1036Singapore real estate, housing, condo apartment "You got Tenant" ad by AsiaHomes Internet.

Properties shown in this report are for rent to expatriates.


1.  Nassim Woods, ground floor $11,500 & $13,500

2.  Newly married expats prefer The Clayton 3+1 1800 sq. ft $5,500


3.  Gallop Gables 4+1 2800 sq. ft  $10,000

4.  HUNTINGTON
NEW CONDO NEAR
DOWNTOWN AND SUBWAY


Completed: Around Aug 2000. 
3-bedroom 1044 sq. ft $3,700. See Hunting $3000 condos

Pool only. 2-minute walk to Novena subway and new mall (ready in 2001).
Cold Storage supermarket across the road. Orchard Road is 2 subway stops away.
Beautiful bright interiors. Low density. Piling said to be done in construction lot.



Note the circular holes next to the white oven. They are meant to store wine bottles, a unique idea for yuppies. Of course, the Developer is a wine expert too. Pastel coloured kitchens always attract Caucasian expatriate tenants.



Living cum dining room in light brown marble and high windows, bringing in light.  Bedroom flooring is laid by wooden strips. 3 apartments per floor.  Maid's room very small.  Around 50 units or so.

You got  Tenant, Painter?


Just a $13.50 fee for 40 words for 90 days in asiahomes.com
which is a major reference for expatriates.

Email your ad to:
Judy@
asiahomes.com

Be passionate if you want to be successful. But what is passion?

It was one of those rainy evenings on Friday October 27 2000.  I did not mind going by bus and on foot to an apartment in Newton as I would be meeting a painter.  I have never met a real painter.

The drizzle streaking under the golden glow of the sodium powered street lights dampened my spirits as I alighted from the bus to cross the overhead bridge from Hotel Royal to the studio.   I tried hard to avoid stepping on the water puddles along the uneven Newton Road so that my shoes would not absorb the water and become damp and smelly later on. 

Yet I could not walk on the side of the road as the cars would splash a big spray of rain water onto me as the evening traffic drivers rushed home.

The painter came by foot too.  Was he a struggling painter giving lessons to the bourgeois?

Singapore car ownership is the most expensive in the world.  It may therefore be an indication of one's poor financial standing if one does not come by car to a meeting.

My hostess had said his paintings were sold by Sotheby's.  He should be good I guess. 

Three lady students showed their paintings to him and received frank criticisms.   Two others did not turn up.  I was the outsider who can't even draw a person.

"Was it an inborn talent to be able to paint so beautifully and be successful?" a new student asked the painter in the midst of stifling several of her yawns due to weariness arising from the long hours of work.

"It would be lots of practices. You got to paint every day, " I guessed.

The painter agreed. He cited one example of a retired Taiwanese doctor who tracked him for help in drawing portraits.  The doctor sent him drawings (taken in a photograph) frequently for criticism and he became very good at portraits.  

"Career people don't have time to practise, unlike non working ladies,' said the yawning girl referring to our gracious hostess who didn't say anything.

"You could find the time if you have the passion," I said. 

Passion is one secret of success. The hostess nodded her head.  But what is passion?

"I was not good at studies. Others took 4 years and I took 7 years" continued the painter.  I  was eleven years old when I was enrolled in an arts class.

One day, the teacher  brought 20 mangosteens for the students to draw. After making a sketch on the blackboard, he would cover his face with a cap and take a nap.  The teacher was renowned in China such that the school principal dared not be strict with him."

As the painter was short and stubby, he was in the front row and had a good view.  He quickly drew 4 mangoes and continued with the catapult shooting of classmates.

This was great fun. The green bean seeds used to shoot each other was such great fun. Painting was just hard work no matter how you look at it.  What do you expect of a 11-year old boy?

One bean ricocheted from the table and hit the teacher in the Adam's apple of his neck. He woke up and the painter's collar was grabbed. His end was near. 

"Have you finished your drawing, boy?" he yanked the painter with one hand and swirling his cane with the other. 

Caning was imminent as the drawing of 4 mangosteens in the teacher's style was offered.  He was supposed to draw 20 mangosteens, like the others.

"It is a very good drawing!" exclaimed the teacher.  It was awarded a prize.  

Well, since this was the first and only time any teacher had said he was good, the painter was motivated to learn more.

But there was no money to study at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts which charged $45 for a 3-month course.

Forty five dollars came from a beggar whom he carried errands for during mahjong sessions. Singapore did have many beggars many years ago; now there are none.  The benefactor was nowhere to be found after 3 months but he was permitted to hang out for another 8 months.  At that time,  only certain teachers were permitted to sell to foreigners and there was one teacher whose works were in great demand by foreigners.  He produced the same style and sold his for as much as eighty dollars.

But the teacher could was not able to explain to him how the paintings were produced. As my Mandarin was not that good, I guessed he was referring to how the teacher got his inspiration rather than how to paint.    

Somebody recommended the painter books to read. 

What sort of books?  Books on Marxism and Leninism.  These were beliefs in a classless and stateless society where property is owned by the State.

"Are you a believer in communism then?" I asked. It was an ideology much opposed by the Singapore Government in the 1950s and sure to guarantee visits and maybe imprisonment from the Internal Security Department.  I didn't expect to meet an established painter with a communist ideology.  This is the year 2000 and communism has not proven to be the utopia for the ordinary people.

"The government people used to visit me regularly and asked whether I have had renounced Communism," the painter said.  "Please brain wash me again," was the painter's reply.  He was beyond redemption I would think.

The painter was invited to reside in Taiwan.  It was surprising that a strong anti-communism country, would invite a communist to migrate there. He would have gone but his wife preferred Singapore.

He must be a talented artist as he was given Singapore permanent residence despite his ideology and lack of Singapore political connections.  I would expect that the government would not give permanent residence to strong advocates of communism.

"Will you travel to China now?" the government people asked after the oath taking.  China was a Mecca for communism and I presume the government people kept track of visits to China.  The painter went. He got another visit on his return.  

"How was China?" asked the government people.
 
"The living conditions were terrible" 

"I told you so," said the government people vindicated He was rewarded for his persistence and follow up.

It would not be respectful to ask the painter what he thought of communism now that his paintings fetched over $50,000.

In the communism belief, his paintings should belong to the State and all earnings should go the State. This painter must have talent. 

His passion for painting overcame all deprivations of having no money to pay the school fees. He had mentors in the beggar and the teachers at Nanyang Fine Arts. However he would not have been successful if he had no passion to develop his painting skills.  It would be hard work and full time.

Would the 3 ladies have the same passion?  The hostess had the talents but would she have the passion and persistence? 

The air conditioner in the wall spluttered and spewed water droplets onto the lady sitting nearby.  We shifted our table a bit to continue the discussion on art.
 
"What good are nude paintings of girls? You can't hang it in your house," commented my gracious hostess.

I asked a lady doctor friend about her views later. 

"Give me the $50,000 nude painting and I will hang it up in my living room immediately," she laughed. She was from a younger generation, a different world of values.

Would you do the same thing readers?

Article dedicated to a bohemian AW.

Passion is hard to define but you need to have it if you want to be successful in whatever you do.
Singapore Family Stories supported by AsiaHomes Internet.