Experience Singapore Literature

22 May 2010. Site visits to Masjid Pertempatan Melayu Sembawang and Yishun Dam (Lower Seletar Reservoir) where scenes from ‘Rawa’ written by Isa Kamari took place. Past info of programme.

Check out more of the writer, Isa Kamari and his other works at www.isakamari.com

'Rawa' by Isa Kamari

First stop: Village Mosque marked as a national heritage

Kak Leha from the mosque sharing on the prayer attire for Muslim ladies

Kak Leha explaining about the Tasbih

Main prayer hall in mosque. Mosque is very well maintained. Squeky clean!

Preserved. The Gong used for the call of prayer

The Last Kampung Mosque in Singapore. Indeed.

Isa Kamari sharing with the audience. In 'Rawa', Rawa's marriage with Temah took place in the mosque.

2nd stop @Yishun Dam, Lower Seletar Reservoir. The Orang Seletars used to live here. Imagine them travelling across to JB in their pau kajang!

Isa sharing about Orang Seletar. Too bad the skit couldn't happen oer it would have been more interesting. Too see a scene from the book come alive!

Some of the kampung houses are still around. One of our participants got the chance to walk down the area

Shells collected from the small kampung area

Updating in Process. More pics coming up!
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Want to find out more about Sir Stamford Raffles in the most humourous and insightful way? Or how to write historical fiction?

‘In the Footsteps of Raffles’ with Nigel Barley
Tuesday, 29 June, 7.00 – 8.30 pm
Possibility Room, Level 5, National Library Building

Nigel Barley is the author of twenty books, academic and popular, in genres as diverse as travel writing, fiction, biography and art history. ‘In the Footsteps of Raffles’ and ‘Rouge Raider’ are two of his books which have been written against the backdrop of Singapore and her history. In this session, Nigel will discuss some of the particular difficulties and satisfactions that lie behind various works, concentrating on those involving the history of Singapore and SE Asia. He will also tease out certain themes that have emerged increasingly over the years such as his motivation as a writer, his personal relationship to his subjects and the tension between randomness and structure.

This programme is held in collaboration with NBDCS and Monsoon Books Pte Ltd.

Places are limited, so please register at http://golibrary.nlb.gov.sg ‘Experience Singapore Literature or by clicking here.

About the Author
Originally trained as an anthropologist, Nigel worked in West Africa, spending time with the Dowayo people of North Cameroon and from here, his first book which is a witty and informative account of anthropological filed work among the Dowayo people, “The Innocent Anthropologist” was produced. He survived to move to the Ethnography Department of the British Museum and it was in this connection that he first traveled to Southeast Asia. After forays into Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan and Burma, Barley settled on Indonesia as his principal research interest and has worked on both the history and contemporary culture of that area. After escaping from the museum, he is now a writer and broadcaster and divides his time between London and Indonesia.

17 April 2010. A great start to ESL Vol 2!

Hosted by Ms K Kanagalatha, author and Tamil Murasu Editor and Ms Constance Singham, Past President of AWARE. Related resources available here.

K Kanagalatha in The Women I Murder

What are the challenges faced by women in society? Are the issues the same now as compared to ten years ago?

Naan Kolai Seyum Penkal or The Women I Murder is a collection of dark, disturbing stories portraying the female voices in what is identified as a ‘minority gender’ in a male-dominated ethnic minority. The author, K Kanagalatha shared with participants the issues women face, be it social issues, relationships or family tensions, outside comfortable and familiar patterns of society.

Inspired by the issues and challenges that women of the Indian community have overcome from the past till present, participants were provided insights into Latha’s journey as a writer, specifically in the Tamil community as well as her inspirations behind the stories, some written about 10 years ago. With Ms Constance Singham, an interesting discussion followed on community and global issues that continue to haunt women all over the world and insights into the Tamil community.

K Kanagalatha has published a number of collections of poetry and short stories which have appeared in prominent Tamil literary journals. Her collection of modern Tamil poetry Theeveli is used as a BA literary text in Periyar University, India and in Tamil Nadu. Her bilingual poem ‘Still Human’ was featured in the MRT Trains: Poems on the Move series by the National Arts Council.  She is currently a News Editor with Tamil Murasu.

Constance Singam is well known as a social activist and writer. She is a past president of AWARE (Association of Women for Action and Research) and SCWO (Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations). She is also a founder member of TWC1, TWC2 and the now defunct MediaWatch. She has been a columnist in several publications. Her other works include “ A History of the TWC: Building Social Space in Singapore” and essay “ Quietly Resisting; Silently Subverting: The Wayward Ways of Singapore Women” in Postmodern Singapore, Select Publishing. She is co-editor of the book “Re-Presenting Singapore Women”, published by Landmark Publications.

After 25 years of commitment and hard work to the cause of civil society and in particular AWARE Constance Singam is happy to step back and return to her other neglected loves of her life: music, literature and writing.