A musical number sung in English, Mandarin, Malay, Tamil, Hokkien and Cantonese opened the 21st edition of the Singapore Writers Festival yesterday.

Jie, the festival theme song by local author-musician Kelvin Tan, had lyrics on humanity and the importance of connection.

It was followed by a dikir barat performance - a type of Malay choral singing - paying tribute to the late pioneer musician Zaidy Nandir.

The annual festival began yesterday and will run to Nov 11, with over 310 programmes featuring a record number of more than 390 writers and speakers. This year's theme is jie, which means world or boundary in Mandarin.

"Jie ranges from the universe at large to the galaxies beyond our comprehension and of course to the limits of our imagination. At the same time, it can refer to the boundaries and borders that protect us, but also exclude some of us," said festival director Yeow Kai Chai, who will hand over the reins to youth poet ambassador Pooja Nansi next year.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Transport and Culture, Community and Youth, Mr Baey Yam Keng, said at the opening ceremony at Victoria Theatre: "I hope that this year's theme encourages the exchange of ideas across a broad spectrum of topics, and enables all festival-goers to gain fresh perspectives on what it means to be part of an increasingly interconnected and dynamic world."

The 10-day festival will honour Singapore's literary pioneer Yeng Pway Ngon with events such as a classroom talk, exhibition and an evening party.

Some of the international speakers are: Man Booker Prize winner Kiran Desai, Chinese science fiction author Xia Jia, American humorist David Sedaris, Scottish writer Irvine Welsh, American young adult and Marvel comics writer Margaret Stohl, and The Legends Of the Condor Heroes translator Anna Holmwood.

Veteran poet Edwin Thumboo, Chinese-language writer and scholar Wong Yoon Wah, and novelist Sharlene Teo whose debut novel Ponti was published this year, are among the Singaporeans featured.

Germany is the country of focus at the festival which will spotlight German writers such as spoken word artist Fatima Moumouni and journalist Miriam Meckel.

The festival began in 1986 as a biennial event and became an annual highlight in 2011. Last year's event drew almost 25,500 people, setting a new record for attendance.

This year's edition will also offer note-taking services for the hearing-impaired.

The festival will close on Nov 11 with the debate, This House Believes That Singaporeans Are Better Off With Social Media.