Siem Reap, Cambodia
Feb. 8 - 12, 2013

When my brother suggested that we escape the craze of the Chinese New Year, Siem Reap was the last thing on our mind but the historical aspects were alluring. Besides, none of us had been there before. The trip took place on Feb 8 - 12, 2013 and for 2 days, we hired a guide who came highly recommended by Jerry Low, a Tripadvisor.com blogger who happens to be my cousin. A trip to Siem Reap is never complete without a visit to the amazing Angkor Wat and Ta Phrom, with their splendid architecture and bas-relief decorations. A trip to the Angkor National Museum is another gem in this Cambodian city. Although French imperialists and looters had removed what worth worth a visit. The busloads of tourists are a clear sign that the historical temple is in fact a gold edifice in and of itself. A visit to the Cambodia Cultural Village on Feb 10 was swift due to the massive human traffic and heat but the visit to the Angkor National Museum was a lot more soothing due to the air-conditioned interior. However, a day tour was quite enough due to the concern of suffering from "temple fatigue" as well as the considerations of my mother's physical conditions. A whole town is abuzz with tourism. As a result, many industries are born and revived: artisans, crafty entrepreneurs, aspiring performers as well as hotels, guesthouses, bicycle rentals, souvenir shops, spas and just about any other service imaginable, both legal and illegal.

The Chinese CCTV channel is a staple in rooms, together with CNN, BBC, Aljazeera, just to name a few. Simplified Chinese characters at the airport in addition to the English letters on signage are clear signs that mainland Chinese visitors are a staple to the country and the South Koreans and not to be outdone, they built the international airport at Siem Reap and there must be a huge community that noticeable Korean mini marts as well as Chinese owned souvenir shops selling wood carvings are peppered across the town area. Not to be left behind, the Indians and Japanese have also exerted their influence by contributing to the renovation projects at the Angkor Wat. According to the tour guide, Ms Chea Sokach, that while the Koreans help to build roads and the airport, they are also the forces behind companies to recuperate their expenses. The markets, namely Old Market and Angkor Night Market offer labyrinths of stalls selling all types of tempting goods ranging from hammock, oils, sunglasses, chiseled Buddhas, symbolic phallus and vagina gods, clothes, postcards, key chains and so forth. The prices are very reasonable and since all transactions are conducted in US dollars, it seems reasonable to pay little for so much. Not really... as a short ride to the hotel on a tuk tuk pulled by a motorcyclist is US$2 and be prepared to haggle when it is beyond the Siem Reap Town area. In general, the people are friendly, mild mannered and not as aggressive and commercialized as those in Bangkok although to the uninitiated, this Cambodian city looks and feels like Thai culture. The tour guide was quick to point out that Cambodia was once larger than the present state and due to internal conflicts, civil wars and foreign invaders from Thailand, Vietnam and Laos, the current state has been reduced to its present borders which it shares with these neighboring countries. The Tonle Sap freshwater lake tour was challenging for my mother as the ramp leading to the diesel-run boat was steep but both my brother and I were more relieved than happy that she managed to do so. It was eye opening to see that a number of "stateless" Vietnamese and Cham communities without passports and identity cards who have been dwelling on the lake for several generations on villages built on stilts. They have chosen not to return to their homeland when the elderly passed on, they bury the bodies on exposed part of the wetland. When the river flow changes direction twice a year, graves are covered under water for some 6 months.

On the 1st day of the Chinese New Year which fell on the 10th of Feb, there was lion dance performance to usher in the New Year and firecrackers were lit. Our tour guide is a 3rd generation Teochew (a dialectical group from southern China province of Guangzhou) whose somewhat heavy Cambodian accented Mandarin was discernible to us. According to her, some 30% of the population are Chinese and most of them are from the dialectical group of Teochew. The hotel owner where we stayed at is a Teochew by our guess whereby there is always the staple of porridge with salted veggie and fried Chinese hams. We were glad that due to the request for a Mandarin-speaking guide, they sent a female tour guide which in our opinion is more caring than a male. She was compassionate, caring and showed us the "Kodak moments" spots. Due to our mother's mobility issues, she helped to plan and revise our original trip ambitious. The best part was that she helped us to find quiet corners at the restaurant, away from tourists that are boisterous and rowdy (you know from where!) At the end of her service, she was tipped US$30 for her service in addition to her $25 per day charge. It was more than the usual tipping rate but Ah Gek (the tour guide's Teochew name) was worth it!

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Originally posted: February 13, 2013

Guwahati, India
Mar 5 - 11, 2013

Typography Day 2013 conference was successfully held at the Department of Design, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT Guwahati) from March 7 - 9, 2013. On the first day, participants rolled up their sleeves for workshops followed by two days of conference that includes presentations of invited keynote speakers, eminent academicians, blind juried papers, industries, research scholars and students. The program also hosted an exhibition of selected posters and Typographic works of students and faculty members from Design Institutes in India. It was truly an honor to address the conference as a keynote speaker on the opening day. The title of my topic was "Universality - how display typography transcends boundaries to communicate visually without the hassle of understanding a specific language." Initially, I was scheduled on the 2nd day but the first day speaker was absent due to health-related issues. After weeks of preparation, I was confident to wrap up the talk within 40 minutes but nobody stopped me as I went on for 70 minutes! They must have been either been respectful or entertained or both. With a theme of display typography, visuals of signages, police cars, advertisements, with theoretical groundings of experience design with the focus on meaning by Nathan Shedroff was expounded. Such generalizations were meant way to generalize with objectives to expose the opportunities and ramifications of universality in display typography yet the focus is still on the aesthetical, demographical, geographical, as well as contextual and practical ramifications of expressive typography from different parts of the world. It was a delight to see such dedications from the students whom are probably grateful to enter a highly competitive program. Some half a million students applied but only 1% (5,000) students were offered placements in the 7 branches at the prestigious Department of Design at the IIT.

That wasn't the only phenomenon that caught my attention as I noticed that India has a heterogeneous view in academic standings where purist in the Devanagari text daringly challenged the organizers who are the major financial sponsors of the event. Attendees not only raise hands to ask questions, seek clarifications and some even offer their viewpoints--something that is rarely seen in Singapore. I was flattered that attendees praised my opening keynote presentation as informative, relevant, practical and entertaining. I interacted with undergraduate, Masters' and PhD students who sought advise for not just their topics, students but also directions in life. It was as though I was a guru. More importantly, the event saw a reunion between Dr D. Udaya Kumar who is now an organizer of the event and an assistant professor at the host university, Dr Girish Dalvi with Yahoo and Santosh Kshirsagar of Aksharaya, a professor at the Sir J.J. Institute of Applied Arts whom I met at the University of Nicosia in 2010. In short, I have made more friends in a few days during the event than I ever did in a year in Singapore. The students are dedicated and super friendly and helpful while the delegates are warm and courteous. I look forward to future events because India has always been charming to me where I see rawness of life, vivid colors in life worn by its people, splendor in culture translated into historical buildings and palaces.

Original posting: March 14, 2013
More here about the conference.

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