Tan Chee Lay

One of the most highly-acclaimed writers of his generation, scholar-writer Tan Chee Lay works as Associate Professor at the National Institute of Education in the day, and writes Chinese creative writing, calligraphy and paints in the night. A founding member of Poetry Festival Singapore and a judge of the Cultural Medallion and SEA Write Award, he was conferred the Young Artist Award, Singapore Youth Award and Golden Point Award.

As the George Lyndon Hicks Fellow at National Library, he enjoys researching into Nanyang literati and artists, and recently launched a webpage, VeryNanyang, to share and promote Nanyang cultures. A most prolific writer of various genres, he has published over 20 books of poetry, children’s picture books, short stories, and prose, the latest being Landmark Poetics of the Lion City (City Book Room), which won the Singapore Literature Prize in 2018.

引文摘自诗《牛车水》（截取部分）

曾经一牛车一牛车
载来生命之泉
连水也在此扎根

根深得
连舌头也灿开
福建人的香铺在广东话的豆腐街
自在地烧香添油点灯求签圣杯
拜着语言天才的神明

Excerpt from Chinatown by Tan Chee Lay

once, bullock cart after bullock cart
brought the fount of life
even water
has sunk its roots here

these roots are so deep
that even tongues gleam
the joss-sticks of the Hokkien people
are spread along Cantonese-speaking Tofu Street
at ease, they
burn incense
refill and relight oil lamps
tell fortunes with moon blocks
worship gods with a genius for language

Poem translated from Chinese by Teng Qian Xi