My Love Affair with Words
To me, words have always been precious. My mother says I didn’t speak until I was three, and when I did, I spoke in full sentences. I was a voracious reader in my childhood and early teens. I pursued two degrees in English literature. I wrote freelance and edited for a living. Creatively, I fashioned crossword puzzles at 10, experimented with poetry in my teens and twenties, and finally began writing plays and scripts from the early 90s onwards based on themes close to heart. What’s next? More plays, short stories and even novels...
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Published Work
Spectre (Singapore: Math Paper Press, 2012)
Balik Kampung, edited by Verena Tay (Singapore: Math Paper Press, 2012)
A Monsoon Feast, edited by Verena Tay (Singapore: Monsoon Books, 2012)
Pride, flash fiction published in Ceriph 4: The White Issue, Wheat: Sustainer of Many—When Did This Shade of White Begin to Rust?, (Singapore: Math Paper Press, 2011; edited by Wei Fen Lee, Amanda Lee & Winnie Goh; p. 17)
Victimology (Singapore: Math Paper Press, 2011).
In the Company of Heroes: Selected Plays (Singapore: Math Paper Press, 2011).
Broken, short story published in A Rainbow Feast: New Asian Short Stories (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Pte Ltd, 2010; edited by Mohammad A. Quayum; pp. 301-312).
Christmas Snow, flash fiction published in The Sunday Times, Life! Section, 20 December 2009, p. 23.
Imperfect Family Recipes, published in Tumasik: Contemporary Writing from Singapore (Singapore: National Arts Council of Singapore; Iowa City: Autumn Hill Books/International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, 2009; edited by Alvin Pang; pp. 160-166).
1 Monologue (Excerpt from Cotton & Jade) and 3 Short Stories (The Gravedigger, The Stray Cat, Hair); Writing sample for the International Writing Program 2007, University of Iowa
In the Company of Women: Selected Plays (Singapore: SNP Editions, 2004).
Prosperity, 10-minute play published in More Than Half the Sky (Singapore: Times Editions, 1998), an anthology of Singaporean women’s writing.
Recent Public Productions of My Plays
Right & Left (Short+Sweet Singapore 2010 Top 40; Play Den, The Arts House; 14 – 18 Jul 2010)
Bumiputra Cina (collaboration with Noor Effendy Ibrahim, Shahril Wahid & Rizman Putra; The Substation Theatre, 14 – 16 May 2009)
Prosperity, as part of ENCORE: An Evening of Ageless Theatre (The Necessary Stage's Theatre for Seniors Programme, 13 – 15 Mar 2009)
The Lunar Interviews (produced as part of Magdalena (Singapore)/The Substation's production of Blood Binds; part of W!ld Rice's Singapore Theatre Festival 2008; Drama Centre Black Box, 23 – 24 Aug 2008)
Imperfect Family Recipes (Short+Sweet Singapore 2008 Gala; Esplanade Theatre Studio; 27 – 29 Jun 2008)
Imperfect Family Recipes (Short+Sweet Singapore 2008 Top 30; Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Campus 3; 19 – 22 Jun 2008)
The Car, full staging at The Esplanade Theatre Studio as part of double-bill, The Car and 41 Hours (ACTION Theatre, 27 – 30 Jul 2006)
The Car, second public reading at the Esplanade Concert Hall as part of the final of Theatre Idols 2005, awarded Jury Prize: Best New Play and Audience Choice Award: Best New Play (ACTION Theatre, 1 Jun 2005)
Essays Online
Book review of Robert Yeo’s Routes: A Singaporean Memoir 1940-75; ASIATIC, Vol. 5, No. 2, December 2011, pp. 137–139 (last accessed: 31 Jan 2012)
‘Ten Writing Tips: Tried and Tested’, Writing the City (last accessed: 21 Oct 2011)
‘Storytelling and I’, Writing the City (last accessed: 30 Aug 2011)
Book review of Maurice Collis’ Raffles: The Definitive Biography; ASIATIC, Vol. 4, No. 2, Dec 2010 (last accessed: 24 Jan 2011)
‘Bringing Life to a Simmer’. 26 June 2008. Far Eastern Economic Review (Jun 2008) (last accessed: 26 Jun 2008)
‘You Are What Your Eat: A Dietary Contemplation of Identity’. 21 Sep 2007. Iowa City Public Library and the International Writing Program Panel Series (last accessed: 26 Jun 2008)