SIFA 2025 :: ‘The Sea and the Neighbourhood’

I loved it that the Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) built a pavilion at Bedok Town Square and held its Festival Opening Night there as well. The Opening Show is ‘The Sea and the Neighbourhood’. It is a a multi-disciplinary collaboration with Philip Tan and The Orchestra of the Music Makers, Christina Chan and Singapore Ballet, and vocalists Claire Teo and Mathilda D’Silva.  

The orchestral piece 'Ode to the Sea' and the dance 'Pact of Water' have separate names, but they all came together in one cohesive show as ‘The Sea and the Neighbourhood’, along with visual artist Wang Ruobing's installation 'Beneath Tide, Running Water' that's integrated as part of the stage at this pavilion.  

What a fabulous Opening Show!!! I was pleased to run into many friends whom I hadn't seen for a while. Sure, we're in touch via social media and texts, but it was way more fun to catch up very quickly IRL. SIFA is always a festival in which I get to see all the friends, especially those who flew in to watch the shows!

Bedok Town Square is extremely friendly for Choya to attend too. So she put a batik sailor bow and came along. She wasn't the least bit perturbed, except when the flashbulbs went off as the Guest of Honour arrived and did his rounds. The flashes were non-stop for ten minutes and The poor girl thought it was lightning, that well, preceded thunder. I'm very proud of Choya. She got plenty of attention and head rubs from all her aunties and uncles, kor-kors and jie-jies. She didn't mind that one bit tonight; she was in a super sociable mood.

The SIFA team that organized this post-show reception is a gem. Whose idea was it to have chilled sugarcane juice? That was so awesome. I couldn't resist post-show nibbles of the cutest nasi lemak and vegan otak, and vegetarian rojak. I was really tickled by the 'white rojak' because that was all freeze-fried. It really felt like Choya's food. 

I loved the venue and the whole concept the SIFA Pavilion at Bedok Town Square. I was very tickled by the backdrop of hawker stalls. We’ve never attended a performance in which the scents of kway chap, satay and Hokkien mee wafted by intermittently. Belachan too. Hahahaha.

I had stared at that signboard for spinach soup for the past two hours, before the show and after. Everyone else had been staring at different signboards of the stalls at the hawker center in the background. We all decided that we would get supper. So we did. I got spinach soup. Heh. It was really satisfying.