Dr Tan Chee Lay

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Abstract

It almost became a common saying towards the end of the 20th-century that writers of Singapore poetry in Chinese exceeded its readers in number. If we probe further, such proclamation might even insinuate that even the poets themselves did not read Singapore Chinese poetry. So, has Singapore Chinese poetry been reduced to an adornment on the local literary shelve? However, this paper will argue that the Singapore Chinese poetic scene, albeit quieter than its English counterpart after the 1990s, definitely still has much to offer. One of the most outstanding and discerning characteristics of Singaporean poets writing in Chinese is their ability to blend, interpose or contrast cultural and literary influences from the East and the West, including but not limited to the influences of the different ethnic groups (CMIO – Chinese, Malay, Indian and Others) in Singapore. As a form of divergence from Anglo Saxon and/or Oriental literary dominance and hegemony, possibly also due to Bloomian "anxiety of influence," Singapore Chinese literature has been attempting to carve out its own unique path. Congruent to the multilingual and multicultural society of Singapore, the Chinese oeuvre of Singaporean poets distinguish itself by the multicultural, and more visibly the multilingual, characteristics of their poetics.