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A LOOK AT ARTHUR YAP'S WORKS II
Monday, April 1, 2013 | 2:44 PM | 0 comments
Today, we shall take a look at a Singaporean classic: '2 mothers in a h d b playground' by Arthur Yap
~~~

Lok Meng Chue gives an animated reading of Arthur Yap's '2 mothers in a h d b playground'
2 mothers in a h d b playground
ah beng is so smart,
already he can watch tv & know the whole story.
your kim cheong is also quite smart,
what boy is he in the exam?
this playground is not too bad, but i’m always
so worried, car here, car there.
at exam time, it’s worse.
because you know why?
kim cheong eats so little.
give him some complan. my ah beng was like that,
now he’s different. if you give him anything
he’s sure to finish it all up.
sure, sure. cheong’s father buys him
vitamins but he keeps it inside his mouth
& later gives it to the cat.
i scold like mad but what for?
if i don’t see it, how can i scold?
on Saturday, tv showed a new type,
special for children. why don’t you call
his father buy some? maybe they are better.
money’s no problem. it’s not that
we want to save. if we buy it
& he doesn’t eat it, throwing money
into the jamban is the same.
ah beng’s father spends so much,
takes out the mosaic floor & wants
to make terazzo or what.
we also got new furniture, bought from diethelm.
the sofa is so soft. i dare not sit. they all
sit like don’t want to get up. so expensive.
nearly two thousand dollars, sure must be good.
that you can’t say. my toa-soh
bought an expensive sewing machine,
after 6 months, it is already spoilt.
she took it back but … beng,
come here, come, don’t play the fool.
your tuition teacher is coming.
wah! kim cheong, now you’re quite big.
come, cheong, quick go home & bathe.
ah pah wants to take you chya-hong in new motor-car. 
– From down the line, 1980
The poem takes us through the hoi polloi of Singapore and covers the same issues that The Correctfulness of Flavour does - namely, the local linguistic phenomenon that is Singlish. This can be seen within the agrammatical banter between the 2 housewives, and also makes an appearance in the title. Standard British English would prescribe the word 'h d b' to be preceded with the word 'an' instead of 'a'. This is due to the way locals pronounce the letter 'h' as 'haytch' rather than the standard pronunciation 'aytch'.

 Other themes the poem explores include the urbanisation of Singapore at the time. In 1980, Singapore was undergoing rapid development. Some would even consider the 80's as the golden age of Singapore. Many construction and developmental projects were taking place, like the playground mentioned in the poem.
Traditional sand-based playgrounds that were locally designed with dragon or pelican motifs. Many were torn down in the late nineties. Only a few remain as nostalgic keepsakes of the past.

With the city fast becoming metropolitanised, the drive to succeed became a prominent key feature in the lives of the citizens. This ambition could have been the contributor to Singapore's economic boom. The competitive nature of the people can be noticed in the poem when the 2 mothers subtly compare their children's academic progress as well as their standards of living through the assets they possess (e.g. an expensive couch, a car, new tiles for the floor).

Once again, Arthur Yap has skilfully managed to bring together these aspects of Singaporean life in the 1980s through a mundane, trivial conversation between the members of our grassroot community.

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A LOOK AT ARTHUR YAP'S WORKS
Friday, March 29, 2013 | 1:02 PM | 0 comments


Throughout his studies and his teaching career, Arthur Yap pursued poetry writing as a passion and craft. His works focused on the daily aspects of life in Singapore. In my opinion, his writing style was iconic of Singapore, capturing the mundane routines and concerns of the local heartlanders on paper. His prose was constructed in an approachable and understandable manner with minimal use of ostentatious vocabulary that might alienate the audience. All in all, his poems were about the people and for the people of Singapore.

~~~

The Correctfulness of Flavour

waiting for the lime sherbert to arrive,
mother turned around to her vacuous child:
boy, you heard what i said earlier?
nowadays, they emphasise english.
boy rolled his squinty eyes to the ceiling.
waitress returned, flustered, and started
on her own emphases:
lime sherbert today don't have.
mango got. strawberry also don't have.
mother, upset and acutely strident:
today DOESN'T have.
today DOES NOT have.


Written in simple language, The Correctfulness of Flavour highlights the concerns of speaking proper English at the time. With the establishment of the modern port in 1819, British English was introduced to Singapore. Also, the port attracted migrants from neighbouring countries like China and India, resulting in a melting-pot of a host of languages. Over generations, these languages have influenced the syntactic and phonological structure of traditional British English to create our local brand of the language, Singaporean English (also known as Singlish).

This colloquial manner of speech has been frowned upon by the government; with ex-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong describing Singlish as "English corrupted by Singaporeans". According to them, mastery of Standard English was essential to communicate in the "global language of commerce, business and technology". This was to the extent that the government pushed forth with an annual campaign to improve the standards of English. Dubbed the 'Speak Good English Movement', it aimed to foster a sense of pride in using proper English and discourage the notion of having Singlish as part of our national identity.

 The poem captures the citizens' take on the issue. The mother, who incorrectly 'corrects' a grammatical error, plays the role of a one who means well, but inadvertently commits another error in the process; provoking emotions of endearment. It would seem that even with the desire to master standard English, Singlish is something deeply rooted in our community and cannot be easily erased from our identity. Even the fabricated titular word "correctfulness' points to this. In essence, The Correctfulness of Flavour is a social commentary which gently pokes fun at the locals' struggle to code-switch with light-hearted irony.

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ALL ABOUT ARTHUR YAP
Wednesday, March 6, 2013 | 1:22 AM | 0 comments


"words have sometimes a way of stilling themselves & then, no, we have a way of stilling words
 in a way to still ourselves:
 a choice of being still
 & quiet to be still. "Arthur Yap,
words,  the space of city trees: selected poems, 2000


Name: Arthur Yap Chior Hiong
Born: 1943
Died: 19 June 2006
Nationality: Singaporean
Education: 
  • St Andrew's School, Singapore
  • University of Singapore
  • University of Leeds, England
  • National University of Singapore

Who Is Arthur Yap:


 Arthur Yap was an important second-generation Singapore poet. He held degrees from the University of Singapore, the University of Leeds in Europe and the National University of Singapore, where he taught as an English and Literature lecturer until 1998. Coined as a writer with the “eye of a painter”, Yap's poetry distinctively captures the vivid colours and rhythms of Singaporean life with an unusual linguistic playfulness. The numerous awards he received during his lifetime include the National Book Development Council's 1976, 1982 and 1988 awards for poetry, and the 1983 Southeast Asian Writers Award. In 1983, Yap was awarded the Cultural Medallion for his contributions to the local literature scene.

 Yap inspired people not only with his poems, but also through his painting. He developed a passion for painting in 1967 when he was working as a Pre-University English Literature teacher at the Serangoon Gardens English School. During the weekends he would pick up the brush, pouring his soul into each and every one of his abstract works of art. On 13 April 1969 Arthur held his first solo art exhibition. It featured 44 square abstract paintings at the National Library in Stamford Road. Yap went on to have a total of seven solo exhibitions in Singapore, as well as participated in group exhibitions in Malaysia, Thailand and Australia. Yap's paintings were also chosen to represent Singapore at the Adelaide Festival of Arts in 1972.

 Most regrettably, Yap suffered from cancer, which recurred in 2004. He underwent major surgery to remove his voice box. On the night of 19 June 2006, he died in his sleep at home after a two-and-half year battle with throat cancer. He was 63.

His Published Works:

Poetry Collections:
  • Only Lines (1971)
  • Commonplace (1972)
  • Down The Line (1980)
  • Man Snake Apple (1986)
References:
Writing Singapore: An Historical Anthology of Singapore Literature
www.tribute.sg

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