We Organized TC in Parliament 2 in Singapore

In 2000, together with my husband, Colin Goh, we started a rather silly web site called TalkingCock.com. I have to explain that this is not actually as rude as it sounds in Singlish (Singapore English). To “talk cock” means to chat with friends, shoot the breeze, talk nonsense.

In 2006, we organised the very first TalkingCock in Parliament together with Ooga Chaga and PLU as part of IndigNation, a season to celebrate the LGBT community in Singapore.

Inspired by The Moth in New York City, every speaker would tell a 5-minute personal story on a theme. The theme was ‘We the Citizens’ and was meant to showcase how everyone, not just gay people, can stray from the official picture of what it means to be a Singaporean.

Anyway, it succeeded beyond our wildest expectations, with speakers like Hossan Leong, Alex ‘Yawning Bread’ Au, Mr. Brown and everyday people like you and I, which was very important to us. You can find blurry footage of this on YouTube.

But 6 years later, we stopped updating TalkingCock.com, after Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong mentioned us in his National Day Rally address (kind of like the State of the Union Address in the U.S.). We had become legit, so we felt it was time to move on to newer things.

Last month, we were back in Singapore when we were just chatting with our pal, Mr. Brown, Singapore’s most influential blogger, and thought,  how about doing TalkingCock in Parliament 2 while we were still in Singapore, just for the heck of it?

And so, we did it … we announced it on mrbrown.com just two days before the event, and by the day of the event, Friday the 13th, we were shocked when a huge crowd turned up for the event. Mr. Brown had to tweet to his followers by 6.01pm that the venue was completely packed and we simply could not seat anyone else for the event that would start at 7pm.

Thanks to the wonderful speakers and the very lively and responsive audience, it was another memorable night of “talking cock”. This year’s theme: “Malu Lah Singapura – tales of embarrassment, shame and facial loss”. Our fantastic speakers were:

BENJAMIN LEE aka MR MIYAGI - one of Singapore’s earliest superstar bloggers, he now he puts words into the mouths of some of Singapore’s best comedians.  He’s written for Kumar, Irene Ang and Hossan Leong.  But not many people know that before all this, he taught Ralph Macchio how to fight karate.

MARC NAIR A former civil servant, he now writes poetry, takes photographs, teaches creative writing and is organising Lit Up 2012, a literary arts festival held from 22nd to 29th July. He says he’s still civil, just no longer a servant.

CHRISTINE CHIA - Christine’s first book of poetry, The Law of Second Marriages, was picked by Cyril Wong of the Straits Times as his favourite book of 2011.  He said “it is so wonderfully dark and damaged, and yet so hopeful all at the same time.” Meanwhile no less than Alfian Sa’at called this one of his “favourite collections of poetry in recent times.”

NG YI-SHENG - We got to know Yi-Sheng because we wrote the foreword to his incredibly moving book, SQ21. He’s a full-time reporter and writer, although he also teaches at NTU and he also organises an arts event every last Tuesday of the month at Blujaz Cafe called SPORE Art Salon.  He also wishes to inform everyone that he is ‘very, very gay’ and models nude for art classes.  Unfortunately, that night he had to perform clothed.

IMRAN JOHRI - one of the most talented people we know.  If we had the budget, we would give him his own show, magazine, even action figures. He writes, he does comedy, he does all sorts of martial arts, he even used to be the editor in chief of the Peak in Hong Kong.  Today, he says he’s a corporate drone.  But a corporate drone who can kick your ass and correct your spelling. At the same time!

PAMELA THAM – a teacher with more angst than her students!

PAUL ANANTH TAMBYAH – A writer who has written such important and unputdownable works such as Dengue hemorrhagic fever transmitted by blood transfusion for the New England Journal of Medicine, and Severe acute respiratory syndrome from the trenches, at a Singapore university hospital for the Lancet.  He is also a teacher and just to spoil market, a doctor.  He says that he’d hoped to become famous as an infectious disease specialist, but he wound up becoming more famous for a speech on healthcare and politics given at Boat Quay during GE 2011. Please welcome the former Head of the Infectious Diseases Division at Singapore’s National University Hospital, Associate Prof Paul Ananth Tambyah.

BALJIT SEKHON - After running Harry’s Bar and Beaujolais Winebar, Baljit went on to take on one of the most important and stressful jobs in Singapore. He used to train students at SHATEC.  He’s since left Shatec to join Suntec, where he’s got the title of Service Quality Mentor, sort of like the hospitality industry equivalent of Minister Mentor.

KF SEETOH - Some people no need introduction, but we’re going to give him one anyway.  If the Gahmen has any cow sense, they would give him a public service award or even ambassadorship.  Maybe even erect a statue of him in Geylang.  He introduced Rene Redzepi, the chef of Noma in Copenhagen, supposedly the best restaurant in the world at the moment, to the delights of roti prata.  He brought Ferran Adria, the god of molecular gastronomy, to eat zi cha in Geylang. He brought Anthony Bourdain to eat crab beehoon.  He has the biggest balls in the culinary world, and we all love him because he loves Singapore food so much – the master of Makansutra – KF Seetoh!

WOFFLES WU - The internationally renowned plastic surgeon and ossibly the reason behind tonight’s event.  We were flying into Singapore, when I saw a newsflash with his name on it.  And then when we touched down, we got an email from him, gingerly asking, “Have you seen me in the news?” No matter what you think of what transpired, the true story behind what happened is much, much more interesting than what’s been reported in our media, and I hope someday he gets to share it.  He’s lost a lot of face, but thank goodness, he’s a plastic surgeon.

ADRIAN TAN  - Adrian wishes everyone to know that he is a keen sportsman. Football, golf, rugby, triathlons, rock climbing, mixed martial arts… he has watched them all on TV.  He’s also involved in TV.  He writes for possibly the best local series on Channel 5, ‘The Pupil’, examining law from a Singapore perspective. But he’s perhaps better known for his iconic novels which have shaped more than one generation, the Teenage Textbook and the Teenage Workbook. In his spare time, he volunteers at the Singapore Association for the Visually Handicapped.

MR & MRS BROWN - No Singapore event would be complete without a representative of the Lee family, and we are very honored tonight to have not just the founding father of Singaporean cyberspace, but the First Couple. They’re not men in white, they prefer a different colour… Together for the first time onstage… Mr Lee Kin Mun and Madam Chau Chin Nee: Mr and Mrs Brown!

Thanks again, everyone!  The footage should be up soon!

- Yen Yen

Photographs by Gabriel The (thank you!).