24OWLS Playlist Series Vanishing Twins – The Playlist by Yeow Kai Chai It’s odd to write about yourself, not when you’ve spent most of your career writing about other people. Regardless, duty calls. Joining 19SixtyFive/24OWLS to help with editorial, publicity and programming was a decision based on gut instinct, as well as a friend’s recommendation. I had steered the Singapore Writers Festival for four editions from 2015 to 2018. I felt it was a good run. As much as I enjoyed the sadomasochistic thrill of juggling the demands of a ginormous, government-funded operation, it was time [...]

24OWLS Playlist Series A Quilt of Influences – The Playlist by Janet Yeo In the office, Janet Yeo is known among colleagues as the general manager who watches the in’s and out’s with a steely yet maternal eye. At home, she is equally as detail-oriented, and lately, she’s turned her attention towards a decades-long passion – quilting and patchwork. “I started picking it up after I got retrenched from my job as brand manager at Dunhill Group in 2000 – the brand Chloé I handled exited the Singapore market. I learnt the hobby from a friend [...]

24OWLS Playlist Series Shine On You Crazy Diamonds! – The Playlist by Josaiah Chong For those of you who had the fortune of attending The Alex Blake Charlie Sessions (ABC), the female-fronted music festival and our inaugural event at our new home, Pasir Panjang Power Station, back in December 2019, you may remember the distinctive and intricate Art Nouveau design for its key visual which ties in the various activation spaces throughout the venue. You have to thank Josaiah Chong, one half of the 19SixtyFive/24OWLS design duo (alongside Corrinne Wang), for that. Its sinewy curlicues are [...]

24OWLS Playlist Series Love, Respect and Compassion – The Playlist by Zahara Abu Bakar These days, as Singapore gradually emerges out of the first phase of a circuit breaker, Zahara Abu Bakar has been reflecting on the Black Lives Matter movement. “Racial and religious issues are highly sensitive, and they must not be taken lightly. My thoughts are also with the people in Lebanon who are losing their state and rights each passing day and living in fear in their own country,” says Zahara who handles HR and admin matters for 19SixtyFive and 24OWLS. “How about [...]

24OWLS Playlist Series Medicine for the Soul by Cecilia Ong To keep herself sane being stuck at home due to COVID-19 restrictions this past couple of months, Cecilia Ong has been shopping online, getting back on the mat to restart her yoga practice, and binging on mainland Chinese drama serials. She’s watched everybody’s favourite imperial court intrigue show, Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace, starring Wallace Huo and Zhou Xun. She has just finished Winter Begonia, the latest web series, starring Andrew Yin, Charmaine Sheh and Huang Xiaoming, and set in 1930s China about a famous [...]

24OWLS Playlist Series We’re Alive by Marcia Tan Nothing or no one is going to stop Marcia Tan, the founder of 19SixtyFive and 24OWLS – especially not this pesky virus. Sure, for the last few months, her company’s home base, the Pasir Panjang Power Station, has been out of bounds due to COVID-19-related restrictions. Aside from launching its very own ground-breaking music festival, the female-centric Alex Blake Charlie Sessions, and hosting a few other arts events such as the SingLit Power House, all other wonderful and exciting plans for 2020 she has for the space – [...]

24OWLS Playlist Series Sweet Dreams are Made of These – The Playlist by Jessica Tan Millennials may not know it, but at one time, specifically back in the 1980s, the cool kids used to hang out at Far East Plaza and The Centrepoint. They were aptly called Far East Plaza and Centrepoint kids. Jessica Tan – our reliable venue manager and mother hen to younger colleagues here at 24OWLS and 19SixtyFive – was one such cool kid. Her favourite haunt was, yes, the front of Far East Plaza, where the stools near the glass lift used [...]

24OWLS Playlist Series Never Going to Give This Up – The Playlist by Sham For Sham, this year’s Hari Raya Aidilfitri was unlike any other. Due to the need for social-distancing during these COVID-19 times, he could not celebrate the holiday in May with his 89-year-old mum who is living in a flat with his elder sister. “I’m not coping very well. I never thought I would live through this,” confesses Sham, the youngest of three sons and two daughters, and the guy who develops concepts and creative content for 24OWLS and 19SixtyFive, especially those dynamic [...]

24OWLS Playlist Series Lax Explorer – The Playlist by Kevin Portscher Like many people around the world, Kevin Portscher has been stuck at home for the past couple of months. This is hard for someone as restless as him. After all, Kevin – a self-described “ang moh of German-Chinese descent” who is involved in event operations, production and venue management duties at  24OWLS – loves hanging out with his friends from upper secondary school. “We’d go to one another’s house, then drive around the island,” he says. “It’d be like a road trip from Changi to [...]

24OWLS Playlist Series  A Desert of My Own – The Playlist by Corrinne Wang One thing her colleagues have come to realise about Corrinne Wang is that she marches to the beat of her own drum. Asked what she does in the 24OWLS office, she declares: “I’m Corrinne, the office desk inspector. When no one is around, I go around inspecting their desks.” In reality, she belongs to a core design duo which routinely comes up with some of our eye-popping key visuals for many of our events, ranging from collaterals to socials. A graduate with [...]