Alvin Pang

Alvin Pang is no stranger to the literary scene in Singapore. He has made countless contributions to Singapore’s literature and was named the 2005 Young Artist of the Year (Literature) by the National Arts Council of Singapore. He was also conferred the Singapore Youth Award (Arts and Culture) in 2007, and the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) Foundation Education Award in 2008.

His first volume of poems, Testing the Silence was listed as one of the Top Ten Books of 1997 by The Straits Times and was short-listed for the National Book Development Council of Singapore Book Award in 1998 and 1999. City of Rain, his second volume of poetry, was the only Singaporean book to be named in the Straits Times Top Ten List for 2003. He is the coeditor of the seminal volume, No Other City: The Ethos Anthology of Urban Poetry, one of the Straits Times’ Top Ten Books for 2000, and a key text on university syllabuses.

Pang was the Featured Poet in the Spring 2002 issue of the Atlanta Review, a journal which features Nobel Prize laureates, and he is also among the select few poets celebrated in its 10th Anniversary edition. His work has also been featured in several journals and his poetry has appeared at the Poetry Society and Poetry Library in London and has been staged by professional theatre companies in the US, Malaysia and Singapore. It has also been exhibited in the Asian Civilisations Museum, expressed as sound sculpture, screened on national television, and requested and read on BBC Radio.

Pang’s work appears in the 2008 international anthology, Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia, and Beyond and his poems have been translated into several languages. A recipient of several Singapore International Foundation and National Arts Council grants, Pang frequently assists the National Arts Council in literary projects. He served on the organising committees of the Singapore Writer’s Festival in 1997, 1999, 2001and 2003. He is also a founder and coordinator of “WORDFEAST 2004” – Singapore’s first international poetry festival. In 2003, Pang co-founded The Literary Centre (Singapore), a not-for profit organisation dedicated to literary development, interdisciplinary capacity, multicultural communication, and positive social change. Pang has also made several international appearances in support of Singaporean writing.

Literary Writing in Singapore

The first creative writing in English appeared in Singapore in the late 19th Century as a result of efforts made by English-educated Straits Chinese and school journals such as the Rafflesian. The writing of this time was mostly about the importance of Chinese values or were simply pieces that made fun of the colonial government. However the writing was mostly in English Victorian literary styles and was not distinctly Singaporean.

When the University of Malaya (UM) was established in 1949, a new wave of Singapore writing emerged, led by English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil writers who were then students at UM. They include Edwin Tumboo, Lim Thean Soo, Fang Xiu, Li Rulin, Harun Aminurrashid, Muhammad Ariff Ahmad, N Palanivelu and Singai Mukilan. Many critical essays on Singapore literature name Tumboo’s generation as the first generation of Singapore writers, and most published works of Singapore writing in English at that time were works of poetry. Edwin Thumboo is regarded as the unofficial poet laureate of Singapore and is known for his writings on national issues.

A second wave of writers namely Lee Tzu Pheng, Arthur Yap and Robert Yeo emerged in the 1970s. These writers focused their writing on mostly nationalistic themes. The first commercially successful book was Catherine Lim’s Little Ironies: Stories of Singapore that was published in 1978. It contains 17 short stories about ordinary men and women who live their lives and face their problems with extraordinary determination. Her stories paved the way for a new style of Singapore writing that was well received by the literary community.

In the mid-80s, fiction writing started gaining popularity and Philip Jeyaratnam’s First Loves became a local hit, and Russell Lee’s True Singapore Ghost Stories gave rise to another new style of writing. Many people, including teenagers, buried themselves in Russell Lee’s books at that time. While there was a growing interest in supernatural and sensational writing, novels and stage dramas started gaining momentum. Simon Tay, Leong Liew Geok, Koh Buck Song, Heng Siok Tian and Ho Poh Fun were some of the successful poets in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

In the late 1990s, English poetry in Singapore found a whole new generation of poets. Some of the more notable writers include Boey Kim Cheng, Yong Shu Hoong, Alvin Pang, Cyril Wong, Felix Cheong and Alfian bin Sa’at (also a playwright). They are now actively writing and publishing both locally and internationally. Some of their writings have also been translated into Chinese, Italian, German, French, Korean and Bahasa Indonesia. It is said that “[t]he poetry of this younger generation is often politically aware, transnational and cosmopolitan, yet frequently their poems present their intensely focused, self-questioning and highly individualised perspectives of Singaporean life, society, family and culture.”

Also, as aptly put by the National Arts Council of Singapore, “Singapore’s literary arts scene has grown from strength to strength over the years. Diverse in its offerings, penned in the nation’s four official languages and crossing multiple genres, Singapore literature is undoubtedly an integral part of the nation’s cultural capital.”

To support Singapore’s ongoing efforts in preserving as well as developing its literary works, the National Library also promotes Singapore literature and gives recognition to our writers through its “Singapore Literary Pioneers” Gallery at the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library. The gallery displays books, letters, calligraphic works, manuscripts and many more treasures for visitors as well as researchers. So why don’t you pay a visit to the gallery and check out the collections that are on display!