By Yeow Kai Chai

Few poets in Singapore are as comfortable in English and Chinese as Tan Chee Lay, or even as industrious.

Belying his boyish countenance is a super-achiever. His scholarly credentials are impeccable. He has a BA in Chinese, an MA in English, and an MBA, not to mention a PhD in Chinese literature from Cambridge University. He holds multiple positions: He is Associate Professor of Chinese at the National Institute of Education (NIE) and Nanyang Technological University, and the Deputy Head of the Asian Languages and Cultures Academic Group, NIE.

Currently a National Library Board's George Lyndon Hicks Fellow, he is the recipient of the Golden Point Award, Young Artist Award, Singapore Youth Award (Art and Culture), Dr Tan Tsze Chor Art Award and a National Taiwan Normal University Chinese calligraphy award.

He has published more than 20 creative writing and scholarly titles, ranging from children's picture books to collections of poems, short stories and letters. His latest collection, Landmark Poetics of the Lion City (2017), features 99 poems on Singaporean iconic landmarks, and won him the Singapore Literature Prize for Chinese poetry in 2018.

As co-founder of Poetry Festival Singapore, he is in charge of the Chinese-language programming of the edition, which took place in July (2019), as well as organising the Singapore Literature Conference at the National Library in the same month. He will be a featured author in the upcoming Singapore Writers Festival in November.

Besides creative writing and academic research, he enjoys Chinese calligraphy, painting and badminton.

    1) What are you reading right now?
  I'm reading, as usual, a few books at the same time. First is a Sinophone literary text, The Stories of Eng Watt Street《永发街事》, by Jannis Chen Jizhou, a Chinese Literature PhD candidate from Harvard who was born in China and studied in Singapore for a decade. This book consists of 12 independent yet related short stories about the struggles and encounters of new immigrants, foreign workers, and three-generation families, which take place on Eng Watt Street in Tiong Bahru, where the author lived.

Next, while having a stopover at the airport at Turkey, I got a copy of Orhan Pamuk's Istanbul: Memories and the City from the bookshop. I admire how Pamuk lovingly writes about rich and detailed histories, his and the city's. His enchanting prose never fails to compel me to reflect on my own writings, recollect on my childhood, and reinvestigate our city's literature. And as I also paint and write calligraphy, I'm constantly returning to The Manual of the Mustard Seed Garden《芥子园画传》, widely considered as the fundamental textbook for many Chinese painters, including Qi Baishi.

  2) If you were a famous literary character in a novel, play or poem, what would you be and why?
  I would very much like to experience the life of Linghu Chong (令狐冲) in Louis Cha's martial art novel, The Smiling, Proud Wanderer 《笑傲江湖》. He is sincere, happy-go-lucky, proud yet likeable. He has a penchant for fine wine and food. He becomes a most formidable swordsman and gives up all these worldly desires to lead a peaceful existence with the love of his life.

  3) What is the greatest misconception about you?
  That I am scholarly, even nerdy, perhaps? Well, my first ambition is to be a national sportsman. I used to train seven days a week. I almost got into the national team for table tennis. In fact, I even selected my secondary school and JC based on whether they offered specific sports CCA, instead of anything remotely academic.

  4) Name one living writer and one dead writer you most identify with, and tell us why.
Can I name myself? No? Alright, then I would like to name two writers whom I most identify with, both dead.   

First, I'm fascinated by the renowned Chinese poet Su Dongpo (苏东坡, 1037-1101), who was also a writer, painter, calligrapher, pharmacologist, gastronome, and a statesman of the Song Dynasty. A model for all literati, Su represented the epitome, and possibly best combination, of Taoist and Confucian philosophies, even when he was in exile. Widely revered by Chinese scholars and students, his prolific works are of the highest standard, including his poems, paintings, calligraphy pieces, and even creative food delicacies. While I cannot imagine attaining anything close to these achievements, I admire, and am inspired by, his absolute open-mindedness and artistic transcendence in so many genres.

Second, for similar reasons, I look up to the Singaporean poet, calligrapher and educator, Pan Shou (1911-1999). Another all-round modern Renaissance man, he contributed significantly towards Singapore education, notably as a founding member of the Nanyang University (Nantah) in 1955. Furthermore, his Chinese poetry and calligraphy were as good as, if not better than, the very best literati in China and Taiwan. As a writer, poet, calligrapher and educator myself, I know how challenging it is to excel and continue to be passionate in so many areas for so many years.

  5) Do you believe in writer's block? If so, how do you overcome it?
  Well, this question is giving me a blockage… Let me go back to my readings, and other readings, and be patient, before I can give a response.

  6) What qualities do you most admire in a writer?
  To have an eye for true beauty in the tiniest detail, and the ability to capture the precise and concise paragraph, line, word, character, and even punctuation mark to express it.

  7) What is one trait you most deplore in writing or writers?
  Not being sincere in one's writing, but publicly pretending to be most sincere. Having such a trait would not only hinder one from investing time and energy in actually improving one's writing, it would also lead to one trying all means to court publicity and fish for fame and status instead.

  8) Can you recite your favourite line from a literary work or a piece of advice from a writer?
My favourite line is from a favourite poem by my favourite poet Su Dongpo. The poem, 'Lyrics to the Melody of a Pacific Storm' (定风波), goes like this:

（三月七日沙湖道中遇雨。雨具先去，同行皆狼狈，余独不觉。已而遂晴，故作此 ）。

莫听穿林打叶声，何妨吟啸且徐行。竹杖芒鞋轻胜马，谁怕？ 一蓑烟雨任平生。

料峭春风吹酒醒，微冷，山头斜照却相迎。回首向来萧瑟处，归去，也无风雨也无晴。

  The translations of Chinese classical poems, more often than not, do not do justice to the original texts. Here's one:

On the seventh day of the third lunar month, along the Shahu Pass, sudden rain befell us. Those with rain-gear hurried ahead; while my colleagues all felt discomfort, I did not. The sky has since cleared up, so I have written as follows.

Heed not to the tree-rustling and leaf-lashing windswept rain
Why not stroll along, whistle and sing under its reign
Lighter and better suited than horses are straw sandals and a bamboo cane
And fear not
A palm-leaf plaited cape shall misty weather in life sustain

A thorny spring breeze sobers up the spirit
Feeling a slight chill
The setting sun over the mountain offers greetings still
Looking back over the bleak passage survived
The return in time
Shall not be affected by windswept rain or shine

  I particularly adore the Taoist outlook of life so beautifully captured in the last lines.

  9) Complete this sentence: Few people know this, but I...
  …spend much more time pondering, painting, writing calligraphy, taking photographs, visiting exhibitions and playing sports, rather than in creative and academic writing.   But, of course, I believe all these are merely different forms of creative input and output. They are aspects of the same crucial artistic process, which will eventually find their ways into a particular work. And every single element is vital in keeping us sane.

  10) At the movies, if you have to pick a comedy, a tragedy, or an action thriller to watch, which will you go for, and why?
  I used to look forward to my daily jog, table tennis practice, or badminton game, especially after a long day of study. Now I look forward to enjoying the adrenaline rush that comes with watching an action thriller, which transcends the mundane routine of everyday lives.

  11) What is your favourite word, and what is your least favourite one?
My favourite used to be the last character of my Chinese name, 锐 or 'sharp'. Of course, I like the positive sharpness it resembles, but in recent years, begin to appreciate being mellow too. Hence, just like that of literati in olden China, I gave myself a courtesy name, or style name, 忘余 (meaning 'forgetting oneself').

That said, my favourite characters are still my Chinese name, given to me by my mother, who was a Chinese-language teacher.

As a writer and calligrapher, I like words and characters, so probably that is the reason for not being able to think of a least favourite one. That said, I do have some characters I'm less fond of, only because they are more difficult to master in calligraphy, such as 女 'female', 家 'home', and 母 'mother'.

  12) You co-founded Poetry Festival Singapore in 2015. What have been some of your personal highlights, and how do you think the Festival can distinguish itself from other literary events in an increasingly crowded calendar?
  To be truthful to Poetry Festival Singapore's core mission and vision – that is, promoting the multi-lingual poetries of Singapore and providing platforms for exchanges – this will always be critical in distinguishing our festival from other literary events.

Some personal highlights include inaugurating and curating several multidisciplinary and multilingual exhibitions, such as a poetry-photography exhibition with Singapore Photography Society; a poetry-painting-recital show with The Arts House; a poets' manuscripts exhibition, and co-creating multilingual poems with three other director-poets.

  13) What object is indispensable to you when you write?
  Depending on where and when the writing takes place, I require my fountain pen for English writing, and my Pentel calligraphy brush pen for my Chinese draft.

  14) What is the best time of the day for writing?
  Any time, as long as the mood is right. Or if I'm "in the zone," so to speak. It had happened while I drove – or to be more precise, while I waited, at the wheel, for the traffic light to turn green. The question is not the time, but the mood, or the zone.

  15) If you have a last supper, which three literary figures, real or fictional, would you invite to the soiree, and why?
  Certainly the three greatest Chinese poets, Su Dongpo, Li Bai and Du Fu. I would gladly forgo the last supper and die gracefully after listening to the three most wonderful souls banter about poetry, literature, exile, obstacles and life in general.

  16) As someone who writes and converse in English and Chinese effectively, what do you observe are key differences and similarities between the Singaporean literary scenes in both languages, and what can they learn from each other?
  One key difference will be the average age of readers and writers. Those writing and reading English are much younger than those in the Chinese scene. Of course there are mature English-language writers and readers, but overall there's a much larger base of younger writers and readers in English. There's more of a buzz, an energy, which creates a sense of anticipation.

This age difference can have a profound impact on the works produced, activities organised, the outcome and level of impact.

  17) What would you write on your own tombstone?
  Can I paint too? Well, if I could, I would paint a self-portrait in ink using the Nanyang style, and write a self-composed poem in calligraphy to accompany it. So, please grant me more time to perfect my painting and calligraphy, as well as my poetics, before they are put to good use one last time.

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