TBR (To Be Read): In the digital age, books have become art and artefacts
SINGAPORE – In 1855, French graphic artist and illustrator Gustave Dore conceived of a quixotic plan to publish large, expensive folio editions of 'all the masterpieces in literature'.
His unique selling point: They would be richly illustrated with his romanticist sketches. The language of his publishers' rejection is strikingly contemporary.
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Straits Times
32 minutes ago
- Straits Times
No foundation or sweet drinks: Jeanette Aw talks beauty in her 40s and comeback lead TV role
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Jeanette Aw pictured at the opening of Nailz Haus at Ngee Ann City on June 27. SINGAPORE – Jeanette Aw has not worn foundation on screen in 22 years. The local TV star says she was told to ditch the base make-up to better suit her breakout role as naive ingenue Mo Jingjing in the Channel 8 drama Holland V (2003). 'When it aired, nobody realised,' says Aw. Later, it was simply 'a lot easier' to act in her bare skin, when full coverage would have meant tedious touch-ups after sweaty outdoor shots or her many crying scenes. Now, some 30 TV series and a six-year acting hiatus later, the 46-year-old is filming her comeback show – still sans foundation. While acting, she typically wears only concealer. When The Straits Times meets Aw on June 27 at the opening of nail salon Nailz Haus' new Ngee Ann City outlet, she says her secret to youthful skin is consistency. She has kept up the same skincare regimen – 'not beauty', she is careful to say – since her 20s, finding little to tweak in her 40s. Keeping off thick make-up to let her skin breathe is one thing. Other habits she swears by include drinking lots of warm water, no sweet drinks – which she quit in secondary school after her PE teacher said the sugar would undo the work done in class – and double cleansing every day. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore $500 in Child LifeSG credits, Edusave, Post-Sec Education Account top-ups to be disbursed in July Singapore Man to be charged after he allegedly damaged PAP campaign materials on GE2025 Polling Day Singapore Scoot launches flights to Da Nang, Kota Bharu and Nha Trang; boosts frequency to other destinations Asia 4 dead, 30 missing after ferry sinks on way to Indonesia's Bali Singapore Electrician who bit off part of coworker's ear during fight gets 6 months' jail Singapore $1.46b nickel-trading scam: Ng Yu Zhi's bid for bail midway through trial denied by High Court Asia Thai opposition to hold off on no-confidence vote against government Business Singapore six-month T-bill cut-off yield tumbles from 2% to 1.85% She says: 'I use an oil cleanser first and then a very gentle face wash. That's the thing I really believe in.' Her zeal for cleaning goes all the way down to her toes. She exfoliates her heels for up to a month straight at times, particularly when they get cracked and dry after work trips to Japan for her patisserie Once Upon A Time's pop-ups there, she says. Her second career in the food and beverage industry also means she keeps her nails bare. 'At most, a shine and buff,' she says. But beyond the skin deep, in her inner and professional life, the actress has moved far away from the limitations of her 20s. She was drawn out of on-screen retirement by the depth of her character in the upcoming drama Highway To Somewhere, a woman who goes on a road trip with her husband (Romeo Tan) to mend their flagging marriage. It is her first leading role in a Mediacorp Chinese-language drama since After The Stars (2019). Set to premiere in March 2026, the series is based on marital conflict that cuts close to the bone for many real-life couples, with depictions of quarrels and secrets, she says. 'There's a lot of emotional layers to her.' Jeanette Aw as her character in Highway To Somewhere. PHOTO: MEDIACORP 'Some characters are loud, with a lot of big actions, and (require) a very outward kind of performance. But I tend to be into the deep, heartfelt, emotional performance right now and that is what really called out to me.' It is a departure from the cutesy mould of her earlier roles. In a Freudian slip, Aw accidentally refers to her younger self in the third person while discussing her role as a 'young, silly girl' in Holland V. It was a suitable gig for her at that age and one she has a lot of affection for, but she has grown into heavier roles, she says. That the complex and meaty characters she played in The Little Nyonya (2008) and The Dream Makers (2013) ebbed into typecast offers was in part behind her decision to leave the local entertainment industry in 2019. She took up bit parts in Chinese dramas afterwards and made a cameo in Emerald Hill (2025), the sequel to The Little Nyonya, though filming did not go beyond 10 days. Highway To Somewhere calls for more subtle acting, the micro-expressions that betray true feeling. 'I really like that,' she adds. How did Aw make the leap? Life experience is what acting comes down to, she says. In the six-year break she took from the 'sheltered world' of show business to start Once Uopn A Time in 2021, she was cheated by a contractor. She had paid him a lump sum to make deliveries, with the money meant to cover his fees over time – but he disappeared without making a single run, she says. The four-figure loss stung. It was a novel experience, she adds. 'In the entertainment industry, I was very protected. I didn't meet a lot of people, just other actors, the production team and the media.' Running her own ship also pushed her into giving instructions, instead of taking direction. She was no longer playing roles and reading scripts, she says, referring to the heightened stakes of real-world ventures. The bachelorette adds: 'When you have all that in you, that's when you can scale back and do all the inner work for an actor.' Once hailed as one of the 'Seven Princesses of Mediacorp', Aw is sceptical at the suggestion of a new generation discovering her work on Netflix. The streaming giant acquired the rights to The Little Nyonya in 2016 and Emerald Hill in 2024. Still, she obliges in dispensing some counsel to younger women: 'Just do what makes you happy, and double cleanse.'
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
Arts Picks: Ocean dive, Tang Da Wu, Altenburg Arts new season
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Ocean: Diving Into The Unknown is at Alliance Francaise de Singapour. Ocean: Diving Into The Unknown The race to space during the Cold War is well established in popular consciousness, but less familiar is the competition into the deep. In 1960, oceanographers Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh reached the then deepest-known part of the oceans aboard the vessel Trieste, setting a new record at 10,916m below sea level. Since then, humanity has inched a mere 11m farther. Visitors can discover this pioneer achievement and others at Alliance Francaise's second-floor gallery exhibition, Ocean: Diving Into The Unknown. Alliance Francaise de Singapour cultural manager Mathieu Gomez says: 'There was a race to both ends. It was thanks to this early dive that institutions could develop autonomous prototypes that can be guided remotely and specifically.' A collaboration between the French organisation and the Paris National Museum of Natural History, the small-scale exhibition seeks to revive the allure through the lens of myth-making. Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea is an early science-fiction classic, and a manatee model reminds visitors that these were the prototype mermaids. Dappled blue lights submerge the rooms. Two virtual-reality sets, when worn, transport visitors into real footages of deep sea excursions, anemones wriggling underfoot. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore $500 in Child LifeSG credits, Edusave, Post-Sec Education Account top-ups to be disbursed in July Singapore Over 40% of Singaporean seniors have claimed SG60 vouchers: Low Yen Ling Singapore $1.46b nickel-trading scam: Ng Yu Zhi's bid for bail midway through trial denied by High Court Singapore Man to be charged after he allegedly damaged PAP campaign materials on GE2025 Polling Day Asia 4 dead, 38 missing after ferry sinks on way to Indonesia's Bali Singapore Pedestrian-only path rules to be enforced reasonably; focus on errant cyclists: Baey Yam Keng Singapore Jail for 'sugar daddy' who gave minor cash for sex, threatened to post her explicit videos online Singapore Train service resumes across Bukit Panjang LRT line after power fault led to 3-hour disruption The 130 sq m space means artefacts are few, though two shark jaws on loan from the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum intimidate, chosen as their species were discovered by Frenchmen. Gallery assistant Claire Canceil busts the myth of the anglerfish: 'One thing Finding Nemo got wrong was that females measure just 20cm and males 3cm. It unnecessarily traumatised generations of kids.' Where: Level 2 Alliance Francaise de Singapour, 1 Sarkies Road MRT: Newton When: Till Aug 30; Tuesdays to Fridays, 1 to 7.30pm; Saturdays, 9am to 5.30pm; guided tour timings, film screenings and talks on website Admission: Free Info: Who Care? 1&2, You & Me Performance artist Tang Da Wu rehearsing for his show. PHOTO: COMMA SPACE Performance art rock star Tang Da Wu has a new solo exhibition at independent art gallery Comma Space in Bishan. The 82-year-old continues his preoccupation with mud and his penchant for the ephemeral gesture. Details of his exhibition are scant, though in the lead-up to the weekend, he was building a ladder in preparation for a site-specific presentation. Paper and plaster are used to fashion boots and sacks that he heaves onto his back. He is expected to fling mud directly onto the gallery walls, as when he live-painted a snake constricting a boat at ShanghART Gallery in 2023. One of Tang's recent outings was during Singapore Art Week 2024 at Gillman Barracks. The pioneer artist directed 20 young volunteers to enact a performance involving woven threads and fighting over parental milk, inspired by the Teochew opera image of a goat kneeling before its mother. This time, he focuses on the issues of what it means to care and, more fundamentally, who the people who care are. He remains driven by the ethos of 'Don't make art, make questions' – insisting that art returns to its primary function not as wall decoration, but a force for reflection. Where: Comma Space, 04-02, 51 Jalan Pemimpin MRT: Marymount When: July 5 to 12; July 5, 6 and 12, 1 to 6pm; July 8 to 11, by appointment only; July 5, 3 to 4pm (performance) Admission: Free Info: , RSVP Altenburg Arts New Season American pianist Kit Armstrong. PHOTO: JEAN-FRANCOIS MOUSSEAU Independent classical music presenter Altenburg Arts has launched the first half of its 2025-2026 season, with five piano recitals by international artists spread across the next six months. On July 6, American pianist Kit Armstrong takes to Victoria Concert Hall to play the lyrical dance music of French composer Camille Saint-Saens. The immersive large-scale concertos have been distilled into miniature gems by the protege of Austrian pianist and poet Alfred Brendel. This whirlwind tour will kick off with the fiendish Danse Macabre. The other pianists scheduled are Russian Zlata Chochieva, Briton Benjamin Grosvenor and legendary South Korean maestro Kun-woo Paik, the latter proving that excellence can be built only on mastery of the basics with the 'easy' Sonata In C Major by Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It culminates in December with a concert played by the winner of the 19th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. The competition is held in October.
Straits Times
2 hours ago
- Straits Times
My Perfect Weekend with Physical: 100 star Hong Beom-seok
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Over the weekends, Hong Beom-seok enjoys going on cafe dates with his wife, where he will order an iced americano. Who: Hong Beom-seok, 39, is the runner-up of the second season of Netflix's hit K-reality competition Physical: 100 (2023 to present). He has also taken part in other South Korean reality shows, such as Mission CodeRed (2023), King Of Wrestling (2022) and The Soldiers (2021 to 2022). Hong served in the South Korean special forces for over 11 years and was a firefighter until 2022. The South Korean personality now uploads fitness content on his YouTube channel, which has amassed 334,000 subscribers. The Puma Korea ambassador was in town in end-June for the Hyrox Open Asian Championships at the National Stadium, as the captain of Team Korea. He finished the Men's Pro Division race with a time of one hour and 26 seconds. He is married to homemaker Jung Da-young, 39, and they have two sons aged 15 and 11. Hong Beom-seok shares insider tips on how to train for the Hyrox race, which took place at the National Stadium on June 28 and 29. PHOTO: PUMA SINGAPORE 'The most memorable weekend I've had was when I went camping with my family. Two years ago, we went to a province called Gangwon-do, which is in the upper north region of South Korea. It is near the beach and the view was really beautiful. Back home in Yongin, I visit cafes with my wife, where we can have a conversation, listen to music and have coffee. You can call it a date. I always get the iced americano from a cafe near my place. Over the weekends or after work and when the kids are asleep, I tend to watch Netflix or Disney+ dramas. I am enjoying K-drama Mercy For None (2025) on Netflix. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore $500 in Child LifeSG credits, Edusave, Post-Sec Education Account top-ups to be disbursed in July Singapore Over 40% of Singaporean seniors have claimed SG60 vouchers: Low Yen Ling Asia 4 dead, 38 missing after ferry sinks on way to Indonesia's Bali Singapore $1.46b nickel-trading scam: Ng Yu Zhi's bid for bail midway through trial denied by High Court Singapore Pedestrian-only path rules to be enforced reasonably; focus on errant cyclists: Baey Yam Keng Singapore Jail for 'sugar daddy' who gave minor cash for sex, threatened to post her explicit videos online Singapore Train service resumes across Bukit Panjang LRT line after power fault led to 3-hour disruption Asia Bus carrying 46 passengers crashes with two lorries in Johor, leaving two dead, 16 injured I wake up earlier than the rest of them, at about 6 or 6.30am, and go jogging for an hour. For the rest of the day, I do not have time to exercise as I am spending time with my family. I enjoy eating bread a lot. In particular, I enjoy fermented breads, like a normal loaf or a ciabatta, the kind that you can dip in a jam. So, I jog really hard for an hour in the morning, then I eat bread. '
