The creativity guru
The strongest of literary relations we’ve enjoyed with our Asian neighbors has undoubtedly been that with Singapore. Last August, a group of Singaporean poets and a Singapore-based Filipino author were in Manila for a series of readings and the launch of Noelle Q. de Jesus’ new book of short fiction, Blood, published by Ethos Books of Singapore.
They had literary readings at Ateneo, UP and Solidaridad Bookstore. Among them was Aaron Lee, who in 2001 was also part of a group of Singaporean poets who did local readings, together with Alvin Pang, Felix Cheung and Ong Sor Fern. An offshoot of that visit was Love Conquers All: A Philippines-Singapore Anthology of Love Poetry, co-published by Ethos Books and Anvil Publishing, Inc. in 2003.
Alvin Pang has also visited here often, especially since he regularly meets up with Filipino poet-friends like Marjorie Evasco in international festivals. Apart from De Jesus, a number of Filipino writers have been based in Singapore and produced their best works there. Notable among this group have been F.H. “Ichi” Batacan, author of the eminently successful crime novel Smaller & Smaller Circles (which is now being made into a movie), Nadine Sarreal, Catherine Torres, Neal Imperial, Mayo Uno Martin, and Eric Tinsay Valle, who recently edited Get Lucky, an anthology of Singapore-based Filipino and Singaporean writers’ works.
S.U. National Writers Workshop alumnae Liza Baccay and Samantha Echaves are presently working there, as is Ateneo graduate Cathy Candano. Singaporean writers have in turn attended the same workshop in Dumaguete in recent years, among them Jasmine Teh, Nurul Askin and Christine Leow — all courtesy of Prof. Kirpal Singh of Singapore Management University or SMU.
As the director of SMU’s Wee Kim Wee Centre, Dr. Singh has done much to strengthen Singapore-Philippines relations in literary, academic and cross-cultural fields. Last year, he invited museologist and cultural activist Marian Pastor Roces and singer-songwriter Freddie Aguilar to deliver separate lectures at SMU.
Kirpal’s creative writing — fiction, poetry, essays — initially had him being invited to writers’ and arts festivals. He was the first Asian director of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, and became the first Asian (and non-American) director on the board of the American Creativity Association.
Since he started teaching in the early 1970s, he has taught or lectured at such prestigious universities as Warwick, Georgetown, College of William and Mary, Yale, MIT, and City University of Hong Kong, and in our country, UP Diliman, Siliman, Ateneo, De La Salle and San Beda.
In the past couple of decades, this turbaned scholar and writer has been internationally acknowledged as a creativity guru and futurist — following the publication of his boundary-breaking book, Thinking Hats & Colored Turbans: Creativity Across Cultures. This year alone, he addressed audiences in Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, USA, and Europe to share his vision of the future.
Dr. Singh preaches intensely on the crucial changes that are taking place so rapidly that anything being presently said is overtaken by new discoveries, inventions, attitudes and fundamental shifts in human conduct. For one, he believes that most educational systems and structures are outdated and need total transformation. He advises that we rethink our own positions on and about education, and become ready to adapt.
His recommendations are taken to heart in the USA, such as at the East Greenwich School district headed by Superintendent Dr. James Lynch, under whose enlightened leadership this school district is quietly getting itself ready for the future, with students working in teams as they learn new skills to equip them for the uncertainties of tomorrow.
Kirpal explains: “We live in what we now have come to call a VUCA world: V=volatile, U=uncertain, C=complex and A=ambiguous. One major area where most educational set-ups seem unready is that linked to A: ambiguity. Young people have to be carefully nurtured/guided in terms of not only what Ambiguity means and implies, but also how it can be so subtle and just pass by without anyone noticing! Cross-cultural understanding (as opposed to just simple knowledge) thus becomes critical, given the numerous sensitivities that attend cross-cultural settings/contexts.”
His work in Creativity and Innovation has led him to share his special expertise in various countries. Here in Manila, Letran College has sought Dr. Singh’s advice in the training of its business faculty’s first cohort of Ph.D. candidates. He says: “Just as more and more jurisdictions are coming under pressure to modify existing laws, so, too, more and more business schools are going to come under heavy pressure to change areas of focus as well as ways of imparting knowledge, skills, understanding.”
A few weeks ago, he was invited by Charles Darwin University in Australia to share his insights into Creativity. That was followed up with a stint at National University of Management in Cambodia to share his views on effective communication in urban settings. He has since accepted an invitation from the Stern School of Business in New York to join sessions on “Trust Across Cultures.”
A couple of months back, Kirpal was in Manila to invite former senator Leticia Ramos Shahani to deliver the Second Annual Ikeda Peace and Harmony Lecture.
Supported by the Singapore Soka Association, the lecture series was set up under the custodianship of the Wee Kim Centre, in honor of Dr. Daisaku Ikeda, president of the Soka Gakkai International. The objective is to fulfill Dr. Ikeda’s untiring commitment that dialogue is the surest path to peace.
Dr. Shahani’s lecture, titled “To Achieve Regional Peace and Understanding, Perhaps Time to Rethink ASEAN,” was conducted at SMU’s School of Accountancy Ngee Ann Kongsi Auditorium Level 2 at 60 Stamford Road last Friday.
After brief remarks by Dr. Kirpal Singh, she was be introduced by SMU president Professor Amoud de Meyer, who also moderated the open forum following her lecture.
It will be another feather in the creativity guru’s cap, this latest cross-cultural interaction between the Philippines and Singapore.
