It would seem like all you internet-savvy art nerds (I’m talking to you, you and you) mean squat to certain people. And well, local press too. Well, at least local press-who-blogs-as-part-of-his-job. Ever since I got wind of the line-up, I’ve been looking forward to The Esplanade’s ConversAsians event and the chance to sit down and hear artists like Pichet Klunchun, Jecko Siompo, Tang Da Wu, Lee Hwai Min, Nitin Sawhney talk about their craft. You know, take notes, take pictures, blog. It was all set. After going full-on with TODAY’s online venture, I’ve sort of gotten the hang of it thanks to a greater part of our coverage of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival, that die-lah 12-hour arts marathon Superintense, and the current Singapore Arts Fest (latest post on Football! Football! coming, mother!). I had thought that by now, people would have accepted this kind of alternative reporting by TODAY. I mean, apparently even people from the NAC and NHB and The Esplanade read it. And heck,  I take it seriously. It doesn't show but yeah, I'm serious. I was all looking forward to what I was expecting to be my most hectic week during this whole SAF season – watching five consecutive shows at night, while doing non-stop blogging about ConversAsians in the day. Except that apparently online isn’t proper journalism. Four straight days of dedicated blogging in what’s technically the online extension of Singapore’s second most-read newspaper isn’t a strong enough case to get a media pass. I wasn’t asking for a VIP pass. I could have just stayed in one corner or sat on the floor. I couldn’t care less. I’m the RAT. I haven’t even gotten a haircut in months! And then there’s also the issue of priority. Apparently, regional and international media are also dropping by. Good for them, I say. Except that I got the impression from my correspondence with Esplanade that local media is sort of competing for slots with them. Now let me see – are there any of the other local press doing a daily coverage of what to some may seem like an industry event to others? Good if there are, but last time I checked, no one. So, like, what’s the fuss over one measly media pass right? But yeah, I can only offer a blog and there are other regional and international journos to think about. You may get the impression this is just a miffed journo throwing a tantrum but I assure you it’s not. Not going to ConversAsians frees me up to do other things – interview other local artists, catch up on my football (new X2 2010 iPhone app is out now!), pitch in desking and editing in the office (yeah, I know, football metaphors all `round, wait till you read my next post), et cetera. People keep saying it’s a slow uphill battle to get Singaporeans to embrace contemporary art. And all along I thought a blog like For Art’s Sake! was a way of chipping in – writing about a cross section of art forms in a casual way for the Facebook generation. You know, a lot of them like art too. I’m a print dude by heart, having spent nearly a decade writing for newspapers and magazines, but I also know that you can’t underestimate the power of the Internet. Especially these days. A 5-year-old Singaporean now – who’s definitely not going to attend ConversAsians – can probably stumble upon this post online a decade from now and go, “Wah, that sounds interesting.” And decides to become an artist. Unless of course Singaporeans aren’t in your sights la. And well, at $270 a day and $810 for the whole package, I wonder how many of our young and eager emergent local artists have enough moolah to attend. But even if it’s targeted at an international audience, I feel it's a pity to have such an attitude towards arts blogs and the local press. One of the ironies here is that I had written a print trend story on the local arts scene going more and more into cyberspace a while back. Unless of course they didn’t even read the paper. So yes, the long and short of it is that I’ll be skipping ConversAsians and really, really regretting not seeing Jecko and Pichet and especially Da Wu talk. Why? At some point I remembered that thing called dignity. And well, if I’m made to feel like I’m begging for a bone, I’ll just hang out with people who appreciate what this arts blog tries to do. I was tempted to explode in rage hours ago but I’m calmed down somewhat. But you know, maybe I should’ve written this down in the heat of the moment. They’d never find out. According to them, no one reads a local arts blog right?