Lights Up
Wanted: Singaporean Writing Excellence. Reward: $10,000.
by Huang Jiehan
At the Singapore Literature Prize 2008 (SLP) Award Ceremony and Dinner on the 3rd of December, Mr R Ramachandran, Director of the National Book Development Council of Singapore, pronounced the SLP “the most prestigious literary award in the country”. He wasn’t exaggerating; SLP winners include internationally-acclaimed writers such as Tan Hwee Hwee and Cyril Wong.
This year, winners of The Singapore Literature Prize are: Ng Yi-Sheng in the English category for his volume of poetry Last Boy; Chia Hwee Pheng and Yeng Pway Ngon, who tied in the Chinese category for their books The Collection of Xi Ni Er Mini-Fiction and Trivialities About Me and Myself respectively ; poet and novelist Mohamed Latiff Mohamed in the Malay category for the poetry collection Bila Rama- Rama Patah Sayapnya; and Tamil Murasu news editor K. Kanagalatha in the Tamil category for his book Naan Kolai Seyun Penkal (The Women I Murder).
The guest-of-honour for the ceremony, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, said the Prize helps “to promote local writing by highlighting outstanding works to the reading public,” and that it is “a benchmark for artistic excellence by local writers”. He was generous with his praise for the nominees for the Prize, and offered his congratulations to all: “Whether or not you emerge as the SLP winner this evening, I commend your efforts in contributing to our literary culture”.
Professor Rajeev S. Patke, from the judging panel for English books, agreed, “The robustness of a society depends on the vigourousness of its literary culture”. “Singapore,” he acknowledged, “has one of the most proactive literary cultures in the English language. Literary productivity in Singapore really is amazing”.
This generous comment was certainly justified. There were entrants from all four official Singaporean languages, and the quality of the writing was immense. Dr Chua Chee Leng, from the judging panel for Chinese books, confirmed this when he said, “After more than 7 hours we informed the organizers we had a problem: based on the comments, votes and sources, there would be two winners. The winners will share the $10, 000 cash”.
In addition, the speakers paid tribute to Mrs Hedwig Anuar, who was present in the audience that evening. She was former Director of the National Library of Singapore, former Chairperson of the National Book Development Council of Singapore and the founder of the Singapore Literature Prize in 1992.
Professor Patke informed the audience, “If you haven’t read any of her books, you haven’t opened your eyes to how funny Singaporeans can be”. Mrs Anuar was presented with a token of appreciation for her contributions to Singapore literature along with well wishes for her recent 80th birthday.
Clearly, Singapore has a rich tradition of literary productivity and it remains vibrant, but our writers were cautioned not to rest on their laurels. Dr Chua would like to see “more children’s books” being published; Dr Seetha Lakshmi from the judging panel for Tamil books also hoped that the award “will inspire other writers to come forward”.
Indeed, Professor Patke also feels that the SLP can create more talent, “Awards”, he said, “can make communities aware of writing. If this continues, there ought to be more awards.” The success of the SLP is a testament to the myriad literary talents in Singapore.
