Edwin Thumboo

Infobox Writer
name = Edwin Thumboo

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pseudonym =
birthname = Edwin Nadason Thumboo
birthdate = birth date and age|1933|11|22|df=yes
birthplace = Singapore
deathdate =
deathplace =
occupation = Emeritus professor, National University of Singapore
nationality = Singaporean
period = 20th century to present
genre = Poetry
subject =
movement =
notableworks = "Ulysses by the Merlion" (1979)
influences =
influenced = Alfian Sa'at, Vernon Chan, Felix Cheong, Gwee Li Sui, Lee Tzu Pheng, Alvin Pang, Daren Shiau
awards = National Book Development Council of Singapore Award for poetry (1978, 1980, 1994), S.E.A. Write Award (1979), Cultural Medallion for Literature (1980), ASEAN Cultural and Communication Award (Literature) (1987), "Bintang Bakti Masyarakat" (Bar) (Public Service Star, 1981, 1991), "Pingat Jasa Gemilang" (Meritorious Services Medal, 2006)


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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.

Thumboo graduated in English from the University of Malaya in 1956. Although he applied for a position at the university, he was rejected as few locals held academic posts at that time. He therefore worked in the civil service for about nine years before finally joining the university, then renamed the University of Singapore, in 1966 following Singapore's independence. He received a Ph.D. from the university in 1970. Thumboo rose to the position of full professor in the Department of English Language and Literature, heading the department between 1977 and 1993. After the merger of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University in 1980 to form the National University of Singapore (NUS), he was the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences from 1980 to 1991, NUS's longest-serving dean. Thumboo was the first Chairman and Director of the university's Centre for the Arts from 1993 to 2005, and continues to be associated with the university as an emeritus professor, a position he has held since retiring from full-time teaching in September 1997.

Thumboo's poetry is inspired by myth and history, and he is often dubbed Singapore's unofficial poet laureate because of his poems with nationalistic themes. A pioneer of local English literature, he compiled and edited some of the first anthologies of English poetry and fiction from Singapore and Malaysia. His own collections of poetry include "Rib of Earth" (1956), "Gods Can Die" (1977), "Ulysses by the Merlion" (1979) and "A Third Map" (1993). His latest anthology "Still Travelling", consisting of almost 50 poems, was published in 2008. Thumboo has won the National Book Development Council of Singapore Book Awards for Poetry three times, in 1978, 1980 and 1994. He has also received the inaugural S.E.A. Write Award (1979), the first Cultural Medallion for Literature (1980), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Cultural and Communication Award (Literature) (1987), and the Raja Rao Award (2002). He was conferred a "Bintang Bakti Masyarakat" (Public Service Star) in 1981 with an additional Bar in 1991, and the "Pingat Jasa Gemilang" (Meritorious Services Medal) in 2006.

Early years

Edwin Thumboo, born in Singapore on 22 November 1933, was one of eight children of a Tamil schoolteacher and a Teochew Chinese-Peranakan housewife from a Singaporean merchant family.citation|title=Singapore literary pioneers: Edwin Thumboo|url=http://exhibitions.nlb.gov.sg/literarypioneers/writers/english/edwinthumboo/index.php|publisher=National Library Board|accessdate=2008-08-13.] He and his siblings grew up speaking English and Teochew. The family was financially comfortable; their home in Mandai was the only one in the neighbourhood with electricity. Because of his mixed parentage, as a child he was sometimes called names and marginalized. This was said to have fostered determination and self-respect in him.citation|author=Stephanie Yap|title=Poet in motion|newspaper=The Straits Times (Life!)|date=2008-08-11|page=C4.] He completed his primary education at Pasir Panjang Primary School in 1940. During the Japanese occupation of Singapore (1942–1945), he helped his family by selling cakes, tending goats, and working as a salesboy. Following the war, he studied at Monk's Hill Secondary School (finishing there in 1946) and Victoria School (1948). It was at the latter place that he began writing poetry at the age of 17 years, encouraged by the senior English master Shamus Frazer. Thumboo considers Frazer his spiritual father, and later dedicated "Rib of Earth" (1956), his first collection of poetry published while an undergraduate, to him.citation|contribution=Thumboo, Edwin|editor=Tommy Koh|title=Singapore: The Encyclopedia|location=Singapore|publisher=Editions Didier Millet in association with the National Heritage Board|year=2006|isbn=981-4155-63-2|page=564.] At this time, Thumboo was also a member of the Youth Poetry Circle, which counted among its members other early literary pioneers of Singapore such as Goh Sin Tub and Lim Thean Soo.

Education and career

Thumboo majored in English literature and history at the University of Malaya. As a freshman, he was a member of the editorial board of "Fajar" ("Dawn" in Malay), a radical leftist journal published by the University Socialist Club. The seventh issue of "Fajar" which appeared in May 1954 contained an editorial entitled "Aggression in Asia" which advocated independence from the United Kingdom. Three days later, Chinese middle school students clashed with the police. As a result, after two weeks Thumboo was arrested by the British colonial government together with seven other students and put on trial for sedition. Minister Mentor and former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, who was the Club's legal adviser and a "Fajar" subscriber, arranged for British Queen's Counsel D. N. Pritt to act in their defence, with Lee himself as junior counsel. The students were acquitted of the charge by District Judge F. A. Chua. [citation|contribution="Fajar" trial|editor=Tommy Koh|title=Singapore: The Encyclopedia|location=Singapore|publisher=Editions Didier Millet in association with the National Heritage Board|year=2006|isbn=981-4155-63-2|page=188.]

Thumboo graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with honours (B.A. (Hons.)) in English in 1956. Hoping to teach and pursue a further degree, he applied for a position at the university but was rejected as few locals held academic posts at that time. He therefore entered the civil service, working for the Income Tax Department (1957–1961), Central Provident Fund Board (1961–1965), and the Singapore Telephone Board (1965–1966) where he was an assistant secretary.citation|author=Sharon Teng|title=Edwin Thumboo|url=http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_1329_2007-11-06.html|publisher=Singapore Infopedia, National Library Board|date=2007-11-04|accessdate=2008-08-14.] In 1966, the year following Singapore's independence, he joined the University of Singapore as an assistant lecturer. Conducting doctoral research into African poetry in English, he received his Ph.D. from the university in 1970. [citation|author=Edwin Thumboo|title=A Study of African Poetry in English: Personality, Intention and Idiom [unpublished Ph.D. thesis] |location=Singapore|publisher=Dept. of English, University of Singapore|year=1970.] He became a full professor in the Department of English Language and Literature, heading the department between 1977 and 1993. The University of Singapore and Nanyang University merged in 1980 to form the National University of Singapore (NUS), and he was the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences from 1980 to 1991, NUS's longest-serving dean.

As an academic, he taught Elizabethan and Jacobean drama, the Romantic poets, Malaysian and Singaporean literatures, and creative writing, among other subjects. His research interests included the modern novel (E. M. Forster, D. H. Lawrence and Joseph Conrad) and the novels of Empire (such as Rudyard Kipling), Commonwealth literature (including Botswana writer Bessie Head), and William Shakespeare's Roman plays. When he headed the English Department, it introduced the study of Commonwealth/New Literatures in English, and of English language as a major so that graduates would be better equipped to teach English in schools and junior colleges.citation|title=Edwin Thumboo|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070417213340/http://www.nus.edu.sg/NUSinfo/CFA/Prof%27s/biodata.html|publisher=Centre for the Arts, National University of Singapore|date=2005-07-11|accessdate=2008-08-13.] Thumboo was appointed a Professorial Fellow by NUS in 1995 and continues to be associated with the university as an emeritus professor, a position he has held since he retired from full-time teaching in September 1997. He served as the first Chairman and Director of the university's Centre for the Arts from 1993 to 2005.

Thumboo also held visiting professorships and fellowships at universities in Australia, the UK and the US. He was Fulbright-Hayes Visiting Professor at Pennsylvania State University (1979–1980); Chairman of the Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies, VII Triennium (1983–1986); Writer-in-Residence at the Institute of Culture and Communication, Hawaii (1985); Ida Beam Professor at the University of Iowa in 1986; a member of the International Advisory Panel at the East-West Centre, Hawaii (1987); Honorary Research Fellow at University College, University of London (1987); a member of the Committee of Jurors for the Neustadt International Prize for Literature in Oklahoma, USA (1988); CAS–Miller Visiting Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1998), Visiting Professor and Writer-in-Residence at University of Wollongong in New South Wales (1989); and Visiting Fellow at the Department of English, Australian Defence Force Academy (1993). In 1991, Thumboo worked with the Ministry of Education to help establish the Creative Arts Programme for secondary school and junior college students in Singapore. He continues to mentor young poets under the programme.

Poetry and influence

In the 1950s, Thumboo wrote mostly lyrical poetry based on personal experiences. Displaying the influence of the English literary tradition on him, they dealt with aesthetic and metaphysical themes. By the mid-1970s, he had shifted his focus to the public sphere, believing that poets of post-independence Singapore should work towards creating a national literature. Singapore's national life was a key subject of his collection of poetry "Gods Can Die" (1977), and it has been said that the subsequent anthologies "Ulysses by the Merlion" (1979) and "A Third Map" (1993) "established his reputation as a national poet committed to articulating a cultural vision for a multicultural Singapore". Thumboo is often dubbed Singapore's unofficial poet laureate because of his poems with nationalistic themes, notably "9th of August – II" (1977), [Singapore's National Day is celebrated on 9 August.] and "Ulysses by the Merlion" (1979) [The poem can be read at citation|title=Ulysses by the Merlion|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070418025451/www.nus.edu.sg/NUSinfo/CFA/Prof%27s/poems/ulysses.html|publisher=Centre for the Arts, National University of Singapore|date=11 July 2005|accessdate=2008-08-14.] which was published in the anthology of the same name. "Ulysses", which references an iconic statue of a beast with the upper body of a lion and the tail of a fish called the Merlion that faces Marina Bay, was inspired by the use of Irish mythology and history by W. B. Yeats. The Irish poet has asserted a significant influence on Thumboo, as Thumboo recognizes parallels between Ireland's nationalistic struggle and Singapore's breakaway from colonialism. He describes himself as a myth-inspired poet, and sees myths as ancient narratives and structures which provide a stable point of reference for a multicultural society. "Ulysses" has prompted other Singaporean poets such as Alfian Sa'at, Vernon Chan, Felix Cheong, Gwee Li Sui, Lee Tzu Pheng, Alvin Pang and Daren Shiau to write their own Merlion-themed verses; it is often joked that one cannot be regarded as a true Singapore poet until one has written a "Merlion poem". A copy of "Ulysses" is installed on a plaque near the statue.

History also features strongly in Thumboo's poetry. He has said:

In August 2008, "The Straits Times" said that Thumboo's "most powerful legacy" was "spearheading the creation of a Singapore literature in English", although Thumboo himself downplayed his pioneering role by commenting: "There were not that many people writing in 1965, so you had the feeling that you had to create something. But you don't stand there and say, 'Look, I am a pioneer'. There is a need to do something, to help go about creating something, and you do it." He compiled and edited some of the first anthologies of English poetry from Singapore and Malaysia, including "The Flowering Tree" (1970), "Seven Poets" (1973) and "The Second Tongue" (1979). He was also the general editor of two multilingual anthologies sponsored by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Committee of Culture and Information entitled "The Poetry of Singapore" (1985) and "The Fiction of Singapore" (1990). In addition to the collections of poetry already mentioned, he has published two volumes of poetry for children called "Child's Delight" (1972), and another collection called "Friend: Poems" (2003). "Still Travelling", an anthology consisting of almost 50 poems, was published in 2008.

On 29 October 2001, at the launch of a book entitled "Ariels: Departures and Returns – Essays for Edwin Thumboo" at the Singapore Art Museum, Associate Professor Robbie Goh said:

quote|... Edwin Thumboo’s dual discourses – the analytical and theoretical discourse of the scholar, and the emotive and associative discourse of the poet – enable him to capture the flow of our experience, and to present it in a variety of different ways, accessible to a variety of individuals. ...

I've come to see that Edwin Thumboo writes incessantly, because he is driven to communicate something of a better world; he rolls his sleeves up to act, because he is impatient with waiting for this world to change; and he forges friendships, because these represent the hope for a better world even within this imperfect one. His impact cannot be measured by words alone, but words – the tools of his own trade – may capture the "covenant" of his ideas and values.

Awards

Thumboo has won the National Book Development Council of Singapore Book Awards for Poetry three times, in 1978 for "Gods Can Die" (1977), in 1980 for "Ulysses by the Merlion" (1979), and again in 1994 for "A Third Map" (1993). He also received the inaugural S.E.A. Write Award in 1979, the first Cultural Medallion for Literature in 1980, and the ASEAN Cultural and Communication Award (Literature) in 1987. In October 2002, he presented the keynote address at the biennial meeting of the International Association of World Englishes at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. There, he was presented with the Raja Rao Award for his contributions to the literature of the Indian diaspora.

Thumboo was conferred a "Bintang Bakti Masyarakat" (Public Service Star) in 1981 with an additional Bar in 1991, and the "Pingat Jasa Gemilang" (Meritorious Services Medal) as Distinguished Poet and Literary Scholar in 2006.

elect bibliography

A fuller list of works by and about Thumboo may be viewed at citation|title=Articles & papers by Edwin Thumboo|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070415063107/www.nus.edu.sg/NUSinfo/CFA/Prof%27s/biblio.html|publisher=Centre for the Arts, National University of Singapore|date=2005-07-11|accessdate=2008-08-13.

A selection of his poems is available at citation|title=Poems|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070418072902/www.nus.edu.sg/NUSinfo/CFA/Prof%27s/poem.html|publisher=Centre for the Arts, National University of Singapore|date=2005-07-11|accessdate=2008-08-13.

Poetry collections

*citation|title=Rib of Earth|location=Singapore|publisher=L. Fernando|year=1956
*citation|title=Child's Delight|location=Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia|publisher=Federal Publications|year=1972, 2 vols.
*citation|title=Gods Can Die|location=Singapore|publisher=Heinemann Educational Books (Asia)|year=1977
*citation|title=Ulysses by the Merlion|location=Singapore|publisher=Heinemann Educational Books|year=1979
*citation|title=A Third Map|location=Singapore|publisher=UniPress|year=1993|isbn=9810044038 (pbk.)
*citation|title=Friend: Poems|location=Singapore|publisher=Landmark Books; National University of Singapore|year=2003|isbn=9789813065727
*citation|title=Still Travelling|location=Singapore|publisher=Ethos Books|year=2008|isbn=9789810810009

Edited poetry anthologies

*citation|last=Thumboo|first=Edwin, comp.|title=The Flowering Tree: Selected Writings from Singapore/Malaysia|location=Singapore|publisher=Educational Publications Bureau|year=1970
*citation|last=Thumboo|first=Edwin, comp.|title=Seven Poets, Singapore and Malaysia|location=Singapore|publisher=Singapore University Press|year=1973
*citation|last=Thumboo|first=Edwin, comp.|title=The Second Tongue: An Anthology of Poetry from Malaysia and Singapore|location=Singapore|publisher=Heinemann Educational Books (Asia)|year=1979
*citation|last=Thumboo|first=Edwin ["et al."] , eds.|title=The Poetry of Singapore [Anthology of ASEAN Literatures; v. 1] |location=Singapore|publisher=Published under the sponsorship of the ASEAN Committee on Culture and Information|year=1985|isbn=997188089X
*citation|last=Thumboo|first=Edwin, gen. ed.|title=The Fiction of Singapore|location= [S.l.] |publisher=Published under the sponsorship of the ASEAN Committee on Culture and Information|year=1990|isbn=9971882485 (v. 2), (v. 2a), (v. 3)
*citation|last=Thumboo|first=Edwin ["et al."] , eds.|title=Journeys: Words, Home and Nation: Anthology of Singapore Poetry (1984–1995)|location=Singapore|publisher=UniPress|year=1995|isbn=9810069103 (pbk.)

Other works

*citation|last=Thumboo|first=Edwin, ed.|title=Literature and Liberation: Five Essays from Southeast Asia|location=Manila, Philippines|publisher=Solidaridad Pub. House|year=1988
*citation|last=Thumboo|first=Edwin ["et al."] , ed.|title=Words for the 25th: Readings by Singapore Writers|location=Singapore|publisher=UniPress|year=1990|isbn=9971622599 (pbk.)
*citation|last=Thumboo|first=Edwin, ed.|title=Perceiving Other Worlds|location=Singapore|publisher=Times Academic Press [for] Unipress|year=1991|isbn=9812100105 (pbk.)
*citation|last=Thumboo|first=Edwin|chapter=Singapore Writing in English: A Need for Commitment|editor=Bruce Bennett ["et al."] |title=Westerly Looks to Asia: A Selection from Westerly 1956–1992|location=Nedlands, W.A.|publisher=Indian Ocean Centre for Peace Studies, University of Western Australia|year=1993|isbn=1863421939|pages=84–92
*citation|last=Thumboo|first=Edwin|last2=Kandiah|first2=Thiru, eds.|title=The Writer as Historical Witness: Studies in Commonwealth Literature|location=Singapore|publisher=UniPress|year=1995|isbn=9810044542 (pbk.)
*citation|last=Thumboo|first=Edwin, ed.|title=Cultures in ASEAN and the 21st Century|location=Singapore|publisher=UniPress for ASEAN-COCI|year=1996|isbn=981008174X (pbk.)
*citation|last=Thumboo|first=Edwin, ed.|title=The Three Circles of English: Language Specialists Talk about the English Language|location=Singapore|publisher=UniPress|year=2001|isbn=9810425635 (pbk.)
*citation|last=Thumboo|first=Edwin, ed.|title=Frankie Sionil José: A Tribute|location=Singapore|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|year=2005|isbn=9812104259
*citation|last=Thumboo|first=Edwin|chapter=Literary Creativity in World Englishes|editor=Braj B. Kachru|editor2=Yamuna Kachru|editor3=Cecil L. Nelson|title=The handbook of world Englishes|location=Malden, Mass.|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|year=2006|isbn=9781405111850 (hbk.)|pages=405–427
*citation|last=Thumboo|first=Edwin|title=Writing Asia: The Literatures in Englishes. Vol. 1, From the Inside: Asia Pacific Literatures in Englishes|location=Singapore|publisher=Ethos Books|year=2007|isbn=9789810593148 (pbk.)

Personal life

Some of Thumboo's poems have biblical themes, reflecting the fact that he was born into a Protestant Christian family and baptized as an adult. Thumboo and his wife Yeo Swee Ching live in Bukit Panjang, a suburban area in the central northwestern part of Singapore. They have a son Julian, the head of rheumatology at the Singapore General Hospital; a daughter Claire, who is a physician; and seven grandchildren to whom he dedicated "Still Travelling" (2008).

Notes

References

*citation|title=Edwin Thumboo|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070417213340/http://www.nus.edu.sg/NUSinfo/CFA/Prof%27s/biodata.html|publisher=Centre for the Arts, National University of Singapore|date=2005-07-11|accessdate=2008-08-13
*citation|title=Singapore literary pioneers: Edwin Thumboo|url=http://exhibitions.nlb.gov.sg/literarypioneers/writers/english/edwinthumboo/index.php|publisher=National Library Board|accessdate=2008-08-13
*citation|last=Teng|first=Sharon|title=Edwin Thumboo|url=http://infopedia.nl.sg/articles/SIP_1329_2007-11-06.html|publisher=Singapore Infopedia, National Library Board|date=2007-11-04|accessdate=2008-08-14
*citation|contribution=Thumboo, Edwin|editor=Koh, Tommy|title=Singapore: The Encyclopedia|location=Singapore|publisher=Editions Didier Millet in association with the National Heritage Board|year=2006|isbn=981-4155-63-2|page=564.
*citation|last=Yap|first=Stephanie|title=Poet in motion|newspaper=The Straits Times (Life!)|date=2008-08-11|page=C4.

Further reading

Articles

*citation|last=Sankaran|first=Chitra|contribution=Edwin Thumboo|url=http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5042|title=The Literary Encyclopedia|date=2002-06-30|accessdate=2008-08-13
*citation|last=Thumboo|first=Edwin|last2=Nazareth|first2=Peter [interviewer] |title=Edwin Thumboo Interviewed by Peter Nazareth|journal=World Literature Written in English|year=1979|volume=18|issue=1|pages=151–171
*citation|last=Thumboo|first=Edwin|chapter=Introduction|url=http://web.archive.org/web/20070419013752/http://www.nus.edu.sg/NUSinfo/CFA/Prof%27s/doc/7.html|title=The Second Tongue: An Anthology of Poetry from Malaysia and Singapore|location=Singapore|publisher=Heinemann Educational Books (Asia)|year=1979

Books

*citation|last=Bennett|first=Bruce|chapter=Edwin Thumboo: The Poet as Traveller|editor=Kirpal Singh|title=Poetry|location=Singapore|publisher=Ethos Books|year=1999|isbn=9810408811
*citation|last=Ee|first=Tiang Hong|editor=Leong Liew Geok|title=Responsibility and Commitment: The Poetry of Edwin Thumboo|location=Singapore|publisher=Singapore University Press|year=1997|isbn=997169204X (pbk.)
*citation|last=Leong|first=Liew Geok|chapter='We Must Make a People': The Lyric Enterprise of Edwin Thumboo|editor=Kirpal Singh|title=Poetry|location=Singapore|publisher=Ethos Books|year=1999|isbn=9810408811
*citation|last=Nazareth|first=Peter|title=Edwin Thumboo: Creating a Nation through Poetry|location=Singapore|publisher=Ethos Books|year=2008|isbn=9789810594244
*citation|last=Tong|first=Chee Kiong ["et al."] , eds.|title=Ariels: Departures & Returns: Essays for Edwin Thumboo|location=Singapore|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2001|isbn=9780195887433

Persondata
NAME = Thumboo, Edwin
ALTERNATIVE NAMES = Thumboo, Edwin Nadason
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Singaporean poet
DATE OF BIRTH = 22 November 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH = Singapore
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =