bring back complaining at the kopitiam
and actual ways to change the world
ditch the cliché fishing port to cityscape time lapse videos, how about an evolution of the singlet-wearing uncle at the kopitiam downstairs having his $1.60 cup of kopi with his wife-beating friends, at least they dared to complain and keep everyone on their toes. now all we have are bucket hat-donning bros at an art space having his $10 cup of filter coffee while trying to sell vegan, mushroom-infused, no added sugar, low-caffeine energy drink. do we really need to be more productive in destroying the world?
you and the pseudo-manager hit it off quite well, scraping the surface of every topic that would make you two sound cultured. when did culture lean less towards community, and more towards consumption? at the end of the day, peeling the top layers of mold only revealed the depth of your rot. unfortunately, we aren’t that big on composting here so you remain as a bad apple sitting amongst the bunch. it doesn’t help that the world is only getting warmer. no one pretends at the kopitiam, especially not with a humble cup of sock coffee in front of them. they scrape the surface of last week’s news, being careful not to say too much lest they reveal all the work they’ve done. instead, they talked about the tv they salvaged and the friends they met while fishing.
you talked about wanting to make singapore a little more fun. what’s so fun about having to get energy from a can because we can’t get enough sleep? you asked about night life, but have you seen the day life that goes on downstairs at the table right under the ceiling fan? the mee pok da is the best. you were excited about the trend of artists moving into warehouses-esque places. i wondered when “forced” became synonymous with “trend”. so, is “progress” synonymous with “white” in your dictionary?
at one point, i swore you were paid to buy votes and not sell drinks when you said “at least the housing situation here is not too bad, look at hong kong”. i’m glad knowing others have it worse makes you feel better. does this mean telling you about the child labour behind your coffee makes it taste sweeter? i’ll make sure to add it in with your order next time. my singlet-wearing uncle, on the other hand, will always have an itch on their back they’ll need someone else to scratch, whether it is their wife, their friends, or the politician that just so happened to be on a walkabout for the upcoming election. maybe add a clip of them buying you your own backscratcher on the “third world to first” time lapse, ctrl + k at the part when you discover the itch was from the bird poop on the chair.
one thing doesn’t change: the women outside the frame. the wives stay at home, just like i stayed at the sink. i washed the dishes so i wouldn’t make things awkward, because all i could think of saying to you was “but i don’t want to be productive”.
reflections from a time someone came to the cafe asking to stock his new drink that would “boost productivity”. he never once used the term “energy drink” though, but let’s be honest…
just tried said energy drink