Ordinary life is special - Catherine Lim
My first book, Little Ironies, came out in 1978. It was
published by
pure accident.
I was in my mid-thirties, and I had
written some short stories as part of
coursework for a teachers' training
course.
My supervisor must have liked them: he encouraged me to write more. So, I wrote a total of eighteen stories. But, I didn't know what to do with them. I kept them in the corner of my drawer for four years.
Then, I told a friend very casually about my stories. He was astonished that I was doing nothing with them. He arranged to have them published, and they came out to a most enthusiastic response.
Observing people around me
Everybody loved the stories, and I think I know why. It was the first time anyone had written about ordinary Singaporeans in English: hawkers, schoolchildren, and people you would meet in the street. They also loved how I had captured the rhythms of Singlish. One story, "The Taximan's Story", was totally written in Singlish.
I've always written about people around me. At around age 10, 11, 12, I was already writing little stories. I didn't have very much paper, so I wrote on the back pages of Chinese calendars.
These stories would be observations about people I knew, like the temple medium and my funny neighbour.
I had this natural curiosity about people, which I think all children have. I loved to listen to my mother's gossip about the neighbours. Later, this gossip surfaced in my stories.
O-Level literature text
I would say there have been two high points in my long career as a writer. The first was when they chose my second collection of stories, Or Else the Lightning God, as an O-Level school text. I was so thrilled. Can you imagine? There were children in Africa and Sri Lanka studying these stories set in Singapore.
The other high point was when my novel, The Bondmaid, was internationally published in 1997. In very old times, little girls were sold as servants, called bondmaids. My grandmother had one. I used to feel very sad for them because of their hard lives.
I wrote a novel about a bondmaid, intended for the Singapore market. But my publisher was said, 'No no no, I can't publish this. It's too shocking." So I set up my own publishing firm to publish my book.
We printed 3,000 copies, and a literary agent from Britain found it. That's how it got international attention. Now it's been translated into ten languages, and there's a director who's interested in turning it into a movie.
My advice to all young people today is to read. Read, read, read. Once you start reading, all the benefits follow: you speak well, you think well and, even better, you may be inspired to write.
Sometimes, children will tell me, "I read this book, and I think I can write better." And, I tell them, "That's very good. You are now ready to write.”
About Catherine Lim
Catherine Lim is one of Singapore's most famous authors. Born in Penang, Malaysia, she later married a Singaporean and worked here as a schoolteacher. Today, she is a full-time writer, giving talks at schools, writers' festivals and cruise ships worldwide. She has published ten short story collections and six novels, including The Serpent’s Tooth, The Bondmaid, The Teardrop Story Woman, Following the Wrong God Home. Her latest book, Miss Seetoh in the World, was launched just last year. Whenever you ask her what her favourite book is, her answer is always "the one I'm writing right now."
My supervisor must have liked them: he encouraged me to write more. So, I wrote a total of eighteen stories. But, I didn't know what to do with them. I kept them in the corner of my drawer for four years.
Then, I told a friend very casually about my stories. He was astonished that I was doing nothing with them. He arranged to have them published, and they came out to a most enthusiastic response.
Observing people around me
Everybody loved the stories, and I think I know why. It was the first time anyone had written about ordinary Singaporeans in English: hawkers, schoolchildren, and people you would meet in the street. They also loved how I had captured the rhythms of Singlish. One story, "The Taximan's Story", was totally written in Singlish.
I've always written about people around me. At around age 10, 11, 12, I was already writing little stories. I didn't have very much paper, so I wrote on the back pages of Chinese calendars.
These stories would be observations about people I knew, like the temple medium and my funny neighbour.
I had this natural curiosity about people, which I think all children have. I loved to listen to my mother's gossip about the neighbours. Later, this gossip surfaced in my stories.
O-Level literature text
I would say there have been two high points in my long career as a writer. The first was when they chose my second collection of stories, Or Else the Lightning God, as an O-Level school text. I was so thrilled. Can you imagine? There were children in Africa and Sri Lanka studying these stories set in Singapore.
The other high point was when my novel, The Bondmaid, was internationally published in 1997. In very old times, little girls were sold as servants, called bondmaids. My grandmother had one. I used to feel very sad for them because of their hard lives.
I wrote a novel about a bondmaid, intended for the Singapore market. But my publisher was said, 'No no no, I can't publish this. It's too shocking." So I set up my own publishing firm to publish my book.
We printed 3,000 copies, and a literary agent from Britain found it. That's how it got international attention. Now it's been translated into ten languages, and there's a director who's interested in turning it into a movie.
My advice to all young people today is to read. Read, read, read. Once you start reading, all the benefits follow: you speak well, you think well and, even better, you may be inspired to write.
Sometimes, children will tell me, "I read this book, and I think I can write better." And, I tell them, "That's very good. You are now ready to write.”
About Catherine Lim
Catherine Lim is one of Singapore's most famous authors. Born in Penang, Malaysia, she later married a Singaporean and worked here as a schoolteacher. Today, she is a full-time writer, giving talks at schools, writers' festivals and cruise ships worldwide. She has published ten short story collections and six novels, including The Serpent’s Tooth, The Bondmaid, The Teardrop Story Woman, Following the Wrong God Home. Her latest book, Miss Seetoh in the World, was launched just last year. Whenever you ask her what her favourite book is, her answer is always "the one I'm writing right now."