SCL : Fistful of Colours...

Fistful of Colours is probably one of the most well-read novels by Suchen Christine Lim. It was awarded the 1992 Singapore Literature Prize


Fistful of Colours tells the story of the protagonist Suwen against the backdrop of Singapore culture in different times, while interweaving the lives and histories of her family members and friends. Readers are drawn into the rich culture of the different races; Baba, Chinese, Malay, Indian and the Westerners, while empathizing with the characters in the novel as they either suppress themselves or try to break social forces within the fixed social construct. Nica goes against her father's wish for her to be a doctor, choosing rather to pursue her passion as an artist. Janice faces objection from her family as she decides to marry a Malay journalist. The novel shows how Suwen and her friends deal with external expectations, and at the end of the day, makes choices that leads to self-discovery.


A recurring theme in the novel is the idea of family as a social construct, which drives the desire in the characters for a freedom to be who they want to be. Suwen is torn between her obligations to her mother and going back to the Ong mansion that haunts her with the memory of being molested by her stepfather. She alienates herself from her mother, but still feel pangs of guilt. Therefore, she is only able to express her pains and anguish through art, as shown by the first line of the novel "..." Nica exerts herself relentlessly by continuously going against her father's expectations. Contrasting to Suwen, Nica is more aggressive and has no qualms in defying social constructs that cause her to compromise on her own ideals and desires. Family becomes a chain, a bondage that holds the characters back. However, the author ironically gives an alternative view by inserting histories and stories of the previous generation,  causing us, as readers, to come to understand the reasons behind their expectations, and thus, sympathize with them as well. This results in a very conflicting emotion as there's no obvious right or wrong in both perspectives..


Art becomes a motif that is very important in the novel, serving as a form of escape for the characters, and a tool for their expression of self. In sculpturing, Nica is able to control the way she sees and shapes her subjects, representing how nobody, but only she at the end of the day, is the master of herself.


Fistful of Colours is a complicated novel filled with many interjections from the past through the memories of the characters. Suchen Christine Lim cleverly merges the present Singapore that Suwen lives in and early Singapore, through Suwen's uncovering of the histories and heritage of her family while on a journey to discover her own identity. Important themes of family, societal expectations, conformity, identity and freedom are being played out all at the same time, while maintaining the flow of the story, which in my opinion, makes the novel a rare read.

Robert Yeo's Routes

As I mentioned in my first post, I picked this up as a companion for my Spring break travels. Why not read about one man's travels while doing a bit of my own? Plus, he made a pretty good pitch for it in his lecture.

Now, before I discuss it, let me first clear something up. In class, Yeo mentioned how the title has a double meaning in that "routes" and "roots" both sound the same and are both major themes of his memoir. He also mentioned that this would be lost on American readers who apparently pronounce "routes" with an "ow" sound. As an American, let me just say that neither I nor anyone I've ever talked to says it like that and I'm not sure why people think we do (it isn't the first time I'd heard someone think so).

So anyway, the book:
I'll discuss both the "roots" and "routes" that I found as present in the memoir.

Roots:

Part of this was very dry, but most of this was very interesting. For example, the pages he focuses on his family tree held my attention like a bucket without a bottom. But the chapters on his childhood in Singapore was very interesting to me. I could compare it both with the different culture I experienced growing up and the different era I experienced. While some things were different, it is always a comfort to me to know that halfway around the world half a century ago, school kids were pretty similar. In terms of Yeo's family life, I thought the chapters provided me with a good snapshot of Singaporean family dynamics and working with a bilingual household and immigrant parents. Another of the chapters entitled, "Chinese cannot speak Chinese" details and encounter he had with the lady who served food at his school. She made a comment about the Chinese (and other ethnic groups by extension) losing their culture to a more western oriented Singapore. This sort of sets the stage for Yeo to become passionate about a Southeast Asian and Singaporean identity.

The other piece of the roots discussed is Yeo's involvement in the development of the Singapore English literature scene. He recounts compilations made with other Singaporean pioneer writers such as Goh Poh Seng who we have become familiar with. Yeo discusses his work with the emerging universities of Singapore and lower education systems. It is really the story of post independence Singapore's literary and intellectual scene, a view I would not have gotten from a book focused more on history.

Routes:

This is mostly about Yeo's travels first to Europe and then around Southeast Asia. He spends a while talking about two years he spent studying in London which helped to broaden his perspective to be more worldwide. This certainly caught my attention because, while my studies may not be nearly as serious, here I am in Singapore having a similar experience myself.

He also talks about his time as a reporter in Thailand and his experiences with the effects of the Vietnam War in the region. A lot of his poetry was inspired by the cities he visited and the people he met and this further increased his sense and need to discover what his identity meant to him.

Throw in a few sections dealing with women and lost loves and You have yourself a memoir.


I was very impressed by all the connections he was able to make and the passions he was able to pursue. And of course I was inspired by all the stories of traveling and hope to find similar passions in my own life.

AS : Poems mentioned in analysis post from One Fierce Hour (1998)

Void Deck
By:Alfian Bin Sa'at

Where the neighbourhood wives,
After a morning at the wet market,
Sit facing the breeze
To trade snatches of gossip
About leery shopkeepers,
The local louts,
(Like that fella who's always drilling his walls –
Gives me migraine)
And that mad woman
Who throws things from her window.
With careful put-downs they
Fashion boasts, about stubborn sons,
Lazy daughters, who by some miracle or mistake
Always score well in class.
When words falter,
Gestures take over: pursed lips, rolling eyes,
Animated hands adorned by bangles of
Gold, jade, steel, string.
And children orbit around them
Laugh without diction –
Their games of tag a reassurance
That there has been no hothousing
Of who is unclean, unwashed,
Untouchable. When they break out
Into some kindergarten song,
One almost believes in a generation
Cleansed of skin-deep suspicions,
And free from the superstitions of the tongue –
And old folks sit like sages
To deploy chess pieces with ancient strategies.
In a corner, a caged bird bursts
With the song of its master's pride
And wrinkled women breathe, through
Tai-chi-tuned windpipes, the operatic melody of the air...
All a wanton fantasy.
Eyes reveal a meeting-point
For loners and loiterers:
A sense of things reduced-
Conversations that trickle through
Brief noddings at lift landings,
Teenage rhetoric scrawled, in liquid paper,
On the stone-table chessboard,
(Where the king used to sit)
The grandiose house-selling dreams of residents
Compacted in anonymous letterboxes;
As an afterthought, an old man pees
Under a public phone.
A place to be avoided, this,
How in its vastness it devours hours.
Little wonder then,
Why residents rush through void decks
Back to the cramped comforts of home
As if in fear of what such open space might do
To cosy minds.

Neighbours
by Alfian Sa'at

During Hari Raya she knocks on my conscience,
I knock on her door and I give her cakes.

She says she likes them and gives me
Sweets with gelatine inside. I throw them away.

Poor woman, dosen't know how to make cakes.
Her children eat Maggi after school everyday.

That's why the elder one is in Normal stream
And the younger one can't spell her name.

If I was her age I wouldn't be wearing shorts at home.
No shame, she dosen't know how to hide her womanhood.

When the children are naughty and I beat them
I close the door: I hear she's a gossip.

But she beatxs her children harder than I do
What to do her children are like that.

I once hear her scream she wanted to kill herself.
These people never value their own lives.

Other times I see her I smile and she smiles back
And her children smile and call me auntie.

But in our hands we hold with fists clenched tight
THe keys to our homes, each night we slam the bolt shut.

 Published in One Fierce Hour (1998)

AS : One Fierce Hour (a review)

Having borrowed a few of Alfian's works from the central library for this project, I find myself identifying most with One Fierce Hour (1998) This collection of poetry was Alfian's first published work of poetry. He was only 21 - still a student at NUS when it was published. The Straits Times hailed it as "truly a landmark for poetry [in Singapore]" Amongst the three books that I borrowed (the other two being 'Corridor' and 'History of Amnesia') I personally liked One Fierce Hour the most. Perhaps it was because as I read the poems I imagined a young Alfian - about my age writing these pieces and find myself in awe with the raw quality these poems possess. (Not that I should try, but if I ever tried to write poetry as I am now I would think they would end up looking like a bunch of big words glued together by pretentiousness.HAR HAR) As a whole collection, the poetry deals with a recurring theme of identity and Singaporean society. Alfian engages with many local spaces such as 'Void decks', 'Plaza Singapura' and HDB estates - this technique will later on become a trademark of Alfian's works as seen in his short stories and plays.

For my analysis,I will be looking at two poems from One Fierce Hour that align themselves with the heartlands in Singapore :  Something, I think both Alfian and I as a reader readily identify with.After all, I have lived in one my entire life. These two poems are 'Neighbours' and 'Void Deck'. Both poems to varying degrees carry a cynical if not sinister tone. In Neighbour Alfian presents the idea of duality and hypocrisy between neighbours who merely pretend to be civil to each other but beneath the cloak of force-fed harmony lies a snarky attitude that is filled with distrust. The structure of the poem clearly symbolizes this duality as each stanza is only two lines. What I find most striking in this poem is the imagery potrayed isn't very complex. In fact, as I read the poem  I actually feel like somewhere in my subconcious of all those years I've lived in a HDB flat, I have seen these things happen or have felt the same way about my neighbours. This familiarity I think is what makes Alfian's poems particularly stirring. Similarly in 'void deck' the imagery is even more commonplace - it is LITERALLY a common place (Sorry, I could not help myself) Images of 'neighbourhood wives' who are trading snatches of gossip and children running around the void deck playing tag - these are all very much ingrained in my memories although I wasnt really a 'tag' kinda person. My group of neighbourhood friends only played Block Catching (more advanced) In this way, Alfian's poems especially in One Fierce Hour and his other earlier works depend very much on this 'familiarity' or the intangible 'sense of place' attachment Singaporeans or people who have lived in Singapore will identify with. I am not sure if a foreigner reading this will get away with the same enriched understanding as I did... but I guess that's why Alfian Sa'at is lauded to be a TRULY Singaporean writer. Unlike other writers who may choose to write away from the Singaporean context,Alfian continues to cater to Singaporean readers - which I appreciate. I mean, of course I appreciate Keats and Plath when I feel like putting on a bonnet and drinking tea but I like it when as a reader the images come almost like second nature - literally like it's in my backyard. This,  I love.

Both poems also stay true to the collection's overarching theme. Both are extremely 'fierce'. Alfian Sa'at never shies away from telling the brutal reality.  In Void Deck, the poem's easy flow is broken by one line 'All a wanton fantasy' Immediately, the illusion of nostalgia of the happy things that happen in a void deck is broken and the poem continues as a rant towards the end of the poem. Similarly, this sinister nature of reality is potrayed in Neighbours as well.

Ultimately, I feel that these two poems are pretty much representative of 'One Fierce Hour' as a whole as well as Alfian's writing style and mindset as a young writer back then. In my opinion, Alfian was most outwardly fiery as a poet at least in this collection. He has not necessarily mellowed (let's hope he never does) but in his newer books there seems to be much more latent emotion expressed (trapped in imagery, or in symbols) rather than the outright confrontations he showed in One Fierce Hour. The most obvious example is 'Singapore you are not my country' which he shows no holds barred commitment to attacking the country. I for one, find the upfront confrontations refreshing. I like my poetry raw and genuine - which is what One Fierce Hour ultimately is.

An Analysis: Recovery

I must confess that I came upon ‘Recovery’ by accident while passing the time in class (Guiltily, I might add.), while flipping through our text, “Writing Singapore: An Historical Anthology of Singapore Literature”. While people around me discussed the complexities of a play’s composition, I suddenly found myself drawn into this simple, yet absorbing poem.

Recovery

Forgetting you, in loving someone else,

Is no less painful than the pressing wounds;

When she loves someone else, the many hells

I go through seem to know no bounds.

It is part soul, part instinct after all,

To draw the utmost pain into a trap

And sterilize the wounds with alcohol.

None of this owes to mishap.

You broke my heart so badly that the only

Way I can recover is to let

Somebody else break it some more, so lonely

Fragments are bound to none in debt:

Grind it into dust and blinding grit

(And wash away the purple stains with bleach)

So I might shape a something out of it:

An apple perhaps, or a peach.

Effectiveness at delivering its message and success at maintaining a level of emotional engagement is what I look for in poetry. ‘Recovery’ by Toh Hsien Min did just that. It was simple, engaging and touching all at the same time. It drew me in enough to compel me to explore even more of Hsien Min’s works.

In light of this being merely a blog post and not a full blown essay (or is it?) I shall attempt to keep it brief. Here are the 3 main points that I liked most about Hsien Min’s ‘Recovery’:

1. Intense pain is portrayed through simplicity of poem, in language and in form.

Hsien Min’s poem is not complicated nor is it hard to comprehend. Its form is simple with 4 lines in 4 stanzas and alternate rhyme that create a rhythm that carry the reader even more smoothly through the poem.

Its language mirrors the simplicity of its form. Ingenious is Hsien Min’s use of theme in his language to make the poem even more cohesive. The metaphorical meaning of ‘wounds’ is linked to its literal meaning and which the process of healing is described in practical medical terms. For example, ‘sterilize the wounds with alcohol’ and ‘purple stains with bleach’, are images that refer to actual medicinal practices that are applied to physical wounds. Such a theme of “medical” terms intensifies the notion of pain portrayed in the poem. While the reader might find it hard to relate or identify the emotional pain described by the persona, when linked to physical pain, the reader might be able to imagine at least some level of pain that the poem is trying to convey. The use of the theme is thus effective in conveying the important notion of pain through the poem.

2. The poem is almost existential in reflecting the human’s ability to hurt and to heal.

The subject of the poem focuses on the process of healing and ‘recovery’ after going through a heartbreak or losing somebody you care about. Hurting, then healing is a natural process of life and this is reiterated in the poem in which the pain is described to be ‘part soul’ and ‘part instinct’. Such a relation suggests such a process is innate because the soul and instinct comes from within and not caused by any external factors such as circumstance or chance and ‘mishap’.

I find it an existential concept because here, we examine the natural process of man’s existence, in which he is required to experience pain and healing. Through this poem we see the process in which one copes with the pain that comes with existence. The topics of ‘soul’ and chance that can take the form of ‘mishap(s)’ are existential concepts on their own. The ‘soul’ brings into question man’s sense of being, whereas the concept of chance questions man’s sense of being as well as the question of fate.

I say “almost” because while the persona touches on such philosophical ideas, the focus of the poem still focuses on the process of healing on the more superficial level.

3. The image of the heart, represented by apropos imagery that reflect the heart as it goes through the recovery process.

In the final stanza, I found truly beautiful, the change in imagery representing the broken heart that was going through the ‘recovery’ process. After the hurt, the ‘fragments’ of the broken heart is symbolized by ‘dust’ and ‘grit’. These images are dirty and reflect the negativity and pain of a heart broken. Out of the pain and darkness though, the image turn into ones of hope when the heart is represented by the images of an ‘apple’ and a ‘peach’. These fruits represent new life and hope as if the persona wanted to ‘shape’ his future into something sweeter and happier like the fruits.

I admire Hsien Min’s ability to seamlessly convey such intense emotions through the use of simple and uncomplicated means in his art form. I hope other readers can also enjoy his writing, as I was able to. While this poem found me by chance, it led me to discover even more of Hsien Min’s works which I also hope other readers will try to read because I have found his work thoroughly enjoyable.

Min, T. H. (2009). Recovery. In P. H.-l. Angelia Poon, Writing Singapore: An Historical Anthology of Singapore Literature (p. 590). NUS Press.

http://luscious-apartofherworld.blogspot.com/

Writer's Profile : Su Chen Christine Lim

Su Chen Christine Lim is probably one of the most prominent female writers alongside Catherine Lim in the Singapore writing scene.

Born in Malaysia in 1968, Lim came to Singapore at the age of 14 and studied here. She completed her studies at the National University of Singapore, studying literature. She taught at a junior college and worked for the Ministry of Education as a curriculum specialist before finally resigning in 2003 to pursue her passion in full-time writing.

To date, she has written numerous novels, plays and children books that still remain a favourite among readers. Her works have also won her literature prizes and accolade, with Fistful of Colours being the most prominent of her novels.

Her notable works:

Ricebowl (1984)

Gift from the Gods (1990)

Fistful of Colours (1992)

- Awarded the inaugural Singapore Literature Prize (1992)

A Bit of Earth (2000)

Lies that Build a Marriage (2007)

Robert Yeo: A Profile

When author, Robert Yeo, came in to talk to our class he quickly caught my attention. He has so far lived through the entirety of Singapore's history as an independent state as well as some pivotal events in Southeast Asia's history. His poem "Out of Changi" that we read proved that his work reflected a personal passion and interest for the times he experienced, and his lecture showed that he wasn't afraid to be a little political.
Having never been to Asia before, and knowing very little about Singapore's history, I figured that Yeo's work would be a good place for me to start. So I picked up his memoir to read over Spring break and ended up engrossed in his view of what it means to be Singaporean.

The Man:

-Born 1940 in Singapore

-Has worked as a teacher, reporter, and lecturer

-Travels through Europe and Asia

-Received Singapore public Service Medal in 1991

His Works:

Poetry Collections:

Coming Home Baby (1971)

And Napalm Does Not Help (1977)

A Part of Three (1989)

Leaving Home, Mother (1999)

Drama:

Singapore Trilogy

Are You There, Singapore? (1974)

One Year Back Home (1980)

Changi (1996)

Second Chance (1988)

The Eye of History (1991)

Other:

The Adventures of Holden Heng (Novel, 1986)
Routes (Memoir, 2011)