SINGAPOREAN

LITERATURE
21st century
SINGAPORE

• Is an island country and city-state in

maritime Asia.
• With a multicultural population and in
recognition of the cultural identities of the
major ethnic groups within the nation,
Singapore has four official languages:
English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil.
• Singapore is famous for its melting pot of
food hubs, tidiness, and shopping centres.
• known variously as the “Lion City” or
“Garden City,” the latter for its many parks
and tree-lined streets—has also been called
“instant Asia” because it offers the tourist an
expeditious glimpse into the cultures brought
to it by immigrants from all parts of Asia.
MERLION
• The Merlion’s fish-like body
symbolises Singapore’s origins as a
fishing village, known as Temasek—a
name which comes from same root
as the word tasek (‘lake’ in Malay).
The statue’s head represents the
city’s original name of Singapura (lion
city in Sanskrit).
HISTORY :

•The literature of Singapore

compromises a collection of literary
works of the country’s four main
language : English, Chinese, Malay,
and Tamil.
• In the late 1990s, poetry in English found a new
momentum with a whole new generation of
poets. The poetry of this younger generation is
politically aware, transnational and
cosmopolitan.
• With the Independence of Singapore in 1965, a
new wave of Singapore writing emerged led by
Edwin Thumboo, Arthur Yap, Robert Yeo, Goh
Pogi Seng, Lee Tzu Pheng, and Chandran Nair.
•Poetry is the predominant mode of
expression; it has a small but
respectable following since
independence, and most published
works of Singapore writing in English
have been in poetry like the F.S.M.R of
Francis P. Ng.
• Drama in English found expression in Goh
Poh Seng, who was also a notable poet and
novelist, in Robert Yeo, author of 6 plays,
and in Kou Pao Kun, who also wrote in
Chinese. The late Kou was a vital force in the
local theatre renaissance in the 1980s and
1990s.
•Fiction writing in English did not start
in earnest until after independence.
•Compose of short stories and novels.
•If We Dream Too Long by Goh Poh
Seng
•Children’s Literature serves as a means
of both entertainment and educational,
fostering a sense of pride and
understanding of the unique
Singaporean identity among young
readers.
SINGAPOREAN WRITERS
Kou Pao Kun
Was a playwright, theatre director, and arts activist in
Singapore who wrote and directed both Mandarin and
English plays.
His plays are characterised for their dramatic and social
commentary, use of simple metaphors and multiculturalism
themes, and have been staged locally and internationally.
The Coffin is too big from the hole is one of his notable
works.
Goh Poh Seng
Was a Singaporean dramatist, novelist,
doctor and poet, was born in Kuala
Lumpur, British Malaya in 1936.
If We Dream Too Long is one of his works.
Teo Poh Leng
Also known as Francis P. Ng.
Was a Malayan poet and teacher who lived in
Singapore, the then capital of the Straits
Settlements.
He was noted for having the first book-length
publication in English by a person from
Singapore.
Joan Hon
pen name: “Han May”
known for fiction books
“Star Sapphire
Catherine Lim
Singapore’s widely known author
hailed as “doyenne of Singapore writers”
themes: Asian male, chauvinistic gender-
dominance
The taxi man's story is one of her works.
THE TAXI MAN’S STORY
• The irony is the fact that the taximan criticizes young people of our
generation for being too immature by hanging out in places like Hotel
McElroy; while he still goes there to make an easy living as Hotel
McElroy is a popular spot to earn a living.
• This is an act of contradiction, and instead of ‘practicising what he has
preached’, he has gone against his stand and decides to put money
and to make a living over his own beliefs and mind-set.