Essay: "The planners" by Boey Kim Cheng

• What do you find particularly memorable about the way in which the author conveys modern architecture in The planners?

The planners, written by Boey Kim Cheng is a poem in which the author conveys hoy he feels about perfect cities. Through this essay the different topics, such as mathematics, builders and dentists, the author uses to convey modern architecture will be developed.

In the first stanza the author describes how man are modificating cities as to make them perfect. He uses the simile and metaphor of maths, such as "the buildings are in alignment with the roads". He is trying to explain that they, people, are changing the city and perfectioning it with mathematics. Boey Kim Cheng gives us the idea of conquering cities and making nature "drawback" and surrender under man made things, such as buildings.

Through the second stanza Cheng explains that builders are like dentists. "They erase the flaws, the blemishes of the past, knock off useless blocks with dental dexterity", Boey Kim Cheng wrote; dentists fix our mouths, erasing every mistake it has, just like builders that correct the city imperfections, changing it with the passing of the days.

Finally, in the third and last stanza the author expresses his feelings about the cities' past being erased. "But my heart would not bleed poetry", he says, feeling hurt about the past being fossilized. He will not be able to express and write more poetry since there is no more past which inspired poetry to him. Boey Kim makes us believe he is no more going to write since the present has no or does not give him enthusiasm just like the past did.

Throughout this essay the different topics, such as mathematics, builders and dentists, the author used to convey modern architecture had been explained. This is a poem in which the author leads us to know how he feels about the cities being perfectiones and how this affects him at the time of writing a new piece of poetry.