An overview of Singapore Chinese poetry

Singapore Chinese poetry refers to poetry written or published in Chinese or read in Mandarin or other Chinese dialects in Singapore, about Singapore or by Singapore writers. As a category under Singapore Chinese literature and Singapore poetry, it is a significant part of Singapore national literature, which encompasses works written in the four official languages (English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil). After a hundred years of development, Singapore Chinese poetry has continuously matured, becoming an important voice in fields such as “Chinese literature,” “Southeast Asian poetry,” and “World Chinese literature”.

Characteristics of Singapore Chinese poetry

The majority of Singapore Chinese poetry is written in modern Chinese. Its roots can be traced back to the 1919 May Fourth Movement in China, which advocated the use of vernacular Chinese. However, some poets still composed poetry in the older, classical forms, such as Khoo Seok Wan (1874–1941), Yu Dafu (1896–1945), and Pan Shou (1911–1999).¹

Pursuit of creativity
Contemporary Singapore Chinese poetry emphasizes delicate or concise poetic imagery language, tending towards the depiction of daily life, inner emotions, and universal human themes, and displaying a tendency towards the integration of Chinese and Western cultures. Some poets ingeniously incorporate traditional and classical imagery and poetics, as well as concepts like post-colonialism, surrealism, postmodernism, science, and philosophy into their works, thus reshaping the possibilities of modern Chinese poetry. Such avant-garde works have been seen published by Singapore May Publishing, the May Poetry Society, literary magazine Afterwards, and on poetry online platforms such as In the Space of a Poem (Facebook).

Dialogues with the realities
Some Singapore Chinese poems are themed around news, current affairs, and history. The period from the end of World War II to Singapore’s independence (1945–1965) marked an era of political and social turmoil. Singapore Chinese poetry was largely shaped by its times and characterised by realism and resistance literature, reflecting themes such as anti-colonialism, anti-war sentiments, and the pursuit of social justice. Notable poets from this era include Tie Ge (born Chen Guo Lai, 1923–1948), Zhong Qi (born Zhong Ying Qi, 1928–1970), Fan Bei Ling (born Luo Zi Wei, 1930–2012), Zhou Can (born Chew Kok Chang), Du Hong (born Teh Ah Poon), Liu Bei An (born Chua Boon Hean, 1906–1995), and Yuan Dian (born Lam Yau Cheung).

Between 1919 and 1945, the identity of Singapore Chinese poetry oscillated between expressions of immigrant literature on the one hand, and responses to local or Southeast Asian contexts on the other. After independence, Singaporean Chinese poetry adopted and favoured a more urban literary style, presenting a diverse aesthetic of postmodernism, modernism, and indigenous influences.

Incorporating local characteristics
Many Singapore Chinese poets strive to inject Singaporean and Nanyang (or Southeast Asian) characteristics in their poems. Apart from local Singaporean landmarks and cuisine as imagery, such as the Merlion, Sir Stamford Raffles, Housing and Development Board (HDB) flats, the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), Nanyang Technological University, districts like Serangoon and Katong, and food items like Hainanese chicken rice, Nyonya rice dumplings, and Nanyang coffee. Some of these works also feature an eclectic blend of the different languages spoken in Singapore.

Serial poetry and short verses
An abundance of serial poetry and short poetry forms (including truncated verses, jieju) are characteristic of Singapore Chinese poetry. Serial poetry are frequently seen in award-winning works of literary contests such as the Golden Point Award and the Singapore Tertiary Literature Award.

Trans-genre and transmedia re-creations
Crossing into the realm of music, Singapore Chinese poetry saw the emergence of shiyue (which features a blend of poetry and songs) in the 1970s and xinyao in the 1980s. The former was created by students from the Nanyang University before its closure, while xinyao originated from students of junior colleges and polytechnics in Singapore, composing songs to express their understanding of Singaporean life, with Liang Wern Fook being a leading figure in the xinyao movement. The songs and soundtracks for local Mandarin television dramas also exhibited literary qualities, with some of the more prominent lyricists being Muzi (born Lee Hock Ming) and Chen Jiaming (born Tan Kah Beng).

Additionally, artist Chen Chong Swee (1910–1985) was known for combining Nanyang Chinese ink paintings with classical-style poetry,²while poet Pan Shou worked with Chinese calligraphy and classical poetic forms.

Research on Singapore Chinese poetry

Singapore Chinese poetry presents strong, notable characteristic of hybridity within the context of the separation of Singapore and Malaysia, the May Fourth Movement, and the multilingual environment,³ including multiple interpretations of Chineseness, local identity, and post-colonialism. In the 1960s, scholars such as Fang Xiu (born Goh Tze Kwang, 1922–2010) examined the evolution of Singapore Chinese poetry from historical lenses, focusing on mainly poetry that embraced realism. Other scholars have instead researched on Singapore Chinese poetry through the perspectives of modernity and modernism.⁴

From the viewpoint of Sinophone articulation, researchers have also examined Singapore Chinese poetry in relation to literature produced by speakers of other languages (such as the English-speaking, French-speaking and Malay-speaking) around the world , so as to reveal the power dynamics of the “centre” and “periphery”, as well as notions of local agency and identity. Research on world Chinese poetry, Southeast Asian Chinese poetry, and transmedia studies can also contribute to the advancement of Singapore Chinese poetry.⁵