The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf

Posted: 02 Aug 2011 02:08 AM PDT

An author offers a novel set in the 1950s as well as a collection of up-to-the-minute commentaries about a landmark political event that made waves this year.

CATHERINE Lim is often hailed as the "doyenne of Singapore writers" and is one of the most prolific in the region. To date, she has published six novels, two poetry collections and a host of political essays.

The Kedah-born writer, who emigrated across the Causeway in the 1960s, is known for her bestselling novels about Singapore society that are set around themes of traditional Chinese culture.

Lim has achieved several signal honours in her life: in 2003, she was made a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters by the French government, and in 2005 she became the ambassador of the Hans Christian Andersen Foundation in Denmark. Though she's perhaps just as well known for being mentioned in Lee Kuan Yew's 1999 memoirs, The Singapore Story – a feat few can lay claim to!

While her latest novel, Miss Seetoh In The World, is set in the 1950s and is in her trademark style, another book, also just released, is a very different kettle of fish: it is a collection of her political commentaries about the game-changing election in Singapore this year.

In island nation's May 7 General Election, the long-ruling People's Action Party (PAP) lost a historic six seats in the 87-seat Parliament to the Opposition, the Workers' Party. Appropriately enough, Lim's book is entitled A Watershed Election.

In an e-mail interview, Lim, 69, talks about her passions and her work.

What inspired A Watershed Election?

Actually, I had no intention to do a book on the election. I had written a number of political commentaries as I watched the events of this most surprising election unfold, almost as if I was keeping a journal. Later, my publisher and I thought the commentaries could be compiled together into a little book.

You mentioned that you had waited 17 years for some signs of real change within the Singaporean society. Can you describe some of these changes that you've witnessed?

I would say that the change was a transformation of the political scene. Almost overnight, what I had thought I would never see – the emergence of an articulate, newly-alert electorate, a chastened, humbled PAP leadership ready to listen, the promise of political openness and engagement – all appeared on the Singapore political scene.

Some of my friends think my optimismis premature, but I'm convinced that Singaporean society has been irrevocably launched on the path of change.

In 1994 you were challenged by the then Prime Minister Goh Ghok Tong over an article you wrote in The Straits Times (Pap And The People: A Great Affective Divide) to enter politics. What are your political views and will you consider entering politics?

No, I have said on many occasions that I will never enter politics. The reason is simple: I do not have the makings of a politician and would fail badly as one! My main contribution as a concerned Singaporean can only be in my two abilities: speaking and writing.

In your latest novel, Miss Seetoh In The World, the main character, Maria Seetoh, is a teacher and you were a teacher once. How much of Catherine Lim is in Maria Seetoh?

I suppose it must be extremely difficult for any novelist not to make use of the protagonist to convey her own thoughts, feelings, her essential philosophy, in situations very familiar to her. Many of the incidents described in the life of Miss Seetoh's classroom and school, I had actually witnessed firsthand when I was a school teacher in Malaysia as well as in Singapore.

Your protagonists tend to be women – would you consider having a male protagonist in a future novel?

Not likely. I'm not so sure I can depict a male protagonist convincingly. For one thing, I do not understand male motives, drives and needs as well as I do those of my own gender.

I see Maria Seetoh as a sort of feminist – she sticks up for her fellow sisters. Do you consider yourself to be a feminist?

I prefer to see myself as an equity feminist rather than as a gender feminist. The first is concerned with humanitarian issues affecting women, the latter with political power. That means that in the very unlikely event of a reversal of situation in the future, in which women become the oppressors rather than the oppressed, I should hope that I would switch allegiance and support accordingly!

Why do you describe yourself as a chronicler of the human condition?

Ultimately, the true writer writes about the universal human condition, the shared humanity underlying cultural differences. The best test is when a novel written about the life of women in Singapore in a bygone era, for instance, resonates powerfully with readers in Britain, Japan, or Africa.

In The Teardrop Story Woman (1998), you stated: "To be born female is curse enough". Does that apply to you?

I certainly saw the sad truth of this statement when I was a girl growing up in a small town in Malaysia, more than half a century ago. Female children, for instance, were so little valued that they were sometimes given away, a fate never suffered by male children.

The Teardrop Story Woman was set in 1950s Malaya. Do you think this statement is still valid in today's social climate? How much of this statement is relevant in societies like Singapore and Malaysia?

The best effect of education must surely be the improved status of females. Today, there are still vestiges of the old prejudices against women and the social structures binding them, but by and large, women have achieved their independence. Indeed, in Singapore, many women have achieved academic, professional and social ascendancy that their mothers could never have dreamt of.

In your e-novella, Leap Of Love, Li-Ann is a teacher who teaches her students about love and taking risks for the sake of love. How much of Li-Ann is you?

This novel was the only one I had written in a light-hearted vein, aimed at entertaining young people with their impossible romantic notions! There is very little of Li-Ann in me.

Leap Of Love was made into a movie (entitled The Leap Years) in 2005 (released in Singapore in 2008). How did this come to be? How involved were you in the film and are you happy with the end result? Are you interested in writing a screenplay in the future?

As a writer, I had little involvement in the production of the movie – and rightly so, as this was a medium that requires completely different skills. No, I'm unlikely to do any screenplay writing, as I do not think I could manage it. Writing a short story or novel comes much more easily to me.

Which do you prefer: writing novels or poetry?

Novels. I envy those who write wonderful poetry!

Of all the published works you have done, which is your favourite and why?

It's a strange statement I'm going to make here: my favourite book is my next one!

There is an underlying element of politics in your work, but your stories tend to veer more towards social commentary. Will there be a time when you write a full-on political novel?

I do not think so. My chiefinterest is still that vast complex domain of human relationships, in particular the special psycho-dynamics of the man-woman relationship. In Miss Seetoh In The World, there was a very strong political component, mainly because there were some specific political issues I wanted to explore.

What inspires you?

My passionate love of and curiosity about life, I suppose. I observe and remembera great deal, and when something has an emotional impact on me, filling me with anger, disgust, wonder, joy, and shame – it is usually the inspiration for a story.

What is next for Catherine Lim?

I'll go on writing as long as I can. My creative, intellectual life is extremely important to me. I'm not sure what I'll write about next. Maybe death, as that topic has always fascinated me, simply because reflecting about death is, paradoxically, the greatest affirmation of life.

A Watershed Election and Miss Seetoh In The World are currently available in major Malaysian bookstores.

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Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Selasa, 2 Ogos 2011

The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf

The Star Online: Lifestyle: Bookshelf

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