Writing The City: Nurturing Singapore's written voice
What is a writer?
“Think of salmon swimming up stream against the current, heading towards home. This is you, the individual existing within the crowd. This is you: the writer. Swim, swim and swim again. Or, to put it another way, write, write and write again. Even if the world ignores you or obstructs you ... even if no one cares whether you can write or not, just write because you want to. There is no better reason.”
These words are spoken by Singapore author Suchen Christine Lim in “The Individual and the City,” one of six short, episodic films produced for Writing the City.
Writing Singapore
Part of a major arts project, Civic Life, Writing the City was launched in early 2011 as a collaboration between the British Council and the National Arts Council.
The project provides opportunities for writers to come together and produce, share and discuss their work. Suchen sits on a panel of published Asian writers, which counts among its members Alvin Pang, Jeremy Sheldon, Alfian bin Sa’at, Daren Shiau, Dave Chua, Desmond Kon, Eleanor Wong, Julia Bell, Madeleine Lee, Ng Yi-Sheng, Pooja Nansi and Tessa Sheridan.
“Together with Dan Prichard -- the former Director of Programmes at the British Council in Singapore -- and Jeremy Sheldon, a novelist from London, I was one of the three original collaborators of the project.”
“Over a period of a few months Jeremy and I feverishly co-wrote the scripts for six short films [about writing]. In July 2010, filming took place, and Jeremy and I were featured in the films.”
A treasure trove for Singapore writers
The website for Writing the City’s is now filled with poetry, prose, drama, film, reviews, competitions and events, as well as articles, tips and the above mentioned short films. All to celebrate and give breath to the art and practice of writing, for its own sake: writing simply because you want to.
The success of Writing the City points to the growth of Singapore literature, an encouraging trend for a country that traditionally prioritizes science and technology over the arts and still imposes censorship -- though to a lesser degree now than in previous years -- on the arts and media.
“The number of print-published poets in Singapore has tripled in the past five to 10 years, not counting bloggers and others on the web,” says Writers’ Panel member Alvin Pang, who is also the founder of The Literary Centre in Singapore.
“Singapore literature underwent a renaissance in the mid-1990s, when the Internet opened up the world to us. [Now] there’s also a new generation of writers and publishers -- many of whom have studied or worked overseas -- who have brought back to Singapore a much more expansive vision of what words can do.”
Writing on the rise
“More writers are getting published, and many young writers are contributing to literary journals and literary websites like Writing the City,” says Lim on the growth of Singapore’s literary community.
“In the last five years, several collections of short stories, plays and poetry were published, such as “TellTales” edited by Gwee Li Sui, “The Proper Care of Foxes” by Wena Poon, and my collection, “The Lies That Build a Marriage””
“Poetry collections include “Sudden In Youth” by Felix Cheong, “Life-Science” (a bilingual collection) by Eleanor Wong, “Synaesthesia” by Madeleine Lee, and “They Hear Salt Crystallising” by Teng Qian Xi.”
“In 2009, a groundbreaking anthology, “Tumasik: Contemporary Writing from Singapore” edited by Alvin Pang was co-published by the National Arts Council of Singapore and the International Writing Program, University of Iowa.”
“And just in June this year, Verena Tay, a playwright, launched her latest collection of plays, “In the Company of Heroes.”
Shaping the Singapore voice
With this, a discernible, if fluid, Singapore voice has also now emerged.
“Our writers cut across boundaries of culture and text type,” says Pang “They swim between tongues, vernaculars, conventions and codes.”
“Past literary theory might consider this sort of ‘rojak’ as transient, disparate and dispirited. But it is in fact the growing reality of the world, especially in Asia.”
“Singapore’s voices are complex, diverse and cosmopolitan, but the best of them always carry heart and answer conscience. I think it’s a healthy place to be at right now.”
What’s needed now
More can be done, of course. Lim calls for the publication of robust literary criticism, and a National Arts Council website that showcases Singapore writers, and allowing Singapore literature to grow organically, without censorship.
“A healthier mix of intellectuals in public discourse, where writers, economists and scientists can come together to discuss contemporary issues or imagine the future,” says Pang, when asked what is needed.
“Making Singapore literature a central part of the student diet so that young people know that it is possible to be Singaporean and a writer/artist; to spin our own context and stories into gold.”
It’s also easier to get one’s work published than ever before. With the ability to self-publish in print and online, the proliferation of small presses and writing platforms and communities like Writing the City.
“Anyone who writes well really has no need to worry about finding a way to get published: the question is more what, where and when,” says Pang. “I think we can safely say we’re in our literary post-adolescence and now we need to see if we can sustain and mature our literary ecology.”
So, what should an aspiring writer do? As Lim says in “The Individual and the City”:
“Write every day if you can. A few sentences a day, every day, to capture a scene, a feeling, or a thought, which may lead you to a story, a poem or an essay. You never know. And that’s the beauty of our art. Writing is a journey of discovery.”
