Ending: Reflections on Singapore Literature

After a month of writing blogposts about the writers we have chosen to focus on as well as Singapore Literature as a whole, it is finally time for us to let go of this little project. We set up this blogspot hoping to be a website worthy enough to attain a decent grade (we still do earnestly hope..) but we have come out of this month with a more enriched understanding of the Singapore literary scene as well as more inspired by these wonderful writers then we ever would have thought.

Here are the individual reflections from our group members :-

Suhaidah : Having been an avid (yet inadequate sigh) blogger for most of my adolescent life, blogging about Singapore literature specifically was a little challenging than my normal 'ramble-from-the-top-of-my-head' posts on other blogs. It was hard to not sound like I am writing an academic essay but still I wanted my writing to be credible enough for an academic project. Nonetheless,I thoroughly enjoyed reading up on Alfian Sa'at and writing about him and his literary work. In fact, this is a bit fangirl-y of me but I would officially say he is my favourite Singaporean writer. Writing posts for this project has been a nice little reprieve from the rigid academic writing we all have to do in our other modules. Also,my group mates being the insightful individuals that they are, have provided thought-provoking posts about the other writers and I definitely enjoy reading them as well. All in all, I feel extremely fortunate to have done this project with my group members and I hope the readers of this blog enjoy it as much as we did making it.

Silei: As a playwright and theatre practitioner who has passed on, it is heartwarming to see how Kuo Pao Kun's works have, in a sense, "lived on". While Kuo's case can be said to be specific to theatre rather than literature per se, the Kuo Pao Kun Festival 2012 shows us how there have also been re-interpretations by a new generation of theatre practitioners. Hence, it feels like Kuo's work has transcended his generation to continue to play a role in the scene of Singapore literature (and theatre) today. In that sense, it poses the question: Who else may be able to do the same in the future in order to maintain and enrich Singapore literature across time?

In this project, the chance to explore his background and works was valuable in deepening my understanding of his works. At this juncture, I think I would like to understand more about other Singaporean playwrights as well, especially today, when writing scripts seems almost "fashionable". Hence, I think I would like to continue this exploration (though perhaps in a less formalized way) of the Singapore literary/theatrical scene. Suhaidah's exploration of Alfian Sa'at is a good place to start!

Zayana :

Through this project, I was forced to explore practically all of the works of Toh Hsien Min. Fortunately, this was an attainable achievement as his works currently only include 3 collections. I learnt to appreciate the style of this poet. On the other hand, I was also appreciative of the growth and depth I see evolving in his work, when I explored it chronologically. I observed the change and maturation of his writing. The exploration of one poet’s works to such depth was a new experience for me and although it was an amateurish attempt, I found the process enriching. Going beyond our academic introduction to Singapore literature was enlightening, because we saw the different opinions and portrayals of Singapore in the literary art form.

Prior to this module and this project, I was not aware of the richness of Singapore literature. I underestimated its potential. Now, I am excited to check out even more works by Singaporean writers because I have learnt about the uniqueness Singapore literature hold.

Tingwei : Through this project, I was given a lot of exposure on Singaporean writers and their works. I've learnt how to appreciate Singapore literature on a deeper level, and am especially intrigued by the different layers of culture that was brought out by Suchen Christine Lim in her novel. Contrary to what people usually say about Singapore, that we are a young country with no history to speak of, Suchen Christine Lim as well as the other Singaporean writers mentioned in this project gave Singapore a history so fascinating and uncovered many hidded aspects of Singaporean life that have been forgotten.

Ian: Exploring Singapore literature on my own and in class has taught me about Singapore history and culture from a perspective I would have missed out on if I had just taken a history class. The poets, playwrights and authors that we read really succeeded in revealing to me the life and blood of Singapore and making it all come alive. I think that Robert Yeo was a good fit for me to take a more in depth look on because his perspective carries with it a considerable amount of historical value; just like how we discussed Goh Poh Seng in class. I took this class and carried out this project to be one of my "fun" studies, but in the end I feel that it was one of the more interesting and useful of the things I have studied this semester. I look forward to picking up some more Singapore books to accompany me on my travels through the rest of the semester.

With that we close our project :)

Thank you,folks!

Yeo: The Poetry

Robert Yeo is best known for his poetry, so I've decided to save the best for last. He became interested in poetry as early as secondary school and has published 5 volumes of poetry, been included in anthologies and collaborations, and has many poems still unpublished. His poetry explores similar themes to his other work, namely the importance of identity, experience, and travel. He writes poetry about the singaporean experience and his feelings on being a part of that experience. I've picked out a few of my favorites to talk about and discuss here; they range from the personal to the international. I think that they show an astute awareness of the surrounding world and an attempt to fit everything together

First, I would like to talk about his poem "Turn of the Decade 1969-70." It once again draws on his experience in London and the more general experience that was the turbulent decade of the 60's. I see it as an attempt to reconcile the excitement and passion of that world with his return to Singapore and his becoming older.

“We now in Singapore can have luxuries:

Golden mile or shoe, Khersonese silk, Marco Polo...

But not the ideological type. Not in the seventies.

In this decade of ours must be the politics

Of consolidation. In the sixties, remember,

The decade that spawned slogans and believed in them,

There was a marriage and there was a divorce.”

(In part)

He portrays Singapore as being a society much more restricted than that of London. Ideological liberties are particularly called out as being much more suppressed. He seems to view the material luxuries he mentions as ephemeral distractions from the important things that mark a true and successful government and country (freedom of expression and culture). As for the last line discussing a marriage and divorce, I think it refers to the personal changes the students of the 60's have gone through. Previously in the poem he mentions friends who once valued their freedom being tied down by marriage and serious jobs. They were once married to their romantic ideals and slogans but were forced to divorce them when reality set in.

Yeo covers a similar theme in his poem "Garden City." He emphasizes the importance of cultural development over simple economic and real estate development.

“But a garden city? Well, I expect more

Than just a hygienic place, more than

Just the ordered tapestry of streets,

Tree-lined or linked by parks or squares.

But such imagination must extend

To pursuits where plays may be freely performed

Not banned by some policeman taught to think

That art must have a criminal code.”
(In Part)


Here he makes a point against the sterility of a city and society as an oppression against expression and a hinderance against freedom. The reference to the policeman is taken from his personal experiences with government sensors concerning the staging of plays. He believed them to pick out and choose problems according to standards that are ultimately blind to reading the meaning of a work as a whole.

His poem "Saigon 2" follows a more broad perspective about what he saw and felt during the Vietnam War. It expresses his viewpoint that United States involvement was ultimately a hinderance to anything constructive being able to develop in the region. It further suggests that Western powers have no place in Southeast Asian affairs.

“Democracy is a wind-blown seed and the land

Is now too soiled for any sprig to grow

But the hardiest; and Napalm does not help”

(In Part)

These lines mean that democracy is something that must occur naturally; something people must choose. The efforts of the US are actually counterproductive to their goals as the violence and turmoil (napalm does not help). This poem displays Yeo's broader views about the region and life he has grown up in and how it has become important to him.

My favorite poem, "Leaving Home Mother", successfully combines many of Yeo's themes and shows a deep love for Singapore even if he does not always agree with it. The poem focuses on the need to travel to broaden one's perspective and on the other end a need for a home and identity. Poems like this speak especially clear to me on exchange here in Singapore because I can relate to Yeo's thoughts and experiences.

“And Singapore

I’m leaving you, too,

You’ll soon know why.

There’s a lot to be said

For going abroad, if you come home

Come home a Singaporean.

It does not matter if you’ve had

A rather varied history of domicile...

However, I’m prepared

Like any filial first son

Of responsible, stern parents

To defer my going away, Singapore,

For a week or two

If you just indicate

You are going to miss me”

(In Part)

I find it very effective how he uses metaphor to compare Singapore to a parent. I think this is a reference to the strict rules and subdued political expressions that he does not agree on. Like a parent, we may feel rebellious against the rules that they set but we truly do still love them. The last line quoted to me is very powerful, showing that he will always have a sense of belonging and will always show himself as a filial son to his country

Alfian Sa'at's Malay Sketches

Alfian Sa'at has just recently published his newest short story collection 'Malay Sketches' adding to his already long list of works. Malay Sketches will include 'flash fiction' pieces. It will be available to purchase at EthosBooks at their website, Kinokuniya and Books Actually after 3rd April 2012.

Means To An End: An Interview with Toh Hsien Min Interview By Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé

For your reading pleasure and more information on the kind of poet Toh Hsien Min is, here is a link to an interview with Toh Hsien Min done by Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé of Prick of the Spindle, an online literary journal:

http://www.prickofthespindle.com/interviews/4.2/Kon-Min/hsienmintoh_interview.htm

- Toh Hsien Min

Credits:

Zhicheng-Mingdé, D. K. (2010). Means To An End: An Interview with Toh Hsien Min Interview By Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé. Retrieved from Prick of the Spindle: http://www.prickofthespindle.com/interviews/4.2/Kon-Min/hsienmintoh_interview.htm

A Bit of Earth

A Bit of Earth was the fourth novel that Lim wrote after a span of 8 years from Fistful of Colours. To me, I see some very identical styles present in both novels, which is a little surprising considering how far apart in time the novels were written.

In both novels, Lim writes about one protagonist and how he/she grows while surrounded by the many cultures and histories of the people around them. In Fistful of Colours, Suwen is surrounded by the history of the Ong family and the family backgrounds of her friend. In A Bit of Earth, Tuck Heng is surrounded by the Babas, the White Cranes, and the stories of his friends and wives. The style used here is pretty similar. Both protagonists go through pressures that they struggle with and undergo much tension when forced to confront who they really are.


I feel that Lim is very clever in interweaving multiple stories together that creates different perspectives, thus adding to the colourful vibrant nature of her novels. The plots are not dull and the characters vivid and real.

However, I prefer Fistful of Colours greatly to A Bit of Earth as I find the characters in A Bit of Earth too extreme for my liking. Perhaps this is because living in post-modern Singapore, I have no firsthand encounters with the coolies of babas mentioned in the novel, thus many a times, I find myself recoiling against the crude nature and language of the characters being portrayed. They are too unfamiliar and I find myself unable to relate to them.

Of course, that is just my attitude towards the story itself, but I must give credit to the author for her ability to engage different cultures and background and weave them together, making her characters come to life.

Yeo: Snippets of Reviews and Interview

“For me, Robert Yeo’s Contribution to local poetry will always be more than the sum of his poems.

Like Ee Tiang Hong, who is perhaps more polished, Yeo has given to poetry a rich, prosaic definition- one that says a good poem must, more than anything else, communicate and tell.

I can best justify such a grand attribution on very personal grounds. Yeo’s poems, which I found (and still find) refreshingly down-to-earth, changed my attitude towards poetry- and by extension, literature- when I was in secondary school”

-Chua Chong Jin, Straits Times 6 December 1989

“The play and the dialogue is strong and forceful. Scene three stands out most in the play when in a face to face confrontation, there is heated dialogue between Fernandez and Chye over ideologies, PAP, and parliamentary democracy. Though very much political, the theme is underplayed and overshadowed by other themes. The careful blend is artistic and lends itself to non commitment”

-Jagjit Nagpal, Straits Times 16 November 1980

“Robert Yeo’s volumes of poetry are not so much collections of artefacts as chronicles of a life. His poems are personal poems, reflections on observed reality. They chronicle the developments of an individual consciousness while at the same time they chronicle the development of Singapore. The parallelism of the poet and the city is unforced but recurrent.”

-Michael Wilding

Q: Would you regard yourself as a controversial writer?

A: “Controversial” is a relative word. One could be controversial because a reviewer objected to my depiction of women, as was the case with Holden Heng in 1989, and I rebutted and there was a series of exchanges. Or one is controversial for addressing themes the government was not ready to see addressed, such as opposition politics in the case of my play One Year Back Home in 1980. So yes, in these two examples, I am controversial. I see the term “controversial” as being more meaningful if it means that the writer probes new areas of expression which extends the boundaries and adds what can be said about them. In the case of Gopal Baratham, Singapore politics in A candle or the sun or sex in Sayang. (Mind you there’s a lot more than sex in Sayang.) Just as there is more to Changi than overt scenes of political interrogation in prison.

(Ban Kah Choon Talks to Robert Yeo- 2000)

AS: What his friends say about him

This is a video Alfian's close friends (which include prominent in the Singapore arts scene such as Roystan Tan) made him a wonderful video for his 30th birthday.

I think it's better than any interview he ever gave just because we really get to see how he really is minus the politics of his works - a really genuine and brave human being.

Watch!

A review: Iambus (1994)

Iambus was Toh hsien Min’s very first published collection of poetry. This was a little apparent to me in his work, especially because I had read his collections backwards.

His play on style was a lot simpler and most poems, shorter. It felt like a poet’s scribbles at the start of an idea, in comparison to his more polished works in later collections.

Again, the variety in subject points in his poetry made it seem as if Hsien Min had carved inspiration from just about any object or scenery. A recurring theme in this collection however, was nature. The theme was shared in poems such as ‘In the Park’, ‘Weed-Killer’ and ‘Bukit Timah and Hindhede’ where imagery of nature was profusely used.

This led me to insinuate a gentler tone throughout his poetry. Whereas in ‘Means to An End’, his latest collection, I sensed a more assertive and opinionated tone. Frankly, I liked ‘Iambus’ the least and ‘Means to An End’ the most. His opinions and personal perspective weaved in his poetry encouraged a lot more thought by the reader which made reading more engaging.

Min, T. H. (1994). Iambus. UniPress

On Suchen Christine Lim...

During lecture this week, Suchen Christine Lim was invited to be our guest speaker/writer for the day.

Having met her before during my JC days, I didn't expect much since I thought that it will probably be about the same thing.

However, the woman writer, though petite, struck me as a very passionate woman about her work. She holds a love towards her writing and her characters, which is evident in both times that I've heard her speak. The way she read parts of her novel were energetic and full of life.

There was something she said during that lecture that really caused me to wonder. That is, when she kept urging us to read the novel to enjoy it rather than as a literary text.

This made me wonder if sometimes, we tend to over-analyse certain subjects and themes in novels, in literature itself. With the aim to write a good report, we debunk every single sentence to find something beyond what the normal reader would see. Through that process, we may actually get a deeper sense of the novel and how it relates to the world that the author sees, but does that diminish the simple enjoyment of just reading a book as it is? Is that really the author's intention?

I would always remember during a lecture in JC, when one of my classmates asked Lim why the title 'Fistful of Colours' and she replied that there wasn't any particular reason for that, it was just a nice name that her friend had suggested to her. We were all taken aback as we had spent many lessons discussing about that, trying to figure out what went through the author's mind.

But that said, there is always a little sense of accomplishment after every attempt to discover a theme and seeing the grades go up with each try. I guess it's a matter of balancing... and yes, I still love Lit.