Published Essays/Long Form Articles
Concerning the end of an era, it speaks nostalgically about the closure of our beloved, former Telok Ayer Performing Arts Centre that was home to more than 20 (performing) arts group. (SAN April 2013 issue, page 24).
The End of An Era
Amid the commercial heart of Tanjong Pagar, a busy business district, there sits a low, squat building called Telok Ayer Performing Arts Centre. Dwarfed by fierce sentinel buildings of commerce around, TAPAC, as the artsy folks affectionately christened it for brevity, houses over twenty arts groups. TAPAC has been mother to groups like The Necessary Stage, Teater Ekamatra and many more for twenty something years. Most significantly to myself; the Singapore's Writers' Centre, Word Forward. There. It was there I grew and matured as a poet, raised from the rubble of adolescence by passing writers and poets by Savinder Kaur, the director of Word Forward and Chris Mooney-Singh, her Australian poet-husband.
Certainly, it was this longing that led me to visit TAPAC again, on the low-moon night of 18th February. TAPAC was due to be demolished in March, and there was little time left for festivities. Quietly, I entered through the rusted steel portals dividing art and the district's commerce.
Immediately, I was transported into the courtyard of TAPAC, drenched in night's velvet. Twin flagpoles pointed skyward, like totems devoid of flags. Their glory had last flown in 1985, when it'd been the former Telok Ayer Primary School. Leased by the government under the Arts Housing Scheme, TAPAC occupies pride of place in the arts scene for being the first public arts housing space in Singapore.
In front of me, TAPAC's five-storey building rose box-like in the pale moonlight. Certain windows had lights on, but most were plunged into darkness. To my right, the sounds of civilization: a natural flow and bubble of conversation, quite unhurried, relaxed. I followed them to their owners: a party of performers rehearsing in TAPAC's old tin-roofed, expansive canteen set out in the courtyard beside the school.
Slowly, I approached the troupe. They turned out to be Teater Ekamatra, a Malay performing arts group that'd lived in TAPAC for a long while. Quiet as a stranger, I observed how natural these people were in their space: four Malay guys dressing up in security guard costumes. One guy strapping the bars on another's shoulder. Other performers acted their parts in their individual costumes. Unhurriedly, I approached the group, asked a few routine questions. Sadly, a Malay performer confirmed my suspicions: Teater Ekamatra, like all the other tenants, had until the end of March 2013 to move out of TAPAC. Some of these groups would find housing respite in Aliwal Arts Centre, a new building leased out by the National Arts Council. Others would remain homeless till new spaces were found.
Quite a significant number of memories would disappear, razed to debris by the cruel hands of demolishers: the three life-sized murals handpainted on TAPAC's most prominent walls. Their artists, Kamal Dollah and his team of three, had spent a month and a half working out on ladders and heights in the fierce sun in 2007, gracing TAPAC's formerly drab walls with fresh caricatures lasting till now.
Gone would be the various graffiti drawn on the other walls and corridors, handiwork of other secret artists, students and perhaps the visiting public. These little drawings, etched in time, would soon disappear. How could you draw the same picture twice anywhere, in absolute, equal proportions?
Gone would be the Writers' Centre. Gone would be the narrow, faded, desolate stairwells with toilets housed in between. Gone the cracked and singing cisterns; gone the Chinese Opera Institute. Gone the Singapore Repertory Theatre, The Necessary Stage, and other art groups. Gone the creativity-infused silences of TAPAC. Locals and expatriates alike had found respite here, just enjoying the un-hurriedness of art space.
Outside TAPAC, there’s a commercial sign that reads “for sale”. In finer print, a bolder statement: “making Singapore a great place to live, work and play in." It’s almost invisible unless you focus closely on the sign. And would any new commercial edifice bring culture to our lives from the rubble of Telok Ayer Performing Arts Centre? Not likely.
As Marc Nair, creative director of Word Forward, puts it, “TAPAC could’ve been the arts haven of commerce-minded Tanjong Pagar district. By uprooting it; history, murals and all, we’re left with soulless skyscrapers singing dollar hymns, while the eternal crowd hurries by. I shudder to think what Singapore would be like in the next ten years.”
I left Marc’s office wordless. He had taken the words right out of my mouth. Literally.
I left Marc’s office wordless. He had taken the words right out of my mouth. Literally.
Timeline
1985 : The former Telok Ayer Primary School on Cecil Street was converted into the Telok Ayer Performing Arts Centre (TAPAC). It now houses arts groups of different cultural traditions and art forms.
1988 : Stamford Arts Centre was restored out of the old Stamford Primary School. Originally built by the Japanese in the 1900's, it was used as a Japanese school until World War II. After the war, it became Stamford Primary School. Today, Stamford Arts Centre houses nine arts groups, with Theatre Practice as its anchor tenant.
1990 : Opening of The Substation at Armenian Street, a multi-disciplinary arts centre which was converted from a 60-year-old Public Utilities Board (PUB) electric substation.
1990 : The Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts' Short Street campus was established. Two more campuses at Middle and Wilkie roads were added later.
1992 : Former Anglo-Chinese School building at Cairnhill Road was restored. The One-Two-Six Cairnhill Arts Centre opened. It is home to groups like The Necessary Stage, Act 3 and Teater Kami.
1992 : Lasalle-SIA College Of The Arts moved into its new Mountbatten campus.
1995 : The Chinese Calligraphy Society, the Dance Ensemble Singapore and various arts groups began relocating to Waterloo Street.
1997 : A group of artists, including Teo Eng Seng and Tan Swie Hian, moved to Telok Kurau Studios, another former primary school.
1998 : Chinatown became the new arts district for nine Mandarin arts groups in Smith and Trengganu streets. These included the Chinese Theatre Circle and the Xin Sheng Poets' Society.
1999 : Action Theatre and Sculpture Square moved into Waterloo Street.
1999 : Sculpture Square and Action Theatre premises opened, marking the completion of the $5 million Waterloo Street Arts Belt under the Arts Housing Scheme.
2001 : Little India Arts Belt developed with the acquisition of ten units of shophouses along Kerbau Road.
Source: http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_448_2004-12-31.html
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