Goh Poh Seng (; July 1936 – 10 January 2010) was a

Singaporean Singaporeans, or the Singaporean people, refers to citizens or people who identify with the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual country. Singaporeans of Chinese, Malay, India ...

dramatist, novelist, doctor and poet, was born in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

, British Malaya in 1936. He was educated at Victoria Institution in Kuala Lumpur, received his medical degree from

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

, and practised medicine in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

for twenty-five years.

Writing career

His writing blossomed in Ireland, where he met writers

Patrick Kavanagh Patrick Kavanagh (21 October 1904 – 30 November 1967) was an Irish poet and novelist. His best-known works include the novel ''Tarry Flynn'', and the poems "On Raglan Road" and "The Great Hunger". He is known for his accounts of Irish life th ...

and

Brendan Behan Brendan Francis Aidan Behan (christened Francis Behan) ( ; ga, Breandán Ó Beacháin; 9 February 1923 – 20 March 1964) was an Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and Irish Republican activist who wrote in both English an ...

, 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 David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

concert in 1983, and envisioned a livelier

Singapore River The Singapore River is a river that flows parallel to Alexandra Road and feeds into the Marina Reservoir in the southern part of Singapore. The immediate upper watershed of the Singapore River is known as the Singapore River Planning Area, althou ...

in the 1970s, a proposal that was only taken seriously decades later. He was a founder of the literary magazine ''Tumasek'' (which lasted for three issues) and co-founded Singapore's first multi-disciplinary arts centre, Centre 65, to promote the arts. Centre 65 inspired the name of

Centre 42 Sir Arnold Wesker (24 May 1932 – 12 April 2016) was an English dramatist. He was the author of 50 plays, four volumes of short stories, two volumes of essays, much journalism and a book on the subject, a children's book, some poetry, and oth ...

, an institution for playwriting which opened in 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 Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

and Tagalog. While the novel was criticised by ''

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was established ...

'' upon publication, 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. 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, 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. In 1982, Goh received the

Cultural Medallion The Cultural Medallion is a cultural award in Singapore conferred to those who have achieved artistic excellence in dance, theatre, literature, music, photography, art and film. It is widely recognized as Singapore's pinnacle arts award. Histo ...

for his contributions to Literature. 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. In 2014, the Centre for Southeast Asia Research at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

acquired the Goh Poh Seng Collection, a set of 110 volumes from Goh's library. In 2015, a collection of Goh's short stories based on his adventures in 1950s

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

, ''Tall Tales and MisAdventures of a Young Westernized Oriental Gentleman'', was posthumously published by

NUS Press NUS Press is an academic press in Singapore. It traces its origins to the Singapore University Press, which the University of Singapore established in 1971 as its publishing arm. The press specialises in books and journals that deal with topics ...

. The memoir, written in the last years of Goh's life, includes reflections of his formative encounters with Irish literary giants

and

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...

. Reviewing the book in ''

Quarterly Literary Review Singapore ''Quarterly Literary Review Singapore'' (''QLRS'') is a Singapore online literary journal founded and edited by Singaporean poet Toh Hsien Min in 2001. Overview The first issue of ''QLRS'' appeared in October 2001. The journal is an online publi ...

'', 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."

Other career

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

Ming Arcade The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peop ...

. 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 Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in 1986. In 2007, Goh returned to Singapore to attend the

Singapore Writers Festival The Singapore Writers Festival is a literary event organised by the National Arts Council. Inaugurated in 1986, the festival serves a dual function of promoting new and emerging Singaporean and Asian writing to an international audience, as well ...

. Goh died on 10 January 2010 in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, after suffering from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

in his later years. Paying tribute to Goh, playwright

Robert Yeo Robert Yeo (born Robert Yeo Cheng Chuan; 1940) is a Singaporean poet, playwright and novelist. Career Yeo is a retired lecturer of the National Institute of Education and Nanyang Technological University. In 2011, he is a teacher of creative wri ...

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.

Bibliography

Poetry

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

Novels

* '' If We Dream Too Long'' (Island Press, 1972; Heinamann Asia Ltd, 1994;

, 2010) * '' The Immolation'' (Heinamann Educational Books (Asia) Ltd., 1977;

Epigram Books Epigram Books is an independent publishing company in Singapore. It publishes works of Singapore-based writers, poets and playwrights. History Epigram was originally set up in 1991 by Edmund Wee as a design agency. Epigram began the publish ...

, 2011) * '' A Dance of Moths'' (Select Books, 1995) * ''Dance With White Clouds: A Fable for Grown Ups'' (Asia 2000, 2001)

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'' (

, 2015)

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 *

for Literature, 1982

References

External links

*
National Archives of Singapore Interview with Goh Poh Seng
{{DEFAULTSORT:Goh, Poh Seng 1936 births 2010 deaths Alumni of University College Dublin 20th-century Canadian poets Canadian male poets 21st-century Canadian poets 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian physicians Malaysian people of Chinese descent Malaysian emigrants to Singapore People who lost Malaysian citizenship Musicians from Vancouver Naturalised citizens of Singapore Naturalized citizens of Canada Recipients of the Cultural Medallion for literature People from Kuala Lumpur Singaporean emigrants to Canada Singaporean people of Chinese descent 20th-century Singaporean physicians Singaporean poets Singaporean novelists Singaporean dramatists and playwrights Writers from Vancouver Canadian male novelists Canadian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian male musicians 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers