Literature
A Plethora of Tongues: Multilingualism in 1950s Malayan Writing
From the melting pot of cultures and languages in postwar Singapore emerged the search for a Malayan identity, negotiated and presented through multilingualism in Malayan literature.
Interview with Rachel Heng
The Great Reclamation is a work of historical fiction set in Singapore that has received rave reviews from the New Yorker and the New York Times. A coming-of-age love story, the novel took Singaporean author Rachel Heng five years of research into topics such as land reclamation, the Japanese Occupation, and postwar politics in Singapore. We speak to her about her book, her research process, and the challenges of writing historical fiction.
Panton Malaijoe dan Portugees: A Rediscovered Manuscript
A forgotten manuscript found in the archive of a Portuguese museum offers an insight into the languages and traditions of a unique community in the Dutch East Indies.
跨境影响、情系侨乡: 新加坡金门会馆特藏
The National Library recently received a sizable collection of letters, documents, books and other paper ephemera from the Kim Mui Hoey Kuan. Lee Meiyu examines the historical links the clan association has forged between Singapore and Kinmen.
On Writers and Their Manuscripts
No great work of literature is completed in just one draft. In an age where writers have gone paperless, novelist Meira Chand ponders over the value of manuscripts, and what they might reveal about a writer’s thought process.
Don’t Mention the Corpses: The Erasure of Violence in Colonial Writings on Southeast Asia
History may be written by the victors, but what they conveniently leave out can be more telling. Farish Noor reminds us of the violent side of colonial conquest.