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Goh Poh Seng

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Goh Poh Seng
吴宝星
BornJuly 1936
Kuala Lumpur, British Malaya
Died10 January 2010 (aged 73)
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
NationalityCanadian
Alma materUniversity College Dublin
Awards1982 Cultural Medallion

Goh Poh Seng (Chinese: 吴宝星; Chinese: 吳寶星; pinyin: Wú Bǎo Xīng; July 1936 – 10 January 2010) was a Singaporean dramatist, novelist, doctor and poet, was born in Kuala Lumpur, British Malaya in 1936.[1] He was educated at Victoria Institution in Kuala Lumpur, received his medical degree from University College Dublin, and practised medicine in Singapore for twenty-five years.

Writing career

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His writing blossomed in Ireland, where he met writers Patrick Kavanagh and Brendan Behan, published his poetry in the university magazine, and took a year off school to write. In his time living in Singapore, Goh held many honorary positions including the Chairman of the National Theatre Trust Board between 1967 and 1972, and Vice-Chairman of the Arts Council from 1967 to 1973. He was committed to the development of Art and cultural policies of post-independent Singapore, as well as the development of cultural institutions such as the Singapore National Symphony, the Chinese Orchestra and the Singapore Dance Company. Goh also opened Singapore's first theatre disco lounge, Rainbow Lounge at Ming Arcade, and Bistro Toulouse-Lautrec at Tanglin Shopping Centre for live jazz and poetry readings, organised Singapore's first David Bowie concert in 1983,[2] and envisioned a livelier Singapore River in the 1970s, a proposal that was only taken seriously decades later.[3]

He was a founder of the literary magazine Tumasek (which lasted for three issues)[4] and co-founded Singapore's first multi-disciplinary arts centre, Centre 65, with Lim Kok Ann in 1965 to promote the arts.[5] Centre 65 inspired the name of Centre 42, an institution for playwriting which opened in 2014.[6]

In 1972, Goh published his first novel, If We Dream Too Long. The novel won the National Book Development Council of Singapore's (NBDCS) Fiction Award in 1976 and has been translated into Russian, Japanese and Tagalog. While the novel was criticised by The Straits Times upon publication,[7] it enjoyed a first print run of 3,000 copies and was considered the first English-language Singaporean novel. It was subsequently has been used as a Literature text in various universities.[8]

His other books include the novels The Immolation (1977) and A Dance of Moths (1995), which received the NBDCS Fiction award in 1996, and poetry collections Eyewitness (1976), Lines from Batu Ferringhi (1978) and Bird With One Wing (1982). Goh's play When the Smiles are Done (1972) was the first to use Singlish on stage,[9] while his debut play The Moon is Less Bright (1964) was revived by Theatreworks (dir. Ong Keng Sen) in 1990 and The Second Breakfast Company (dir. Adeeb Fazah) in 2018.[10][11]

In 1982, Goh received the Cultural Medallion for his contributions to Literature.[12]

A 15-minute documentary about Goh, directed by Almerinda Travasoss, was released in 2007.

In 2009, Goh announced his plan to write a quartet of novels loosely based on his personal and family history.[13]

In 2014, the Centre for Southeast Asia Research at the University of British Columbia acquired the Goh Poh Seng Collection, a set of 110 volumes from Goh's library.[14]

In 2015, a collection of Goh's short stories based on his adventures in 1950s Ireland, Tall Tales and MisAdventures of a Young Westernized Oriental Gentleman, was posthumously published by NUS Press.[15] The memoir, written in the last years of Goh's life, includes reflections of his formative encounters with Irish literary giants Patrick Kavanagh and Samuel Beckett.[16] Reviewing the book in Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, Zhang Ruihe called it "a valuable addition to Singapore literature, a record of a writer's coming of age in a time of global transition and revolution."[17]

Other career

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In 1983 Goh set up Singapore's first disco and live music venue, Rainbow Lounge, at the Ming Arcade.[12] The venue was shut down by the authorities in 1986 after a complaint was made against it for a indecent remark by a member of the house band.[12]

Personal life

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As a result of the closure of his music venue, Goh emigrated to Canada in 1986.[12] In 2007, Goh returned to Singapore to attend the Singapore Writers Festival.[18]

Goh died on 10 January 2010 in Vancouver, after suffering from Parkinson's disease in his later years.[12][19] Paying tribute to Goh, playwright Robert Yeo said, "He is someone who not only believed in literature, but also believed in lifting the cultural aspirations of Singaporeans."[19]

In 2012, his son, Kagan Goh, published Who Let In The Sky?, a family memoir about Goh's struggle with Parkinson's.[20]

Bibliography

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Poetry

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  • Eyewitness (Heinamann Educational Books (Asia) Ltd, 1976)
  • Lines from Batu Ferringhi (Island Press, 1978)
  • Bird With One Wing (Island Press, 1982) ISBN 9971835061
  • The Girl from Ermita & Selected Poems (Nightwood Editions, 1998) ISBN 0889711674
  • As Though the Gods Love Us (Nightwood Editions,2000) ISBN 0889711712

Novels

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Plays

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  • The Moon Is Less Bright (Singapore, 1964, 1990, 2018)
  • When Smiles Are Done (Singapore, 1966; retitled Room With Paper Flowers Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1969)
  • The Elder Brother (Singapore, 1967)

Short stories

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Autobiographical Essays

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  • ‘A Star-Lovely Art’, in Vol 10 No. 1 2010 issue of Moving Worlds: A Journal of Transcultural Writing, University of Leeds

Awards

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  • National Book Development Council Of Singapore Fiction Award, 1976
  • National Book Development Council Of Singapore Fiction Award, 1996
  • Cultural Medallion for Literature, 1982

References

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  1. ^ "Goh Poh Seng". Archived from the original on 7 March 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  2. ^ Chew, Hui Min (12 January 2016). "David Bowie's Singapore friend: Son of late literary pioneer Goh Poh Seng writes about friendship between dad and Bowie". Singapore Press Holdings. The Straits Times. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  3. ^ "Singapore Literary Pioneers: Goh Poh Seng". National Library Board. Archived from the original on 25 March 2008. Retrieved 7 April 2008.
  4. ^ Yeo, Robert (Jan 20, 2010). "The writer, the dreamer, my friend", The Straits Times
  5. ^ "Goh Poh Seng - Esplanade Offstage". www.esplanade.com. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
  6. ^ "A new page for playwriting". The Straits Times. 24 April 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  7. ^ "A novel that doesn't get through..." The Straits Times. 4 December 1972. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  8. ^ "Goh Poh Seng". Infopedia. 2010. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  9. ^ "Freedom and Fearlessness: The 1970s Novels of Goh Poh Seng". QLRS. October 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  10. ^ "The Moon is Less Bright". TheatreWorks. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  11. ^ "THE MOON IS LESS BRIGHT by The Second Breakfast Company". 6 June 2018.
  12. ^ a b c d e "Poet in 'exile' makes peace with homeland". 24 August 2009. Archived from the original on 24 August 2009. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  13. ^ "Poet in 'exile' makes peace with homeland". The Straits Times. 10 August 2009. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  14. ^ "The Goh Poh Seng Collection at the Centre for Southeast Asian Research". Centre for Southeast Asia Research. 2014. Archived from the original on 21 August 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  15. ^ "Tall Tales and MisAdventures of a Young Westernized Oriental Gentleman". NUS Press. National University of Singapore. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  16. ^ Koh, Jee Leong. "A Star-Lovely Art". Singapore Poetry. Archived from the original on 23 June 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  17. ^ "His Master's Voice". QLRS. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  18. ^ "Goh Poh Seng (Part 1/2)". Vimeo. 2010. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  19. ^ a b "Literary pioneer Goh Poh Seng dies". my Paper. 13 January 2010. Archived from the original on 22 August 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
  20. ^ "Who Let In The Sky? A Son's Tribute To His Father Goh Poh Seng's Courageous Struggle With Parkinson's Disease". Select Books. 2012. Archived from the original on 21 August 2014. Retrieved 21 August 2014.
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