Experience Singapore Literature

How to create books that children will love? We had the privilege of having Adeline Foo, author of bestselling ‘The Diary of Amos Lee’ (I enjoyed the book immensely!). Raneetha, our children’s librarian was also there to talk about the reading programmes and activities we have to excite children in reading. But do not think this programme is only for parents or those interested in the children’s book industry. Present with us were Edmund Lee from Epigram and Johnson Lee from MarketAsia who provided insights into the world of books – the publishing and distribution! (We also had Stephanie Wong, the illustrator for ‘The Diary of Amos Lee’. I wanna wanna be her disciple and learn to draw!)

Joining us in the audience were aspiring and future authors. Brandon Pek is an upcoming author who found the programme useful for his foray into the world of books and publishing.

I attended the The whole event talk on 5 Sep 09 at the National Library by Adeline Foo “Diary of Amos Lee” and it more than exceeded my expectations with regard to the program line-up.

The spirit of sharing is quickly obvious even before the event started when Adeline came by to introduce herself and the program briefly. And the line-up did not disappoint. The candid sharing from author to publisher to distributor and of course the role of NLB is refreshing and informative.

As I prepare for my first novel, I am heartened to know that I can turn to any one of these parties for guiance and advice. In fact, Adeline, Edmund and Johnson have provided much thought and guidance, especially Johnson who has made time after the talk to offer his advice and guidance.

-Brandon Pek

p/s: Brandon, when your book is out do update us. Who knows, we can carve something for Experience Singapore Literature

29 Aug 09 : Finding New Villains in Tween Novels with Felix Cheong
For pictures, click here

Bored with Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys’ mysteries? Award-winning Singapore writer Felix Cheong has the answer for a new generation of tween readers. In his two detective novels set in Singapore, The Call from Crying House and the sequel, The Woman in the Last Carriage,he gets down and dirty with new villains – terrorists.

–>Find out more from our participant James Seah about the programme as Felix shared his experience of writing the stories and reads extracts from the novels during the programme.

Hear the recipe for mystery from our guest writer, Judy Goh.

Recipe for Mystery with Felix Cheong

Writing a mystery story is never easy, even if you have been writing in all sorts of mediums for years, as local award-winning author and poet Felix Cheong realised when he set out to create his own mystery series. In 2006, his detective thriller The Call From Crying House hit bookshelves and his sequel The Woman In the Last Carriage was published a year after. In a laid-back seminar-style dialogue session at the National Library recently, Felix shared his experience in writing for a unique group of readers in ‘Finding New Villains in Tween Novels’.

Literary works targeted at the specific age group of ‘tweens’ consist of mostly Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys’ timeless favourites. There probably isn’t one of us who didn’t grow up reading and enjoying them, even if they did seem to fit a certain template and the characters never got older as we outgrew our primary school haircuts and eventually, the books. Felix wanted his heroic detectives, thirteen-year-old Tricia, Tash and Alfie to grow along with his readers, and this was reflected in his sophomore effort.

Felix Cheong revealed that The Call From Crying House was commissioned by the Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts to subtly highlight the core values of Total Defence to the younger generation of students. As a result, messages of vigilance, resilience and unity were interwoven into the intricate plot set in modern-day Singapore with fictional events and hints of similarity. “It would be a parallel universe for the reader,” Felix noted, as readers would be able to relate to the places mentioned, such as the MacDonald’s at Siglap Centre. There were allusions to Singapore history and even the late Mr Wee Kim Wee makes a cameo under the name Wong Kwee Wing in a fabricated Straits Times article, which was a clue in the mystery. (Did you know that Mr Wee was a political reporter for the Straits Times long before he became Singapore’s president?)

How then, is one to emulate Felix Cheong’s mystery? Here is my guide to writing mysteries like a pro, with advice from Felix himself.

1. Decide on your mystery genre – what sort of mystery is it?

Is it a spooky, paranormal legend or a classic spy thriller including high-tech gadgetry?  It helps to read extensively to get a sense of how books in your chosen genre are written. Knowing the setting well is important as well, as Felix used the areas near his house as places in his book, The Call From Crying House.

2. Who are your protagonists? (The heroes.)

Draw up a character profile of your characters’ life – what they do for a living, their pet peeves, favourite music and food and so on. But don’t get too carried away! Include necessary details that will be characterized in your story. If your characters are people your own age with a similar background, it is usually easier to relate in terms of their speech, mannerisms, dressing, etc. However, if your story features a private investigator, for example, you might want to do some research by interviewing a professional or how they go about in their work.

Felix conducted a focus group by surveying a group of tweens. He asked them about their hangout spots, favourite activities and their notion of ‘coolness’ from their perspective. As a result, Tricia, Tash and Alfie were the epitomes of tween trends. They listened to Blue on their iPods and regularly texted their science teacher, Mr Adam, outside of class. Yet, to identify with readers, they were each given shortcomings. Tash, the track-and-field champion, is scared of heights and is constantly at loggerheads with his rival Meng.

3. Who are your antagonists? (The bad guys.)

You could create a character profile of them too, although this is usually not necessary in shorter stories where the baddies are well, plain evil. However, do make sure that their motive for carrying out the crime is rational and convincing.

During his brainstorming process, Felix discovered an exclusive new sort of villains, which has been brought about by globalisation and the advent of the new millennium – eco-terrorists. He then researched extensively on the topic, such as the Indonesian Konfrantasi. Felix also visited the libraries to scan microfilms of past issues of newspapers for information, which he commented gleefully as a ‘fun activity’.

To find out more about eco-terrorists, pick up his books at the library. Be warned, for his first book ends with a cliff-hanger.

4. Who is your target audience?

If you’re not aiming to be a published writer, your target audience will probably be your family members and interested friends, classmates or colleagues. Even so, writing in a lingo that they would be able to easily identify with is a good habit. If it’s written in a style very much like how you would write a science report, your readers would be nodding off instead of eagerly reading on! A good writer understands his or her readers and would accommodate their wishes.

Felix’s research with tweens and consultations from his son uncovered some unexpected requests. They wanted technology to be incorporated into the story, and so text messaging graphics were placed strategically in certain pages to denote communication. Felix also used new media to records Tash’s thoughts and emotions in screen snapshots of his blog.

These four points will set the framework for a great mystery story, and the finer details can be worked out in time. Well then, you’re all set to go. Have fun writing your own!

Judy Goh is a second-year student at the Victoria Integrated Programme. As an aspiring writer and avid reader, she enjoys events organised by the National Library and discovered BookCrossing last year. She also occasionally contributes articles, interviews and reviews to the monthly publication What’s Up, a local students’ newspaper. Read her book review on HighBrowse here.

15 August 2009 : Up Close and Personal with Josephine Chia di Tanjong Katong

For pictures, click here!

Potong Pasir to Bedok to Tanjong Katong, Phine brought us on a journey through her past and her writing journey and influences. From these journeys, I caught a glimpse of life in the 60s and the childhood of the writer as she charted the bygone landscapes on how living in poverty has shaped her life and writings. It drizzled but that did not stop the participants from always eagerly getting off the bus and standing around listening to Phine. Kudos to our bus driver too who accommodated out stops and drove despite the small road and heavy traffic.

Throughout the trip, Phine made references to her titles, most written based on her life journeys and experiences and we had a peek into her latest novel ‘Frog Under a Coconut Shell, a book about her mum.The programnme is a nice continuation to Robert’s earlier autobiography session – if I do say so myself since I was the one who organised it!  Having read ‘My Mother-in-law’s Son’ years ago, I was of course happy to have met Phine and to have organised a session for others to know her as well. Phine mentioned a catchy title is important for her, you bet that was why I picked up ‘My Mother-in-law’s Son!

Phine & I

Enough hearing from me! Let’s hear what the writer says..

“It was great fun putting together the literary tour for NLB Up Close and Personal with Josephine Chia Di-Tanjong Katong. The 31 people who came on the tour were enthusiastic and co-operative in singing Di Tanjong Katong. I think the photos I printed out of old Kampong Potong Pasir and Katong helped everyone to visualise the historical places. So many people responded via emails and text message after the tour about how much they enjoyed the tour and how touching some of my stories about my childhood and poverty were. Everyone loved the ending when we had tea at a Peranakan house courtesy of NLB! I enoyed myself thoroughly!” – Josephine Chia

Josephine Chia is a Singapore-born UK-based author of seven books. ‘My Mother-in-Law’s Son’ is a story of a young Peranakan woman set in post-war Singapore. ‘Frog Under a Shell‘ is a nostalgic memoir of life in Singapore in 1950s and 60s. Josephine migrated to England in 1985.

Her first literary break was when she was one of the winners of UK’s Ian St. James Awards in 1992 for her short story, ‘Tropical Fever‘ which was subsequently published in an anthology by Harper Collins. Josephine has won several other literary prizes and is a member of UK’s Society of Authors and UK Society of Women Writers & Journalists. She lives in West Sussex, England.

More about her can be found at www.josephinechia.com.

15 August 2009 : Experience Singapore Literature ‘Singapore Stories’

If you cannot view the video, go to

Wow! Hearing from Daniel Gwee, one of our participants of this programme (also someone I knew back to the good old days of Bear Fruit Writing Workshop..actually that was just last Sept) he said this is the first time having someone like Robert Yeo come to the library to speak and guide particpants on writing. I mean we do have visiting and non-local authors but am sure our own local writers are still sought after! Robert Yeo, (not that I need to intro him further) one of the literary pioneers in Singapore writing shared historic places in Singapore and approaches he takes to writing, specifically autobiography with excerpts from his books.  He provided tips to participants on how to embark on autobiography writing and exhibited materials he used for his writing (psst..among some there was a letter from a lady he used to like). As a finale, participants penned down a paragraph and shared what could be the start of their autobiography with comments and feedback from Robert.

For more pictures, click here.

P/S: This is a hands-on workshop so we kept the numbers to really small. I loved hearing from the participants, everyone had interesting inputs in their own autobiography excerpts. I wish I could do some writing too, high time I did some recording of my own life before I forget. It’s not only the old who suffers from poor memory tsk tsk.

Hear from Ashish his wonderful experience in the programme and meeting Robert!

“A Nobel- prize- winning economist once said that there’s no such thing a a free lunch. After having read  Black Swan, I realized that many Nobel- prize- winning economists are massively wrong -- it’s just that we don’t realize it. The financial crisis proved it all over again to me. In its own way, the National Library proves it as well, the way they organize some events. There’s not only a free lunch, but also free dessert and a lot of nutrition for the soul (I’m vegetarian, I don’t consume chicken soup).

I attended the Experiencing Singapore Literature  session conducted by Robert Yeo on 15 August. The focus was on some of Robert’s writings down the decades and on autobiography writing. I wanted to attend even though I’m not a poetry buff and I’m not planning to write my autobiography (especially after I learnt the groundrule that you should be honest while writing one). Apart from the fact that Robert was hosting the session, I was also keen to meet my old partners from the Bear Fruit program.

Robert comes across as a most unassuming person, unfazed by even the most eggregious ignorance. During the lunch break, he told some of us that he was writing a libretto. I kept quiet. He asked, “Do you know what a libretto is?” I shook my head. “It’s the script of an opera.” No airs, just plain information transfer. Apparently, he’s writing an opera based on a Tamil classic -- and the music is scored by an American!

There was quite a bit about the tearing down of structures which had sentimental associations for many Singaporeans. We got insights into recreating life histories which were useful. What I found most fascinating was the bit on “interrogating a photgraph”. On Photography by Susan Sontag is very much on my “to- read” list now.

Great show, I would give it five stars.” -- Ashish Kumar

Ashish Kumar is an enginner by day and writer by night. He has co-authored a text book and some acedemic papers. In 2003, his short story was published in Silverfish IV. Ashish was also a participant in NLB’s Bear Fruit Writing Workshop from 6 Sept -- 1 Oct 2008. His story written in the workshop was selected and published along with 5 other best works in a publication by NLB ‘A Collection of Short Stories and Poetry.’

11 July 09 : Experience Singapore Literature ‘Changes’

What does Singapore mean to you? Did you wish-at any point in your life- that you had been born somewhere else? Do you like how fast Singapore is changing as a nation state?

If you cannot view the video, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54vKiz2_e4o

Check out the pictures here.

Hear what our friends from the Russian Magazine ’103rd Meridian East’ have to say about their experience! --> http://meridian103.com/news/go-library//

Aimed at uncovering Singapore literature, the 2nd Episode of Experience Singapore Literature took place on 11 July and took participants on a journey to the Changi airport, Raffles Place and Armenian Street. Armed with local poems and guided by writer Cyril Wong, participants visited places reflected in the poems written by local writers, Alvin Pang, Boey Kim Cheng and Cyril Wong. The 20 participants had a fruitful sharing session as they shared their thoughts on ever-changing Singapore as well as the selected poems when the journey ended at the Imagination Room, National Library Building.

6 June 2009 : Experience Singapore Literature ‘Nostalgia’

If you cannot view the video, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wOwOvK12-E
Check out the pictures here.

” This tour was something different from the usual tours of Singapore. We looked at our city through the eyes of three poets with two stops at Telok Ayer and Toa Payoh. Loud with building works and traffic in the CBD, it was difficult to hear Kenny Leck speak. But with a handout considerately provided by the library, it was fine to just stand and read and gather in the poets’ visions. My favourite was Klyth Tan’s Nostalgia. The preservation of shophouses is not the same as preserving the community that used to live in and work in those buildings. Toa Payoh was our second stop. You look at the blocks of flats differently when you read a poem or hear a story attached to them. The discussion after the tour, once we were back in the library, brought out the different views that people had of the poems. An interesting way to spend a Saturday. And lunch was unexpectedly included.”

-Rosemary Lim, Writer
Rosemary Lim née Wright is an award-winning writer from Portadown, Northern Ireland and has called Singapore home since 1990. After starting out as an accountant, she switched careers to the literary arts when she came to Singapore, winning the Merit Award of the Singapore Literature Prize in 1998. She is the only licensed Specialised Literary Tour Guide in Singapore which was introduced during the 2007 Singapore Writers’ Festival.

Experience Singapore Literature kicked off its first episode with ‘Nostalgia’ on 6 June at the Visitor’s Briefing Room, National Library Building. Hosted by Kenny Leck from BooksActually, participants were brought on a poetic journey to Shenton Way, Boon Tat Street and Toa Payoh, the few places “landmarked” by many scribes in Singapore. Armed with poems from Heng Siok Tian, Klyth Tan and Koh Buck Song, the 33 participants went down the nostalgic lane to uncover a fresh perspective on the Singaporean landscape. From the interview and feedback gathered, participants complimented the different approach taken in the programme such as visiting places found in poems to uncover local literature. They enjoyed the sharing session at the end of the programme where they discussed further their thoughts and the selected poems.

Experience Singapore Literature is NLB’s initiative to create an accessible platform for the showcase of Singapore Literature. The programmes are pre-festival events to the Singapore’s Writers Festival co-organised by the National Arts Council and The Arts House.

Episode 5: Experience Singapore Literature ‘The Haunting’
Saturday, 10 October, 4.00 – 8.00 pm
Meeting Point : Information Counter, Level 1, National Library Building

Famous people, famous places, famous stories. A particular house is not well-known because it used to be the residence of some famous person, rather it became famous due to the rumours and sightings centred on it. Are these stories true? Or are they something one chooses to believe? No matter what, such stories have circulated for as long as one can remember.

For this particular episode, we have a special guest, Pugalenthii, author of the popular ‘Nightmare’ series from VJ Times. Let him bring you on a journey to some of the rumoured haunts, share his stories and how he got together his bestselling titles.

What’s more, we have also invited the Singapore Paranormal Investigators who  will not only share their experiences and investigations, but also bring along and talk about the tracking equipment they use.

Join us and share your stories. Everyone has at least one to tell. Don’t let it haunt you.

Due to limited places, please register at http://golibrary.nlb.gov.sg ‘Experience Singapore Literature.’ This programme is open only to those aged 15 years and above.

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‘I Talk to the Trees’ with Madeleine Lee
Saturday, 10 October, 1.00 – 2.30 pm
Visitors’ Briefing Room, Level 1, National Library Building

Trees, flowers, fungus – want to hear how they are being described from a poet’s perspective?

“Madeleine Lee is an investment manager by day and a poet by passion. She has published four books of poetry. In particular she writes about everyday things which we fail to see in our daily lives.  She has amassed a vast portfolio of poems about trees, insects, fungus and things she sees whilst on nature walks and the meaning she finds in them. She has been called, in jest, Singapore’s only ‘green poet.’”

To fine-tune that last impression, Madeleine has invited the real experts on trees and nature to join her in this session. Together, they will talk about writing around trees and about the trees, fungus, flowers, basically about the nature landscape in Singapore!

Join us for this exclusive session as we pair a poet with the experts and allow you to explore the complementary views on nature. Due to limited seats, please register at http://golibrary.nlb.gov.sg,‘Experience Singapore Literature.’

The speakers

Dr Geh Min is an ophthalmologist by training. She was also NMP from Dec 2004 to 2009 and ex President of The Nature Society in Singapore.

Dr Shawn Lum is President of The Nature Society, Singapore. He is also a lecturer in the Natural Sciences and Science Education at National Institute of Education.

Mr Simon Longman is Director of Streetscape, National Parks Board.

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‘Behind a Cultural Cage’ with Dr Pranav S Joshi
Saturday, 24 October, 2.00 – 3.30 pm
Visitors’ Briefing Room, Level 1, National Library Building

‘Enjoy in the circus of the human society. You and me, we are cage dwellers!’ Are we born into life cages? Limited by the social elements and requirements of the stages of our lives? Do we live within our cages, walking with or against the forces of life?

Sailing across the shores of India, Singapore, Malaysia and the US, ‘Behind a Cultural Cage’ is a literary, multicultural novel that describes the life story (or struggle!) of a Bengali Chindian – Chinese Indian man who wonder how much Chinese-ness and Indian-ness he possesses. He eventually comes to Singapore to build his life.

In recent years, there has been much talk about migration, globalisation and multiculturalism in the media, but nothing comes closer to what the story unearths. Do foreigners encounter identity crisis in the human landscape of the country they migrate? Do their hearts hold tearful conversations with their land of ancestors? The novel explores these answers, revealing the realities of life in an astonishing way, often emitting the mist of humour.

Join the author, Pranav Joshi, as he shares his journey in ‘Behind a Cultural Cage’. See Singapore in the late 1990s through the eyes of a foreigner as Pranav draws from his previous experiences, before he became a Singaporean. What’s more, after the session, participants will be asked to share their personal experiences about living in their life cages. Two participants who share their stories will walk away with signed, complimentary copies of the book!

Due to limited seats, please register at http://golibrary.nlb.gov.sg, ‘Experience Singapore Literature.’

Dr Pravav S. Joshi is an environmental professional based in Singapore. Being passionate about the literary and cultural art, he tries to blend the colours of science and environment in his thinking universe. Besides novels and technical stuff, he also writes poetry during his free time, and does research on origin of universe and meaning of life. More about him and his novel can be found at http://lifecageint.gogglepages.com.

Experience Singapore Literature kicked off its first episode with ‘Nostalgia’ on 6 June at the Visitor’s Briefing Room, National Library Building. Hosted by Kenny Leck from BooksActually, participants were brought on a poetic journey to Shenton Way, Boon Tat Street and Toa Payoh, the few places “landmarked” by many scribes in Singapore. Armed with poems from Heng Siok Tian, Klyth Tan and Koh Buck Song, the 33 participants went down the nostalgic lane to uncover a fresh perspective on the Singaporean landscape. From the interview and feedback gathered, participants complimented the different approach taken in the programme such as visiting places found in poems to uncover local literature. They enjoyed the sharing session at the end of the programme where they discussed further their thoughts and the selected poems.