a city in a day. That I am a great walker I know, in France someone like this would be called a flaneur. In Singapore, someone like this could not exist because any territory that you happen to step on outside the boundaries of your own 'house' is either a private property or state property hence even on the move one is nothing but a loiterer. Stray cats examplified this more by territorial pissing. I don't have a quarrel with my city. I want to woo her against efforts that try to erase her stories. But she is estranged. Most felt around Shenton Way, the 'brainland' of the city, the financial center. On weekends, having regurgitate its occupiers, the buildings which stood on days tall and proud began to doubt. You hear voices each to each...... i'm tired. Streets are empty like open wounds. And there I'll always be telling stories from different lands, poets, writers, myths I read them aloud to sooth her. No kidding. Part of the film contains this "in memory of Edward W. Said". I felt devastated on hearing of his passing. If it felt pretentious, no apologies though I would have still do it without the camera as an alibi. I know I have failed but does she? To be continued.....