February 2015

February15

Email us at

info@expatliving.sg

Best Letter

We want to hear from you! Send us your thoughts on

the magazine, or on any subject under the sun. For

telling us how

Expat Living

helped her arrange her

wedding and set up home in Singapore,

Grace Wee

wins a bottle of champagne.

Home from Home

Paul and I moved from

London to Singapore

for his work a couple

of years ago, which

happened to coincide

with the time when

we were planning to

get married and set

up home together.

The first

Expat Living

that caught my eye

was the June 2012

edition; it had a

special feature on

getting married in Singapore, with a lot of helpful advice

and recommendations.

When we found our new home, we used your

magazine for ideas and inspiration on furniture and

décor – from outdoor furniture to dining tables and more.

Now that we’re completely settled in, we’re absolutely

loving our new home. Looking at our flat this evening,

I realised how much of it has been inspired by your

articles and suggestions, and how

Expat Living

has

touched our lives over the past two years.

We would like to take this opportunity to say a big

thank you to your editorial team for a job that is truly

well done!

Grace Wee

Ed: Thank you for your lovely

email. It’s very important

to us to know that we are

helping people settle in

and create a home they’re

happy in!

Holiday Spirit

I read your interview with photographer Carolyn

Strover in the January 2015 issue and found one of

Carolyn’s comments to be quite inspirational. She

said: “Despite having so much on my shoulders,

despite being so busy with my work and children,

there’s a small part of me that feels I’m on holiday

every day.”

I know of very few women who would share this

sentiment when they have three kids to raise single-

handedly and a full-time career. Personally, the only

time I’ve felt on holiday was when I was on holiday!

I must commend Carolyn on her work and on her

positive spirit. Keep it up, Carolyn!

Priyanka Dasgupta

Roaring Success

I simply loved “Fire in

the Belly”, your January

2015 article by Katie

Rober ts about the

dragon kiln at Jungle

Pottery. Though I’d

visited the place before

and even bought a

few well-priced plant

pots from the massive

warehouse, I never really grasped the artistic and

cultural significance of the kiln itself.

It’s also encouraging to know that interest in the

dragon kiln has been revived in tandem with a revival

of ceramic art in Singapore. Long may it continue!

Victoria Thomas

LETTERS

Readers’ thoughts and

comments about

STUDIOSHOWCASE

HOME

January15

CAROLYN STROVER is an

interestingmix – third culture kid

(TKC), professional photographer

and singlemother of three swave-

boarding teens.

VerneMaree

met

upwithherat theBotanicGardens

apartment that isalsoher studio.

FORM

FOLLOWS

FUNCTION

PhotographybyCarolynStrover

POTTERY

133

January15

Historyof thekiln

Built in 1940, Thow Kwang

was based on a traditional

Chinesedesign thatdatesback

thousands of years. It was one

of up to 20 kilns that produced

the clay latex cups used in the

rubber plantations that were

dotted around the island. Local

white clay was freely available

in the area. As the plantations

closed, demand for the cups

waned, so the kilns turned to

making ceramic pots. When

demand forpotsdropped,many

of the kilns closed.But a revival

in the community’s interest in

potting in the early 2000s saw

two kilnsgaspback to life.

Yulianti Tan’s father-in-law

bought thekiln in1965,and she

nowoperates itwithherhusband.

Shehasbeeneducatingpeople

about the kiln for 16 years and

raising awareness, particularly

among young people, about

pottery-making, thekiln’sheritage

and culture, and the unique

effects that come from firing in

thedragonkiln.

how Kwang is one of two

surviving dragons kilns in

Singapore; both are in the

same street, owing to their

proximity to the white clay that was

once used on site. Known colloquially

as Jungle Pottery, Thow Kwang’s lush

and spacious grounds have formany

years been home to a one-stop shop

for ceramicpots, lamps, tableware and

more.What’s not sowell known is the

significance and provenance of the

historic dragon kiln thatwas once part

of a flourishing ceramics industry. It’s

nowat thecentreofa revival inceramic

arton the island.

Last year, the leases of both Thow

Kwang and neighbouring Guan Huat

kiln were renewed for nine years after

an active campaign to protect their

heritagevalue fromurbanencroachment.

The local and international artistic

communities are now drawn to Thow

You’dbe forgiven for thinkingSingapore’shistory is fastdisappearing

underanavalancheofseeminglyendlessconstruction.However, there

arehidden treasures tobediscovered inout-of-the-waypocketsof the

islandwhichhaveescaped thebulldozers.An irreplaceablegem is the

70-year-old “dragonkiln”atThowKwangPotteryJunglenearJurong.

KATIEROBERTSspoke to twoceramicartistsabout thekiln’sunique

charmand itspower tobringpeople together.

Top:

Gently loadingwood into stokeholes

Above:

The kilnopenandphographed

beforeunpacking