SINGAPORE – Xinyao pioneer Liang Wern Fook is celebrating his 60th birthday with many firsts.

Ahead of his first concert collaboration with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra in June, his first book in English translation is now out.

For those who know the revered singer-composer through his mellifluous vocals and heart-warming lyrics, reading the cheeky stories in his micro-fiction collection The Joy Of A Left Hand is likely to cast the Singaporean icon in a new light.

The original book was published in Chinese in 2006.

The collection’s 52 stories, translated by Berlin-based Singaporean writer Christina Ng, feature a satirical spin on the Goods and Services Tax Act, a playful wink shared between two men and a refined gentleman who brazenly farts in public.

These are topics rarely, if ever, broached in the Father of Xinyao’s lyrics – be it in his evergreen Singapore songs or hit tracks for pop legends such as Hong Kong singer Jacky Cheung.

“My short stories do not come from my everyday personality,” says Liang in an interview with The Straits Times conducted in Mandarin. “In real life, for example, I’m not one to taunt others – but when it comes to these short stories, I express this other side of myself.”

Liang won the Young Artist Award for Literature in 1992 and, in a testament to his varied contributions to Singapore culture, went on to receive the Cultural Medallion for Music in 2010.

Liang, who turns 60 in April, explains how those familiar with his music might glimpse a different side of him in this book: “When writing xinyao or pop songs, it needs to appeal to and be easily understood by a wide audience.

“But when I write micro-fiction, I don’t chase for that immediate understanding – there can be hidden messages or less direct, even dark, humour.”

The stories in the book, penned around the early 2000s, were also written consciously to distinguish himself from his prevailing reputation.

“Even in the literary world, most readers know me for my essays and poetry. I was a little dissatisfied about that and wanted to prove that I could write short stories too, which I had been doing since primary school.”

About five years ago, Ng approached Liang for permission to translate his book, which contains stories that can be as short as a page and which she describes as “witty, funny and very local”.

Ng says of the book’s appeal: “His language is actually very plain when he writes the stories, but it has a certain rhythm. You can find that the pacing is different from other short stories.”

She adds that the author gave her a lot of freedom in her translation.

Liang says: “I often told Christina that she should not be overly cautious with the translation. Especially with this book – a writer has his playful or unorthodox side, which is expressed through the metaphor of writing with one’s left hand. It’s the same with a translator.”

Liang recalls that he was also given a lot of space to translate home-grown singer Kit Chan’s first book of poems, Cork Out Of My Head (2000), from English into Chinese and emphasises the importance of the translator’s satisfaction.

Micro-fiction, while a common genre in Chinese-language literature, is not as common in English-language literature. But Liang believes short-form genres, like lyrics and short essays, have their place in fast-paced modern life in Singapore.

The adjunct associate professor for Chinese in the School of Humanities at Nanyang Technological University says: “I tell my students to read Tang poetry as a miniature short story – it has a character, plot, twist, climax and an ending that may be open-ended or closed.”

However, not everything that is short and snappy interests him.

TikTok, for instance, bores Liang after a few scrolls – which explains why he has not taken to the short-form video platform to write and publicise his work.

Instead, he says, he is interested in writing works that are both terse and timeless.

Writing a full-length novel may not be on the multi-hyphenate’s mind yet, but Liang says he will not exclude the possibility of writing one, given sufficient time and resources.

He is currently working on developing a stage drama, although he declines to reveal his exact role in the production, which is tentatively slated for the second half of 2024.

He adds: “In one’s creative journey, all these first times are very precious.”

• Liang Wern Fook’s The Joy Of A Left Hand ($27.98), translated by Christina Ng and published by Balestier Press, is available at Amazon SG (amzn.to/49cXM7H).