Terkel & HOCC
I’m reading Terkel.
It was quite accidental how I found out about him. My friend Dan brought two books with him at a coffee session, and he wanted to talk to me about Mishima cos’ he knew I was reading some of his stuff. We chat a little about Mishima and I asked him what’s the other book he has with him, and it was Terkel’s “Working”. Dan told me Terkel went around and talked to people about their works and recorded it down with a tape recorder, so it was an oral history of people from different class and ranks talked about what they love and loathe about their works. There are CEO, janitor and heck, even a hooker that was interviewed. I wanted to hear these stories, hoping that I could be inspired. There have been too many voices around me recently, talking about how things should be done to ensure myself a better life ahead. I feel loved and cared for, and yet slightly smothered. I wish I am a little more cocksure about stuff sometimes, you know, like those folks that always seem to know what they want, job and future. But no, I am always so unsure. I’m a cynic, I guess that’s why I hung on to religion for quite a long time, hoping that the demon of cynicism could be exorcised if I am closer Lord to Thee. However with this current distant relationship I have with X, more often than not I turned to my friends these days. On a positive note, I get many perspective to help me weight the possibilities. On the negative side, I felt like a dinghy stuck out at sea being blown in different directions by the wind. In reading I find slight solace. Probably the next thing I need to do is to practice the habit of long walks again.
I have not started on “Working” yet, instead I am reading “Hope Dies Last”. Its about little people fighting the waves of changes in trouble times. How appropriate for me. But most of all, it’s about doing the right thing in these trouble times, to stand against injustice and create a better future for self and others.
“Activism need not be a profession in itself, as it is in many cases (in the book) here. It can be in the writing of a letter to the editor or to your congressperson; it can be in taking part in a local action or a national one or, for that matter, a worldwide one; it can be in attending a rally or marching in a parade; it can be in any form, freely expressing your grievance or your hope.” ‘Hope Dies Last’, pg. xvii, Studs Terkel.
When I read the quote above, HK singer HOCC 何韵诗 came to my mind. She has just released her latest album called “Ten Days In the Madhouse”. It’s a concept album with a lot of social themes. Her first single 青山黛玛 is about the mental ill, and it has an interesting video. She was also involved in a short documentary called "The Decameron" 十日谈, it's about marginalized people in HK society. I see in her as an example of someone using art in expressing her grievances and hopes for the society. And she has always been one of them artist that’s a little more adventurous in her works and crafts.
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