Life

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Life. We have chosen to come and be born as human beings on planet earth. The purpose is to learn through the physical body, about the meaning of Love, Compassion, Truth and Oneness.

Our purpose is also to experience life fully with joy, to learn to live in each moment so that we can ultimately raise our level of consciousness. Without the physical body, we cannot do so.

Yet, all that we need, we are already equipped. The body is the instrument through which we reconnect with our spirituality. Everyone will have different amounts of material things in this game of life, but the lessons are the same. We have perhaps experienced poverty and richness in different lifetimes, but we have to learn the ultimate lesson - that real abundance lies within. To earn a living doing what we love and yet at the same time be aware of how our work can serve others is one of the greatest blessing. But our actual work is spiritual growth. By forgetting our true purpose here, we get lost into the least important things: exams, money, power, status, recognition, being "right", what people say about us, deadlines...

We must learn how to give, that most of our unhappiness are caused by taking (from others, often people we claim we 'love', from mother earth).

We must see that we are one with nature, with all other beings, all events on Earth, in the universe.

We will meet other beings and confront illusions of "us" vs "them", and attachments.
Relationships are there to help us grow, through acts of giving and working through disagreements. As much as we do not wish to, we have to experience physical partings, heartaches, to cry for someone... for these are what make us more human...



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Ash Teacup

A teacup glazed naturally with sawdust and salt.

Love this teacup that my teacher Mr Chua Soo Kim helped me to fire. He only fires this special technique once in a really blue moon! It has the same effect as wood-fired pots that are so rarely seen now in Singapore, with natual ashes as glaze and a rich texture. Can't bear to use it!

Mug for Khim

This mug is for Khim who likes it more rugged with simple colours, maybe a little zen feel. I added mulberry leaf imprinted clay onto the surface for a pop up feel. Glazed with matt white on the outside and white gloss on the inside. The leaf is brushed on with Chun glaze :)

Hammy's first thrown teapot!

Teapot for Helen...my creative friend.

This is my 3rd try making teapot, but its the first on an electric wheel! The first 2 were hand coiled on a bending wheel almost 2 years ago!

Actually, I have this psychological barrier to making teapots because there are quite a few intricate details to note in order to create a good, functional teapot that can be used with ease vs another that is purely aesthetic and not so user friendly. It was only until pal Helen asked me to make one for her recently, that i know i cannot put it off further!

But its really good to face one's fears ha ha.

2 different types of green glazes were sprayed onto the bisqued teapot, making it more visually dynamic. On the inside, transparent glaze was used.

I definitely have to make more teapots after this to refine my skills. Am still using my first little hand build teapot Earth to brew tea when i have the time to unwind...and oooo hammy think its cool to use one's own teapot. hoo hoo.

Crystalline Glaze - My First Try

Notice the delicate crystal-like patterns on the bottle!

This is my first sake bottle fired using white crystalline glaze, with the help of my teachers Chua Soo Kim and Chua Soo Khim. One side of the sake bottle developed really beautiful crystals. These are formed via a "soaking" process during firing, to allow the crystals to form, hence they take a longer period of time to fire than pots with normal glazes.

Its gonna be a gift for pal Uma. Owed her since June last year after we went to Japan :P If not for her, i think i would not have tried crystalline glaze! Am still amazed how pure chemistry can create such effects!

Hand painted mugs

Mugs for Siva and Airani

The mugs were thrown with JB3 white clay and hand painted with underglaze after first firing. Laid transparent glaze over as final touch before the second firing. A different effect from the 3D animal pop ups that i used to do and i like this style better!

ICCS Pandan Mangrove Cleanup 12 Sept

Accumulated trash at Pandan Mangrove


I only knew about this tiny stretch of mangrove still remaining at the south-west part of Singapore last year when i first joined the International Coastal Cleanup Singapore team at NUS a year ago.

Despite clearing 39 tyres, plastic pipes and lots of plastic bottles from the site last year, there are still much accumulated trash to be removed from the muddy tidal pools, amidst fragile breathing air roots of the mangrove forest.

Every year, as the sun rises on a saturday of Sept, people all around the world are up and ready country by county to do their bit for the marine environment. Am glad to be part of this global movement and collecting important data, in little Singapore. Look forward to cleaning up the home of the mangrove creatures, together with close to 80 volunteers next sat!