Three: Assortment

A NUS Literary Society Publication

Masthead ________________________________________________________________

Isaac Tan, Editor-in-Chief _________________________________________________________________________________

Justin Tan, Executive Editor

_________________________________________________

Suranjana

Sengupta, Executive

Editor

_______________________________________________________

Feel free to contact us and tell us your thoughts at symbalmagazine@gmail.com !

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Symbal-Magazine/149399518533621

Twitter: https://twitter.com/symbalmagazine

A philosophy and theatre studies major, Isaac founded

Symbal in 2011, when he joined NUS Literary Society,

in the hopes of promoting and encouraging budding

Singaporean writers.

He’s an enthusiast for all things artsy as he can be

seen hanging out in theatres, bookshops, museums

and galleries. He hopes to be a professional actor

someday and perhaps, in some possible world, a

flamenco dancer and a writer as well. In his meagre

spare time, he blogs at http://pre-lude.blogspot.sg

Justin is a political science major and literature minor;

he has served in the publications department of NUS

Literary Society since 2011, and thoroughly enjoys

reading every submission it receives. An orchestral

film-score junkie and inveterate dreamer, he professes

interest in any subject unclaimed by math and

formulae. In such time as he has at hand, Justin hopes

to be a writer, concept artist, amateur naturalist, and

photographer. He finds aesthetic wonder in almost any

environment, but is happiest amidst grand old

architecture or boundless, pensive scenery.

A Computer Engineering major, Suranjana joined the

NUS Literary Society in 2012, hoping to unite her love

for Literature with Science, along with meeting fellow

students who share similar interests. As a reflective

poet and a passionate writer, she enjoys reading

everything from Early Medieval Literature to

Contemporary Fiction. She loves Nature, Classical

Music and just about anything to do with History. She

also has an earnest interest in Mathematics, Physics

and Astronomy. Although Suranjana aspires to follow a

career in Computer Engineering, she also cherishes the

goal of becoming a well-known author one day. During

her tenure with NUS LitSoc, she hopes to participate

actively in Literary Events in hope of encouraging

innovative works of fiction, poetry and plays.

Special Thanks

Cover art: Holding the Sun by Eleanor Leonne

Bennett

Eleanor Leonne Bennett is a 17-year-old international award-

winning photographer and artist who has won first places with

National Geographic, The World Photography Organisation,

Nature's Best Photography, Papworth Trust, Mencap, The

Woodland trust, and Postal Heritage.

Her photography has been published in the Telegraph , The

Guardian, BBC News Website, and on the cover of books and

magazines in the United states and Canada. Her art is globally

exhibited, having been shown in London, Paris, Indonesia, Los

Angeles, Florida, Washington, Scotland, Wales, Ireland,

Canada, Spain, Germany, Japan, Australia, and The

Environmental Photographer of the year Exhibition (2011) –

amongst many other locations.

She was also the only person from the UK to have her work

displayed in the National Geographic and Airbus run See The

Bigger Picture global exhibition tour with the United Nations

International Year Of Biodiversity 2010.

eleanor.ellieonline@gmail.com

www.eleanorleonnebennett.zenfolio.com

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Eleanor-Leonne-Bennett-

Art/182236515143617?sk=info#!/pages/Eleanor-Leonne-

Bennett-Art/182236515143617

Three: Assortment

The Editor Commends

Crossroads

Vera Li

A Shining Light

Lynnette Ng

(And)gendered

Yip Guan Hui

The Moth Mimic

Tham Zhen Teng

Undated Photography

Tham Zhen Teng

25 September 2011

Denys Tan

Heads Up

Dominic Nah

Lies

Jeremy Chen

Reminder to Self

Jeremy Tan

We Are Not Lost

Leoson Hoay

Announcements

Submission Guidelines

The Editor Commends

This letter marks the first anniversary of Symbal! It is amazing how time

flies as I can still remember how Joan (our first editor-in-chief) and I

were wondering if Symbal would be successful when we had our first

publications meeting last year. But judging from the casual feedback as

well as the submissions that come in, I am happy to report that we are

doing well and I do hope that you are enjoying our issues thus far.

Having taken over as Editor-in-chief, I would like to thank Joan for all

her hard work and wish her all the best in her future endeavours.

Additionally, I would like to welcome two executive editors on board,

Justin and Sura, and do hope that they will find this journey exciting

and fulfilling at the same time.

Turning one, it is important that we grow and mature as a publication.

As such, we have done a minor revamp to the magazine and will be

implementing new sections and content in issues to come. More will be

revealed in the announcements page towards the end of this issue

So what is this issue about? Having planned a couple of issues with

specific themes, there will be submissions which would inevitably have

fallen through the cracks. They may have eluded clear categorisation, for

example, or failed to reflect the theme enough. As such, I have decided to

dust these works and present them to you.

Re-reading this assortment of works reminded me of the humbling

position I am in – the opportunity to read works that capture such a

great spectrum of our daily experiences and imagination. It amazes me

to think that all of them were achieved with just the basic building

blocks of letters, punctuation and linguistic rules that form the English

language.

With much excitement and relief, I present to you our birthday cake –

Issue Three: Assortment. In the same way I have, I hope that you too will

find this issue a delicious one that reminds you of why you love

literature so much. Happy Birthday Symbal!

[blows out candles]

Isaac Tan

Editor-in-Chief

14th October 2012

Crossroads (facing page)

‘Many people walk the

streets of Paris every day. In

their aim to move forward,

they forget to turn back,

missing out on what could

have been. Street signs are

often overshadowed by the

places that they point to. Yet

we forget that they are points

of intersection for many

individuals who never had

any reason to meet.’

Vera Li

A Shining Light

The thick book, filled with scribbles

Angry squiggles, teary-marks, cheerful

penmanship,

Rustled and stopped at a blank page

I stepped into the radiating light.

- Lynnette Ng

Lynnette is a first year undergraduate who is currently studying

Computer Engineering in London. She chanced upon Symbal while

bored and restless in her time at NUS High School. In her free time she

day-dreams, takes lots of photos, and weaves whimsical stories. And no,

she doesn't spend 400 hours a week coding because most of the time

she’s playing Minecraft or Portal. Eventually, she hopes to build a device

to be shot into space. Now, who says engineers are nerds? :P

(And)gendered

My love, rest in my arms

Sweet dove of peace,

we lay down our arms

And raise our hands at ease.

The tangled vines of strife

only serve to entwine our spines.

Hermaphrodites split by the knife,

split from waist, forth came two kinds

- Yip Guan Hui

Yip Guan Hui is a third-year English Literature undergraduate. He served

as President of NUS Literary Society from 2011-2012. A self-confessed

bibliophile, he enjoys browsing, hunting and collecting quality second-hand

books.

The Moth Mimic

With no sound, the rough size of your two hands,

like dust the moth alights – on filament feet,

touchy, trembling up the distressed wall,

another piece of wall – all at once detached

from stone in frenzy, bats at the light,

both a shadow and then a shot spasming

back to camouflage, nursing its striped back.

The lamp is snuffed; not daring to move

it falls asleep and does not move again.

And in the workshop day breaks as powdered

ideas spurt from Michelangelo's chisel,

suspended on barred dawnshine: fine-honed

sift from the articulated man, repeated

in the reaped purse of David's mouth. Blind stone

studies tessellated stone as the eyes are deepdug

in the milk marble, cold veins popping

as the moth breathes beneath its spartan coat,

'Without lines or borders, in the manner of smoke.'

Tham Zhen Teng

Undated Photography

Half-petrified,

The hatless shapes turn

Faces away

Hands fluffed birdlike

Against the grain

Lined up for powder, bottles,

lint and tinder

For the young men who bluster

From green jungles, jingling

The bullets in their pockets.

- Tham Zhen Teng

Tham Zhen Teng lives in a house full of dust bunnies and a closet that is secretly alive. When

she was eight she had a dream in which her discipline mistress was eaten by a dinosaur.

Tributes are acceptable if they come with cake.

'In real life, Zhen Teng is currently studying at the National Institute of Education, learning

to teach children how to read and write.

25 September, 2011

Flåm, Norway

From a distance, I watched a young man clamber his way up

the muddy path leading to Brekkefossen. During his ascent he

paused every now and then, ostensibly so that he could take in

the scenery. (Secretly, he needed time to catch his breath, and

also to decide which route promised the least amount of

mud). The joy he felt upon seeing the waterfall come into view

was evident; he started to move in confident strides, prior

trepidation fading in light of promised glory.

But when he finally reached the peak of the hill, he seemed

paralyzed, no doubt struck by the wonderful panorama of the

town, yet unsure of how exactly he should mark the occasion.

He snapped a few photos, but appeared to be unsatisfied with

just that. He may have considered carving his name onto a

nearby log, but it would have been just another name in a long

list of epitaphs left behind by others: irrelevant.

Eventually, he sat himself down on a nearby rock, clearly

frustrated by his inability to think up an appropriate act, one

that would epitomize everything that he was feeling at that

moment. He felt compelled to write something, anything, but

he could not conjure up any words that he owned.

So he closed his eyes, listening intently for a song that

resonated within. When he heard it, he stole two simple

lines:

hallejulah

every breath is a second chance

And they brought comfort to his needy heart.

- Denys Tan

Heads Up

And when turning sixty between downing

shots,

will I become but a paltry thing:

(not) one of those old men

shaken from gold, baring

limp chests left to sing

or weary white singlets

with belly at rest and

badly misshapen steps when

both line-dancing, ambling across

the estate, arms akimbo, life in limbo?

And if so, will I bend

over backwards befriending

every twelve to twenty soul,

wanting twilight stories told to me -

boy, what school you go to?

boy, what you want to do when you grow

up?

boy, must take care of your parents ah -

a far from ending survey of lives

the karoke lyrics roll over each line

never knowing which one (if any) are lies.

And before my knees buckle

beneath the last aged pole,

will I turn over the side scribbling

my will, believing this boy here will

share this silence facing the sky

at this pier? When you're twenty

you fear not going low, your

back is straighter. I cannot last

and you pass. Later when you hold

me up one last song, the music fails.

And when I fall to kneel - my head spurts up -

I would just have overturned the empty glass cup.

- Dominic Nah

Dominic Nah is not going wait until his ORD in 2013 for his life to begin proper.

Apart from contemplating to create a disciplined freedom for himself through

literature, philosophy, art and parkour, he often wonders whether his sprouting

Sengkang voice deserves a second listen. He fears lassitude and gore, believes in The

Myth of Sisyphus and somehow knows he can touch lives in the next generation.

Lies

Your hidden good will rot remain,

If even true, it’s not enough

As reason for our pointless pains

We patient bear, cheated of our prayer.

- Jeremy Chen

Reminder To Self They say ideals golden

are sought after by dreamy fools

whose feet touch no earth,

but live in heaven's mirth;

that their helium heads

rise, rise and rise

all light, right and bright --

till the ceilings crash

upon our human flesh

and all that recedes

is no glitter nor gold;

but instead

a broken bow and

quiver empty - arrow

that scream distraught dreams of despair

with nothing left, nothing left!

And so you panic, looking

down into the depths of vertigo --

but you are already on your way

down spiraling back to earth

back to earth, where you collide

with littered hearts

that illuminates the truth

behind bloody broken bones.

So while we aim for the stars,

remember that you are only Man;

for a man's longing for heaven

is to forget that he is still human.

-Jeremy Tan

Bewitched by all things dreamy and subtle, Jeremy admires the beauty of words as a

rejuvenating form of creation, expression, escape, and self-discovery. He is also the

founder of The HeartThrob Project, a local platform for creative individuals who believe in

the empowerment of self-expression. He has been featured on Obscured, Popspoken,

and Illuminating Dreams. He tries to write atdreamweaveme.tumblr.com/

‘We Are Not Lost’

Leoson Hoay

Announcements

Calling all NUS students! From next semester, we will be

organising frequent writing competitions for all of you!

Simply follow us on Facebook:

(https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Symbal-

Magazine/149399518533621)

Or Twitter:

https://twitter.com/symbalmagazine

…to find out the themes that we would like you to adhere to.

Book vouchers are for the taking! Winners will be featured in

this magazine and if all goes well, we plan to organise a

reading of winning works after every three competitions.

Watch this space!

At Symbal, we value your feedback and would like to

maintain a section featuring your letters to the editor. In

doing so, we hope to allow for our writers to receive honest

feedback so that they may gain insights and refinements

which could be used for future works. Of course, if you have

comments on layout, aesthetics and how to make this

magazine awesome, write us at symbalmagazine@gmail.com

Announcements

Calling all writers! We are starting a new initiative in which writers

who have contributed to Symbal will be able to band together to form

a writing community (whether online or otherwise). This is in the

hopes of encouraging an active writing culture for budding writers

within NUS and outside of it as well.

To that end, we have set up a closed Facebook group at

https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/symbalwriters/. It will serve as

a platform for our writers to ‘workshop’ each others’ work and

exchange constructive feedback. As not all of our writers are from

NUS, we surmised that an online group would be a great start to

forming a community. Who knows? – When it becomes vibrant and

active, members could always meet up in person.

Joining the Group

For writers who are already published on Symbal, drop us an email to

request to join the group. Do attach a piece of work that you would

like to be workshopped once you have become a member.

For writers who have not been published on Symbal, kindly drop us

an email to express your interest (along with a submission for our

next issue). Once we have published your work in one of our issues,

you will then have to submit another piece that you would like to have

workshopped once you have joined the group.

Basic Rules

1. You must submit a minimum of two literary pieces a year for the

community to workshop it with you. As workshopping of works is

a vulnerable experience, it is only fair to all concerned that you

allow your works to be read as well.

2. Basic etiquette applies. We will not hesitate to remove you from

the group should we see any incivility displayed. Please be cordial

and sensitive to all members.

Submission Guidelines

Submission of Literary Works

Symbal welcomes works from NUS undergraduate and

graduate students, staff, students from other tertiary

institutions (local junior colleges, polytechnics and other

universities) and even those who are serving their national

service. Unlike other publications, we welcome any kind of

work that is of literary value regardless of whether it is

poetry, prose, dramatic extract, commentaries or treatises.

Due to space constraints, however, we would like the writers

to observe the following guidelines:

Poetry – Any form of poetry is welcomed but do keep it

within a page of the word document.

Prose – Any genre is acceptable but do keep the word limit

between 500-2000 words. If you would like to submit a

longer piece of work such as a novella, please provide us

with a summary of your work (and the full text, if possible).

Do bear in mind that it will be serialised when you are

writing this piece.

Dramatic Extract – It should consist of no more than 2

scenes. It is advisable that the scenes should for the most

part be able to stand on their own (i.e. the reader should be

able to make out what is generally going on as well as the

relationship(s) between the characters). Of course, if you

would like to submit a monologue, you are more than

welcome to do so.

Submission Guidelines

Commentaries/Treatises: Kindly keep to the word limit of not

more than 2000 words. Do note that it must be relevant to

the literary arts; expositions on a particular book/author,

commentaries on the state of literature in the

country/education system or even reflections on a particular

literary event are accepted.

As we aim to give budding writers a platform to showcase

their works, we are fine with submissions that have already

been published or entered in competitions as long as it does

not contravene any guideline of the other party. Do note that

it is your sole responsibility to ensure this. Should we come

to the knowledge that you have contravened the guidelines of

another publication or organisation, we will remove your

work immediately. By the same token, we are fine with you

submitting the same work to other publications or

competitions as long as the other party is fine with it.

Symbal reserves first serial and anthology rights. We may

also consider publishing your work in other mediums, but

will contact you in advance for approval. We will not publish

or modify your work without informing you.

Submission Guidelines

Submission of photographs/illustrations

What is a magazine without some pictures or illustrations? If

you would like an avenue to showcase your artistic skills,

Symbal is a great place to do so! We welcome all forms of

photos, drawings and paintings. Do bear in mind that at the

moment, such submissions will be included in the

publication only if it is relevant to the theme or fits a

particular work, as there is no space set aside to curate such

works. However, do check back on the submission guidelines

from time to time as there might be a section calling for such

works in the future. Similarly, your submission will be an

indication of your agreement to allow us the rights to retain

the pictures (which will still be credited to you) as well as to

edit it to suit the publication.

How to Submit

Send all your works to symbalmagazine@gmail.com. Kindly

preface the subject title with “Submissions: <followed by title

of work>”. Please submit your works either in the body of the

email or attach a word document. Do not attach a PDF file.

Failure to abide by this guideline could result in your work

not being read at all.

Should you have further enquiries, kindly write to us via the

same email address and preface the subject heading with

“Enquiries: <area of concern>”.

We seek your cooperation in following this template so as to

allow us to sort the mail easily. Thank you.