This 2018, Creamier turns 7, and to celebrate this milestone, we wanted to focus on several individuals who have helped shape Creamier throughout the years, seeing us grow into the ice cream brand we are today.
The “7 Moments of Happiness” campaign focuses on these individuals and their journeys in life. It’s a series of fireside chats with people from our community who have constantly supported us, and who have eventually become good friends of Creamier. Always be in great company.
Tia Boon Sim is the founder of Urban Sketchers Singapore (USKSG), an affiliate to global non-profit organization, Urban Sketchers, which was founded to share the artistic, storytelling, and educational value of location-based drawing. Since its inception in 2009, participants with various qualifications and skills have met on a regular basis to go on “sketchwalks”. Over the years, the group has garnered the support of like-minded Singaporeans and foreigners alike, making Urban Sketchers one of the most active groups in the world. To kickstart our 7 Moments of Happiness series, Tia talks about living in the heartlands, specifically Toa Payoh, where our first Creamier shop was erected, and how it has become an important baseline for her art.
What do you like most about Toa Payoh?
Toa Payoh has a very special place in my heart because my father bought our very first flat, Block 53 in Lorong 4, under the “Home Ownership” scheme in the early 70s. It was also the first high-rise public housing block in an HDB satellite town and the model block visited by the British Royal Family in 1972.
What are your thoughts about bringing the arts to the heartlands and to everyday folks?
An Urban Sketcher tells stories about places through sketches, showing the world one drawing at a time. Their drawings are a record of time and place. Everyday folks are able to see and make personal connections with the heartlands through these sketches immortalised on paper, reminiscing the past and providing hope for the future.
Do you recall any fond memories of eating ice cream?
I remember spending my childhood days with my cousins eating in the “ice cream room” of my late uncle’s restaurant called Pavilion Steakhouse along the old Orchard Road. I ate so much ice cream that I grew up resisting it, but unique local flavours like Gula Melaka, Durian, or Cempedak helped me get back to eating ice cream again.
What do you enjoy most about Creamier? Do you have a favourite ice cream flavour?
My favourite Creamier ice cream flavour is the signature Sea Salt Gula Melaka. When I am in Toa Payoh, I visit Creamier to have my favourite ice cream with sips of long black and to enjoy my “me-time”.
What’s next for Urban Sketchers Singapore?
Urban Sketchers Singapore breeds a collaborative crowd, and this has resulted to a few publications. We hope to nurture the next generation of sketch leaders to continue our contribution to the community. We will continue to create opportunities for new sketchers to showcase their art in our future publications and projects. Perhaps, also focus on the scholarships of individual sketchers who are capable of conducting professional workshops locally and globally.
See what Tia and her crew are up to by visiting urbansketchers-singapore.blogspot.com.
