Esquire Singapore

I've never been great at goodbyes. Mostly because like many other Type A individuals who consistently seek a sense of prolonged achievement, the idea of a goodbye requires a kind of finality that is both daunting and emotional in every way. But there are times when you need to put down the mug of coffee, take a deep breath, and prepare yourself to bid adieu to something that has truly mattered to you, well after its time has concluded. That for me, was the year 2022. In February, I gasped in disbelief when I found out I'd be taking over the helm of this esteemed publication—a lifelong passion I thought I'd still be chasing to this day. The beginning came swiftly, and before I knew it, I was knee-deep in editorial…

The Great Exhale: it seems like the collective consensus on the best thing about 2022 is that it's ending. That doesn't sit well with me. That's the opposite of cool. I wish for 2023 to be in the holistic, all-encompassing sense: the opposite. I want to relish in the pulse of its action, to miss the caress of its atoms once 2024 comes knocking. So, I'm looking forward to forward. To the unknown, unfathomable, unlived expanse of the future. Because the best is yet to be. This year, I'll just find cheer in two things: Kendrick Lamar being at the top of his game and that Pete Davidson might be dating Emily Ratajkowski. Indran Paramasivam Culture Editor At the risk of sounding like a whack job, and also because I don't want to…

This year needed my late grandmother and her outsized knickers. In truth, most years need my Nan's underwear; but 2022, in particular, could have used her unique ability to celebrate the minutiae of life. Her joie de vivre was as unrivalled as it was necessary. Whenever we visited as kids, if she felt that the mood was flagging, she'd pull out her Can-Can dance, a French high-kicking routine that involved lifting her skirt and flicking her heels in the air. My grandmother had never been to France. She didn't know any French. She didn't know how to do the Can-Can either. She just tugged at the hem of her skirt and flashed her knickers to get an easy laugh from her grandchildren, which she always did. Though why she'd also do it in the…

I hate Bollywood. I hate it for showing me endless sequences of unrequited love stories, which turn into romances that cannot ever be found or replicated across a normal human lifetime. I hate Bollywood for making me feel like dream men could exist in the realms of reality, and with one dance number, they could end up becoming the greatest and most passionate loves of our lives. I hate Bollywood for enveloping me in the likes of icons such as Shah Rukh Khan, who to this day, remains the one person I'd donate a kidney to, if he were in need. But alas, I cannot hate Bollywood today. Because upon meeting Ranveer Singh, I've come to recognise that perhaps what's sold on screen really can transpire beyond it; and maybe,…

“TV and the Internet are good because they keep stupid people from spending too much time out in public,” is a quote attributed to the deservedly decorated writer Douglas Coupland. His point is nuance-free, obvious and right—but only technically. TV and the Internet are good because they're great; they make living worth living, in a multitude of ways. Our picks from the best items that entered the cultural whirlpool in 2022 are crowned for the manner and intensity with which they impacted the daily process of arise-work-consume-consumeconsume-sleep-repeat. Everything except the best isn't ranked. Subjectivity comes with a price. Now, let's celebrate the fact that we survived Covid-19, Elon Musk and all of this year's virological attacks by toasting to the members of its cultural upper echelon. MUSIC BEST OF THE BEST Kendrick Lamar: Mr. Morale…

Storytellers. There has never been a time in history when they weren't at the forefront of popular consciousness. The good ones clue you in on the pulse of the moment; the best ones draw you into its essence and secure your investment in it. At 33, the London-born, Singapore-flourishing Ed Russell is a paragon in that regard. With the airwaves as his canvas, he is poised to bring us some transfixing and tantalising tidings. Let's look onward. Ed, what are you looking forward to the most about 2023, personally and professionally? Well, firstly, I can't believe that 2023 will already mark the second year of my show on Class 95 (where has the time gone?!) and I've got big plans to make the proverbial season two bigger and better. I'll also be…