Ordinary People by AsiaOne - Dailymotion

AsiaOne

Ordinary people may never be world leaders, CEOs or the biggest celebrities, but their contributions and impact on others are meaningfully profound. ​These are the stories of those who’ve selflessly dedicated a part of their lives for the betterment of others.

Transcript

00:00Gang, we talk about glory.

00:03When I went to his week with handcraft, legcalf, shaker, and orange overall,

00:10those glory actually is nothing, you know?

00:13It's like bringing shame to my family.

00:15Actually, I did nothing for my family but shame.

00:23Hi, I'm Wykey. I'm a full-time services.

00:26I literally work like a farmer.

00:28I wake up at 5, eat breakfast, and then do pottery in the morning.

00:34I joined gang because I was tired of getting bullied in school,

00:38decided that I cannot take it anymore, so I joined gang to fight back.

00:42And because at that point of time was like 1996-1997,

00:46the Asian economic crisis, and then a lot of parents lost their job,

00:51and a lot of youth got no attention at home,

00:55and therefore they joined gang because the gang is a bigger family.

00:58They have a lot of brothers that acknowledge your assistant.

01:03This in gang is called fighter dogs.

01:06The gang doesn't require us to do that.

01:09Just that we put that and show off that we are fighters.

01:12I picked up pottery during my last sentence in prison.

01:23That was because my dad passed away,

01:26and then I don't want to think about it, so I joined pottery to pass time.

01:30During the three months after we learned the basic,

01:33you know, we work like eight to five every day,

01:36and it's the best time because instead of staying inside the cell for 23 hours,

01:41we have a lot of negative thoughts.

01:43So pottery is really a gateway for me to overcome.

01:47Or rather, I don't think we can overcome.

01:51When we lost somebody, nobody actually teach us how to handle it.

01:56We don't really feel sad about it initially.

01:59After a while, when you start to think of that person,

02:02and then everything just ends, it's unbearable.

02:08Because we have a library in prison,

02:11so I start to look at books, look at drawings,

02:13and how to translate that drawing into the pottery.

02:16So I just put all my time inside pottery.

02:26It was quite tough, you know,

02:28especially when I graduated from art school.

02:30All this concept and theory and a lot of bullshit about artwork.

02:35You know, this teapot talk about the space between the color

02:38and the relationship, all this.

02:41The first open house, when a lot of local tea lovers heard about it,

02:45then they came and looked at the teapot and told me that

02:48this is not the right size.

02:50Teapot should be smaller.

02:52Everything should be smaller.

02:54Teacup, teapot, or kind of one.

02:57And color shouldn't be the focus.

03:01In tea, it's very simple, very zen.

03:04Gong tau pei is called cup of fairness.

03:17So in English, I think it's pitcher.

03:20So we use this to distribute tea equally.

03:23So in this way, we try to keep the pouring very low,

03:35so the aroma won't disperse so fast.

03:39And when you sell tea, you want the aroma first,

03:42because people really can't taste much.

03:44So when they pour, they tend to look it very, very fast and very rough.

03:47So the aroma disperse in the air, and then the viewers say,

03:51wow.

03:52But for me, that's not the way.

03:54So I try to pour slowly.

03:57And then I start to introduce a spout at the guide one.

04:00So when the water flow, it's just like one tiny stream of tea flowing out.

04:04We are damn fast in society.

04:09We rush to wake up.

04:11We rush to eat our breakfast.

04:13We rush to work.

04:15And then we rush to come home.

04:17And then we got nothing to do.

04:28And tea is more about siew sen yang sing.

04:31So it's about developing our patience and nurture our inner strength.

04:38To actually slow down.

04:40When we rush, we often make mistakes.

04:43So when we calm down and actually take a deep breath,

04:46we can actually think clearly.

04:51In Damajirong, I would have a hot twist to you then.

04:54It's more for youth, at least, and elderly.

04:57And for elderly who actually retire,

05:00they have the most formed memories of Singapore.

05:03You know, we can brainstorm them

05:05and use some of the interesting memories of Singapore

05:08to form design and then translate that into pottery.

05:13This is bamboo orchid.

05:15Bamboo orchid is one of our Singapore native flowers.

05:18Although bamboo orchid is quite common in Southeast Asia.

05:21But it's something native to us.

05:23So when we present this as a national gift,

05:26we can actually explain about it.

05:28I think it will be very meaningful

05:31to have our own national gift,

05:35national paperware, national teaware.

05:39A lot of my friends told me that

05:42when they want to give to their friends from overseas

05:46a national product.

05:49They got nothing to eat.

05:51Which of the gifts we usually give to our friends

05:55is made in Singapore?

05:56By Singaporean.

05:57I think without that, it's very difficult to feel hope,

06:01you know, the identity of being a Singaporean.

06:05I don't have to teach.

06:08Just making teaware and coffeeware alone is enough for me to survive.

06:14Yeah, but it's also time to give back.

06:17It's more on using our own actions and how we talk,

06:22how we act, how we behave, to influence them.

06:26The youth varies.

06:28I think I'm taking the role more on a pottery instructor,

06:33but at the same time to share with them

06:36how pottery translates to life.

06:38By teaching them pottery from scratch, like from mud,

06:42to become an up piece.

06:44And then themselves can actually build up their self-esteem.

06:48The clay comes from mud, soy.

06:51My life was like soy, dirty,

06:53and with unnecessary rocks and sand.

06:57And then after that, being filtered into a clay.

07:00And then for clay,

07:02it means to do artwork.

07:04That's my life.

07:14It's amazing.

07:15Kindness.

07:16People are partes.

07:17Nice schle 유지?

07:18Yes.

07:19You can do artwork.

07:21Better Like Be aanship.

07:23Believe it or not,

07:24Your name isião said,

07:25Fruit of the

07:40Apprentice

Kim Whye Kee: Ex-Gang Leader, Ceramicist, Mentor | Ordinary People

Category

Transcript

Ordinary People

Recommended