Little India – Go with the Flo

Watching ‘Kabali’ – this year’s Kollywood blockbuster

Flo — Sun, 24 Jul 2016 06:44:19 +0000

Most of you are probably familiar with Bollywood movies. However, what few non-Indians know is that besides the Bollywood movies coming from Mumbai, there is a second movie capital in Chennai. The Tamil film industry, nicknamed Kollywood after the Kodambakkam area of Chennai, is famours for its movies with action and stunt scenes.

The biggest star in the industry, Rajinikanth, is one of Asia’s highest paid actors and stars in Kabali, this year’s Kollywood blockbuster. The movie takes place in Kuala Lumpur, hence the Malaysian and Singaporean Tamil population (around 7% of the population) have been quite excited in the past weeks. Air Asia even painted an aircraft to promote the movie.

Tickets went on sale only about 24 hours before the first screening due to the pending rating by the Media Development Authority Of Singapore. I was lucky to be among the first to book a ticket online before the servers crashed when the booking site opened.

So last Saturday night six of us (almost the only non-Tamils) in the cinema went to see the movie. It was quite a cultural experience. When Rajini first appeared on the screen, the entire theatre was cheering. We enjoyed the movie but probably won’t be watching a Kollywood movie every weekend from now on. Go see it if you get the chance!

Kabali ads outside Rex Cinema

Kabali is the only movie that Rex is showing at the time – there was even at show at 4.15am due to popular demand

Impressions from the Thaipusam procession in Singapore

Flo — Tue, 26 Jan 2016 13:37:06 +0000

This past weekend the Hindu festival of Thaipusam was celebrated in Singapore (as a matter of fact, everywhere with a sizable Tamil population). I had missed it last year and wanted to make sure to get a glimpse at it this time.

I won’t go into much detail regarding the purpose and origin of the festival. If you are interested, you are best off reading the Wikipedia article about it. But basically devotees pray to god Murugan to help them overcome obstacles they face in life. An old tradition, that may seem unique to people not accustomed to it, is that of piercing one’s body for the procession as the photos below show.

The mood was very festive and I was told that for the first time in several decades, live music was allowed by the government. The sun was out without a single cloud in the sky, meaning it was very hot already in the morning hours. While I just saw a fraction of the 4km procession from Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple in Serangoon Road to the Sri Thendayuthapani Temple in Tank Road, I was glad I went to see it.

Thaipusam procession Singapore 2016

The Night Guard of the Indian Heritage Centre

Flo — Wed, 04 Nov 2015 15:06:18 +0000

A few months back, the Indian Heritage Centre opened here in Little India. If you haven’t been, I can highly recommend it.

I was passing by it the other night and had to smile at what looked like the night guard at the (beautiful) front door:

No way past him