These lucky adopted dogs have a home and a great chronicle with the book Happy Tails, Gerard Ward finds.

Vet-slash-photographer Sandra Macheroux and owner of FairPrice Antique Chantal Travers both have experience in working with welfare groups like Action for Singapore Dogs and Causes for Animals Singapore. ‘Chantal and I have both seen the need for the promotion of “adopt don’t shop” first-hand in Singapore and overseas,’ Sandra Macheroux says.

Both also own adopted dogs, believing buying a puppy doesn’t make sense with so many dogs living in shelters. ‘There are so many beautiful strays to choose from at the many shelters, with independent rescuers or even just families relocating and having to leave their animals behind,’ Macheroux says.

Chantal’s adopted dog Tammy came from Action for Street Dogs when she was three months old, and Sandra’s family adopted Kari from another expat family when she was around six years old. ‘Poor Kari had been living with three other families before this,’ Sandra says. ‘The last expat owners were relocating and did not want her anymore.’

The final product, Happy Tails, is a 64-page book filled with dogs and their heroic owners. There are 15 owners, some who were generous enough to adopt more than one dog, in the book. It took only three months from the first brainstorm Sandra and Chantal had in Tiong Bahru, to the finished product.

Owner Leslie with Lilac. Image courtesy Sandra Macheroux

All photos taken by Sandra are set in places around quintessential Singaporean spots – from Tiong Bahru and Joo Chiat to Haji Lane and Marina Bay. Not only do the dogs get featured, but the neighbourhoods too, making it a great miniature guide to the country. ‘Being a keen street photographer I wanted to create a visually appealing book which tells the happy tales of the dogs, and also features cool parts of town because they are also their stomping grounds,’ Sandra says.

Misconceptions about adopting dogs usually stand in the way of people when making the choice whether to buy a dog or adopt. ‘People seem to think adopted dogs are not as “good” or cool, attractive, cute, etcetera, as purebred puppies,’ Sandra explains. ‘Some worry about the dog’s temperament being less pleasant or stable as that of their chosen purebreed dogs.’ An example Sandra mentions is of Golden Retrievers, who are seen as always super sweet and well-behaved. ‘I certainly have met some quite aggressive Golden Retrievers, and there are no guarantees with any dog, purebred or mongrel,’ she says.

Puppy farms are no help to the problem, often causing more problems. ‘They often have genetic and behavioural issues which can become costly concerns on an emotional and also financial level,’ Sandra says. ‘There are plenty of gorgeous strays which would be excellent pets, and probably have a lot less health problems.’

Jenna and Kia with their owner Sian. Image courtesy Sandra Macheroux

So far the book has been selling really well – at the time of printing, over $4,000 has been raised – with readers having that heart-warming knowledge of every cent from the $49 sales price going towards helping veterinary costs for shelters around Singapore. ‘We will soon ask for submission of cases of stray dogs that are currently in need of veterinary care, then select those most in need of our financial support and will pay the vet bills directly,’ Sandra says. ‘We want to raise awareness and offer financial relief to shelters and rescuers so they can continue to do the amazing work that they do every day of the year.’

If anyone is considering adopting – or fostering a dog until a permanent home can be found – animal welfare groups and shelters are the best place to check. ‘Of course volunteering at a shelter or at events organised by animal welfare groups is another great way to help,’ Sandra says. ‘Donating money or fundraising is another way that will help those that care for the dogs on a daily basis. Plus they can buy a Happy Tails book and can rest assured that the money will go where it is needed.’

To grab a copy of the book, visit Sandra’s gallery at 16A Haji Lane, Chantal’s FairPrice Antique at 315 Outram Road #01-10, or head to facebook.com/happytailsSG.

All it takes is a cookbook and a love for food to whip up something with a pro chef in Singapore.

Nothing is more disputed a topic in Singapore than food. Ask someone about where to get the best laksa or chicken rice, and nine times out of ten you’ll be bombarded by differing suggestions from friends, passers-by and taxi drivers. But what if you’re a budding cook and want to get first-hand experience from a professional chef without forking out thousands of dollars for classes? If you want to be inspired and educated about great food, with the guidance and inspiration from chefs in Singapore, there’s an ANZA group for you.

The ANZA Cookbook Book Club asks chefs around Singapore to suggest a cookbook for members to look over the recipes – chosen by the group coordinator – to discuss on the night. If you’re happy to whip up one of the recipes to bring in, you’ll get an expert opinion from the chef yourself. Then the group meets with the chef in their dining room to share experiences, thoughts and questions in a relaxed atmosphere.

‘Living alone, but with a persistent urge to cook, and cook in a big way, I had little reason to try new recipes just for myself,‘ the group’s founder Leonora Roccisano says. ‘One way around that was to start my own Supper Club, which I have done. A further way, and a way that would really enhance my skills – and have me befriending chefs, creatures who truly intrigue me – was via the Cookbook Book Club. So many book clubs are available, so why not one for cookbooks?‘

Dean Brettschneider walks through his date twist.

So far there have been two get-togethers, both with great success. The first was hosted by Daniel Chavez at contemporary Spanish restaurant Ola Cocina del Mar, featuring the book Ceviche Power by Gaston Acurio – chosen by Chavez, who described the author as the ‘godfather of Peruvian cooking’. Chef Daniel Chavez spoke with incredible passion about Peruvian cooking, the seafood industry and how to shop for, prepare and enjoy a wide range of sustainable fish. ANZA members sat around the kitchen bar enjoying some of Chef Daniel’s creations.

The second get-together involved New Zealand baker Dean Brettschneider of Baker & Cook and Plank. With another passionate presentation and, this time, a demonstration by the host chef, we found out about Dean’s authoring and how it led him to various businesses – such as the Brettschneider’s Baking & Cooking School and even television in New Zealand, Europe and Singapore.

Dean made a date twist featured in one of his cookbooks, and also a sweet dough, teaching us the techniques of each. Dean also listened to members sharing their experiences to attempt his recipes at home.

The group is still growing and keen for more get-togethers. To join the next Cookbook Book Club session, get in touch by email at leonora.roccisano@gmail.com, or call 9145 4054.

Host of BBC Earth’s ‘Deadly 60’ Steve Backshall talks about leopard seals, polar bears and Sir David Attenborough before his upcoming live talk in early February.

You’ve done so much work with animals throughout your career. How did you first get involved?
I’ve kind of worked with animals for my whole life. I grew up on a small farm. My first ever job was working for the RSPCA when I was no more than ten or eleven, and I sort of knew I was going to do something with animals. The whole television thing came a little bit later on. It was in the late 1990s and I went out to Columbia and made a wildlife film, and sold it to National Geographic. They took me on as their ‘Adventurer in Residence’, which is the greatest job title I’ve ever had, and I’ve been doing it ever since.

Even just getting onto National Geographic must have been mind-blowing at the time.
It was pretty amazing. I can remember the first time that I went to Washington DC where their main centre is and going into the Explorer’s Hall, and there were the statues of all the great explorers they’d had through there. Just walking in and seeing the massive maps, it was something very, very special. Now, I work for the part of the BBC which is where Sir David Attenborough has always worked, and just weeks ago I was co-presenting an awards ceremony with Sir David Attenborough himself – my idol for my entire life. Even now there are just moments where I catch my breath and think, ‘How on Earth did this happen?’ I just have to pinch myself to believe it’s true.

What is the audience going to expect when they come to see your Deadly 60 Live! Pole to Pole stage show?
The show is themed around my Pole to Pole expedition, which was travelling from the Arctic to the Antarctic, travelling through the most remote, wild, crazy environments; searching for the animals that lived in those environments. So that could be kayaking alongside a polar bear or a walrus in the Arctic, or diving underneath a great green iceberg down in Antarctica with a leopard seal flashing its teeth in my camera, or king penguins zipping past my ears like little torpedoes. There was such a vast array of fabulous wildlife that we saw on that 14-month expedition, and what we’re doing is bringing that to a theatre in a show that aims to involve the audience as much as possible. We want lots of feedback and audience participation, and lots of opportunities for the audience to ask me questions. There’ll be lots of outtakes and bloopers and bits where things haven’t gone according to plan.

You’ve also been a great advocate of big topics like poaching and climate change through your writing, both in fiction and non-fiction.
Yes, I do this blog with the Huffington Post where I write on conservation situations that I see, and that I believe I can add something particular to. I’m not a climate scientist, I’m not a meteorologist, and I’m not someone that has a deep understanding of the facts and figures behind climate change; but what I can offer is a perspective of how the world has changed within my lifetime, from someone who’s had a life being constantly on the road and constantly travelling.

What’s next on the horizon from here?
I have a big expedition series which coming out soon from an expedition in Papua, where I try to run a river from source to sea for the first time ever.

Deadly 60 Live! Pole to Pole runs from 3-5 February at the Grand Theatre at Marina Bay Sands.

ANZA 1st Scouts offered a day filled with excitement and fun for the children from Melrose Children’s Home, Rachel Landau says.

Following on with the success from last year’s afternoon spent with children from Melrose Children’s Home, we made plans for another session this year.

With some major changes to staff at the home, the planning process was more complex than expected as new relationships had to be forged. However, a date was set – Sunday 27 November – and the Boys Brigade campsite at Sembawang was booked for the day. This provided us with a field, large dining area and covered shelter for activities in the event that, as with last year, the heavens opened for the afternoon.

The objectives, as with last year, were to give the children a fun and interesting afternoon – while also introducing them to aspects of Scouting. The more experienced Scouts helped plan the session to include games, dinner and a rotation of three activity stations. Some older Scouts were dispatched to the kitchen to prepare fruit snacks and dinner, while others mixed with the children to accompany them in games and to the stations. A fun and energetic game of Bullrush started things well with everyone getting involved and using up a bit of energy.

A first aid session saw great enthusiasm for applying bandages, slings and plasters. This became particularly enjoyable once they started drawing wounds onto their arms and legs with a red pen that then required attention. An arts and crafts session, ably run by James Mansfield-Page proved very successful, as well as a small scale construction section run by two of our Venturers – older Scouts aged between 14 and 18.

First aid and construction are very much a part of Scouting and provided opportunities for learning and applying new skills. The children certainly seemed to have a great deal of fun and there were a few more games before dinner.

Learning how to use an arm sling.

This year, dinner was a repeat of a popular meal from a previous camp, being fried chicken, mashed potatoes and carrots, followed by fruit salad. The fact that it didn’t rain all afternoon this year was a definite bonus and dinner was again appreciated by all.

Finally, over a campfire – well, a BBQ really but it served the purpose perfectly – copious quantities of marshmallows were toasted and consumed before a bus load of happy and tired children were returned to Melrose Home.

Thanks have to go to our Scouts for their part in activities and our Venturers who ran their station successfully, managing both the children and the activity. Kerry Low and our other leader Elisabeth Lange certainly played a big part in making the afternoon go well, but our biggest thanks has to go to our leader James Mansfield-Page. Not only was he very involved in the planning and a huge hit with the children, but his dedication to the event and energy on the day played a major part in making the day such a success.

We are delighted to continue to build this relationship and provide a hands-on event like this – it’s something very tangible, particularly for our Scouts, as they can see the results of their efforts.

Interested in Scouts? There are new opportunities for Scouts Troop (ages 10-14), Venturers (ages 14-18) and leaders. Sign up on ANZA’s website or email Rachel Landau at 1stanzascouts@anza.org.sg.

A new bunch of farms have sprouted in land-scarce Singapore, but not in the way you think, Gerard Ward finds.

The progress made on growing vegetables with Singapore’s limited space – whether it be through starting a garden on office rooftops or trying soil-free hydroponics at home – has been very promising, especially for cities where the reliance on produce outside of a country is high. Singapore imports over 90 percent of its produce from outside the country – farmers only produce 8 percent of the country’s needs for vegetables and fish, and 26 percent for eggs. This means a heavy reliance on the global supply being plentiful – companies here have to adhere to the prices, so if any shortages were to happen, Singapore would feel the pinch just as much.

To try and bring the country’s reliance on outside entities down, there has been interest in growing our own produce – albeit in different ways, considering land is hard to acquire. For the farms that are left in Singapore, their future has been numbered. A recent Channel NewsAsia Insider video followed Jurong Frog Farm’s Chelsea Wan as she explained the future of her family’s frog farming business. According to the report, the government has not renewed the farm’s lease past June 2017, and all of the 62 farmers of Lim Chu Kang will have to tender for new, smaller plots in the Lim Chu Kang and Sungei Tengah areas.

While traditional farming has been on the decline, there have been advancements in growing local produce in other ways. Edible Garden City, a ‘grow your own food’ movement – see last month’s feature on this by ANZA Tour coordinator Sue Elliott – is encouraging people to make use of rooftops and sidewalks. These initiatives are making great progress in getting people interested in growing their own greens, but what about feeding a nation?

These coloured LED lights feed the greens. Photo courtesy Panasonic.

Thinking less about flat ground, and more upwards, there’s a newer way to grow greens with less land. Out in Lim Chu Kang Lane 3 is a series of tall glasshouses a few floors high, with what appears to be nothing but six to nine-metre tall aluminium towers. Each one of these towers holds anywhere between 32 to 38 racks, all with planted vegetables in either soil or hydroponics, and has the potential to grow 100 kilograms of vegetables in 28 days.

These shelves are rotated during the day to ensure each shelf gets enough sunlight, and only 40kh of electricity is needed for each tower – the energy used to rotate these racks comes from gravity and a water pulley module, powered by a tank of rainwater and recycled water. The water is then pumped back into a generator, pumping back up to the water tank to start again. One of these low-energy, low-water use towers costs about $15,000 each to set up.

Sky Greens has been in Singapore for a few years now, growing kai lan, lettuce and Chinese cabbage in the for purchase at FairPrice Finest since 2012 – you’ll be able to recognise the brand’s cloud logo. Sky Greens founder Jack Ng has said the 3.65 hectare farm aims to increase its 1,000 towers to nearly 2,000 by year’s end, with 5-10 tonnes of vegetables per day. According to the company, 20 employees can harvest around one ton of vegetables each day.

The technology has been gaining interest worldwide – China’s Hainan province, an island on the southernmost point, has bought 192 towers from them. Jack Ng has also pitched an initiative to build what’s called the Sky Urban SG100 Agripolis, using 20 hectares of land to build an integrated hub of high-tech research and vertical farming facilities – with the goal to produce 30,000 tonnes of vegetables a year.

Growing Chinese cabbage is one thing, but what about leafy salads you’d find in your usual lunch? You’ll be surprised by the company that’s tackling the homegrown salads in Singapore – Panasonic.

Sprouts beginning their journey from seed to shelf. Photo courtesy Panasonic.

Veggie Life is the result of 1,154 square metres of farming in Panasonic’s west coast factory. The company more known for its electronics has been taking the initiative to grow their own lettuce, radish, baby spinach, watercress, mizuna, broccoli and so on.

This garden is a little different, however. These plants aren’t getting any sunlight. Instead these greens are getting their daily dose of photosynthesis from LED lights, all without a single ray of sunlight. These special LED lights are able to provide the plants with what they would usually need from the sun – meaning these farms could effectively work just as well in a basement, if not better.

Grown in strict soil-based conditions – along with the controlled lighting, there’s constant temperature, humidity and CO2 levels – and no pesticides, these vegetables are farmed and packed into three different take-home salad bowls. These vegetables are also provided to restaurants and groups around the country, including Resorts World Sentosa.

Starting with an annual capacity of 3.6 tonnes, Panasonic is now growing 38 types of vegetables at a whopping 81 tonnes – and is aiming to provide 5 percent of Singapore’s local veggies by March of next year, which will lessen the need for importing.

After hearing about technology like Sky Greens and Veggie Life, we wanted to try it out for oursleves. So that’s exactly what we did. Running down to the FairPrice Finest, we grabbed Veggie Life’s Nourish Mix and Vibrant Mix ready-to-eat salads, as well as a bag of Chinese cabbage from Sky Greens.

Sky Greens’ Sky Xiao Bai Cai and Panasonic’s Veggie Life salad.

Of course it’s not usual to eat Chinese cabbage raw, but considering none of these leafy bunches of cabbage have seen any sunlight, they were surprisingly strong and crunchy.

We took each part of the ready-to-eat salad ingredients, and tried them one by one – do note that we’re not in the business, nor habit, of analysing lettuce leaf by leaf. There was crunch with the green lettuce, crispness with the slices of white and red radish, and a peppery flavour in the mizuna leaves. The roasted sesame dressing that comes with the salad was nice, albeit a little sweet, but most salad dressings are.

While having an indoor vegetable farm takes the pressures away of needing consistent weather, it also takes more energy to run such a controlled environment – it’s hard to beat Sky Green’s 40kh of electricity.

Both technologies are tackling an issue that Singapore is facing in terms of making use with the space that the island has left. It’s unsure what the future will hold for local produce, but not all hope is lost.

Two artists in Singapore working on different canvas are making some spectacular pieces of art, Gerard Ward finds.

Renyung Ho
Co-founder of Matter
Sitting in the second floor shophouse office of her clothing brand Matter, you can see intricate blockprinted pants and scarves hanging on racks placed around the room between workstations of her employees. The workspace-slash-shop floor is in a sense a representation of the two-year-old brand’s ethos of wanting to tell a story with its products. They’re sitting in a room filled with stories.

Matter’s garments, which range from loose-fitting pants, tops, jumpsuits and scarves, are designed with traditional wood blockprinting and ikat dyeing techniques and crafted by rural artisans in India. Cofounder Renyung Ho was inspired by the intricacies’ and history behind these designs when travelling around India in a tuk-tuk for 3,000 kilometres to raise money for charity. Falling in love with the culture – from Rajasthan to Cochin – her desire to start something along the lines of Matter came to fruition through chance encounters and a lot of hard work.

These artisans are usually communities that have been making these garments for generations. Bringing these traditional styles of clothing to a modern market has helped give families who are reliant on their craft a second wind. Since the brand’s launch, there’s been a big interest from all sorts of people, ‘from the fashion sector to the creative and designer industry’. ‘All these different groups of people somehow identify with the same theme of basically caring about where something comes from,’ Renyung says. ‘That I didn’t expect.’

Understanding how a handcrafted product can benefit the artisans making it as well as the consumer can give that additional feel-good factor – especially at a time where it’s almost impossible for the average person to trace where most of our store-bought clothes are made. ‘We started out in the beginning with the tagline ‘Pants to see the world in’,’ she explains. ‘Because for me it was very important to showcase a product that stood on its own besides the social benefit or impact of it.’

‘For me, in Asia especially, the perception of craft is that it is not cool, or the quality is not so great, etcetera,’ Renyung says. ‘I wanted to position it in a way that it was seen as a semi-luxury product, with the time it took to make it and so on.

Renyung Ho (right) with Matter cofounder Yvonne Suner (left).

Renyung’s background isn’t in manufacturing. ‘I had no experience in manufacturing,’ she iterates. The first year was a big learning curve of making quality control procedures, and knowing how much detail goes into making one garment. ‘The amount of QC that you have to have for [natural fabrics] is incredibly more than if you use polyester, which is ninety-five percent of the products we have in general,’ Renyung explains.

Learning to move with the seasons – including monsoons – was a major realisation. ‘For example, it depends on the monsoon season and what festivals are happening at that time,’ Renyung explains. ‘It also depends on the design, whether people are having weddings at that point in time…so because the product is so much tied to weather fluctuations and local, cultural conditions, it can one be very frustrating, or two very beautiful.’

Matter doesn’t produce its clothing line by seasons, however. ‘We produce only fixed or key items that stay the same over time,’ she says. That means no spring, autumn or winter collections, or twenty different items per collection. ‘These are the fixed styles, so we’ve accommodated our design to take that into account,’ she says. ‘I think the key lesson for me was that I was struggling a lot with trying to work the artisan production cycle to a model that I knew, and eventually it was just like “Why fight that? Let’s celebrate it”,’ she says. Renyung worked with this to educate the consumer, explaining why it takes four months to restock a piece, or why fabric takes three months to make. ‘We want to explain why that’s different from the polyester you’re wearing, and so on,’ she says.

Talking about the resurgence of consumers wanting to know where they’re getting their food, this interest has bled over to clothing as well. ‘There’s so much behind it you don’t see, and I think people are getting more interested,’ Renyung says. ‘A really good key piece of advice someone gave me in the beginning was “celebrate the good”.’

The making of the ‘Cave’ print.
Requests for collaborations usually stem from social media outreach from those who share the same kind of love for celebrating culture. ‘Someone who approaches us must have a very strong message,’ Renyung states. ‘A very strong story, or a message they want to bring through, and the values are usually around the connectedness of humanity.’

A recent collaboration with Joanna Kambourian, a Dutch-Armenian living in Australia, brought out her great grandfather’s Persian carpet motifs – which carry an incredible history, especially in the Anatolian peninsula. ‘Her grandmother also had blockprinting woodblock in her collection,’ Renyung explains. ‘I think she took from that ancestry and collated a few different motifs, sketched it out and shared it with us.’

After the back-and-forth, it’s then on to the blockprinter, who could also give feedback on things they can or cannot do, and how they might make the design better. ‘It’s kind of like a three-way between us, the artisan who has expertise in producing a beautiful design with a certain process – and has a view on how aesthetically it should look – and then designer who is telling a story of an existing print, and is more connected to a different point of view of how it should look,’ she explains.

‘The typical way you manufacture clothes is you go to one factory, you say “this is the fabric I want”, they get it from the textile mill then it’s produced. In terms of artisan production, it’s a completely different cycle in that sense.’

Nicholas Oxborrow
Owner of Fabulation
Ask Nick what he does, and chances are you won’t hear the full story on the first try. It’s not for a lack of trying, but it’s a bit of everything. ‘It’s our challenge to tell our clients in clever ways that we are an event company, and a florist, stylist, event designers…’ Nick begins when I ask what his boutique events company Fabulation is about.

‘When you go to an event, you want to actually walk through the door and you want that tinge of excitement,’ Nick says. ‘And not “oh no, I’ve got that event to go to”. That’s exactly what Fabulation was born from.’

Fabulation was largely responsible for what ANZA members would’ve seen at the ANZA Puttin’ On the Ritz Ball back in May. The names that’ve come for Nick’s help are expansive. ‘We have brands like Facebook, LinkedIn, and luxury brands like Penfolds…all coming to us for the same kind of thing,’ he says. ‘It’s not just about a flower on a table; it’s the whole conceptualisation of the space.’

‘Then we have clients who come to us and say “Please plan the whole event”,’ he continues. ‘So we’re negotiating with venues and all of the different suppliers that event and venue managers do.’

What a client wants can be complicated, to say the least. ‘It’s through purely being in the business for eight years, in Singapore and just knowing where to get stuff that we know how to just fizzle through and make it work,’ Nick says.

Working with what a client is looking for can be quite a daunting task, and limiting what you can do can be a hindrance. ‘You’ve got to do everything to appease your clients, especially in this environment,’ Nick says. ‘Everyone’s coming to you for different things, and we’re just responding to what our clients need us to do.’

This kind of flexibility comes in handy when there’s the challenge of putting an event on with a lot of historical or cultural rituals to follow. Nick had an Indian wedding where the client was trying to highlight that not all Indian cultures are the same. Fabulation had done an Indian wedding before, and while they hadn’t run that particular kind of Indian wedding, Nick assured her that they’d make the necessary arrangements. ‘Apart from maybe one or two things, an event is exactly the same,’ Nick summarises.

‘Whether it’s a launch for Krug champagne, or a launch of a bride, it’s completely the same. You have flowers, food, chairs, some kind of entrance, an arrival and you’ve got to look after guests. To me, when I look at it, it’s one thing.’

Nicholas Oxborrow.

Born in Singapore, Nick lived an expatriate life with his family here and in Kuala Lumpur, before coming back to Singapore as a teenager – he then continued his studies in the UK. His constant travels meant staying in various hotels, and that’s where Nick caught the designer bug – though at the time he interpreted this as the hospitality bug. ‘I felt like I had a massive longing to work in hotels,’ he says. ‘So I started hotel management, then worked at a hotel and realised I didn’t want to work at a hotel, I wanted to stay in them.’

After studying at Les Roches International School of Hotel Management in Valais, Switzerland, then working in Boston fostered his love for events – American holidays are plentiful and grandiose, meaning a playground for an event designer. ‘I really got into the planning of those events, brunches, parties, the decorations…and that’s where I found I was having a lot of fun,’ he says.

The transition led to working for a catering chef that supplied food to events. His boss wondered why Nick wasn’t putting his styling skills to better use; working for a catering company and an events company are two totally different ballgames.

Thus began the slow evolution of Fabulation. Lecturing for University of Nevada Las Vegas in Singapore on the side meant supplementing income to help grow his business.

Trying to break the stock standard event packages that hotels and restaurants offered organisers interested in using a space for an event was one of Nick’s challenges. ‘If you go outside the box, all of it seems like a completely additional cost, and no one sees it as a necessary component to the event mix,’ Nick says.

The 2016 ANZA Ball. Credit William Dunn Photography.
In the past Nick’s been quoted costs for hiring a space that seem astronomical, and given that running an event can be both beneficial to a client and the hotel itself, seems detrimental to the process. ‘They’re probably just trying their luck, to a point,’ he begins. ‘But what it doesn’t do is gain you any points. I mean, it’s just not logical.’

Having extensive experience in the hotel industry, he has a good idea of costing for different parts of an event, and was able to question the quotes he would get from hotels. ‘It helps me as well, because it helps restaurants and hotels see that I’m also on their side because I’m one of them as well,’ he says. Walking through both the client and hotel through the possibilities is also a great way to build trust.

‘When they say “no” it’s usually because they doesn’t understand how they can say “yes”,’ Nick says. ‘I walk them through that process to get them there.’

The Perth actor gives us a heads up on what to expect at his upcoming show – part of the Fresh Fringe series at M1 Singapore Fringe Festival.

What brought you from studying at UWA in Perth to join LASALLE in Singapore?
It had been my goal to go to drama school, so though I was enjoying my studies at UWA and quite passionate about Classics, I felt like I was marking time there a little bit. Then one of my close friends moved up to Singapore with her parents, and I went up to visit, and we looked at the LASALLE campus together.

I auditioned early in the next year, and particularly after speaking to Edith Podesta, the Programme Leader at the time, I felt like the nature of the training at LASALLE was unique and rigorous, and would help to open up my world and my perspective in a way that might not have happened if I had stayed in Australia.

Had you been to Singapore before coming over to study?
Besides the short trips with my friend in the six months or so before starting at LASALLE, I had been to Singapore with my family in (I think) December 2005. Honestly I remember very little of that trip. I have vague recollections of Orchard Road and Sentosa Island, which by mid-2011 were probably quite different.

You’ve written Chrysanthemum Gate yourself. Could you give a little explanation of what it’s all about?
The show is about shadows of colonialism, games of appropriation, sexual racism, an apparent clash of ‘empires’, and playing dress-up. It’s about [co-star] Chanel and I tearing ourselves down a peg or two. The main thrust of the narrative is of a man and a woman meeting in a hotel room in Singapore to have sex. From there, it sort of implodes.

What brought you to write a piece about contemporary rituals of Singapore’s sexuality, power and race?
Chanel and I wanted to make a work together, and there was a previous play we had been working on with a few other people, called The Other Woman, that dealt a lot with sexual power and the value assigned to race. That work had sort of fallen through – we had decided that it wasn’t ready for production and had all moved on to other projects – but we were still interested in exploring some of those themes. We both felt, having had different experiences of it, that mechanisms of race and racism are highly visible when it comes to sex and dating.

This is very much the case in my experience of Singapore, though it is very apparent in Australia, and all around the world. People are not ashamed to be blatantly racist within the arena of sex and dating. So we wanted to put it all on the surface – use our two bodies and all of the associations around our two bodies – and make a theatrical game out of it.

Colleague and co-star Chanel Ariel Chan. Photo credit: Jon Cancio

You’ve teamed up with an old classmate, Chanel Ariel Chan for this show. What’s it been like to put this performance together?
Having worked together for a number of years, Chanel and I have a common vocabulary when it comes to performance and theatre-making, and a great deal of trust and shared experience. After graduation in April 2014 we continued to work together and after I relocated back to Perth towards the end of 2015 we knew that we still wanted to collaborate. So we started developing this work, her in Singapore and myself in Perth, for Perth Fringe World Festival 2016.

Because of our friendship and working relationship, we were able to stage the show in a short and intense span of rehearsal. And looking at the work afresh for M1 Fringe, after such a long break away from it, was really a joy. I think we can play to one another’s strengths quite well, and we can critique each other without egos getting in the way, and most importantly, we don’t sacrifice the element of fun. Because of course theatre collaborations can be stressful, and rigorous, and challenging, but if they’re not also fun, they’re probably not worth it.

What are you beginning to favour when it comes to creating work for the stage: direction, writing, or performing?
All and none of the above. I think it is possible to do all of them, as many theatre artists do, and considering the economic realities of making theatre, limiting oneself at an early-career stage will not help make a living. All of them offer different challenges and drive me insane in different ways, so variation is also probably a good thing.

What do you think of the Singaporean arts scene compared to Perth?
The Singaporean scene is so racially and linguistically diverse, which is very exciting as an audience member, and I would like to see more work that crosses linguistic boundaries, like a lot of The Necessary Stage’s work or Wild Rice’s recent Hotel. But that is something I miss in Perth, which also has a very diverse population, but not necessarily a diversity that is always reflected in its theatre scene. The other thing, I guess, the elephant in the room in Singapore, is the spectre of approval versus censorship that hangs above all theatre work, which we do not – apparently or visibly – have in Australia.

Funnily enough, I would suggest that this threat, this resistance, actually inspires much more political and provocative work from Singaporean artists than I generally see from Perth theatre-makers (with a few exceptions, as always). I think it would be much rarer to see a work in Perth that is political in the way that so many Singaporean theatre-makers are driven to be. That is probably a generalisation. Otherwise, I would say that both scenes are filled with practitioners and creators that I admire and love and want to work with. And I hope to connect a few of those people and find more opportunities for collaboration.

What do you enjoy the most about the Singapore Fringe Festival?
This year we have seen a lot of push-back against this particular theme, and the programming of the festival, and I will refrain from speaking about whatever people might be taking issue with the programme, but I will say that to me, it proves just how vital and important this kind of work is. Why are we afraid of our own bodies, of the differences between our bodies, of being vulnerable and ‘naked’? I am excited to be amongst bold work that might confront me with my fears or vulnerabilities, or with perspectives or lives totally different from my own.

I can’t praise Artistic Director Sean Tobin enough, I think every year his programming is excellent in its mixture of local and international work, and this year is no exception. So, I enjoy that the festival is dynamic and vital enough to provoke a strong response, and only wish that some people could allow that provocation to come from an open-minded, open-hearted engagement with the work, instead of their fear of what it might be.

What do you hope audiences will take away from seeing Chrysanthemum Gate?
Whatever they like; entertainment, a new perspective, offence, an interesting dream that night. If all they take away is the programme leaflet, that’s okay too. I try not to be too prescriptive about that kind of thing. I’d hope they’d want to have a conversation afterwards.

Chrysanthemum Gate is part of the Fresh Fringe show playing at M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2017 on 14 January.