Chorus of Complaints
By Ng Yan Bo, Channelnewsasia.com | Posted: 15 January 2008 1756 hrs

	Photos  of
	Video Chorus of Complaints

SINGAPORE: It's no secret that Singaporeans love to complain. In fact, reports have showed that complaining is the fifth most cited essential trait of a typical Singaporean. And there are countless ways to complain – some lament to friends, others write a petition to the government, a few have even taken to the streets with placards.

But how about a more peaceful and therapeutic way of voicing your displeasure? This new form of complaining is so unique that it’s guaranteed to garner more attention than yet another letter to the Forum.

Meet the Complaints Choir Project – a Finnish organisation which teaches people all over the world to sing about their displeasures to fellow citizens.

Started by Finnish duo Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen, the movement has met resounding success in its travels to Helsinki, Birmingham, Hamburg and St Petersburg.

No complaint is too big or too small, and they can range from broken underpants to snoring husbands to offices with Siberian temperatures. Members in each choir decide on their favourite gripes that will make the lyrics, and a local composer makes sure the song has its city’s unique sound.

Project co-founder Kalleinen said that complaining is a universal activity, and instead of suppressing unhappy feelings or just dutifully whining, the act of complaining should be turned into something more rewarding – it should be sung and shared with others.

"We find that people use a lot of time and energy to complain so we thought it would be great to use this kind of energy for something creative," he said.

According to the co-founder, most complaints are similar around the world – unfriendly people who make others' lives miserable, bad public transport systems, too much advertisements, bad hair days, income tax, and of course, the universal misery: money's never enough.

However, Kalleinen said that listening to complaints for a job is not a pain to him and his co-founder, as they get to see each city in a different light.

"It's very interesting for us because whenever we visit a new city we hear a huge bunch of unique complaints so we get a very vivid, real-life image of the city," he said.

Unusual complaints which the duo has heard around the world include boring dreams in Helsinki and noisy traditional folk dancing classes in Hungarian apartments.

Of course, in Singapore for its Southeast Asia premier as part of the Singapore M1 Fringe Festival, Kalleinen has expected to hear some truly uniquely Singaporean complaints which most Singaporeans, and only Singaporeans, can identify with.

According to Melissa Lim, manager of the Festival, complaints have been streaming in from Singaporeans from as young as 14 years old to as old as 73 years old.

Expect the usual complaints such as the lack of time and terrible cab drivers to distinctively Singaporean ones like the disgraceful act of using tissue packets to reserve a seat in food centres.

With a "no singing skills required" attachment to its cause, the Singapore version of the Complaints Choir Project has attracted over 60 participants so far.

Workshops for the Complaints Choir Project are already underway and will last until 25 January. Live performances will take place on 25 and 26 January at various locations such as People’s corner, the Esplanade Waterfront, the Arts House Chamber and Vivo City.

- CNA/yb