History, fiction and poetry to mark Singapore's bicentenary

Kicking off the year are a host of new books, by the likes of Professor Tommy Koh and writer Alfian Sa'at, as well as a literary exhibition

Asian Civilisations Museum director Kennie Ting's (above) book, 1819: A Living Legacy, takes a look back at Singapore's history over the past 200 years. Ms Izyanti Asaari (far left) and Ms Iffah Dahiyah (left) from Fellow design studio and Mr Bryan A
Asian Civilisations Museum director Kennie Ting's (above) book, 1819: A Living Legacy, takes a look back at Singapore's history over the past 200 years. PHOTOS: CHONG JUN LIANG, JOSEPH CHUA, COURTESY OF THE SINGAPORE BICENTENNIAL OFFICE, COURTESY OF ALFIAN SA’AT, COURTESY OF STRAITS TIMES PRESS, DEREK SHAPTON, LANDMARK BOOKS, LITTLE, BROWN, MIEL, MONSOON BOOKS, STRAITS TIMES PRESS, ST FILE, TALISMAN PUBLI
Asian Civilisations Museum director Kennie Ting's (above) book, 1819: A Living Legacy, takes a look back at Singapore's history over the past 200 years. Ms Izyanti Asaari (far left) and Ms Iffah Dahiyah (left) from Fellow design studio and Mr Bryan A
Ms Izyanti Asaari (left) and Ms Iffah Dahiyah (right) from Fellow design studio and Mr Bryan Angelo Lim (middle) from qu'est-ce que c'est design studio will transform poems into broadsides for the exhibition, Any Anything Also Can, by literary non-profit group Sing Lit Station.
200 YEARS OF SINGAPORE AND THE UNITED KINGDOM (left), Edited by Tommy Koh (middle) and Scott Wightman (right)
200 YEARS OF SINGAPORE AND THE UNITED KINGDOM (left), Edited by Tommy Koh (middle) and Scott Wightman (right)
SINGAPORE 1819: A LIVING LEGACY By Kennie Ting
TAN KIM SENG: A BIOGRAPHY By Vivienne Tan
SINGAPORE SAGA VOL 2: CHASING THE DRAGON By John D. Greenwood
SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS: A HISTORY OF SINGAPORE By Derek Heng, Kwa Chong Guan, Peter Borschberg and Tan Tai Yong (from left).
SEVEN HUNDRED YEARS: A HISTORY OF SINGAPORE By Derek Heng, Kwa Chong Guan, Peter Borschberg and Tan Tai Yong (from left).
THE PAPER BARK TREE MYSTERY (left) By Ovidia Yu (right)
CONTOUR: A LYRIC CARTOGRAPHY OF SINGAPORE Edited by Michelle Heng, Leonard Ng, Tan Chee Lay, K. Kanagalatha and Azhar Ibrahim
Pico Iyer
Alfian Sa’at
Olivia Ho
Assistant Life Editor
Updated
Jan 29, 2019, 11:38 AM
Published
Jan 29, 2019, 05:00 AM
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Singapore's bicentennial year is being met by a spectrum of new books that tackle Singapore's colonial past and what came before. They span genres - from broad histories to novels to poetry anthologies - as well as literary exhibitions.

Some, such as Asian Civilisations Museum director Kennie Ting's 1819: A Living Legacy, take a fresh look back at Singapore's history over the past 200 years.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on January 29, 2019, with the headline History, fiction and poetry to mark Singapore's bicentenary. Subscribe

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