For Subscribers

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)

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).

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

Assistant Life Editor

Published
Jan 29, 2019, 5:00 am SGT

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.

Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article.

Get unlimited access to all stories at $0.99/month

Latest headlines and exclusive stories
In-depth analyses and award-winning multimedia content
Get access to all with our no-contract promotional package at only $0.99/month for the first 3 months*

*Terms and conditions apply.

Join ST's Telegram channel here and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.