2.6 The Planners ….. Boey Kim Cheng (Text Book Page No. 91)
APPRECIATION OF POEM (2.6 The Planners)
Write the appreciation of the poem based on the given points :
About the poem, poet and title
Theme
Poetic style, language, poetic devices used in the poem
Special features
Message/values/morals in the poem
Your opinion about the poem
Boey Kim Cheng’s poem The Planners expresses sadness over the constant demolition of old structures for new developments. Town planners eagerly reshape the city, erasing its identity.
In land-scarce Singapore, old buildings are destroyed to make space for modern ones. The planners present a vision of perfection, with shining rows of buildings like gleaming teeth, keeping citizens in a passive state.
The poet uses “they” to refer to those responsible and employs irony to highlight the precise yet destructive nature of planning. He compares planners to dentists, removing historic monuments like flawed teeth. The shores and sky are personified, shrinking helplessly against this “progress.”
The people, like anesthetized patients, remain silent while the city is transformed. Only a few, including the poet, recognize the loss but fear opposing the grand plan.
Even the poet hesitates, unwilling to stain the grand plan with resistance, showing how difficult it is to stand against widespread change.
The poem highlights the loss of history and identity due to urbanization, emphasizing how people remain silent and accept the transformation without resistance.
Expresses – Shows feelings or thoughts
Demolition – Tearing down buildings
Structures – Buildings or things made by people
Town planners – People who design cities
Eagerly – With a lot of excitement
Reshape – Change the shape or look
Erasing – Removing completely
Land-scarce – Not having enough land
Vision – A picture of the future
Gleaming – Bright and shiny
Passive – Not doing anything, just watching
State – A condition or situation
Poetic Style – The way a poem is written
Devices – Special techniques or tools used
Irony – Saying one thing but meaning another
Precise – Very accurate or exact
Destructive – Causing damage or harm
Comparing – Finding similarities
Historic – Important in history
Monuments – Old buildings or statues with importance
Flawed – Having mistakes or problems
Personified – Giving human qualities to non-living things
Shrinking – Becoming smaller
Helplessly – Without power to do anything
Anesthetized – Made numb or unconscious
Recognize – To see and understand
Opposing – Fighting against something
Grand – Big and impressive
Hesitates – Feels unsure or delays
Resistance – Fighting back or saying no
Urbanization – Growth of cities
Transformation – A big change
Acceptance – Agreeing to something
EXPLANATION OF THE POEM (2.6 The Planners)
The Planners
They plan. They build. All spaces are gridded
The people in charge of the city (planners) make plans and build things. Every empty space is divided into neat sections like a grid.
Filled with permutations of possibilities.
There are many ways they can arrange things, and they try different ideas to make everything fit perfectly.
The buildings are in alignment with the roads which meet at desired points
The buildings and roads are built in a way that everything looks neat and perfectly placed.
linked by bridges all hang in the grace of mathematics.
The bridges are carefully designed using math, making sure they are strong and well-balanced.
They build and will not stop. Even the sea draws back and the skies surrender.
They keep building and never stop. Even nature, like the sea and sky, seems to step back and give way to their construction.
They erase the flaws, the blemishes of the past,
They remove old things that they think look bad or are not useful anymore.
knock off useless blocks with dental dexterity.
They tear down old buildings skillfully, just like a dentist removes bad teeth.
All gaps are plugged with gleaming gold.
Any empty spaces are filled with new and shiny things that look expensive and perfect.
The country wears perfect rows of shining teeth.
The city looks like a person with perfectly straight, white teeth—everything looks too perfect and artificial.
Anaesthesia, amnesia, hypnosis.
They use different ways to make people not feel pain, forget the past, and not realize what is happening.
They have the means.
They have the power and money to do all this.
They have it all so it will not hurt.
They make changes in a way that people don’t feel the loss of old things.
So history is new again.
They change so much that the past is forgotten, and history feels brand new.
The piling will not stop.
They keep digging and building without stopping.
The drilling goes right through the fossils of last century.
They drill deep into the ground, destroying old things from the past, like fossils or old buildings.
But my heart would not bleed poetry.
The poet feels sad but cannot even write poetry about it anymore because everything feels too empty and lifeless.
Not a single drop to stain the blueprint of our past’s tomorrow.
There is no emotion left to affect the perfect plans for the future. The past is being erased completely.
Gridded – Arranged in straight lines like a grid.
Permutations – Different ways of arranging things.
Alignment – Placing things in a straight line.
Grace – Beauty or perfection.
Flaws – Mistakes or problems.
Blemishes – Small marks or imperfections.
Dexterity – Skillful movement.
Plugged – Filled or covered.
Anaesthesia – A way to stop pain.
Amnesia – Loss of memory.
Hypnosis – A state where someone is controlled or unaware.
Means – Money or power to do something.
Piling – Stacking things on top of each other.
Drilling – Making a hole in something.
Fossils – Old remains of plants or animals found in rocks.
Blueprint – A detailed plan for building something.