mrbrown and family have an art attack weekend

Over the weekend, the wife said to me, "I entered Joy for a Spot Art Competition and you're coming with me."

For a moment, I was wondering what kind of art competition based itself on drawing spots. Then I realized it was an on-the-spot art competition, held within walking distance of our home. 

I figured it was a good way to get the kids out of the house on a Saturday afternoon, so we grabbed Joy's art bag, my six-year-old Isaac, and Singapore's Next Top Artist, Joy, and walked over to the apartment block down the road.

It turned out to be much bigger than we expected. The art thing was merely one part of a larger affair. It was called the rather long name of "Paya Lebar Emergency Preparedness Day Cum Emergency Evacuation Exercise." 

I felt a little cheated, to be honest. What I thought was a little art competition for kids turned out to be this big quasi-political public education event. But since we were here, we decided to make the best of it. So into the circus my family walked.

Residents' Committee cum event organizer

The Paya Lebar area is where we live and this kind of event is usually organized by what are called "grassroots" organizations which tend to be aligned with the ruling party/government in Singapore.

Our Residents' Committee or RC (part of the, ahem, "grassroots" movement) are pretty active and they organize block parties, outdoor karaoke sessions, and in this case, the Paya Lebar Emergency Preparedness Day Cum Emergency Evacuation Exercise. 

In fact, they seem very fond of cum-like events, like Parents' Day Cum Anti-Terrorism Day, Block Party Cum Mother's Day Celebration, and my favorite, the Residents' Committee Rice Dumpling Festival Celebrations Cum Breakfast with Member of Parliament.

I am still trying to figure out what kind of breakfast one has with one's MP at that last event.

We registered Joy for her art competition and then realized how unprepared we were. For one thing, no seats or tables were provided at the void deck. A void deck is the open space on the ground floor of our public flats where signs like "No Football", "No Skateboarding", "No Littering" and "No Motorbike Parking" are found. It is commonly used for weddings, funerals and today, a spot art competition.

Organized chaos

Some families, obviously seasoned veterans of the "grassroots" art competition scene, came with their own mini-tables and chairs. Others brought a mat for their kids to sit on. We brought nothing. So off I went to hijack a few stackable chairs to create a makeshift table for Joy to draw on.

The organizers gave out the drawing for the younger kids to color, while the older kids were to draw something based on a theme. 

It was quite a sight, the entire void deck filled with kids drawing and painting, some sprawled on the concrete floor, some sitting on their fancy portable chairs. Parents stood by proudly, some offering artistic advice, while an organizer reminded us over the loudspeaker that parents should not help their kids in any way. 

I left the wife to keep an eye on Joy as she happily painted her assigned drawing. Unknown to us, Joy also packed her own "apron", a shopping bag made of recycled rice sack material.

"That's my shopping bag!" my wife said in surprise.

"Looks like she has made it her painting apron now," I laughed. "You can probably get it back when her head is too big to fit the hole where the handle is."

Killer litter and junk food

I took Isaac to the other booths to look at the displays set up by the police and fire department folks, picking up an Emergency Preparedness booklet and trying stuff like CPR. I let him jump in the inflatable castle with the other kids for a while, and then we tried out some of the games designed to teach the public important life lessons like how to Stop Killer Litter. 

At the Killer Litter booth, kids were given little toy guns with suction darts to shoot at miniature potted plants made from cardboard. The lesson they wanted us to internalize, it seems, was not to place our potted plants on the ledge where they can fall off and kill some innocent bloke on the first floor. Isaac hit none of the targets but was given a pack of cheese-based junk food, which he finished within seconds.

When Joy was done coloring her Pièce de Résistance, the wife submitted it for her, and I felt it was time to go home. But the kids wanted to see the magic show by some clown, so we lingered a little longer.

After the Karaoke Session Cum Magic Show on the stage, I saw a Lion Dance troupe gather at one corner of the event, and my sixth sense told me it was time to go. Sure enough, the drums and cymbals kicked in, the Chinese lion pranced like it was Chinese New Year (it wasn't), and grassroots leaders and uniformed officers stood in a row to welcome the VIP of the event, our MP. 

"Nap time!" I declared, and gathered my flock to make our way home, stopping along the way for Isaac to take a photo with some really friendly firemen who were about to start their Emergency Evacuation demonstration.

I am not sure if I walked away feeling more "Emergency-Prepared" but the kids enjoyed themselves, and it took care of a Saturday afternoon. Next time though, I am going to make sure the wife knows what she's signing us up for when she enters Joy for another art competition cum .