Edwin Thumboo - Singapore's Poet Laureate with a commitment

Continuing on our focus on Asian writers and their works, in this week's Cultural Scene, I want to focus on the life and times of one of Asia's foremost poets writing in English language. Edwin Thumboo is one of Singapore's most distinguished poets, an Emeritus Professor of English (1997), at the National University of Singapore.

Edwin Nadason Thumboo (born 22 November 1933) is an award-winning Singaporean poet and academic, who is regarded as one of the pioneers of English literature in Singapore.

Edwin Thumboo comes from a large family with five sisters and two brothers. His childhood in a house nestled at the foothills of Mandai hills was seemingly picturesque. When we were attending the Singapore Writers' Festival last year, we had a rare privilege of an escorted tour to Mandai by Professor Thumboo.

Thumboo has written several poems claiming time and again that how his early days sensitised him to nature's beauty at Mandai spending his happy childhood there.

After his early education at Victoria School he entered the University of Malaya in 1957, After graduation, with B.A. honours, Thumboo entered the civil service and worked for nine years including holding a position as the assistant secretary in the Singapore Telephone Board prior to becoming an academic. Thumboo received a Ph.D. in 1970 completing a thesis on African literature.

He was first appointed as the Professor of English in January 1979. Professor Thumboo also served as the Head of the Department of English Language and Literature (1977-1993), the first Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (1980-1991) and Professorial Fellow (1995-2002).

As an academic, he has taught Elizabethan/Jacobean Drama, the Romantic poets, Singapore and Malaysian Literatures, and Creative Writing Courses. His research interests included The English Novels of Forster, Lawrence, Conrad) and the Novels of Empire (Kipling, etc.), Commonwealth Literature (Bessie Head, etc.), and Shakespeare (the Roman Plays).

Professor Thumboo introduced the study of Commonwealth/New Literatures in English. Another key initiative of Thumboo was the introduction of English Language as a major so that the department's graduates could be better trained to undertake the teaching of English in the schools and junior colleges.

Thumboo's works

Professor Thumboo has contributed to the Singapore Arts scene chiefly in the area of literature. His works on poetry include: Rib of Earth (1956), Gods Can Die (1977), Ulysses by the Merlion (1979), and A Third Map (1993); Friends, (2002), Still Travelling (2008), Bring The Sun (2008) and two collections on nursery rhymes: Child's Delight 1 & 2.

In addition to his work and contribution to poetry, Edwin Thumboo has edited and published numerous critical articles and anthologies covering subjects such as Singapore and Malaysian Literature, The World Englishes and served as the General Editor of several anthologies.

Some of these works include Seven Poets: Singapore/Malaysia, An Anthology (1973), The Second Tongue: An Anthology of Poetry from Malaysia and Singapore (1979), Anthology of ASEAN Literatures: The Poetry of Singapore (1985), and The Fiction of Singapore (1990). He is Consulting Editor for World Englishes and Editorial Consultant for Westerly; he is also a member of the Editorial Board of Solidarity.

Discussion on Thumboo's work

The most extended discussion of his poetry is by Thumboo's long time friend and poet, Ee Tiang Hong's Responsibility and Commitment: The Poetry of Edwin Thumboo (1997). His former colleague and long time friend, Hong Kong based Jonathan Webster has written and published some very insightful linguistic and most recently interpretation of Edwin Thumboo's work.

Some of the key work on Thumboo by Jonathan. Webster, include "The Poet's Language: Foregrounding in Edwin Thumboo's gods can die " in World Englishes. 17.3, November 1998: 359-368. and "Thumboo's David" in Ariels: Departure and Returns. A Festschrift for Edwin Thumboo. Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1999:71-83

Anyone who is interested in Thumboo's work and those critical studies on his work can have a look at the following website: http://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/ellthumb/site/biblio.html

Professor Thumboo has received various awards in a career spanning more than four decades, including the National Book Development Council of Singapore Book Award for Poetry in English (1978, 1980 and 1994), the Southeast Asia Write Award (1979), the Singapore Cultural Medallion (1980), the ASEAN Cultural and Communication Award in Literature (1987), the Public Service Star (BBM) and Bar in August 1981 and 1991 respectively.

More than most other writers in Singapore, Thumboo has demonstrated his awareness of the roles, responsibilities and commitment that poets must take towards the creation of a Singaporean identity and a Singaporean image as a multi-lingual and multi-cultural society.

Roles and responsibilities of the poet

Edwin Thumboo may well deserve the title of father figure in Singapore and undoubtedly had paved the path for many young poets to follow him and even allow them to support and criticise his work. His widely acclaimed poem "Ulysses on the Merlion" is deemed by several critics as a landmark in the literary history of Singapore.

More than any other writer in Singapore, Thumboo has repeatedly demonstrated through his poetry and other writings, the need for a heightened his awareness of the roles and responsibilities that poets must take towards the creation of a Singaporean identity and a Singaporean image of itself. His later poetry and critical writings bear ample testimony to this sensitivity including his commitment to spirituality and inner peace.

This sensitivity of this great poet is reflected beyond poetry and academic work creative impulses. His great hospitality and support for friends and those around him is well-known beyond the boundaries of Singapore.

(I would like to acknowledge several sources including web based material referred to in writing this including the information shared by Sunil Govinnage)