The Ice Cream Uncle : a zine on display in the 25x25 exhibition at SMU de Suantio Gallery during the 2025 Arts Fest
This is a pdf capture of the zine created by Amber Choh for the 2025 Arts Fest 25x25 exhibition which contains a poetry inspired by Soe Niang's arkwork "Dance" (2011).
"I was inspired by Soe Naing’s dancing colours, which came alive with vibrant pinks, yellows, and expressive brushstrokes. I was drawn to how colour has the power to carry emotion and memory. His work reminded me of the pastel swirls of ice cream on rainbow bread from my childhood. In response, I wrote a poem based on a small but meaningful ritual: queuing outside the school gates every day, rain or shine, to buy ice cream from the uncle. It was a simple act that became a lasting memory—sweet, fleeting, and quietly profound.
This work reflects my longing for that time and the comfort of routine. Like Soe Naing’s colours, the memory moves, softens, melts, but ultimately remains vivid. I know that the ice cream uncle is no longer there, and I am no longer the child I was. But in reimagining those colours through recollection, I return briefly to that sunny corner of my past. This poem carries a quiet hope: that even as we grow and change, some memories stay warm and bright enough to revisit." - Amber Choh, Year 3, Lee Kong Chian School of Business
"I was inspired by Soe Naing’s dancing colours, which came alive with vibrant pinks, yellows, and expressive brushstrokes. I was drawn to how colour has the power to carry emotion and memory. His work reminded me of the pastel swirls of ice cream on rainbow bread from my childhood. In response, I wrote a poem based on a small but meaningful ritual: queuing outside the school gates every day, rain or shine, to buy ice cream from the uncle. It was a simple act that became a lasting memory—sweet, fleeting, and quietly profound.
This work reflects my longing for that time and the comfort of routine. Like Soe Naing’s colours, the memory moves, softens, melts, but ultimately remains vivid. I know that the ice cream uncle is no longer there, and I am no longer the child I was. But in reimagining those colours through recollection, I return briefly to that sunny corner of my past. This poem carries a quiet hope: that even as we grow and change, some memories stay warm and bright enough to revisit." - Amber Choh, Year 3, Lee Kong Chian School of Business