Culture of Singapore - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Singapore was a part of British Malaya

British Malaya

British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...

for many centuries. It was ruled by the Sultanate of Johor. In 1819, the British came to the Island and set up a port and colony. During British rule, the port of Singapore flourished and attracted many migrants. After World War 2, Singapore became an independent nation and a republic, which it remains today.

Singapore has a diverse populace of nearly 5 million people which is made up of Chinese, Malays, Indians, Caucasians and Eurasians (plus other mixed groups) and Asians of different origins, which is in line with the nation's history as a crossroads for various ethnic and racial groups.

In addition, 42% of Singapore's populace are foreigners, which makes it the country with the sixth highest proportion of foreigners worldwide.

Singapore is also the third most densely populated in the world after Macau

Macau

Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...

and Monaco

Monaco

Monaco , officially the Principality of Monaco , is a sovereign city state on the French Riviera. It is bordered on three sides by its neighbour, France, and its centre is about from Italy. Its area is with a population of 35,986 as of 2011 and is the most densely populated country in the...

.

Singaporean culture is best described as a melting pot of mainly Chinese, British, Malay, and Indian cultures, a reflection of its immigrant history.

Languages

Many Singaporeans though not all, are bilingual. Most speak English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

and another language, most commonly Mandarin Chinese, Malay

Malay language

Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...

, Tamil

Tamil language

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...

or Singapore Collonial English(Singlish).

English is the first language of Singapore. The standard form of English spoken in Singapore is Singapore Standard English, which uses British spellings and grammar. However, there is also a local dialect of English, Singlish

Singlish

Colloquial Singaporean English, also known as Singlish, is an English-based creole language spoken in Singapore.Singlish is commonly regarded with low prestige in Singapore. The Singaporean government and many Singaporeans alike heavily discourage the use of Singlish in favour of Standard English...

, that is unique to Singapore, though it has close affinities with the Malaysian dialect known as Manglish

Manglish

Manglish is an English based creole spoken in Malaysia.The vocabulary of Manglish consists of words originating from English, Malay, Hokkien, Mandarin, Cantonese, Tamil, and to a lesser extent various other European languages, while Manglish syntax resembles southern varieties of Chinese...

.

Singapore is a multi-lingual nation and Singaporeans speak different languages as their first language. In 2005, 50% of Singaporeans speak Mandarin at home. 32% speak English at home and 12% speak Malay while 3% speak Tamil at home. Singaporeans who do not speak English as their home language normally speak it as their second language.

As part of the multi-cultural ethos of the nation, one language was also chosen to represent each of the four major ethnic or 'racial' groups. The 'national' language of Singapore is Bahasa Melayu. This is in recognition of the Malay people as the indigenous community in Singapore. 85% of Singaporeans do not speak Malay. Malay is used in the national anthem, national motto and military parade drill commands. Tamil is an official language as a majority of South Asians in Singapore are ethnic Tamils from India and Sri Lanka. While most Chinese Singaporeans are descendants of southern Chinese migrants who spoke a variety of regional languages, it is the northern Chinese language of Mandarin that is official in Singapore.

Language most frequently spoken at home (%)
Language	1990	2000	2005
English	18.8	23.0	29.4
Mandarin Chinese	23.7	35.0	36.0
Other Chinese Languages	39.6	23.8	18.2
Malay	14.3	14.1	13.2
Tamil	2.9	3.2	3.1

Meritocracy

The government claims that meritocracy

Meritocracy

Meritocracy, in the first, most administrative sense, is a system of government or other administration wherein appointments and responsibilities are objectively assigned to individuals based upon their "merits", namely intelligence, credentials, and education, determined through evaluations or...

is a cornerstone of Singaporean society, and that people are rewarded based on their personal achievements, with no regard to their ethnicity or background. However, critics such as Kenneth Tan have alleged that "in practice, meritocracy is often transformed into an ideology of inequality and elitism".

Social and religious harmony

Singapore is a secular immigrant country. The main religions in Singapore are Buddhism

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

, Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

and Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

. Respect for different religions and personal beliefs is heavily emphasized by the government, but the concept of religious harmony has also been dismissed as a "facade" or "myth".

Democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality

The concepts of democracy, peace, progress, justice and equality are enshrined as stars in the Singapore national flag

Flag of Singapore

The national flag of Singapore was first adopted in 1959, the year Singapore became self-governing within the British Empire. It was reconfirmed as the national flag when the Republic gained independence on 9 August 1965...

. Freedom in the World 2006

Freedom in the World 2006

Freedom in the World is a yearly survey and report by U.S.-based Freedom House that attempts to measure the degree of democracy and political freedom in every nation and significant disputed territories around the world.-Origin and use:...

ranked Singapore 5 out of 7 for political freedom, and 4 out of 7 for civil liberties (where 1 is the most free), with an overall ranking of "partly free".

Ethnic areas

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

has several distinct ethnic neighborhoods, including Little India

Little India, Singapore

Little India is an ethnic neighbourhood found in Singapore that has Tamil cultural elements. Little India lies to east of the Singapore River—across from Chinatown, located west of the river—and north of Kampong Glam. Both areas are part of the urban planning area of Rochor...

, Chinatown

Chinatown, Singapore

Singapore's Chinatown is an ethnic neighbourhood featuring distinctly Chinese cultural elements and a historically concentrated ethnic Chinese population. Chinatown is located within the larger district of Outram....

and Kampong Glam

Kampong Glam

Kampong Glam is a neighbourhood in Singapore. It is located north of the Singapore River, in the urban planning areas of Kallang and Rochor.-History:...

.

Little India is known and patronized by all races within the population for its thalis-- South Indian "buffet

Buffet

A buffet is a system of serving meals in which food is placed in a public area where the diners generally serve themselves. Buffets are offered at various places including hotels and many social events...

s" that are vegetarian and served on the traditional banana

Banana

Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....

leaves

Leaf

A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....

. These neighborhoods are accessible by public transport, especially by Mass Rapid Transit

Mass Rapid Transit (Singapore)

The Mass Rapid Transit or MRT is a rapid transit system that forms the backbone of the railway system in Singapore, spanning the entire city-state. The initial section of the MRT, between Yio Chu Kang Station and Toa Payoh Station, opened in 1987 establishing itself as the second-oldest metro...

(MRT).

Chinatown

Chinatown, Singapore

Singapore

's Chinatown is an ethnic neighbourhood featuring distinctly Chinese cultural elements and a historically concentrated ethnic Chinese population

Overseas Chinese

Overseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Greater China Area . People of partial Chinese ancestry living outside the Greater China Area may also consider themselves Overseas Chinese....

. Chinatown is located within the larger district of Outram

Outram, Singapore

Outram is a district in Singapore, within the Central Area, relatively near the prominent city centre and financial districts, but is nearer the border of the Central Area, and outside the Downtown Core. Outram is served by extensive public transport, including SBS Transit and a Mass Rapid Transit ...

Festivals

The major public holidays reflect the mentioned racial diversity, including Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...

, Buddhist Vesak Day

Vesak

Vesākha is a holiday observed traditionally by Buddhists in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the South East Asian countries of Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, and Indonesia...

, Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

Eid ul-Fitr

Eid ul-Fitr, Eid al-Fitr, Id-ul-Fitr, or Id al-Fitr , often abbreviated to Eid, is a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting . Eid is an Arabic word meaning "festivity," while Fiṭr means "breaking the fast"...

(known locally by its Malay

Malay language

Malay is a major language of the Austronesian family. It is the official language of Malaysia , Indonesia , Brunei and Singapore...

name Hari Raya Puasa), and Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

Diwali

Diwali or DeepavaliThe name of the festival in various regional languages include:, , , , , , , , , , , , , popularly known as the "festival of lights," is a festival celebrated between mid-October and mid-December for different reasons...

(known locally by its Tamil

Tamil language

name Deepavali). Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

s constitute a large and rapidly growing minority, and Christmas Day, Good Friday

Good Friday

Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...

, and New Year's Day

New Year's Day

New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...

are also public holidays.
On August 9, Singapore

Singapore

celebrates the anniversary of its independence with a series of events, including the National Day Parade

National Day Parade

The Singapore National Day Parade is a national ceremony in Singapore that, as its name implies, includes a parade on Singapore's National Day on August 9, in commemoration of Singapore's independence that is usually held at the Padang , the National Stadium, various decentalized venues all over...

which is the main ceremony. The National Day Parade, 2005

National Day Parade, 2005

The National Day Parade, 2005 was a national ceremony in Singapore on August 9, 2005 to commemorate Singapore's 40 years of independence....

was held at the Padang

Padang, Singapore

The Padang is an open field located within the Downtown Core of the Central Area in Singapore, at the heart of Singapore's central business district. It was formerly known as the Padang Cricket Ground...

in the city centre.

Religion

Singapore

is a multi-religious country, the roots of which can be traced to its strategic location; after its declaration as a port, a wide variety of nationalities and ethnicities from places as far as Arabia immigrated to Singapore. 33% of Singaporeans adhere to Buddhism

Buddhism

, the main faith of the Chinese

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

population of Singapore. Other Chinese are followers of Taoism

Taoism

Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...

(11%), Confucianism

Confucianism

Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...

, and Christianity

Christianity

Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...

. Christians constitute about 18% of the population of Singapore. Most Malays are Muslims

Islam

Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

, who constitute about 15% of the population, while most Indians are Hindus, constituting 5%. There is also a sizable number of Muslims and Sikh

Sikh

A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...

s in the Indian population.
As a result of this diversity, there are a large number of religious buildings including Hindu

Hindu

temples, churches and mosque

Mosque

A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...

s, some of which have great historical significance. There are also some Sikh temples and Jewish synagogues. These interesting buildings often became prominent architectural landmarks in cosmopolitan Singapore

Singapore

.
In addition, about 17% of Singaporeans do not belong to any religion and consider themselves as free-thinkers

Freethought

Freethought is a philosophical viewpoint that holds that opinions should be formed on the basis of science, logic, and reason, and should not be influenced by authority, tradition, or other dogmas...

Cuisine

Singaporean

Cuisine of Singapore

Singaporean cuisine is indicative of the ethnic diversity of the culture of Singapore, as a product of centuries of cultural interaction owing to Singapore's strategic location...

cuisine is also a prime example of diversity and cultural diffusion in Singapore. In Singapore's hawker centre

Hawker centre

A hawker centre or cooked food centre is the name given to open-air complexes in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Riau Islands housing many stalls that sell a variety of inexpensive food...

s, for example, traditionally Malay

Malay people

Malays are an ethnic group of Austronesian people predominantly inhabiting the Malay Peninsula, including the southernmost parts of Thailand, the east coast of Sumatra, the coast of Borneo, and the smaller islands which lie between these locations...

hawker

Hawker (trade)

A hawker is a vendor of merchandise that can be easily transported; the term is roughly synonymous with peddler or costermonger. In most places where the term is used, a hawker sells items or food that are native to the area...

stalls selling halal

Halal

Halal is a term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. The term is used to designate food seen as permissible according to Islamic law...

food may serve halal versions of traditionally Tamil

Tamil people

Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...

food. Chinese stalls may introduce Malay

Malay people

ingredients, cooking techniques or entire dishes into their range of catering. This continues to make the cuisine of Singapore

Singapore

significantly rich and a cultural attraction.
Singaporeans also enjoy a wide variety of seafood

Seafood

Seafood is any form of marine life regarded as food by humans. Seafoods include fish, molluscs , crustaceans , echinoderms . Edible sea plants, such as some seaweeds and microalgae, are also seafood, and are widely eaten around the world, especially in Asia...

including crabs, clams, squid, and oysters. One favorite dish is the stingray

Stingray

The stingrays are a group of rays, which are cartilaginous fishes related to sharks. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes, and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae , Plesiobatidae , Urolophidae , Urotrygonidae , Dasyatidae , Potamotrygonidae The...

barbecued and served on banana leaf and with sambal (chilli).

Performing arts

Singapore

is emerging as a cultural centre for arts and culture, including theatre

Theatre

Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

and music

Music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...

. As a cosmopolitan and multi-racial society, Singapore is often identified with the "gateway between the East and West". In the past decade, there is an emergence of several performing arts groups in Singapore, especially in theatrical arts. A number of productions were staged successfully and several groups, such as TheatreWorks

TheatreWorks

TheatreWorks may refer to:*TheatreWorks *TheatreWorks *TheatreWorks *Theatreworks *Theatreworks *Theatreworks USA*TheaterWorks...

, have performed overseas.
The Singapore government encourages a product-oriented arts scene within its master plan to include arts as a commodity for its economy, true explorations and innovation exist but at a level that is not well funded.
However, the local scene of constructive arts critics is still much under developed and often subjective in tone. Most prominent events and venues are government operated and normally with an international focus.
For indigenous artistic works, it's best to explore and find out about local private arts companies. Another festival that is going strong is the Singapore Youth Festival organised by the Ministry of Education. In fact, it has become a magnet that provides funding for local performing artists to work at most local schools and compete for the gold!
Funding for these arts companies are divided into different class, some are government inititiated companies and may received direct funding from the government (eg Singapore Symphony Orchestra) while others will need to apply for funding through the National Arts Council. At the moment, major grants are given to mainly western and ethnic cultural companies to signify them as the flagship companies of Singapore.
Due to the limited physical space of Singapore, arts groups and companies are also relatively dependent on housing arrangement and provision by the government. So far, the issue on space is still one of the major factors that influence performing arts making in Singapore. A much more vibrant local scene may evolved if this issue can be carefully resolved.
Singapore hosts an annual Singapore Arts Festival

Singapore Arts Festival

The Singapore Arts Festival is an annual arts festival held in Singapore. Organised by the National Arts Council, it is one of the most significant events in the regional arts scene. The festival, usually held in mid-year for a stretch of one month, incorporates theatre arts, dance, music and...

when international and local artists gather in the country to perform in a wide variety of events including music, dance and theatre. The Singapore Arts Festival has become an event for Singapore to showcase its ability to buy international renowned performing arts products.
In 2003, the Esplanade - "Theatres on the Bay"

Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay

Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay is a waterside building located on six hectares of waterfront land alongside Marina Bay near the mouth of the Singapore River, purpose-built to be the centre for performing arts for the island nation of Singapore...

, a centre for performing arts, was opened. The Esplanade is also known as "The Durian

Durian

The durian is the fruit of several tree species belonging to the genus Durio and the Malvaceae family . Widely known and revered in southeast Asia as the "king of fruits", the durian is distinctive for its large size, unique odour, and formidable thorn-covered husk...

", due to its resemblance to the fruit. The Arts House at Old Parliament Lane has also been supportive of local performing arts in recent years.
Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts is one of the oldest and most established tertiary arts institution in Singapore....

(NAFA) and LASALLE College of the Arts are the two main arts institutions offering full-time programmes for the performing arts in Singapore. Institutions including government schools nowadays receive good funding for their arts programmes.

Stand-up comedy

Singapore has a growing stand-up comedy

Stand-up comedy

Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...

scene with three active venues. TakeOut Comedy hosts a weekly open mic to help develop local comics. Each of Howl at the Moon and The Comedy Club Asia at DXO offers shows one weekend per month primarily featuring leading international comics such as Paul Ogata

Paul Ogata

-Personal life:Ogata was born and raised in Pearl City, Hawaii, and moved to Los Angeles in 2006 to devote more time to performing stand-up comedy.Ogata graduated from the University of Hawaii. In college, he briefly studied Electrical Engineering, a field for which he showed some aptitude as a teen...

. Kumar

Kumar (drag queen)

Kumar is Singapore's best known cross-dressing performer. Kumar used to perform at the now defunct Boom Boom Room and Gold Dust. He now performs on Friday and Saturday nights at 3 Monkeys Cafe and on Monday nights at Hard Rock Cafe. He will be headlining "Kumar:Stripped Bare and Standing Up" at the...

, a drag queen

Drag queen

A drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and...

who has performed in Singapore for more than 17 years, is Singapore's leading stand-up comedian.

Cultural policy

Singapore

maintains tight restrictions on arts and cultural performances. Most artistic works have to be vetted by the government in advance, and topics that breach so-called out of bounds markers (OB marker

OB marker

An OB marker, short for "out of bounds marker", is a term used in Singapore to denote what topics are permissible for public discussion. The full form of the word is rarely used....

s) are not permitted. While the OB markers are not publicly defined, they are generally assumed to include sensitive topics such as race, religion, and allegations of corruption or nepotism in government. Nudity and other forms of loosely-defined "obscenity" are also banned. Singaporean film director Royston Tan

Royston Tan

Royston Tan is a Singaporean filmmaker.Tan is a graduate from Temasek Polytechnic, where he took a course in Visual Communication. He first came into prominence through his short films: Sons , Hock Hiap Leong , 48 on AIDS , Mother and 15...

has produced movies which challenge these policies, including a movie called Cut in reference to censorship of the arts.
The country's first pre-tertiary arts school, School Of The Arts

School of the Arts

Many Performing Arts projects are left up to students. Students have directed theatrical productions including The Glass Menagerie and The Last of the Darling Brent Girls, the latter also written by a student...

, is currently being built at Kirk Terrace. Expected to commence in 2008, the school aims to provide an environment for nurturing young artists aged between 13 and 18 years old.
There has been much public rhetoric about liberalization and its association with the development of a creative economy in Singapore. The response from artists, academics, public intellectuals, and civil society activists has ranged from strongly optimistic to deeply pessimistic, as reflected in the chapters written for edited book Renaissance Singapore? Economy, Culture, and Politics.

Creative writing

Singapore has a rich heritage in Creative Writing in the Malay, Chinese, Tamil and English Languages. While there is more emphasis on social and patriotic themes in Malay, Chinese and Tamil, the writer in English finds himself (or herself) more comfortable in the analysis of the individual and his motivations. For the writer in Tamil, Chinese and Malay, a healthy concern with the particulars of everyday life (one could say the minutae of living) and the interweaving of these into the fabric of larger nationalistic, patriotic social events is in no way an offensive experience—in fact it is expected. The writer in English seems more concerned with discovering an image of the individual self, or extrapolating human experience. The social milieu of the English educated is a middle class one and they have middle class pretensions. The middle class preoccupation with the self has over the years pervaded the consciousness of the modern Chinese and Malay writers and is what made it possible for their identification with writers using the English Language.

The writer in the English language was a comparatively later phenomenon. Creative writing in English is traced to the establishment in Singapore of an institution of higher education in the arts and sciences, Raffles College, which subsequently became the University of Malaya in Singapore together with the King Edward VII Medical College. One of the high points in writing in English was the early and mid-fifties when a rising anti-colonial nationalism was at play and contributed to the desire to be identified as "Malayan". The poems of Wang Gungwu

Wang Gungwu

Wang Gungwu, CBE is an academic who has studied and written about the Chinese diaspora, although he has objected to the use of the word diaspora to describe the migration of Chinese from China, because it is inaccurate and has been used to perpetuate fears of a "Chinese threat". He was born in...

, Lim Thean Soo and Augustine Goh Sin Tub from this period are in a category by themselves. Except for Wang who managed to move into some detached social poems, the rest are mostly personal and experimental in their use of language. The imagery is for most part forcedly local with rubber trees, durians, laterite etc appearing again and again as do words and phrases from Malay and Chinese. This led to the coining of the word "Engmalchin" to explain the highly rarefied, nationalistic application of such languages in poems in English.
In the mid-fifties and early sixties there rose a group of writers in English, only a few of whom are alive today--Ee Tiang Hong, Edwin Thumboo

Edwin Thumboo

Edwin Nadason Thumboo is an award-winning Singaporean poet and academic who is regarded as one of the pioneers of English literature in Singapore....

, Lloyd Fernando and Oliver Seet. A "younger" group among whom Wong Phui Nam was most outstanding arose a few years later and moved away from the conscious Malayaness of their immediate predecessors, but found themselves unsure of direction; though convinced of their interest in writing.

During this period (1950–1963), prose writing was almost negligible. Herman Hochstadt's "The Compact and Other Stories" is about the only collection. Lloyd Fernando, then a short story writer, published his first novel after 20 years. Of the other writers, Awang Kedua (Wang Gung Wu, again) had surest control of language and development of theme. It was however, poetry and not prose that surged forward in the sixties beginning with Robert Yeo

Robert Yeo

Robert Yeo is a Singaporean poet, playwright and novelist.-Career:Yeo is a retired lecturer of the National Institute of Education and Nanyang Technological University. At present he is a teacher of Creative Writing at the Singapore Management University...

, Dudely de Souza, Arthur Yap

Arthur Yap

-Biography:Arthur Yap was born in Singapore, the sixth child of a carpenter and a housewife. Yap attended St Andrew's School and the University of Singapore, after which he won a British Council scholarship to study at the University of Leeds in England...

(died in 2006) and Wong May. The achievements of these writers were consolidated and enlarged by the establilshment of "FOCUS", the journal of the Literary Society of the University of Singapore, so much so that when the next group of writers, Lee Tzu Pheng

Lee Tzu Pheng

Lee Tzu Pheng was born and educated in Singapore. She has a Ph.D in English from the National University of Singapore from where she has recently retired as a Senior Lecturer in its English Department...

, Mohd Hj Salleh, Yeo Bock Cheng, Pang Khye Guan, Syed Alwi Shahab and Chandran Nair

Chandran Nair

Chandran Nair is a Singaporean poet and retired Director and Mediator of UNESCO in Paris.-Background:Nair was born in Kerala, India in 1945. He left India for Singapore at the age of seven...

(now living in Paris) arrived at the University in 1965, there was already in existence within the confines of the University, a micro-tradition of writing and publishing in English. The arrival of Edwin Thumboo

Edwin Thumboo

Edwin Nadason Thumboo is an award-winning Singaporean poet and academic who is regarded as one of the pioneers of English literature in Singapore....

to the English Department from the Civil Service was an added impetus.

At around this time too, Goh Poh Seng

Goh Poh Seng

Goh Poh Seng , Singaporean dramatist, novelist and poet, was born in Malaya in 1936. He received his medical degree from University College Dublin, and practised medicine in Singapore for twenty-five years. In his time living in Singapore, Dr Goh held many honorary positions including the Chairman...

(now living in Canada), who had actually taken a year off to do nothing but write in Dublin and London (and almost starved as a result), arrived to begin work as a Medical Officer at the General Hospital. He started "TUMASEK" a journal for the publication of Singapore/Malayan writing; the fourth such attempt—the first being "WRITE" begun by Herman Hochstadt and others in the late 1950s; the second,"MONSOON" edited by Lim Siew Wai in the early sixties; the third, the aforementioned "FOCUS". "TUMASEK" however followed "MONSOON" into death after a few issues but Goh pushed forward undaunted and founded together with Lim Kok Ann, CENTRE 65 which presented the first ever "Poetry and Folk Music Festival" to Singaporeans at the Cultural Centre in 1966. The Centre provided Goh with the framework to develop as a playwright beginning with his "Moon is Less Bright" and going on to "When Smiles are Done". Goh later decided that his particular field was prose; "The Immolation" being his first novel.

The poets of the mid-sixties extended their style and techniques in the seventies and published in local and international journals and also in individual collections—Robert Yeo's "Coming Home Baby" and Arthur Yap's "Only Lines" in 1971, Chandran Nair

Chandran Nair

Chandran Nair is a Singaporean poet and retired Director and Mediator of UNESCO in Paris.-Background:Nair was born in Kerala, India in 1945. He left India for Singapore at the age of seven...

's "Once the Horsemen and Other Poems" in 1972, and "After the Hard Hours, This Rain" in 1975. The impetus of the sixties was carried over into the seventies and among the names that emerged in poetry were Chung Yee Chong, Sng Boh Kim, Ernest Lim, and Geraldine Heng, who achieved a remarkable fluency of style in a single volume work, "White Dreams".
Today the younger poets writing in English, Leong Liew Geok, Angeline Yap, Boey Kim Cheng, Heng Siok Tian, Paul Tan, Yong Shu Hoong, Aaron Lee

Aaron Lee

Aaron Lee Soon Yong is a Singaporean prize-winning poet who writes in English.Aaron began writing poetry during his days at Raffles Institution, a secondary school in Singapore where he befriended other students who would also eventually go on to become published Singaporean writers...

, Cyril Wong

Cyril Wong

Cyril Wong is the author of nine volumes of poetry and one collection of prose.- Biography:Born in 1977, Cyril Wong attended Saint Patrick's School, Singapore and Temasek Junior College, before pursuing a doctoral degree in English literature from the National University of Singapore...

and Felix Cheong

Felix Cheong

Felix Cheong is a Singaporean author, and poet.Cheong has written two young adult fiction books used as part of a national education campaign – The Call From Crying House and its sequel, The Woman In The Last Carriage .Cheong's first collection of poetry, Temptations, and Other Poems was...

, show a more "diffusive" sensibility: rather than treating the self as linked to a core or primal place or time (Singapore before independence, a childhood haunt), their poems are conscious of the change and flux, the dispersions and returns which are appropriate to comtemprorary Singapore society.

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