Slope Deteriorating Health 2

More updates of the slope. It is starting to bald near the stairs too. Sighz sometimes, it is hard to climb up stairs properly =(

Same Spot Not Same Life

We are both besides a zebra crossing.
We are both pointed in shape.
We both have a traffic light stuck on us.

However people do not step on you but they have no qualms stepping me.
However you are safe and protected while I am struggling with the human traffic rushing towards me.
However your grass is thriving while mine is dying.

Same spot not same life. Sighz

Long Path

In the past, I used to pass by a MRT station where one can see a long stretch of man-made path. At that time, I wish to be able to snap it down but I never had a chance to.

Now I no longer take MRT. Yet I still get to see a similar situation in this part of my destination. Maybe it is fated that I should record it down.

A long path that cuts across a wide patch of grass. When I saw it, I felt as if my heart suffered a long cut too. Sighz.

Other Grass Killers

Grass always thought that human are the only one that can harm them. But maybe not?

Bushes that cluster together...
Big trees with wide canopy...

These might block the grass from receiving sufficient sunlight thus affecting their survival rate??? But wild grass has a strong determination to live... they should not and will not be easily defeated.

Grass new friend - Plastic Bag

Grass has a new friend today. His name is Plastic Bag.

Plastic Bag has a gloomy look. He told Grass his sad story...

Plastic Bag was manufactured in a factory for an important mission, to help human being carry their stuff. He and all his family members left the factory packed together. Their aspiration was to be as helpful as possible. They wish to be with their mistress forever since they can be reuse due to their durability.

Plastic Bag first met his mistress in a convenience shop. His mistress has just bought a loaf of bread and his first mission was to hold the bread for his mistress. Plastic Bag was excited at his first mission. He was careful not to make any mistake.

Upon arriving his mistress’ house, Plastic Bag was folded in a triangle and kept nicely into a container. He fervently waited for his next mission.

One day, his mistress took him out to hold some books. The two of them went out to her intended destination. His mistress met a friend and passed the books (together with Plastic Bag) to the friend. Then she left. The friend took the books out and put them into her bag. Then she threw Plastic Bag carelessly on the grass patch.

Plastic Bag was shocked. He had become a litter to the environment. This is the fate that all plastic bags feared. To be abandoned and treated as litter or even killer as plastic bags can be life threatening to birds and marine life. Plastic Bag does not want this fate. But he is too light and helpless to overcome this situation.

Grass felt Plastic Bag’s hurt. He gave Plastic Bag a hug.

Tender Loving Care

On 19th August 2006, the grass besides a MRT station in the East received some tender loving care. It is a medium patch of grass that has been used to showcase a new model of car for the past few weeks.

On that day, the makeshift showroom has been taken down. 2 workers were watering the patch of grass that had turn brown, and doing some planting. It is a heart warming sight. If only there is a photo to depict this scene.

Slope Deteriorating Health

While grass sings happily somewhere in the world, slope sighs deeply. The starting signs of baldness has appeared on him. He has signs of brown circles on him. And the brown circles get bigger and bigger as each week goes by. He has been here for so many years, yet it seems that lately, he starts to display such symptoms. Wonder is it the regular visitors of this year that caused his baldness.

As he ponder whether he had done anything wrong towards these regular visitors, another student decided to climb on him instead of going one big round. And slope starts to frown deeper and deeper...

Grass Revival

Grass is singing today. After months of fenced up, it is now green in health. Hee hee. Never imagine that it could ever see the sunlight ... imagine a few months ago, it keep losing the battle with people, with rain. Imagine the sand invading its territory. Imagine seeing itself grow slimer and slimer (although maybe ladies will be envy of its size that time). But grass's ambition is to be wide and vast. Not slim and bald. So now that it is lush back again, grass is singing a happy tune...

Deserve It!

Just realised I haven't posted a long time. And that I did not republish my blog the last time... blur me. Anyway this post is a special post because it does not contain any picture. However it is an incident that I remember vividly even though it happened a few months ago. An incident that I told myself I MUST blogged it. And the main lead actor is the "Grass beside the sidewalk". If only I had the courage to take a picture of that incident...

It was a rainy day. The roads were wet. The grass was wet. And as usual the pavement seemed to slim down during rainy days. As I was walking, a family of four was walking in the opposite direction. It became apparent that the pavement would not be able to accomodate all of us. The mother then decided to sidestep the pavement to continue her walk. "SPLASH". And the mother's leg was soaked by the muddy grass. As I saw her wet ankle, I had only one thought in my mind :
"Deserve it. Think you can take shortcut by stepping the grass. Never expected the grass to put up a fight right!"

And I started conjuring the traps that grass will laid on the unexpecting human being who wants to bully them... Call me cold-hearted! I would rather side GRASS than Human.

Bank Grass

Totally bare and weathered because of its friend, the ATM Machines. With the long queues, nobody has much choice but to step the grasses while waiting for their turn. Poor grasses. They have been thinking why grow them only to step them. Even the little stones cannot help to disguise the bareness of the grass.

Fenced Up Finally

Remember the 3 paths to a station post... It underwent major transformation recently (maybe due to some big E happening)

First, within a day, an ugly steel fence was erected. And suddenly, nobody cuts across to the station.














Then on the next day, the fence got painted a deep green colour to blend in the environment.














As the days passed by, the grasses recover slowly. Finally, something has been done to save them from extinction.

Litter Bug

Rightfully, there is only one person allowed to litter the streets... Mother Nature. And see what a splendid job she did. And these litter will decompose itself without anybody's help.


But Mankind, as usual, wants to boast. To boast that they can litter too. See what a terrible job they did (as usual). The litter not only disgusted people, it marrs the surrounding and does not goes away by itself. Lousy job!

Grass War

During the SARS period, everybody was fearful of the sneezing and coughing of the person beside him/her. Everybody was fearful of stepping onto somebody's spit.
It was a time of environmental awareness and cleaniless. This was one of the poster to bring accross the message.
When I saw this poster, it jolted back a thought I had. I have ever wanted to draw a comic on Grass War. It was the time I really hated human being spitting onto the grass. I was conjuring a story to allow the grass to fight back ....



'Ah-choo'
And the cold virus landed onto the ground.
This is how the grass got to know this newcomer.
As the grass continues breathing, it absorbed some genes of the virus.
And it starts to mutate.
It starts to have a special ability to impentrate the human body system.
And it propagates fast since virus do propagate fast.
And whenever a human being step on these mutated grasses,
they get cut by the grass so that the virus can escape into the system.
More and more man gets infected.
Doctors are unable to figure out a cure,
saying it is as weird as the SARs virus.
And it seems like the end of the world....

Pretty Park

A park was born 2 years ago. It was to be a pretty sight. There would be lots of greenery. Places for people to rest. Kerbs to sit and admire the lovable Mother Nature.

Then it slowly dawned on these residents that the kerb is in the way. That they have to make a detour to get to their destination.

And they decided to spoil the pretty sight at the expense of convenience. A path was born. An ugly sandy path. cutting right through the grasses. As long as the kerb. And the park lost its beauty.

Grass beside the sidewalk

"Excuse me!"

"Ring!!!" "Wheez!"

"Hurry up, it is the green man already"

"Don't block my path!"

"Grr.. make a detour"

A pavement near the road. Grasses near the pavement. Or rather grasses that used to be near the pavement.

A pavement overly visited by human and bicyles alike. The passer-bys have only one thought, "Why can't the pavement be wider.. Why must there be grasses?"

And the grasses have accepted their fate the moment they learnt of their birth place.

Sloping Grass

"Ooo I'm growing on a slope, I'm growing on a slope. I'm far away from human, I'm far away from human. Nobody is going to step on me, nobody is going to step on me. I will live forever, I will live forever."

Alas, this cannot be the thoughts for these grasses. Although they grow on a slope, they are surprisingly disturbed daily.

"Whiz! Whiz!" A bicycle tyre had just cut pass them. Then the cyclist reached the top. And the journey got easier as he embarked on his bicylce and cylce away to work.

"Pant! Pant!" A lady slowly climbed up the slope. Admire the morning sun around her, she felt she accomplished alot when she climb up the slope. The forbidden slope.

"Will I be able to grow back? Will we never be disturbed again? Will this slope be back grassy again?"

A dream that is impossible for these grasses.

3 paths to a station

Long long ago, here was a green nice slope. A nice little stairs sit in the middle of it, for the commuters to travel to and fro the train station and the bus stop. Further up, a little slope of cement is created near the traffic light path. However the people crossing the traffic light decided that the slope is too much a distance for them to cover. They chose to create a new path. A path between the cement slope and the stairs. A direct cutthrough to reach the station. This cut the grasses once. Then the people alighting the bus stop decided that stairs is too troublesome to climb. They make a mini slope besides the stairs. This cut the grasses twice. On the final blow, the commuters realised that the little slope is not sufficient for the human masses. They make another little slope besides it. The third blow for the grasses.

Ever been stabbed in the heart once? Ever been stabbed in the heart twice? Ever been stabbed in the heart thrice? These grasses have. And on rainy days, they cry and bade goodbyes to the sands. Which will be washed away and accumulated on the pavement. Such is the fate of these grasses.

Author's Note

Grass Tales was an idea I conceptualised after I graduate from university. That was in 2004. 2 years have passed and I'm ashamed to say that this idea is still in infancy stage.

In 2004, I had thought of coming up a comics. To enact the stories that the grasses encounter in their short life span. I only got as far as drawing the characters - A Mr. G & a Ms. G. The storylines are still in my brain, but I am unable to draw them out. People says a picture speaks a thousands words, in this case, the picture I wishes to draw speaks an idea so strong that I am incapable of illustrating it.

Thus I shelved this idea away, and got busy with my working life. Till Jan 2006, when I bought a new handphone. A 2 megapix camera handphone. Then I told myself, now I have a pocket camera which can take pictures as and when I wish to. And this Grass Tales of mine could have a new life. As I am nearing Feb 2006, I finally took a few pictures. The grasses epict in these pictures all have a sad story to share with.

While I tell you the stories, there are many other pictures that lies deeply etched in my memory, waiting to have their stories told to...

Introduction