I absolutely love art as a child. Both my mothers (maternal and grand)
had difficulty maintaining a supply of paper at home: EVERY single piece of
available parchment at home was left with my indelible graphic signature. My
mother had to send me to an art class for children at the local residents’
centre just to satisfy my insatiable appetite. However, a couple of years
later, I was told by my schoolteacher then, that my art was “not good enough”
to pursue an education in the Art Elective Programme (AEP)
in Secondary school. I remember being devastated when I was told that. She had
basically told me, in not so many words, that I should not pursue what I love,
what my heart desires.
Fast forward to the present: I have had my works published, I have
completed commissioned works and I have even taught art to learners, both
children and adults. So guess who’s got a tight slap on BOTH cheeks now?
Sweet revenge served on a cold artists’ palate aside, what this life
lesson taught me, is that no child, in fact, no one, should be told what they
can or cannot love, pursue or believe in. In fact, the entity should also
include ‘who’. By that same measure, no one should be given the authority to permit
or worse, deny anyone of their passions.
It is with this belief and this legacy that I want to leave our
present and future generations that I support every single individual’s right
to love. It is also with this belief that I support and have participated in
every year’s Pink Dot Event since its inauguration in
2009.
This year, I am posting the event and my participation on my blog as
an open invitation. Join me on a sketch-picnic on the evening of 28 June, 2014
(time to be confirmed) to celebrate and pursue an open, kinder and understanding
Singapore, where every individual’s right to pursue their own goals and love in
life is never denied.
Post by Pink Dot SG.
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