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heteroglossia's review
3.0
Undoubtedly good in terms of form, the poems are written tightly and I thought they flowed well enough. I found them rather formal. The focus on history was apparent, but personally I found the mention of history rather superficial in the sense that I didn't feel like it did much beyond offering a cursory image of some historical facts/place/figures & perceiving/relating them in a way that didn't provide much depth.
Felt like this book can be a prime reincarnation of the kind of proper, formal poetry that famous Singaporean poets from a couple of decades back wrote and you learn in a classroom setting. You have poems about specific notable places like ann siang hill, or you have a poem about sang nila utama, leftenan adnan and you have several poems that attempt to speak from the viewpoint of seemingly plebeian Singaporeans, which I did not enjoy because I felt like these people were often reduced in the poems to cliched images related to their vocation that clogged the poems (in 'The Wonton Noodle Seller' the woman is repeatedly compared to images of food......) that did not give them the humanity that other figures in the book had. They were often written as an object of gaze. Then there are poems that are in Singlish (or some form of Singlish). I found 'Kangchu' excessive. The use of Singlish felt almost fetishized and unnatural (it is a little dehumanising, but I expect that there will be a retaliation that it is a kind of 'satire' or its meant to be excessive). Can only really say this because I've read Singlish that's written in a far more natural way where the speaker is not presented as a kind of Singlish-speaking specimen where Singlish itself is the main thing they're reduced to, but an individual human being whose daily language happens to be like so.
Overall I found the poems were written technically well, but not a lot of them really touched my heart (except perhaps the more personal ones). The references to Singapore were derived from almost cliched images and reproduced the same kind of images, anecdotal info, and discussions I felt like I already read a hundred times. I enjoyed "Meanwhile" the most, I found that it best married form and content and a measure of heart, but for the most part I found the poems were shiny enough in form but lacked soul.
Felt like this book can be a prime reincarnation of the kind of proper, formal poetry that famous Singaporean poets from a couple of decades back wrote and you learn in a classroom setting. You have poems about specific notable places like ann siang hill, or you have a poem about sang nila utama, leftenan adnan and you have several poems that attempt to speak from the viewpoint of seemingly plebeian Singaporeans, which I did not enjoy because I felt like these people were often reduced in the poems to cliched images related to their vocation that clogged the poems (in 'The Wonton Noodle Seller' the woman is repeatedly compared to images of food......) that did not give them the humanity that other figures in the book had. They were often written as an object of gaze. Then there are poems that are in Singlish (or some form of Singlish). I found 'Kangchu' excessive. The use of Singlish felt almost fetishized and unnatural (it is a little dehumanising, but I expect that there will be a retaliation that it is a kind of 'satire' or its meant to be excessive). Can only really say this because I've read Singlish that's written in a far more natural way where the speaker is not presented as a kind of Singlish-speaking specimen where Singlish itself is the main thing they're reduced to, but an individual human being whose daily language happens to be like so.
Overall I found the poems were written technically well, but not a lot of them really touched my heart (except perhaps the more personal ones). The references to Singapore were derived from almost cliched images and reproduced the same kind of images, anecdotal info, and discussions I felt like I already read a hundred times. I enjoyed "Meanwhile" the most, I found that it best married form and content and a measure of heart, but for the most part I found the poems were shiny enough in form but lacked soul.
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