October 20, 2014

Photo Credit: ST

Featured in two recent Straits Times articles (15 & 16 October 2014), Mr Alvin Tan (Alumni, Department of Sociology), founder and artistic director of The Necessary Stage, is one of the three respected artists to receive the Cultural Medallion at the Istana.

Mr Tan is known for his honest depictions of Singaporean life through plays such as Gemuk Girls (2009) and Fundamentally Happy (2006), both written by Mr Haresh Sharma (Alumni, Department of English Language and Literature).

Mr Sharma will also be participated in the much anticipated Singapore Writers Festival in November, where he will be on a panel discussion ‘Singling out Singlish’, alongside Ann Ang and Lee Thean-jean.

You can check out Mr Sharma’s previous trilogy that includes ‘Gemuk Girls’ and ‘Fundamentally Happy’ by clicking on this link.

Link to both Straits Times articles:

http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/more-singapore-stories/story/theatre-practitioner-sculptor-and-poet-conferred-years-c?page=16

http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/theatre-dance/story/cultural-medallion-recipient-alvin-tan-finding-singaporean-voice-onsta

Abstract of the panel:

The local patois comes under the microscope as writers share how Singlish features in their writing and how it creates authenticity in the voices of their characters.

https://www.singaporewritersfestival.com/nacswf/nacswf/program-listing/festival-events/Singling-out-Singlish-.html