Kek Seng Yem: Malaysian art curator's turning point

By ZHENG Yingying 

(ECNS) SHANGHAI -- "We can't negate everything about a city simply due to one event, right? Nobody is perfect. Same with cities," said a Chinese Malaysian art curator living in Shanghai when interviewed by ECNS. But he hopes the city could gain experience from it.

Kek Seng Yem, now 49, moved to Shanghai 12 years ago. He lives with his wife in an old gated residence community in downtown Shanghai, which is only a 10-minute walk away from the Bund.

Soon after the lockdown due to the COVID-19, the couple registered as community volunteers in Hongkou District to distribute daily necessities and guide residents to take nucleic acid tests.

They have posted photos in their WeChat moments of themselves wearing heavy masks and protective clothing bearing the Chinese characters “Victory Over Virus” on the front.

One clear change, he said, is that neighborly relations got much closer than before. Neighbors used to greet one another with just a polite nod, whereas now they help and cheer up one another.

“Some of the senior residents in this compound were music teachers before retirement. Beautiful piano and saxophone melodies drift in the air at night. Then looking out of the window and seeing the age-old Shanghai Customs House, I often feel transposed to the old Shanghai,” Kek recounted. “Maybe this is the ‘Shanghainese style’ that locals are proud of.”

As for why he settled down in Shanghai after having stayed in Kuala Lumpur, Taipei and Beijing, Kek believed it was the call of his heart. “The city fits with me so naturally. I like it here,” he said.

Shanghai’s inclusiveness has impressed him the most. “Be it Chinese style or Western style, old fashion or novel trends, you can find them all here…varied elements coexist in harmony,” he said. He likes photographing such harmony on his walks, or lately out of his windows.

After life was disrupted by the Covid outbreak, Kek and his wife once felt “overwhelmed” and “trapped in an infinite time loop.” But then gradually, “a calmness settled in. We realized we still need to think rationally and confront it,” he said.

“You’ve got to believe in this city, and the new case numbers over recent days have shown signs of decline,” Kek said, believing that the outbreak will end sooner or later.

Not being able to go back to visit his parents in Malaysia for three years, Kek expressed his wish to spend more time with his family there when things calm down and normalize in Shanghai.

"Today is Grain Rain — the last solar term of Spring — and marks the 20th day of lockdown life. While Spring is fading away, we're waiting patiently for a turning point,” read his WeChat post (in Chinese) on April 20 ,2022.