Shawn Hoo

Shawn is a journalist on the arts beat at The Straits Times. He reviews books and reports on theatre and the visual arts as well as other cultural issues, for the Life desk. Prior to joining ST in 2022, he spent two years teaching writing and literature at higher education institutions in Shanghai and Singapore. He believes the arts, arts education and arts writing are essential.

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Yeng Pway Ngon’s last novel The Colour Of Twilight confronts a Chinese writer’s obsolescence

The late Cultural Medallion recipient Yeng Pway Ngon’s final novel. The Colour Of Twilight, has been translated into English by Jeremy Tiang.

Sotheby’s to host Singapore auction of Raden Saleh, Walter Spies, David Hockney and more

Indonesian artist Raden Saleh's The Eruption Of Mount Merapi, By Day (1865) is expected to go for between $700,000 and $1.3 million at Sotheby's Modern And Contemporary Art Auction on Jan 25.

Artist Lawrence Lek sends self-driving cars to therapy with Guanyin in new exhibition

London-based artist Lawrence Lek's exhibition NOX: Confessions Of A Machine opens at the ArtScience Museum from Jan 23 to Apr 19.

Six must-see shows at Singapore Art Week 2026

cxsaw Jeff Koons, Gazing Ball (Manet Luncheon on the Grass), 2019, Archival Pigment Print on Innova rag paper, glass
PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

Banker-turned-author tells forgotten story of Indian prisoners in Singapore during World War II

Author Gautam Hazarika, with his book, The Forgotten Indian Prisoners of World War II, at SPH on Nov 28, 2025.

DallerGut author Miye Lee goes from healing fiction to psychological thriller

Arts blockbusters and new directors: Save these dates

(Clockwise from top left) American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein’s Reflections On Crash (1990), Singaporean artist Sim Chiyin’s Interventions: Farming (2018), theatremaker Chong Tze Chien, Finnish conductor Hannu Lintu and Wild Rice’s satire G*d Is A Woman.

Shawn Hoo’s top reads of 2025: Arundhati Roy, Ng Yi-Sheng and Wahidah Tambee

(From left) Poet Wahidah Tambee’s Eke, Arundhati Roy’s Mother Mary Comes To Me, and Ng Yi-Sheng's Utama.

The Library Of Alexandria Award goes to NUS library’s ‘operational lapse’

CMG20250521-RChiong01/张俊杰/胡洁梅/Interview with Associate Professor Natalie Pang, University Librarian, National University of Singapore [Yale-NUS Library]

Some of the 8500 of the 9000 books that were due to be recycled were seen on half-empty shelves in the Yale-NUS Library on May 21, 2025.

The Look Back In Wonder Award goes to Singapore theatre’s history plays

Has SG60 thrown up some of the most iconic contemporary Singapore history plays? The Straits Times looks back at 2025 in theatre.

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MDDI (P) 046/10/2025. Published by SPH Media Limited, Co. Regn. No.202120748H. Copyright © 2026 SPH Media Limited. All rights reserved.