Right of the Soil
The Latin phrase jus soli is an unconditional right to citizenship for a person born within a country. Singapore’s nationality law is based on jus sanguinis, where citizenship is determined by one’s parentage.
Yong Shu Hoong contemplates how individuals are bound to the land where they first set foot, with poems addressing belongingness and birthright by exploring the four fundamental elements.
Beyond our earthly lives, is it soil – or another element or dimension – that asserts its right to claim us?
ETHOS BOOKS2018
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Yong Shu Hoong
Yong Shu Hoong authored five poetry collections, including Frottage (2005) and The Viewing Party (2013), which both won the Singapore Literature Prize. His writing has been published in literary journals like Asia Literary Review (Hong Kong), and anthologies like Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia, and Beyond (2008).
Yong teaches part-time at Republic Polytechnic and Nanyang Technological University (NTU). He was writer-in-residence at NTU and was the Presidential International Visiting Scholar at Wheelock College.
