3rd for today - 2 mothers in a HDB playground - DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES indeed...
Someone asked what is the inner meaning of Arthur Yap's
2 mothers in a HDB playground.
2 is always suggestive of a battle of some sort, or an alliance so which is this? And playground? What normally happens in a playground? Play... I was once pushed off a slide in a playground, so yes I think everyone can relate to fights in playgrounds.
Inner meaning eh? Let me try....Singaporeans are kiasu, Singapore mothers (like many others) only care to boast about their latest purchases and their sons' progress and if others have more, they will find a reason to fault it (toa-soh's sewing machine). There is delicious self-deprecating reference to wealth (such as a sofa too precious to sit on). This poem was written way before streaming came into the picture so you can imagine what Arthur Yap would have made of a concversation between 2 mothers in a HDB playground if they were talking about the primary schools they managed to get their children into. What worry and one-up-manship we would have
All the talk about worrying about the physical development of their children is merely feeding the companion with the notion of the level of their concern. The good mother will worry, won't she?
The two mothers are clearly competitive but they keep to the basic rules of engagement in terms of playground talk - they trade tips about supplements while unerringly referring to their latest symbols of wealth.
The conversation may seem to flow seamlessly from topic to topic but in reality, each mother is trying to steer the conversation to her own advantage and her own advantage only. Of course, the one who manages to end the conversation with a reference to a joy-ride in a new motor-car, wins.
So inner meaning - people love to be richer, smarter than others and their sons like their sofa sets, sewing machines and motor-cars are all mere extensions of their empty lives. The poem has a timelessness - people will still worry about the same things and harp on the same meaningless goals.
2 mothers in a HDB playground.
2 is always suggestive of a battle of some sort, or an alliance so which is this? And playground? What normally happens in a playground? Play... I was once pushed off a slide in a playground, so yes I think everyone can relate to fights in playgrounds.
Inner meaning eh? Let me try....Singaporeans are kiasu, Singapore mothers (like many others) only care to boast about their latest purchases and their sons' progress and if others have more, they will find a reason to fault it (toa-soh's sewing machine). There is delicious self-deprecating reference to wealth (such as a sofa too precious to sit on). This poem was written way before streaming came into the picture so you can imagine what Arthur Yap would have made of a concversation between 2 mothers in a HDB playground if they were talking about the primary schools they managed to get their children into. What worry and one-up-manship we would have
All the talk about worrying about the physical development of their children is merely feeding the companion with the notion of the level of their concern. The good mother will worry, won't she?
The two mothers are clearly competitive but they keep to the basic rules of engagement in terms of playground talk - they trade tips about supplements while unerringly referring to their latest symbols of wealth.
The conversation may seem to flow seamlessly from topic to topic but in reality, each mother is trying to steer the conversation to her own advantage and her own advantage only. Of course, the one who manages to end the conversation with a reference to a joy-ride in a new motor-car, wins.
So inner meaning - people love to be richer, smarter than others and their sons like their sofa sets, sewing machines and motor-cars are all mere extensions of their empty lives. The poem has a timelessness - people will still worry about the same things and harp on the same meaningless goals.
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