Winner of Creative Nonfiction in Chinese
不确定的国家：李光耀与新加坡
本书根据史料与文献，阐述新加坡从战后到独立极为动荡的二十年，李光耀从英国、马来亚、印尼与马共的多角竞逐中排众而出，展现其独特的人格特质。然则，脆弱的新加坡让李光耀在九十岁仍怀疑其确定性。他说：“新加坡直到最近，从来就不是一个国家。”作者以小说家的笔法，纪实的书写，重新论述李光耀与新加坡的建国史。
The Uncertain Republic: Lee Kuan Yew and Singapore
Based on historical materials and documents, this book details the extremely turbulent two decades of Singapore from the post-war period to independence. Lee Kuan Yew stood out from the multi-faceted competition between British, Malaya, Indonesia and the Communist Party of Malaya, showing his unique personality traits. However, the fragility of Singapore kept Lee Kuan Yew uncertain even at the age of ninety. He said, "Singapore has never been a country until recently." The author adopts a novelist's style of writing and a documentary approach to re-examine Lee Kuan Yew and the founding history of Singapore.
时报文化出版企业股份有限公司, 2023
评判评语
《不确定的国家》是谢裕民2023年出版的重头巨作。在本届参与征选的作品之中，格局尤其宏大，视野最为宽广亦深远。本书巨细靡遗地叙述了新加坡建国的一段历史，作者以文学的笔触，梳理了这段以李光耀为核心的建国过程。回顾当时各种政治事件，历史关键之转折处，而至一个新兴国家独立，抉择和前途，却都充满了一种不确定感。
谢裕民曾经从事媒体工作，也是产量丰盛的小说家。在处理庞大的文献档案、繁杂交错的时间线索和各路的政治人物，作者的叙述仍保有一种文字的临场感，读来毫不枯燥，可见文学功力。 《不确定的国家》细致铺展了李光耀崛起的背景氛围，纠缠于当时左翼势力与动荡社会，以及在英殖民和马来亚之间周旋的复杂过程，构成了理解新加坡的另一个重要面向。
作为一部出色的纪实文学作品，不全然是留存史料和复述记录的功能。谢裕民的用心之处，在于他也拥有一个创作者的观点，体现了一种报人求真的本色，说好了一则关于新加坡建国史的故事。在庞杂的历史事件中，仍不失对人性的观察和关怀。因此，在谢裕民的描写之下，原本仅是课本和传记里的人物，终于也有了情感和血肉。谢裕民书写了时间留下的细节和情节，此刻的「历史」，才变得立体、矛盾而真实。”
Judges' Comments
The Uncertain Republic is Chia Joo Ming’s masterpiece that was published in 2023. Amongst the participating works in this year’s selection, its setting is particularly grand, and its vision is the broadest and most profound. This book describes the history of Singapore’s founding in great detail. The author uses literary brushstrokes to sort through Singapore’s founding with Lee Kuan Yew as the core of this process. Looking back at various political events at that time, the key turning points in history and the independence of an emerging country, the choices and the future were full of uncertainty.
Chia used to be a media practitioner and is also a prolific novelist. In dealing with voluminous documents and archives, complex and intertwined time clues, and various political figures, his narrative retains a sense of being present in the moment, making it a breeze to read and attesting to his literary skills. The Uncertain Republic meticulously lays out the background of Lee Kuan Yew’s rise, his entanglements with left-wing forces, the turbulent society of that time, and the complex process of dealing with the British colonists and the Malayan government, constituting another important aspect of understanding Singapore.
An outstanding documentary work is not entirely about preserving historical materials and recounting records. Chia’s perspective as a creator and dedication to reflect the true nature of events as a journalist provided the base for him to write a good story about the history of Singapore’s founding. Through the magnitude and complexity of historical events, he still observes and cares about human nature. In so doing, he gives flesh, blood, and emotions to the characters that were originally only found in textbooks and biographies. Filling in the details and plots, Chia brings history to life and renders it contradictory yet real.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
谢裕民
谢裕民, 1959年生于新加坡。1993年获青年艺术奖，2021年获文化奖；受邀参加爱荷华国际写作计划，南洋理工大学驻校作家。小说《重构南洋图像》、《m40》、《放逐与追逐》、《建国》都获新加坡文学奖。
Chia Joo Ming
Chia Joo Ming was born in Singapore in 1959. He received the Singapore Young Artist award in 1993 and was the recipient of the 2021 Cultural Medallion. He had participated in the Iowa International Writing Program in 1995 and was the writer-in-residence at Nanyang Technological University in 2014. His novellas Reconstructing Nanyang Images, m40, Exile or Pursuit, and Kian Kok had been awarded the Singapore Literature Prize.
