I‘ve never actually thought about it.
When one goes to a hawker centre to chope a seat, does the choping device necessarily have to be a packet of tissue paper?
According to Wiktionary, chope means “to reserve a place, such as a seat in a fast food restaurant, sometimes by placing a packet of tissue paper on it.”
Dayum, it’s really that specific eh?
It’s really that specific to the point that artist Rizman Putra did this in Paris, France.
Singapore urban art exhibition in Paris
In an Singapore urban art exhibition that was launched last Friday (1 February 2019) in Paris, Rizman Putra took the opportunity to dress up as a 3-ply tissue pack.
Alongside 10 other artists from Singapore, the art exhibition that introduces modern Singapore culture features various forms of artworks ranging from the traditional -drawings and paintings- to the modern; think VR.
And then there’s Rizman’s chope performance.
In an interview with ChannelNewsAsia, Rizman said of the act of choping: “As a Singaporean, it’s a norm, it happens every day,” and added that it might indeed be “strange” to a foreigner visiting Singapore.
To call it a performance would also be more apt than calling it an art installation as he appears to simply ‘chope’ any spot he likes in the exhibition by physically occupying that space.
Here’s a look at some of his ‘occupation.’
To amplify the norm but yet to what extent?
In what Rizman calls an “ampli[fication] of the norm” according to one of his Facebook reply, Rizman is seeking to highlight what he calls a norm in Singapore.
Apart from the obvious tissue paper packet, he had also replaced the word “Beautex” with the word “Grotesque”.
There are also sights of “3 Sly” instead of “3 Ply” and “Pure Mess” instead of “Pure Pulp”.
These though begs the question: Is the artiste for or against choping?
The chosen diction seems to suggest that Rizman might be against it, seeing how the words are negative in nature.
That though, may just be a part of this entire tongue in cheek.
To know more about choping, and what it actually brings to or exposes something about our national identity, Ajay Nair’s Rice Media Article:
“What is Singapore Without Chope Culture? We Imagine It in the Most Extreme Way Possible”
…may yet prove to be a seminar read for this uniquely Singaporean behavior.
“What is Singapore Without Chope Culture? We Imagine It in the Most Extreme Way Possible”
In his article, Ajay posits a not-too-distant future Singapore where choping is outlawed.
He then documents the ensuing societal descent into chaos and darkness due to this very act.
Barring the (superb) narrative fiction, Ajay pretty much in clear-cut, unambiguous manner says:
His article basically covers choping from soup to nuts and he clearly stands for choping.
Now excuse me, it’s 12:45 p.m. and lunch time; let me leave my laptop aside on the food court table for choping purpose while I go get my chicken chop.
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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