The Planners by Boey Kim ChengBy Michael, Lexy, Charmaine, Nayan and Calum

1st 6 lines by Lexy

They plan. They build. All spaces are gridded,

Filled with permutations of possibilities.

The buildings are in alignment with the roads

Which meet at desired points

Linked by bridges all hang

In the grace of mathematics.

SIFTSEI

• S= New beginning

• I=Blueprints, machines, work, construction

• F=Repetition, anaphora, enjambment

• T=calm, descriptive, serious

• S=no structure, signifies the new beginning

• E= sad but majestic towards the end

• I= is to get rid of the past, to show the planning and construction of the future.

Next 6 lines by Nayan.

Continued.

Lines 13-18

“All gaps are plugged with gleaming gold.”

Enjambment. Emphasis on wealth.

“The country wears perfect rows of shinning teeth.”

Suggests high Maintenance. Enjambment suggests the rows being never ending.

“Anesthesia, Amnesia, Hypnosis. They have the means.”

Numbing the pain. Forgetting the past.

Stanza 2 (Lines 19-23)

“They have it all so it will not hurt,

so history is new again.

The piling will not stop.

The drilling goes right through

the fossils of last century.”

Line 19

“They have it all so it will not hurt,”

Only 3 ways of curing pain (anaesthesia, amnesia and hypnosis)

Line 20

“so history is new again”

Juxtaposition – history can’t be new

Line 21 - 23

“The piling will not stop.

The drilling goes right through

the fossils of last century.”

Anaphora of “The”

Enjambment – lines 22 and 23

“Drilling goes right through” gives the reader a sense of hopelessness.

Last 4 lines by Calum.

But my heart would not bleed

poetry. Not a single drop

to stain the blueprint

of our pasts tomorrow .

Last 4 lines

This last stanza of the poem helps to describe how Singapore cannot dwell in their past.

There could be a paradox in the last two words of the poem with ‘past’s tomorrow’.

The choice of the word ‘blueprint’ show that they have everything planned.

Good imagery.

The tone in the last line is very mysterious and hard to understand.

Thank you for listening.