Renowned Chinese-language writer Yeng Pway Ngon dies

Cultural Medallion recipient produced over 20 works, including acclaimed novels Unrest and Art Studio

Cultural Medallion recipient and three-time Singapore Literature Prize winner Yeng Pway Ngon, 73, died yesterday after a long battle with cancer. His accolades also include the South-east Asia Write Award. In 2018, he was honoured at the Singapore Wr
Cultural Medallion recipient and three-time Singapore Literature Prize winner Yeng Pway Ngon, 73, died yesterday after a long battle with cancer. His accolades also include the South-east Asia Write Award. In 2018, he was honoured at the Singapore Writers Festival with an exhibition on his "deeply existential and universal" works. ST FILE PHOTO

Yeng Pway Ngon, one of Singapore's most eminent Chinese-language writers, died yesterday after a long battle with cancer - 16 days shy of his 74th birthday.

The Cultural Medallion recipient and three-time Singapore Literature Prize winner wrote more than 20 works, including acclaimed novels such as Unrest (2002), Trivialities About Me And Myself (2006) and Art Studio (2011).

The latter two were selected by the journal Asia Weekly for its prestigious annual list of the 10 Best Chinese Novels in the World, alongside works by Nobel laureate Mo Yan and Yan Geling.

Yeng had battled prostate cancer since 2007 and later developed colon cancer. In May last year, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He underwent surgery, but later fell sick from unstable blood sugar levels. By last month, the cancer had spread to his whole body.

His wife Goh Beng Choo, 68, who was also his long-time translator, said that in his last days, he did not suffer much. He leaves his wife, their daughter and two grandsons.

"He was strong in spirit," she said. "He endured pain since the day he had prostate cancer 14 years ago and never let it affect the quality of his writing. He was always telling me about the ideas he had for new stories and poems. I am sad he did not live longer to create more good works."

Yeng's passing was mourned by many in the local arts and literary scene. Singer-songwriter Liang Wern Fook wrote a tribute poem in Chinese on Facebook, referencing Yeng's debut novel A Man Like Me (1987): "Some say this is a desert/ A man like him/ leaves behind deep footprints all the way to the horizon of literature."

Poet Alvin Pang, 48, who worked with Madam Goh to translate some of Yeng's poetry into English, called him "one of the great innovators of Singaporean Chinese literature" and "one of the very few writers anywhere who excelled across genres - poetry, fiction and theatre".

Mr Fong Hoe Fang, 66, founder of Ethos Books, which published some of Yeng's poetry in English through its affiliate, The Literary Centre, said: "The gentleness and integrity of his personality informed his writing, which sought a highly nuanced understanding of society without compromising the need for dignity and social justice."

Yeng's accolades include the South-east Asia Write Award. In 2018, he was honoured at the Singapore Writers Festival with an exhibition on his "deeply existential and universal" works.

Many of his novels balance profound psychological portraits with insight into moments of Singapore's history. Unrest drew on his own detention in 1977 under the Internal Security Act for alleged leftist sympathies. He drew on his struggle with prostate cancer to write his 500-page epic novel Art Studio (2011), which charts the lives of artists from the 1960s to the present. It was adapted for the stage as a three-hour play in 2017 by Nine Years Theatre.

He founded iconic bookshop Grassroots Book Room in 1975 and reopened it after a hiatus in 1995.

Ms Tan Wain Ching, 37, founder of bookshop City Book Room - which published some of Yeng's final works - used to work at Grassroots. Her former boss was "humorous, sincere and hard-working", she said, adding: "Even when he was sick, he still ran the bookstore and shared his literature journey with many young authors there."

When Yeng decided to close Grassroots, the bookshop was taken over in 2014 by three of his fans, who moved it to its current location in Bukit Pasoh Road.

He did not stop writing, and published Colour Of Dusk (2019) - a novel about a lonely, elderly writer - and a poetry collection, Stone (2020).

Ms Tan, who visited him last Friday, recalled: "We played the songs that he liked, or appeared in his novels. He still joked with me. I remember his charming smile."

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on January 11, 2021, with the headline Renowned Chinese-language writer Yeng Pway Ngon dies. Subscribe