Dealing with death through art project

Dealing with death through art project

Funeral director Ang Ziqian once spent six hours ironing out funeral arrangements for a family because the children could not agree on their father's final send-off.

"The first child was Buddhist, the second was Christian, the third was a free thinker and a son-in- law was Hindu, and they were not coming to terms," he said.

It is because of countless occasions such as this that Mr Ang, who heads the ACM Foundation, together with Mr Lee Poh Wah of the non-profit Lien Foundation, approached Khoo Teck Puat Hospital with the idea of creating an immersive experience to tackle various end-of-life issues.

The result is Both Sides, Now, a project created with the help of ArtsWok, an arts-based community development company, and local theatre group Drama Box. It will run till Dec 8 at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

They wanted to provide a space for visitors and patients to be able to make informed decisions about what they would like to do at the end of their lives, and to understand that death is an inevitable part of living.

They hope to raise awareness and encourage reflection on living and dying, and promote end-of-life conversations among healthcare professionals, caregivers and the public. Mr Ang says: "Conversations like these are very important so that a family can come to a collective decision and it is easier for medical professionals to learn about the family rather than deal with squabbles."

Mr Lee adds: "We are all going to die. The big question is, how would you like to do it? If we're unable to talk about it, how are we going to deal with death and dying effectively?"

Drama Box artistic director Kok Heng Leun says: "In Singapore, we live a very fast, hard life. We focus on living but we forget that we're part of the process of dying. We want to help people to think about the kind of choices they can make."

The creative team, which includes film-maker Jasmine Ng, interviewed about 50 patients, caregivers and medical professionals. These interviews are the subject of several intimate films currently being screened at the hospital's main foyer.

One of them is a series of animated short films that breathes life into personal stories shared by medical professionals about their own encounters with death. Another film features seven children pondering death, such as those of their grandparents.

Award-winning film-maker Anthony Chen's short film Ah Ma (2006) is part of the project, and Ng has created a documentary in which the cast discuss how the making of the film has changed their attitudes towards death and dying.

On Fridays and Saturdays, the hospital's boardwalk next to Yishun Pond is the backdrop for a multimedia show directed by Kok and starring actresses Tan Wan Sze and Nur Suhaili Safari Wijaya. Titled Songs For Tomorrow, it explores a day in the life of patients, caregivers and healthcare workers.

An art installation in the hospital's main foyer features personal items from the 50 interviewees, and a station for passers-by to fill up a will, as well as a "will-not" - to allow visitors to ponder what they want and do not want to see happen after they are gone.

The project cost about $230,000, including funds from non-profit foundations and grants from the National Arts Council and Arts Fund.

When the foundations first approached the hospital about the project, its chief executive officer, Mrs Chew Kwee Tiang, had her own share of concerns.

She recalls: "If we're starting this in a hospital, what does this mean? Are we sending the wrong message to our patients? Because we've had difficult cases. There's a lot of conflict and sometimes, we are called slaughterers when we ask families to let go."

Her fears have proved to be unfounded. Over the past weekend, the hospital and creative team have received positive feedback about the various works. She hopes families will be able to decide earlier on whether they want an aggressive programme of treatment or palliative care.

Dr Wong Sweet Fun, the hospital's senior consultant for geriatric medicine, says: "We're always talking about managing the dying process, making decisions on whether we need to continue resuscitation. But that is not the lasting memory that we want the family to have of the death.

"We want a goodbye that is meaningful so that they can carry on living after their partner has died. We want to shift the focus away from the dying process... to relationships, a gift to the ones left behind to carry on."


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