Ting Kheng Siong 郑景祥 (b. 1971)
1. BIOGRAPHY
2. CRITICAL INTRODUCTION
3. SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
4. SELECTED POEMS
史诗的初稿 [First Draft of an Epic]
CRITICAL INTRODUCTION
历史的备忘与抒情的叙事 [Historical Memoirs and Lyrical Narratives]
Written by Aw Seow Pooi and Ang Jin Yong
Translated by Theodorus Ng and Jonathan Chan
Dated 9 Nov 2023
一、历史的备忘与重写
郑景祥的诗作，围绕着国家记忆与人民生活的联系，尤其是对于重构与回溯“被殖民”的记忆。以诗集《三十三间》（郑景祥 2004）为例，〈殖民地现象〉“我们的潜意识始终没有独立／总在21世纪还在重复扮演／忠诚的殖民地” （郑景祥 2004: 142-145），隐喻了“殖民地”时期过后，人们持续将“莱佛士”作为一种“文明”符号与象征来加以偶像化，并且对于缺乏“独立”意识进行了批判。
诗人先借着〈一个名字的诞生〉回溯新加坡的历史：“于是 我们只能相信雄狮是天意的吉祥／赤道从来不是盛产狮子的地方”（郑景祥 2004: 134-137），来指出神话、历史与现实的吊诡与反讽——据传说，新加坡是由印尼王子山尼拉乌他（Sang Nila Utama）见到了狮子而命名的，故名曰“Singa”（狮子）“pura”（城），但据历史考证，这片土地上却从未曾出现过狮子。若那日王子见到的不是“狮子”，那又会是什么呢？换言之，在被日本占领与英殖民之前，新加坡的身份是随着时间和历史流动演变而来的，如其他名字：“龙牙门”、“蒲罗中”、“淡马锡”、“石叻”、“星洲”等，都是来自“他者”的命名。 新加坡小说家谢裕民也曾在他的作品写道“大部分名字‘身不由己’”。每个人都可以给予他者一个记号，以供辨认、叙述、追溯。记号所赋予的意义，随命名者的经验而异；同一被叙述者则随时间的流逝，转换其记号、身份与意义，甚至间中消失或从此不留痕迹。”（谢裕民 2005: 13）
这形成了诗人不断以诗来处理新加坡的史料，例如以新加坡历史大事件为引，见〈史诗的初稿〉（郑景祥 2015: 521）里的“国庆只记得1965年的独立”、“1948年是13800人梦想的起航／６双手来支撑一整个岛的重量”、“久候的原乡终于1959年登岸”、“城市再繁华／课本再退让／岛国的史诗不需要注释”（郑景祥 2015: 521）。1965 年 8 月 9 日，新加坡脱离马来西亚成为独立自主的民主国家；1948年3月20日，二战后的新加坡举行了第一次选举，虽然总督依然拥有很大的权力，但是人民已经有权选出立法会议中的6名成员；1959年，新加坡自治邦成立，同年5月30日举行第一次大选。同年6月5日，李光耀出任新加坡首任总理。我们再看《三十三间》裡的另一首诗〈缝合一段记忆〉“1819年以前的命题／如果 考试不问／可以假装忘记”（郑景祥 2004: 16）诗人却又担心历史文化的轮廓消失，历史的危机感使他一直借助历史年分的符号刺激读者对历史前后带来的印象，并使读者重新认识该事物与土地的形象特征。
新加坡从被英殖民、日侵、新马合并到独立建国以来，国族与本土意识经历了多重的转向，有部分人民更选择认同殖民主义文化。纵然诗人对此具有强烈的批判与自嘲，但他还是随着新加坡发展的历程一同成长。这意味着身份与国家的认同，人们才能在这片土地投注情感与思想，一起建构属于新加坡国族文化，信仰和语言；促使新加坡作家能够在边缘的思考中，开拓新的历史与生活的书写。
二、岁月的抒情叙事
战争与被殖民的艰苦固然不能被磨灭，落地生根的人依旧要拥抱土地才能建立家园。诗人把从前一个阶段对历史文化、人生与社会的记录转入对日常生活的关注上来。郑景祥在〈跟踪我的脚印〉里提到（郑景祥 2004: 24）“我听见很多蜗牛爬行的童年／婆婆挑扁担的弯曲痕迹……时间中断在黑白的电视”，“组屋的气魄比椰树还要高涨／我站在城市和地图一起迷路”；〈游乐指南〉（郑景祥 2004: 50）里，这两首诗是诗人与家人、土地共同成长的回忆。新加坡从当初的殖民城市，发展到今天的全球都市和消费社会；诗人也从童年的甘榜田园生活，迁移到后来的新加坡高楼组屋，还有属于诗人年代的游戏，都是通过其本人的个人、土地、空间的情感认知，再利用文字重建起来的岁月场景。同时，这也是形成个人与土地互相认同的因素，才有了家国的身份和意义。
除了描述国家之大事，郑景祥业书写了较为个人的记忆，十四行情詩〈所以牵挂〉所描绘的爱情。据诗人透露，这首情诗源于一部名为《聊斋》的香港电视连续剧，里头男女主角回溯的定情场景，让诗人回首与妻过往的种种。“难道就这样任记忆白发吗？／我的鼻子还要认定／送你十二种花的味道／疲惫的脚跟也不愿意放弃／那一趟其实并不繁华的日出” 诗句中不见以情感发泄的状态描写或煽情的词句表达，诗人仅让回忆贯穿五官，让人与物在镜头前流动，让美好化身一种移情体验，不断地在记忆中传递情感。诗中最后写“背熟每一次誓言的场景／我的眼睛还愣在裕廊的小贩中心／呆看一朵静坐的幽莲”形象通过动静结合相互映衬，在吵杂的小贩中心焦距在静坐的莲花上，让其意象不分时间地点情景随着诗人的记忆收纳牵挂与动心。情诗之所以瞬间动人，皆因诗人使之“景中生情，情融于景。”（郑景祥 2004）
小結
郑景祥善于将过去的经验滞留在回忆深处，然后再以回顾历史的角度通过诗歌的形式，把历史与被框架的文化呈现出来。他在作品中赋予文化符号、国族身份认同的社会形态意象等，企图让读者重构新加坡的历史与文化。同时，他亦能把一个阶段对历史文化、人生与社会的记录转入日常生活。通过其个人成长的历程与对土地、空间的情感认知，利用文字重建起新的岁月场景，形成了历史与岁月的抒情叙事。
参考资料
郑景祥《三十三间》（新加坡：八方文化创作室，2004）
谢裕民〈岛屿前身〉，见谢裕民《重构南洋图像》（新加坡：富豪仕大众传播机构，2005）
郑景祥〈史诗的初稿〉—— 见Alvin Pang and Ravi Shankar编《Union: 15 Years of Drunken Boat, 50 Years of Writing from Singapore 》 (Singapore and Chester: Ethos Books, Drunken Boat, 2015), 页521。
Memories and Revisions of Singapore’s History
Ting Kheng Siong’s poems revolve around the relationship between Singapore’s memories and its citizens’ lives, especially towards the reconstruction and revisiting of “colonised” memories. In his collection《三十三间》[Room For Thirty-Three] (2004), the poem <殖民地现象> [“Colonial Phenomenon”] reads:
我们的潜意识始没有独立
总在21世纪还在重复扮演
忠诚的殖民地[Our subconscious knowledge has never been independent
Constantly re-enacted in the 21st century
Remaining a loyal colony]
The piece serves as an extended metaphor for the lingering effects of Singapore’s colonial past, where citizens continue to idolise the name “Raffles”, deeming it synonymous with “civilisation”. Ting thereby critiques the lack of an authentically “independent” national consciousness.
Ting first traces Singapore’s history in the poem <一个名字的诞生> [“The Birth of a Name” ]:
于是 我们只能相信雄狮是天意的吉祥
赤道从来不是盛产狮子的地方[Therefore, we can only believe the lion is heaven’s blessing
as the equator had never been known to produce lions]
The line points out the contradictions and ironies between myth, history, and fact. According to legend, Singapore earned its name after the Prince of Palembang Sang Nila Utama first arrived on the island and saw a lion, hence naming it “Singa” (lion) and “pura” (city) in his mother tongue. However, historical records show that lions had never been seen on the island. What was the “lion” that the prince purportedly saw then? In other words, before it was occupied by the Japanese and colonised by the British, Singapore’s identity evolved with time and history. There are names like “Long Ya Men” (Dragon Teeth’s Gate), “Pulau Ujong”, “Temasek”, “Selat” (Strait), “Sin Chew” and so on, which were named by “others”. Singaporean novelist Chia Joo-Ming has also posited in his works that “most names were ‘involuntary’ ”, or received by Singapore involuntarily. Everyone can give the “other” a mark to aid in identification, recording, and tracing. The meaning of a name is unique to the experiences of the person assigning it; the same name that, with time, can change to another, with a new identity and meaning, or even disappear without leaving a trace (Chia, Reconstructing Images of the Nanyang, 2005).
This has shaped Ting’s consistent style, whereby he uses poetry to grapple with Singapore’s historical records. For example, by looking at major historical events, in the poem <史诗的初稿> [“First Draft of An Epic” ], he writes:
国庆只记得1965年的独立
[…]
1948年是13800人梦想的起航
6双手来支撑一整个岛的重量[…]
久候的原乡终于1959年登岸
[…]
城市再繁华, 课本再退让
岛国的史诗不需要注释[National Day only marks sovereignty in ‘65
[…]
1948: the dreams of 13,800, launched
Six pairs of hands weigh an island[…]
long-awaited homecoming reaches shore in ‘59
[…]
The city may prosper, the textbooks comply
This island’s epic needs no annotation]
On August 9, 1965, Singapore seceded from Malaysia to become an independent and autonomous democracy; on March 20, 1948, Singapore’s first election was held in post-World War II and although the governor still had a great deal of power, the people had the right to elect six members of the Legislative Assembly; in 1959, the Autonomous State of Singapore was established, and the first general election was held on May 30 of the same year. On June 5 of the same year, Lee Kuan Yew became the first Prime Minister of Singapore.
In another poem in Room for Thirty-Three, <缝合一段记忆> [“Stitching Together a Memory”], he writes:
1819年以前的命题
如果 考试不问
可以假装忘记[Propositions before 1819
if not asked in examinations
can pretend they have been forgotten]
Ting worries about the erosion of history and culture. This notion of history in crisis impels him to invoke symbols of the past to encourage readers to visit or revisit the causes and consequences of events, thereby enabling readers to appreciate the distinct characteristics of Singapore in a new light.
From British colonisation to the Japanese occupation, then to the merger with and separation from Malaysia, national and individual consciousness has undergone multifarious shifts in Singapore. Some citizens have chosen to identify with the colonial culture of the British. Even though Ting maintains vehement critiques and engages in self-deprecation concerning his choice, he has still grown alongside Singapore. This underscores his view that it is only by an alignment of personal and national identity that citizens can pour their emotions and ideologies into Singapore, collectively constructing an identity that belongs to Singaporeans – encompassing culture, creed, and language – thus enabling Singaporean writers to consider the value in exploring new stories of the Singaporean experience and rewriting or creating history.
Lyrical Recountings of the Past
The hardships of war and the colonial period can never be erased, but those who have laid their roots in Singapore still need to embrace it to create a home. Ting can take a record of historical cultures, living, and society and transpose it onto daily, contemporary life. In <跟踪我的脚印> [“Follow My Footprints”], he writes:
我听见很多蜗牛爬行的童年
婆婆挑扁担的弯曲痕迹[…]
时间中断在黑白的电视，组屋的气魄比椰树还要高涨
我站在城市和地图一起迷路[I hear a childhood where many snails crawl
the vestiges of a grandmother bent over a walking stick[…]
Time is suspended in a black-and-white television screen, the HDB blocks loom, more imposing than coconut trees
I stand in the city getting lost with my map.]
Together with the poem <游乐指南> [“Tour Guide”], these poems detail Ting’s memories of growing up with his family and in Singapore. Just as Singapore has developed from its colonial roots into a global, consumer economy, Ting has moved from his pastoral kampong childhood and its games to an urbanised adulthood, living in a high-rise HDB flat. These experiences are written through his emotional perceptions of the individual, land, and space before they are reconstructed in his writing. At the same time, this allows for mutual identification between the individual and the land, which in turn allows for the creation of a sense of national identity and meaning.
In addition to depicting events that have shaped Singapore’s history, Ting also writes about more personal memories. Ting’s 14-line poem titled <以牵挂> [“Therefore, Worry”] depicts a languorous love. Ting draws inspiration from the Hong Kong drama series《聊斋》[Strange Tales of Liao Zhai], which features flashbacks of a relationship between its male and female protagonists, allowing Ting to reminisce on his memories of marriage. He writes:
难道就这样任记忆白发吗？
我的鼻子还要认定
送你十二种花的味道
疲惫的脚跟也不愿意放弃
那一趟其实并不繁华的日出[Should we just let our memory turn grey?
My nose still wants to recognise
the distinct aromas of each of the twelve flowers I gave you
Tired heels refuse to give up
on that trip down to see a declining sun]
Ting’s recounting of his memories is inherently evocative – he allows them to penetrate and stimulate the five senses, rendering moving imagery that captures the movements of a person and object. Ting can evoke pathos in the reader, a longing for perfect love. In the poem's final lines, he writes,
背熟每一次誓言的场景
我的眼睛还愣在裕廊的小贩中心
呆看一朵静坐的幽莲[Remember by heart each time a vow is taken
My eyes still linger on that Jurong hawker centre
Gazing upon a lotus sitting still]
These visual and auditory images form a juxtaposition between the cacophony of the hawker centre and the almost stoic lotus – a poignant memory that moves Ting regardless of his time and place. Ting’s love poems can move readers in an instant, as Ting can infuse the love birthed at a scene into the scene itself.
Conclusion
Ting Kheng Siong is skilful at allowing his past experiences to sink into the depths of his consciousness, before he adapts them into poetry from a retrospective perspective, presenting history and a framed culture. Ting imbues his work with cultural symbols and imagery formative of social and national identities, allowing the reader to experience Singapore’s history and culture reconstructed. At the same time, he can take a record of historical cultures, living, and society and transpose it onto daily living. Through his personal growth and emotional awareness of the land and space, he utilises his words to reconstruct new scenes of the passing of time, forming a lyrical narrative of history and the years past.
Works cited
Chia, Joo Meng. Reconstructing Images of the Nanyang. Singapore. Full House Communications. 2005.
Ting, Kheng Siong. Room for Thirty-Three. Singapore. Global Publishing. 2004.
UNION: 15 Years of Drunken Boat, 50 Years of Writing From Singapore. Edited by Alvin Pang and Ravi Shankar. Singapore and Chester. Ethos Books and Drunken Boat. 2015.
