akaCLL

Response to Discussion Post for Literature and Humanities 2 Module, on Sonny Liew's "The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye".


Hi YQ!

Thank you for posting and stirring my imagination on how it was in the past during our parent's childhood. I often reflect on how my childhood was like, the days when I had no phone or computer. I had a lot of encounters with little animals and insects and I thought I'd share some with you :)
My family and I also used to return to Malaysia more often and our neighbourhood had a little playground, and the streets were so spacious you could run and run. One of my favourite past times was of arming myself with a net, the ones with the rudimentary long stick, and I would run around catching butterflies with my cousin! Even the tiny grey ones that were a common sight everywhere- I didn't really need the big net for those ones though, sometimes I used my hands to cup around them, or if I was feeling radical and confident I peered as they landed on the grass or flowers and pounced by picking them up by their wings!
Back here in Singapore, my aunty's house has a massive field beyond her backyard. When I was younger I used to walk up the pavement right beside the field in the evenings -- that was always the time when little red millipedes would come out. There were so many of them! I remember so vividly. I loved picking them up and putting them in a little tupperware. They had the defence mechanism of curling into a swirl when they feel threatened and I remember thinking how fascinating it was. I would keep them for a day or two and then I'd release them back to the field. Simple pleasures <3


Nowadays, I pick up random bugs and love to watch them crawl all over my hand. I used to think I was quite weird for liking it, my friends say sometimes when they see bugs they think of me. But remembering these moments I had when I was younger, it kind of makes sense. And I only hope that the children of today won't lose what I would call a fundamental and instinctive curiosity for nature and wildlife- no matter how much technology advances and becomes so pervasive. Just like how I think Charlie Chan Hock Chye appeals to us to hold fast to our creativity and our own opinions, to preserve our own no matter how many HDB buildings ascend and cast shadows over us, no matter how formidable the figures are against our such freedom. To just keep drawing. xx