DESPITE MAKING numerous trips to the island state over the years, I have only stayed in two homes there, neither of which belonged to Singaporeans. Three years ago, as part of Singapore International Festival of Arts (Sifa), “Open Homes” took me to visit two condominium units in a northwestern district where owners shared their personal stories, with help from facilitating professional theatre artists. And so when I heard that “Open Homes” was back as part of this year’s Sifa, I made sure that my trip to the festival coincided with this latest episode.

The first programme, “Bak Serumpun Serai Yang Banyak Gunanya” (“Like the useful lemongrass cognates”), took me to visit a Housing and Development Board public housing estate in Clementi, owned by an elderly bachelor of Malay heritage Mohamad Mustain Bin Abdul Shukor. Outside in the hallway, he first showed us his plants, especially the lemongrass of which he’s most proud. Once inside, a collection of souvenirs he’s been collecting from his numerous trips, including many on a Japan-Asean friendship boat, spoke volumes about his personal history. In his kitchen, he showed us how he made lemongrass tea. But the highlight was his sewing room kitted out with antique sewing machines, inherited from his ancestors and still working, on which he makes traditional and modern clothes for himself and others. The programme ended with Malay snacks, desserts, salted eggs and of course lemongrass tea.

Three home-schooling mothers shared their passion for embroidery.

The afternoon programme titled “Tapestry of Love” took me to a small landed residence in Bukit Merah where three home-schooling mothers of different backgrounds – Tong May Yee, Evelyn Sam and Claire Lim – shared stories of how they got together. This was due to an interest in the art of embroidery, which has been passed down to them from the previous generations. They showed us simple daily objects, like blankets, that are filled with family history and which reflected the history of this young country. The third mother brought along her mother who’s originally from China and could only speak Mandarin. Admittedly, I have a very soft spot for kids and old people and so when their kids got up in the living room and sang a song that concluded their mothers’ stories, as melodramatic and predictable as they were, my eyes turned watery.

These performers in living-room theatres are not professionally trained, and yet thanks to their passion and sincerity in storytelling coupled with professional theatre artists’ guidance and Jeffrey Tan’s curation, their stories are worth our time and attention.

In his sewing room, Mohamas Mustain Bin Abdul Shukor shows us a historic wardrobe and what’s inside

And so,the notion of a multicultural and yet peaceful city state was also confirmed, though it must be remembered that its one political party recently won a landslide victory and that one needs to ask for permission before staging a demonstration. My Sunday morning and afternoon were indeed well spent, far away from where I might have been on a typical weekend, joining Singaporeans at shopping malls and looking for signs with the four-letter magic word “SALE”.

It’s noteworthy that Sifa is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, and “Open Homes”, intentionally or not, hit all the three keywords spot-on. The way that in different countries culture pairs with different aspects of the government system is also interesting – some with tourism, others with sports. I recall when ours was to about be founded, it was suggested that religion should also be in the name.

But as we all know, what’s in a name? Much more significant is the fact that culture is a way of living, not merely national heritage or high-brow foreign arts that not many people can understand or appreciate.

And if it needs the cooperation of more than two ministries to make this happen, let our tax money make sure it that does.

The writer’s trip was supported by Arts House Limited. Special thanks to Tay Tong and Mervyn Quek

ON AND OFF STAGE

SIFA now has a new director Gaurav Kripalani, artistic director of Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT), who will be at the helm until 2020. Among his many exciting projects is “Monuments Series”, in which artists create site-specific works at some of the 72 buildings gazetted as national monuments.

Keep track at http://www.SIFA.sg.