Suchen Christine Lim (born 1948) is a Malaysian-born Singaporean writer. She was the inaugural winner of the

Singapore Literature Prize The Singapore Literature Prize (abbreviation: SLP) is a biennial award in Singapore to recognise outstanding published works by Singaporean authors in any of the four official languages: Chinese, English, Malay and Tamil. The competition is organis ...

in 1992.

Early life

Lim was born in Ipoh, Federation of Malaya and had her early education at the

Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus The Sisters of the Infant Jesus, also known as the Dames of Saint Maur, are a religious institute of the Catholic Church originating from Paris, France and dedicated to teaching. History Origins In 1659 Barré, who was a respected scholar ...

(CHIJ) in Penang and

Kedah Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman and historically as Queda, is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area of over 9,000 km2, and it consists of the mainland ...

. At the age of 14 she came to Singapore, and continued her education at CHIJ Katong. She read literature at the National University of Singapore, and graduated with a post-graduate diploma in

applied linguistics Applied linguistics is an interdisciplinary field which identifies, investigates, and offers solutions to language-related real-life problems. Some of the academic fields related to applied linguistics are education, psychology, communication rese ...

. After her graduation, Lim joined the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

as a curriculum specialist, and devoted her time between family, work and writing throughout her years with the ministry.

Career

Lim's first story ''The Valley of Golden Showers'' was written in 1979 for a children's story competition. A year later, Lim entered another writing competition sponsored by the National Book Council, winning second place. These competitions sparked her interest in becoming a writer. Lim's first novel ''Rice Bowl'' was published in 1984, and she co-wrote the award-winning short play ''The Amah: A Portrait in Black And White'' in 1986. Her second novel ''Gift From The Gods'' (1990) was nominated for a National Book Development Council award in 1992. In that same year, Lim won the inaugural

for her third novel ''Fistful of Colours'' (1992). ''A Bit of Earth'' (2000) was nominated for the

in 2004. In 1996 she was given a

Fulbright Grant The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

to attend the prestigious

Iowa Writers' Workshop The Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa, is a celebrated graduate-level creative writing program in the United States. The writer Lan Samantha Chang is its director. Graduates earn a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative W ...

, and returned to the university as writer-in-residence in 2000. This residency honour was also extended to her at the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany and various other facilitie ...

in Perth, the Moniack Mhor Writers' Centre in the Scottish Highlands and

Ateneo de Manila University , mottoeng = Light in the Lord , type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution , established = December 10, 1859 , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic ( Jesuits) , academic ...

in the Philippines. Lim retired from the Ministry of Education in August 2003, to devote her time to writing. That devotion subsequently bore fruit in the novels published as ''Hua Song: Stories of the Chinese Diaspora'' (2005) and ''The Lies that Build a Marriage: Stories of the Unsung, Unsaid and Uncelebrated in Singapore'' (2007). In 2015, ''

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 establish ...

Akshita Nanda selected ''Fistful of Colours'' as one of 10 classic Singapore novels. She wrote, "The gorgeously detailed ''A Fistful of Colours'' by Suchen Christine Lim covers art and women's fight for equal rights over 80 years of Singapore history. The winner of the first Singapore Literature Prize in 1992, it is a fist to the gut with its relentless portrayal of female struggles for power in a patriarchal society that strips women of any right to their sexuality or dignity."

Works

Novels

* ''The River's Song'' (2014, Aurora Metro Press) * ''A Bit of Earth'' (2001, Times Books International; 2009, Marshall Cavendish Editions) * ''Fistful of Colours'' (1992, EPB Publishers; 2003, SNP Editions) * ''Gift from the Gods'' (1990, G. Brash) * ''Rice Bowl'' (1984, Times Books International; 2009, Marshall Cavendish Editions)

Short stories

* ''The Man Who Wore His Wife's Sarong: Stories of the Unsung, Unsaid and Uncelebrated in Singapore'' (2017, Monsoon Books) * ''The Lies that Build a Marriage: Stories of the Unsung, Unsaid and Uncelebrated in Singapore'' (2007, Monsoon Books)

Non-fiction

* ''Hua Song: Stories of the Chinese Diaspora'' (2005, Long River Press)

Children's

* ''Fried Eggs'' (2014,

Ethos Books Established in 1997, Ethos Books is an independent book publisher based in Singapore. It is an imprint of Pagesetters Services Pte Ltd, a communications and design house. Ethos Books specialises in publishing literary works of fiction, non-fict ...

) * ''I Don't Want to Dance'' (2011,

) * ''Miss Missy Mynah'' (2011,

) * ''My New Monster Truck'' (2009,

) * ''The Hare and the Tortoise'' (1992, Manhattan Press) * ''The River People'' (1992, Manhattan Press) * ''The Biggest Hongbao in the Whole Wide World'' (1991, EPB Publishers; 2009, EPB Pan Pacific) * ''Cheep Cheep Cheep'' (1990, EPB Publishers, 2009, EPB Pan Pacific) * ''Granny'' (1991, EPB Publishers; 2009, EPB Pan Pacific) * ''Grandpa the Collector'' (1991, EPB Publishers; 2009, EPB Pan Pacific) * ''Nanny Nanny Poo Poo'' (1991, EPB Publishers; 2009, EPB Pan Pacific) * ''Mano Made A Promise'' (1991, EPB Publishers; 2009, EPB Pan Pacific) * ''Roti Prata'' (1991, EPB Publishers; 2009, EPB Pan Pacific) * ''Woo Won Ton'' (1991, EPB Publishers; 2009, EPB Pan Pacific) * ''When My Baby Sister Came Home'' (1990, EPB Publishers) * ''Ants in a Hurry'' (1990, EPB Publishers) * ''Julius Fatball and the Alley Cats'' (1990, EPB Publishers; 2009, EPB Pan Pacific) * ''The Hatching'' (1990, EPB Publishers) * ''The Valley of Golden Showers'' (1979, Educational Publications Bureau)

Others

* ''The Amah: a Portrait in Black and White'' (1986, short play)

References

External links

Suchen Christine Lim webpage
*
"Multiracial Clans in Colorful Malaya"
by Christopher B. Patterson {{DEFAULTSORT:Lim, Suchen Christine Living people 1948 births Singaporean writers Singaporean people of Hakka descent Malaysian emigrants to Singapore People who lost Malaysian citizenship Naturalised citizens of Singapore S.E.A. Write Award winners Singaporean non-fiction writers Singaporean novelists Singapore Literature Prize winners National University of Singapore alumni International Writing Program alumni