Goh Poh Seng

{{Infobox person

| native_name = {{nobold|{{lang|zh-hans|吴宝星}}}}

| birth_date = July 1936

| birth_place = Kuala Lumpur, British Malaya

| death_date = 10 January 2010 (aged 73)

| death_place = Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

| nationality = Canadian

| alma_mater = University College Dublin

| image = File:Goh Poh Seng.jpg

| caption =

| name = Goh Poh Seng

| other_names =

| movement =

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| monuments =

| awards = 1982 Cultural Medallion

| footnotes =

}}

Goh Poh Seng ({{lang-zh|c=吴宝星|t=吳寶星|p=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.{{cite web | url=http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_957_2004-12-23.html | title=Goh Poh Seng | access-date=2012-03-06 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307140803/http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_957_2004-12-23.html | archive-date=2012-03-07 | url-status=dead}} 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

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,{{cite news|last1=Chew|first1=Hui Min|title=David Bowie's Singapore friend: Son of late literary pioneer Goh Poh Seng writes about friendship between dad and Bowie|url=http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/entertainment/david-bowies-singapore-friend-son-of-late-literary-pioneer-goh-poh-seng|access-date=3 February 2016|agency=The Straits Times|publisher=Singapore Press Holdings|date=12 January 2016}} and envisioned a livelier Singapore River in the 1970s, a proposal that was only taken seriously decades later.{{cite web |title=Singapore Literary Pioneers: Goh Poh Seng |publisher=National Library Board |url=http://exhibitions.nlb.gov.sg/literarypioneers/writers/english/gohpohseng/index.php |access-date=2008-04-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080325175418/http://exhibitions.nlb.gov.sg/literarypioneers/writers/english/gohpohseng/index.php |archive-date=2008-03-25 }}

He was a founder of the literary magazine Tumasek (which lasted for three issues)Yeo, Robert (Jan 20, 2010). "The writer, the dreamer, my friend", The Straits Times and co-founded Singapore's first multi-disciplinary arts centre, Centre 65, with Lim Kok Ann in 1965 to promote the arts.{{Cite web |title=Goh Poh Seng - Esplanade Offstage |url=https://www.esplanade.com/offstage/arts/goh-poh-seng |access-date=2024-02-14 |website=www.esplanade.com |language=en}} Centre 65 inspired the name of Centre 42, an institution for playwriting which opened in 2014.{{cite news|title=A new page for playwriting |url=https://www.asiaone.com/entertainment/new-page-playwriting|newspaper=The Straits Times|date=24 April 2014|access-date=21 August 2014}}

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,{{cite news|title= A novel that doesn't get through... |url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19721204-1.2.78.3.aspx|newspaper=The Straits Times|date=4 December 1972|access-date=21 August 2014}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_957_2004-12-23.html |title= Goh Poh Seng |publisher=Infopedia |date=2010 |access-date=21 August 2014}}

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,{{cite web|url=http://www.qlrs.com/essay.asp?id=1049 |title= Freedom and Fearlessness: The 1970s Novels of Goh Poh Seng |publisher=QLRS |date=October 2013 |access-date=21 August 2014}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.theatreworks.org.sg/archive/the_retrospective/moon_is_less_bright.htm |title= The Moon is Less Bright |publisher=TheatreWorks |access-date=21 August 2014}}{{Cite web|url=http://centre42.sg/the-moon-is-less-bright-by-the-second-breakfast-company/|title=THE MOON IS LESS BRIGHT by The Second Breakfast Company|date=June 6, 2018}}

In 1982, Goh received the Cultural Medallion for his contributions to Literature.{{Cite web |date=2009-08-24 |title=Poet in 'exile' makes peace with homeland |url=https://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20090810-160144.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090824210049/https://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20090810-160144.html |access-date=2022-12-21|archive-date=24 August 2009 }}

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.{{cite news |date=10 Aug 2009 |title=Poet in 'exile' makes peace with homeland |newspaper=The Straits Times |url=https://www.asiaone.com/News/Education/Story/A1Story20090810-160144.html |access-date=21 August 2014}}

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.{{cite web |date=2014 |title=The Goh Poh Seng Collection at the Centre for Southeast Asian Research |url=http://www.iar.ubc.ca/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=1wkoOXMq7Mg%3D&tabid=196 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821165116/http://www.iar.ubc.ca/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=1wkoOXMq7Mg%3D&tabid=196 |archive-date=21 August 2014 |access-date=21 August 2014 |publisher=Centre for Southeast Asia Research}}

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.{{cite web |title=Tall Tales and MisAdventures of a Young Westernized Oriental Gentleman |url=http://nuspress.nus.edu.sg/products/tall-tales-and-misadventures-of-a-young-westernized-oriental-gentleman?variant=1245117532 |access-date=23 June 2015 |website=NUS Press |publisher=National University of Singapore}} 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.{{cite web |last1=Koh |first1=Jee Leong |title=A Star-Lovely Art |url=http://singaporepoetry.com/2015/04/30/a-star-lovely-art/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150623164143/http://singaporepoetry.com/2015/04/30/a-star-lovely-art/ |archive-date=23 June 2015 |access-date=23 June 2015 |website=Singapore Poetry}} 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."{{cite web |title=His Master's Voice |url=http://www.qlrs.com/critique.asp?id=1242 |access-date=3 February 2016 |website=QLRS}}

Other career

In 1983 Goh set up Singapore's first disco and live music venue, Rainbow Lounge, at the Ming Arcade. 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.

Personal life

As a result of the closure of his music venue, Goh emigrated to Canada in 1986. In 2007, Goh returned to Singapore to attend the Singapore Writers Festival.{{cite web|url=http://vimeo.com/9046918 |title=Goh Poh Seng (Part 1/2) |publisher=Vimeo |date=2010 |access-date=21 August 2014}}

Goh died on 10 January 2010 in Vancouver, after suffering from Parkinson's disease in his later years.{{cite news |date=13 Jan 2010 |title=Literary pioneer Goh Poh Seng dies |publisher=my Paper |url=https://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne+News/Singapore/Story/A1Story20100113-191458.html |url-status=dead |access-date=21 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140822065856/http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne+News/Singapore/Story/A1Story20100113-191458.html |archive-date=22 August 2014}} 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."

In 2012, his son, Kagan Goh, published Who Let In The Sky?, a family memoir about Goh's struggle with Parkinson's.{{cite web |date=2012 |title=Who Let In The Sky? A Son's Tribute To His Father Goh Poh Seng's Courageous Struggle With Parkinson's Disease |url=http://www.selectbooks.com.sg/getTitle.aspx?SBNum=053164 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140821232321/http://www.selectbooks.com.sg/getTitle.aspx?SBNum=053164 |archive-date=21 August 2014 |access-date=21 August 2014 |publisher=Select Books}}

Bibliography

=Poetry=

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=

If We Dream Too Long (Island Press, 1972; Heinamann Asia Ltd, 1994; NUS Press, 2010) {{ISBN|997169445X}}
The Immolation (Heinamann Educational Books (Asia) Ltd., 1977; Epigram Books, 2011) {{ISBN|9810899351}}
A Dance of Moths (Select Books, 1995) {{ISBN|9810068662}}
Dance With White Clouds: A Fable for Grown Ups (Asia 2000, 2001) {{ISBN|9628783033}}

=Plays=

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=

Tall Tales and MisAdventures of a Young Westernized Oriental Gentleman (NUS Press, 2015) {{ISBN|9789971696344}}

=Autobiographical Essays=

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

Awards

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

References

External links

{{Library resources box

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{{official website|http://gohpohseng.wordpress.com/}}
[http://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/audiovisual_records/record-details/4d726997-1164-11e3-83d5-0050568939ad/ National Archives of Singapore Interview with Goh Poh Seng]

Category:1936 births

Category:2010 deaths

Category:Alumni of University College Dublin

Category:20th-century Canadian poets

Category:Canadian male poets

Category:21st-century Canadian poets

Category:20th-century Canadian novelists

Category:21st-century Canadian novelists

Category:20th-century Canadian physicians

Category:Malaysian people of Chinese descent

Category:Malaysian emigrants to Singapore

Category:People who lost Malaysian citizenship