About Me

My personal info, for those who just have to know:

Name: K T (my initials). Country of birth: Singapore. Year of birth: 1963. Marital status: single (I frighten all the gals away). Race: Chinese. (SINGAPOREAN Chinese, NOT MAINLAND Chinese.) Facial appearance: reasonably handsome (that's what many thought anyway). Star sign: Taurus. Height: 5' 2" (or 158 cm; yup, I'm a real midget). Weight (current): 120+ lbs (55 to 56 kg). Number of ears, eyes, mouths and noses: currently 2, 2, 1 and 1. Personal traits: vain, perverted, slightly mad, extremely dirty-minded, lazy, untidy, procrastinative, daydreams all the time. All other information classified as confidential until further notice. (No, I have absolutely no criminal records and have never been charged in court. And I never owned a car.)

Got a Doctorate in philosophy in 2010. I'd happily share with everyone the views and ideas I examined and expounded in my work, except I don't think it would be appropriate here. :) Let it suffice here to say that my thesis attempts to work out a Confucian win-win solution to the science-versus-religion debate ― there being a whole lot more to the Confucian tradition than a few moral homilies from a stodgy old man named Confucius.

I've lived in Singapore all my life (apart from a five-year stay in Australia). While Singapore's not a bad place ― the eternally hot and sticky climate notwithstanding ― I do wish she could have been less mired in this all-consuming preoccupation with material 'progress', the better to slow down the pace of living a little and smell the flowers, for goodness’ sake. It would have helped for me too if the traditional elements of Asian culture were more well-preserved and nurtured here. Well, guess I was born in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I'll be frank about it: I profess nothing but contempt for this whole ethos of 'growth' and 'progress' so unquestioningly endorsed around the world today, looking at the untold damage we have inflicted and continue to inflict upon Nature and upon each other in its name, not to mention the endless lies and falsehoods those who uphold it still propagate and perpetuate. Sorry, mates, that's what I am. Take it or leave it.

But to return to our favorite topic, I've always had this obsession with the athletic male figure, be it in art or in real life. The raw virility, the undressed, chiseled form, all have an irresistible appeal for me. Especially thrilling to me are scenes depicting such figures locked in unarmed combat; the extreme homoeroticism, the graphic spectacle of sweat and sinew, the corded limbs constricted around the bodies, the total subjugation of another man physically your equal (or even some creature or wild beast several times your size) through sheer muscle power alone... Look, I'm sure you get what I mean and all further elaborations ought to be redundant. :p.

(I don't like figures that are too heavily built, though. The Incredible Hulk and Venom would be examples of such figures, which don't really appeal to me. Far more appealing to me would be the athletic figure which combines a moderate amount of muscle mass with a high level of definition. Such as Michelangelo's David.)
The heroes (and villains!) I depict on drawing paper and on the screen are in this respect really all wish-fulfillment characters, embodying my dream of acquiring a figure like theirs, of being in possession of the same raw physical power. Those already endowed with such gifts are an endless source of envy to me! (Having been a regular gym-goer, my figure at present is actually not too bad, with an already visible six-pack, though my arms are still a bit on the spindly side of things. Damn, I'll have to show a good photo of myself here sometime.)

There are many artists whose work I cherish, including a number of 'Macho Man' artists whose depictions of the male figure I can only gape (and drool) at in awe. One of the most outstanding among them would have to be Joe Jusko, the male figures in whose Tarzan paintings are so magnificently built they leave you utterly speechless.

I wish I could be Tarzan... (sigh...)
Other genres of art I cherish include fantasy and science fiction illustration and book cover art, and also the traditional art of Asia, especially Chinese landscape painting. Music provides me much inspiration as well, though mainly classical, new age and traditional East Asian music. Oh, and also some of the songs by such oldies as Carole King, the Carpenters and Dionne Warwick... and that song from the Village People, of course! :D
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